James McCommons: Waiting on a Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service–A Year Spent Riding across America
October 18, 2009 by David
Filed under Non-Fiction
978-1603580649 – Paperback – Chelsea Green Publishing – $17.95
I learned a great deal from reading this excellent book. Not just information about trains – there’s alot here – but about the people who around the United States who are working to make train travel a viable alternative to driving, about the communities and states where rail is succeeding, about the history and scope of railroads in America and around the world, and specifically a great deal about Amtrak, its ongoing struggles, as well as the modern freight railroads that are thriving today. Jim McCommons has alot to tell, but he never lectures us. Because the book is built on the backbone of his year spent traveling around America by rail, and because McCommons is an experienced and talented journalist, Waiting on a Train beautifully combines travelogue, personal memoir and transportation analysis and history that gives us a great introduction to an important and large subject that might otherwise seem opaque and difficult to approach.
McCommons spent much of 2008 in trains. He talked to travelers, workers on the railroads, policy makers, professional planners, politicians, including many of the people who have been most involved in passenger rail policy for the past 35 years. Waiting on a Train is not a sentimentalist’s approach to rail travel. McCommons tells us plainly what the challenges are for those of us who want to see mass transit developed into a meaningful alternative to automobile and air travel. And he does not pull punches – developing passenger railroads is not going to be easy and it will not happen quickly. It’s important to realize that only 2% of the American public has actually ever ridden a train – a stunning fact I learned from this book. I’d recommend this book for anyone who loves trains, an easy call, but I’d also like to see people who have never even thought about riding on a train read this book so they will understand why rail must be an essential component of the American transportation system of the future.
In my interview with James McCommons, we talked in detail about what it was like for him to spend so much time in trains, writing this book, and many of the subjects he covered. He talks about high speed rail, the differences between Europe and America, meeting railroad policy makers, and talking to regular travelers from many different backgrounds. It’s a fascinating story I hope will be widely read and discussed.
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Ivy Pochoda: The Art of Disappearing
978-0312385859 – Hardcover – St. Martin’s Press -$24.99
The Art of Disappearing is simply a wonderful novel. And it’s the author, Ivy Pochoda’s first too. It’s beautifully written, flows naturally, and as with all great novels, it’s layered and complex. A story that transforms the reader’s experience can be considered a true work of art, and this is one of those.
This is a description from Ivy’s own website:
Toby Warring seems too young and too attractive to be sending drinks to strange women in a small-town Nevada saloon, but that is exactly how he meets Mel Snow, a textile designer who is selling her wares throughout the country. In a brief but strangely familiar conversation, Toby shows Mel that he is a rare “real” magician—actually creating the wine he places in front of her—and explains that all he has ever wanted is to perform in Las Vegas. They marry the next day.
You can read excerpts from the book here to get a feel for her writing, which is luminous. Magic is at the heart of the book, but it’s not about parlor tricks. In my interview with Ivy Pochoda, we talked about how she came to write this story, how it incorporates much of her own experience of place, and how she created the magical realism that imbues the book. Ivy grew up in Brooklyn in a very literary family, fell in love with writing and books early, went to Harvard (where she was a champion squash player, and lived in Amsterdam for several years. While living there, she started work on the novel and it is where much of The Art of Disappearing is set, though Las Vegas and the American west are also important locales for the book and its characters.
I love this novel and will be looking forward to the author’s next book.
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John Pipkin: Woodsburner
978-0385528658 – Hardcover – Nan A. Talese – $24.95
I first heard about this novel on NPR and was immediately attracted to the notion of a novel that was generated by this single almost unknown incident, when Henry David Thoreau accidentally set fire to the Concord woods in 1844. I’d learned of this first from poet friend Jonathan Williams many years ago, but it never really hit me how paradoxical this event was. John Pipkin has woven a truly original story out of the history surrounding this one event.
He starts with the historical Thoreau, imagining him not as the genius of outdoor philosophy he has become, but as a bumbling, confused and somewhat thoughtless individual who does yet fully know who he is or even why he is. Pipkin adds other characters to the story, all of them confused and searching for something that perhaps only the accidental conflagration set off by Thoreau and his young friend can bring them. There is Eliot Calvert, aspiring romantic playwright and accidental bookseller searching for meaning in a mundane life, the irresistibly named Norwegian orphan immigrant Oddmund Hus (whose past also involves an explosive accident) who is silently in love with the wife of the farmer he works for, and Caleb Dowdy, the strange, confused Episcopal minister who seeks salvation through self abasement. And of course, Thoreau as Pipkin paints him, a young largely unfulfilled son of a pencil manufacturer, way over his head in the woods, searching for meaning in nature bit in no way ready for his destiny.
