Funds for Bookworm are provided in part by Lannin Foundation.

You are a human animal. You are a very special breed, for you are the only animal, who can think, who can reason, who can read.

The cow...

Hello and welcome to Bookworm.

This is Michael Silverblad and today my guest is Jamaica Kincaid.

We're talking about her new book, My Garden, parentheses, book, published by Faris Strauss and Jau. Jamaica Kincaid came to Los Angeles to speak at the Los Angeles Art Museums Institute for Arts

and Cultures, and I thought it would be a good time to talk about the mixture of art and

culturing that goes into the garden book.

Insofar as we have such a thing, Jamaica is something of a regular on the program now,

and it's a pleasure to see you again.

Thank you.

I wanted immediately to ask about the opening piece, Wisteria.

When was it written?

Oh, perhaps a year ago?

We're in 1999.

Yeah, perhaps a little more than a year ago when the Wisteria started to bloom way out of its season,

and it led to this all the perplexing

things that had happened to me in the garden it's it spurred a memory of all of them and lo and behold

this year it really did do that again, bloom way out of season,

and even later than last year. But I thought that perhaps that was because the weather was so

odd this year. Because, you know, it's an absolutely beautiful piece. Oh, thank you very much.

I don't think it's been published before. so I guess you haven't had response to it.

...