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Health & Fitness

Long Distance Listening, Book Awards, and A Mysterious Anniversary

Ways to learn more about our favorite authors, plus a mysterious anniversary

For those who like to know more about the authors of books we’ve read, the literary interview show is a gift.  I heard a fascinating interview with Jennifer Egan about her writing process and the “brief encounter” that sparked her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Visit from the Goon Squad.

However, we can’t always find the time to attend these lectures or we may live far away from the event.  An example I recently came across is the Eat, Drink & Be Literary series at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). 

It sounds more interesting than your standard auditorium lecture; here's the website description:

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"A unique series for sophisticated writers, readers, and eaters, Eat, Drink & Be Literary brings major contemporary authors to BAMcafé for intimate dinners, entertaining readings, and engaging discussions. Each evening begins with a sumptuous buffet prepared by BAMcafé’s acclaimed executive chef, Tim Sullivan, served with select wines and accompanied by live music. Following dinner, authors read from and are interviewed about their work, take questions from the audience, and sign books to conclude an evening of candid glimpses into the creative process and the rich writings it yields."

Now I have several family members in that neighborhood, plus Sullivan is one of my family names, so this feels like something I'd like to hear.  But honestly, when I’m in Brooklyn I’m too busy visiting to attend something like this anyway.  Fortunately, the world of technology comes to the rescue again.  For the 2011 season, podcasts of the evenings with Elizabeth Strout, Edmund White, Jennifer Egan, and Ann Beattie are available on the web. Podcasts of the evenings with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Colum McCann, Edward Albee, and Cristina García are coming soon.

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You can subscribe to a feed, download MP3 directly, or subscribe via iTunes. (I’ve just finally succumbed to the iPod, so I can now listen when I’m on the blinking exercise bike.)

One of the authors in this series is Colum McCann, who recently won the 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for his novel Let the Great World Spin, beating 161 other entries. Let the Great World Spin also won the 2009 USA National Book Award for Fiction.

In a 2009 review, the New York Times called Let the Great World Spin "an emotional tour de force…a heartbreaking book, but not a depressing one".

I’m not planning to post book reviews in this blog, but I did enjoy this novel, which takes place surrounding the day in 1974 when French acrobat Philippe Petit walked across a tightrope between the twin towers of the newly constructed World Trade Center. Memories of that time and place, combined with the compelling characters and writing, made this an important book for me.

And now that mysterious anniversary, for those of you who love thrillers and conspiracies: On this day in 1947, the Roswell Daily Record in New Mexico reported that a flying saucer had crashed near Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico. This event, along with the purported cover-up, has spawned many a journey into fiction and non-fiction alike.

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