All will meet, all will be transfixed, transformed, formed, in the conflagration at the heart of this story. I talked to first-time novelist John Pipkin early one morning in September about this truly excellent book. In this interview he talks about what lead him to this story, and how he came to imagine it, as well as his research, the characters and of course, Thoreau himself. Pipkin is a terrific writer, and just as good at talking about his work. I am looking forward to reading more of his work, and recommend this novel to almost any reader – it is that good.
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Jayne Anne Phillips: Lark and Termite
978-0375401954 – Hardcover – Knopf – $24.00
Lark and Termite is one of the best novels I have read in a long time, written by one of the best writers we have. Jayne Anne Phillips writes fiction that is always deeply luminous, complex and beautiful. There’s an almost meditative quality to this novel, as the author switches between multiple perspectives and voices brilliantly, almost lulling the reader into not realizing that a complex and intricate story is being told. Phillips gives voice and life to her characters, defining a family and the complex web of events and places that give it structure, deep and viable across place and time in an extraordinary, mysterious and beautiful story.
As Alice Munro says about Lark and Termite: “This novel is cut like a diamond, with such sharp authenticity and bursts of light.”
In this interview, Jayne Anne Phillips talks in detail about her newest novel, the genesis of the story and its characters, their history as she imagines them, how she works as a writer. We also talk about her first book, Sweethearts, published by my Truck Press in 1976. Overall this is a varied and interesting conversation with a writer who is in complete command of her abilities.
— David Wilk, September 2009
Knopf makes an excerpt of Lark and Termite available for readers to sample, well worth visiting the book site or click below.
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William Gladstone: The Twelve (a novel)
978-1593155568 – Hardcover – Vanguard Press – $19.95
William Gladstone, author of the new novel, The Twelve, interviewed by Writerscast host David Wilk.
The Twelve is a terrific first novel by an experienced book industry professional, west coast based William Gladstone. I know the author personally, and I’ve read this novel at various stages of its development. In its final published form, it has become a compelling read on a subject of great interest to many people – the future. It’s a book with a strong spiritual message but one that does not get in the way of its fast moving and intriguing story.
The publisher’s description of the book goes like this: “The Twelve is an extraordinary and unforgettable novel about a most unusual man. As a child, Max lives in a world of colors and numbers, not speaking until the age of six. As an adult, Max ventures on a journey of destiny to discover the secret behind the ancient Mayan prophecy about the “end of time,” foretold to occur on December 21, 2012.
When he is fifteen years old, Max has a near death experience during which he has a vision that reveals to him the names of twelve unique individuals. While Max cannot discern the significance of these twelve names, he is unable to shake the sense that they have deep meaning. Eight years pass before Max meets the first of the twelve.
With this, Max’s voyage of discovery begins, as he strives to uncover the identities and implications of “the twelve”—individuals he will meet during his journey towards truth, all of whom seem connected, and all of whom may hold the answer to what will happen at the exact moment the world may end. The novel takes the reader on a series of global adventures, culminating in a revelation of why and how Max and the twelve are destined to unite to discover the magnitude of the meaning of December 21, 2012. Only the twelve can provide the answers, as the fate of all humanity rests in the balance.”
In my fast-paced interview with author Gladstone, we talk about the genesis of the novel, his sense of the meaning of the book, and what the future holds for humanity.
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Andi Silverman: Mama Knows Breast: A Beginner’s Guide to Breastfeeding
September 8, 2009 by David
Filed under Non-Fiction
978-1594741654 – paperback – Quirk Books – $14.95
Andi Silverman, author of Mama Knows Breast, interviewed by Writerscast host David Wilk
As a middle aged man, I am clearly not the audience for this book, but when I saw a copy of the book and read the first few chapters I knew right away this would be an author I wanted to interview. Mama Knows Breast is a great title for a book (as well as for the author’s very well put together and consistently informative website). And her publisher, Quirk Books, has put together a beautifully produced paperback with very cool and comforting illustrations.
As the author, Andi Silverman tells me in our interview, she wanted to write the book she needed when she was looking around at books about breastfeeding – something not medical, or like a textbook, but a book for moms by a mom, with humor, a caring approach, and above all, not judgmental regardless of the decisions each mom makes about breastfeeding.
And of course, as she rightly points out, breastfeeding is not just a subject for women. Having been father to two breastfed children, I can attest this is true. Breastfeeding is not a choice that every woman or family can make of course. But breast milk is healthy and natural, and better for the baby and child than any formula. My interview with Andi Silverman reflects her spirit and approach as an author – she is full of good advice gently given, and is someone almost any woman would want to consult for advice.
