John D'Agata: The Making of the American Essay

Bookworm

KCRW

Arts

4.5 • 606 Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2016

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Despite 20 years of study, John D'Agata believes that we're still in the "Wild West" of coming to terms with the essay, its long heritage and its creation.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Podcast.
0:03.2	Listen to the organist, the culturally omnivorous, intellectually ravenous podcast from the editors of the Believer magazine.
0:10.1	Part of poetry is learning how to speak.
0:13.6	Chili Billy.
0:15.5	I am also a horse.
0:17.4	I really value my life, even though I know it's debatable whether I'm even really alive.
0:22.6	The right reading for this is the one I'm giving it.
0:25.4	Find the organist on KCRW.com or wherever you download podcasts.
0:31.4	Funds for Bookworm are provided in part by Lannin Foundation.
0:34.7	Boots!
0:40.3	Well with me big. Part by Lannin Foundation. Boots. Where would we be without boos?
0:43.3	Where would we be without good?
0:46.3	No, Timberg.
0:47.3	It's a rhetorical question, sir,
0:50.3	but where would we be without books? From KCRW and kCRW.com I'm Michael Silverblatt and this is bookworm. Today I'm
1:02.2	happy to welcome John Dagada, who is the anthologist, the editor and introducer of a monument, it's a three-volume set, the most recent volume of which has just appeared.
1:21.4	The three volumes are called A New History of the Essay.
1:26.3	It's from Grey Wolf. The newest volume is the making of the
1:30.9	American essay. And I have to confess to a real vested interest in these books. Years ago, nearly 20,
1:43.8	I got a book from John Dagada in the mail. It was a book of his
1:48.9	own essays called Holes of Fame. I was very enthusiastic about it, but as far as I'm concerned,
1:57.5	it might have come from another planet. So I called him up and I said, you seem to be coming at essays from a perspective that I don't know at all.
	...

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