Funds for Bookworm are provided in part by Lannin Foundation.

Boots!

Where would we be without boos?

Where would we be without good?

No, Zintuberg.

It's a rhetorical question, sir.

But where would we need without books?

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

One of the things that I sometimes do is have the pleasure of introducing a new writer.

In this case, a brand new writer, his name is Justin Torres,

his collection of short stories, which is also known as a novel. We'll talk about that, I guess,

has just been beautifully published by Houghton Mifflin-Harkort. And, well, tell me what it's been like.

To be here now with you is, you know, kind of mind-blowing. And this is after, you know,

being on tour and having really, some really, really kind of wonderful

reviews, you know, there's been criticism as well, but it's been dizzying. It's been dizzying.

And I feel like sometimes I'm kind of racing to catch up, you know, to do it all.

Do you feel ready?

I mean, I stand behind every word in the book, and I felt ready for the book to go out into the world,

and I feel like it's a small book, and I took my time with it, and so every word's kind of considered and deliberate.

And I don't cringe when I read it. Maybe I will in a couple of years.

So in that sense, I feel ready.

In the sense of the public persona, am I ready for that kind of public scrutiny?

...