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James Gustav Speth: The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability
August 30, 2009 by David
Filed under Non-Fiction
978-0300151152 – paperback – Yale University Press – $18.00
While I was reading The Bridge at the Edge of the World, I often would exclaim out loud as so many of the ideas the author talks about are ones I believe in and feel are important to the dialog about the future of our planet. This is an important book that should be widely read, discussed and used as the basis of action – and soon!
Co-founder of the NRDC, former Yale University dean, and former White House advisor James Gustave Speth has been a leader in the environmental movement for more than 30 years.
Now, faced with overwhelming evidence of galloping degradation of the planet, Speth has concluded that the environmental project—his project—has failed. No matter how hard environmentalists work, the current of destruction against which they are swimming is simply too swift. In order to preserve a livable planet for future generations, Speth argues in The Bridge at the Edge of the World that the current itself must be altered. And the current is that untouchable edifice, American-style consumer capitalism.
I found this book to be powerful and compelling and wanted to talk to “Gus” Speth about the implications of his thinking. How should we go forward when we know that the way we live today is putting us on a collision course with the natural world? How do we build new ways of living that are sustainable? And how are we going to do this in the face of so many entrenched interests that will oppose the essential changes we feel are necessary for human survival and for the preservation natural systems in a viable planet earth?
While this interview is perhaps all too brief, Speth talks in depth about some of his ideas and answers my questions with his typical incisiveness and intelligence.
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Alice Eve Cohen – What I Thought I Knew: A Memoir
August 10, 2009 by David
Filed under Non-Fiction
978-0670020959 – Hardcover
Viking – $24.95
Alice Eve Cohen’s memoir tells an incredible story – a writer and playwright, she was diagnosed as infertile in her thirties, she adopted a daughter with her then-husband (whom she later divorced). At 44 she began to experience strange physical symptoms – after six months of suffering she was finally recognized as being pregnant. In many ways that was only the beginning of her story – which is an incredible, honest, sometimes funny but as often a painful journey of discovery.
I generally am not that interested in the modern memoir – most people’s stories are just not that interesting. But I was attracted to Alice’s story right away, partly because of my own experience with DES and its damages to the children whose mothers took that fertility drug. Alice’s persona shines through her story. She is vivid and clear about everything that happened to her and how she felt at the time, and later, and she pulls no punches, including her own foibles, fears, and weaknesses throughout.
Overall What I Thought I Knew is a wonderful book that holds our attention throughout. It’s transformative for the author and for the reader. In my interview with Alice Eve Cohen, we talked in detail about the book and her experiences then and now (the events took place several years ago). She’s not only a wonderful writer but a great interview subject as well.
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Martin Melaver – Living Above the Store
July 29, 2009 by David
Filed under Non-Fiction
9781603580854 – Hardcover
Chelsea Green Press – $27.95
This is one of the most important and challenging books I have read in a long time. In this book Martin Melaver tells stories about his life, his business, his family, and his community, as a framework for understanding how business can (and must) change, in order to become truly sustainable, to become additive rather than extractive, and to rethink the way business is done. As the publisher says: “Living Above the Store is for readers who care about issues of community and sustainability as well as for those who want to learn more about how a socially responsible business can first redefine, and then find, success.” In this interview, Martin and I talk in depth about the key ideas in the book, and talk in detail about some of the practical issues the book raises for so many who want to make a difference. Martin demonstrates his clarity of thought and deep commitment to truly making change in business and community. Highly recommended!
Martin Melaver has been CEO of Melaver, Inc., since 1992. Never content with the well-trod path, he has a PhD in literature from Harvard University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He is actively involved with numerous community organizations in and around Savannah, Georgia. Melaver splits his time between Savannah and Tel Aviv, Israel. …
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Lev Raphael – My Germany: A Jewish Writer Returns to the World his Parents Escaped
July 19, 2009 by David
Filed under Non-Fiction
978-0299231507 – Hardcover
University of Wisconsin Press $26.95
Lev Raphael grew up loathing everything German. A son of Holocaust survivors, haunted by his parents’ suffering and traumatic losses under Nazi rule, he was certain that Germany was one place in the world he would never visit. Those feelings shaped his Jewish and gay identity, his life, and his career. In “My Germany.” Raphael explores many layers of his personal life, including his visits to Germany, his complex relationships with his parents and his inner self. My interview with this interesting and engaging writer ranges across a variety of subjects, including the author’s writing methods, a discussion about this new book and his life as a writer, the nature of memoir, memory, and the discovery of self.
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