Funds for Bookworm are provided in part by Lannin Foundation.

You are a human animal.

You are a very special breed,

or you are the only animal,

who can think, who can reason, who can read.

From KCRW Santa Monica, I'm Michael Silverblatt, and this is Bookworm.

Today I am pleased to have as my guest, Brian Evanson, whose most recent book,

The Open Curtain, has been published by Coffee House Press.

The last two books were The Waivering Knife,

which came from Fiction Collective 2,

and Dark Property, which came from Black Square editions.

Now, when I'm talking to people about new writers,

and it's foolish to say young writers anymore, people most frequently tell me

about Brian Evanson.

And I wanted to begin by asking, you have won the International Horror Guild Award, and there

are quotes from among other people, Peter Straub on the book.

And I wondered whether you feel an affinity with horror writing or whether it's the back door through which you entered.

That's an interesting question.

I think that I do feel a connection to people like Lovecraft, and I think to Straub's work,

his best work especially.

The second thing I wanted to bring up is that people like Mary Campanagro, who's been on

the show, talk of you as a comic writer.

...