Charles Frazier Sheds Light on American Optimism

The Book Case

ABC News

Fiction, Arts, Books, Society & Culture

4.1 • 766 Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2023

⏱️ 35 minutes

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Summary

Charles Frazier comes across as a writer in love with America. Beyond the rolling plains and purple mountains majesty, he loves the stories of average Americans in extraordinary times and it comes across in everything he writes. His latest novel, The Trackers, is the most modern novel he has ever written and it takes place 100 years ago. His writing captures the optimism of the American ideal, and his descriptive powers continue to astound. We talk to him about his latest, and what it was about the Great Depression that inspired the book. This week, we also include an interview with Dave Eggers and Ninive Calegari, the two founders of 826, a non profit that teaches kids to express themselves through writing. Books mentioned in this podcast: The Trackers by Charles Frazier Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier Varina by Charles Frazier Nightwoods by Charles Frazier The Significance of the Frontier in American History by Frederick Jackson Turner Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke A Private Cathedral by James Lee Burke Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, out there, book casers. Good to have you back with us. We are delighted that you're here for another one of our efforts.
0:12.6	We're going to talk to Charles Frazier today, and I should probably allow my co-host to make a mention of herself as well.
0:18.7	Nah, I don't need to be, I don't need to be introduced.
0:21.1	I don't even really need to be here.
0:22.4	You just take it away.
0:23.4	I'm Kate Gibson.
0:24.3	I'm the daughter.
0:25.3	I am the co-host and the smarter of the two.
0:28.3	Well, I can't deny that for a minute.
0:31.7	Charles Fraser, I mentioned.
0:33.2	He has written a new book called The Trackers. Charles Fraser probably best known for his first novel, which was Cold Mountain, that won all sorts of awards.
0:40.2	I think it won the National Book Award.
0:41.5	As a first novel, that's really highly unusual, wonderful book about a character named Inman
0:46.7	coming home from the Civil War.
0:48.8	And his books have all had an historical background, American history.
0:53.0	And this actually is, it's as modern a book as he's
0:56.1	ever written, but this one is about the Depression a hundred years ago. But he has wonderful
1:00.4	descriptive powers that you feel in this book. It's a good tale. I love the idea that this is the
1:05.7	most modern. It's like Charles Frazier goes high tech by coming to the 20th century. I loved
1:10.5	this book. I thought that it was a
1:12.7	beautiful portrait of America at that time. And given the fact, I mean, it's interesting to me that
1:18.2	the book is about the Great Depression, America largely without hope at that time. And yet,
	...

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