The Story of America, Pt. 2

Bookworm

KCRW

Arts

4.5 • 606 Ratings

🗓️ 23 August 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Prolific author Dave Eggers, founder of McSweeney's, co-founder of 826 National, and other significant projects, first met Micheal Silverblatt in 2000, upon the publication of his first book –– a critically acclaimed memoir whose title he calls, "obnoxious." They formed a friendship over 22 years of conversation. In this episode, Eggers picks up the thread through what novelist Russell Banks called the Story of America. We’ll hear from Edward P. Jones, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, and Marilynne Robinson as they speak about slavery, race, and history.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Funds for Bookworm are provided in part by Lannin Foundation.
0:03.7	Boots!
0:08.8	Where would we be without booms?
0:12.6	Where would we be without good?
0:14.8	No, Tenderberg.
0:16.4	It's a rhetorical question, sir.
0:19.7	But where would we need without books?
0:24.9	From KCRW and KCRW.com, I'm Dave Eggers.
0:29.9	Welcome to a bookworm retrospective show, a celebration of 33 years of bookworm on KCRW with Michael Silverplatt.
0:38.8	Michael recorded more than 1,600 bookworm conversations.
0:43.0	He is on hiatus now for health reasons.
0:45.9	I first met Michael in 2000 upon publication of my first book,
0:51.0	The Memoir with the Abnoxious Title.
0:53.3	We spoke many times over the following 22 years and we
0:57.0	became friends. I am grateful for his kindness and intelligence and his abiding passion for everything
1:03.3	he read. He is a singular figure in the literary community. Perhaps this country's best reader,
1:10.7	a devoted reader who could find the hidden
1:13.7	touchstone of every book he discussed with its author. Today's show continues what novelist
1:20.0	Russell Banks called The Story of America. We will hear excerpts of bookworm shows which discuss
1:25.9	slavery, race, and history. In 2003, Michael talked
1:30.3	with Edward P. Jones about his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Known World. Today, I'm very
1:35.6	honored to have as my guest, Edward P. Jones. His new book is his first novel, The Known World.
	...

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