A Novel Idea

Suzanne Lang speaks with author Cynthia Lim, whose book Wherever You Are, A Memoir of Love, Marriage, and Brain Injury is an odyssey through loss and disability in the aftermath of her husband’s suffering an anoxic brain injury as a result of a heart attack; it’s a tale of her life of self-empowerment, care-giving, and sustaining love.

Suzanne also speaks with Susan Avery Stewart, who shows us the many virtues that grace our lives through lifes’ transitions in her guide toward better living, Winter’s Graces: the Surprising Gifts of Later Life.

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Jonah Raskin has a large and ranging body of non-fiction books and articles and now has come out with a detective fiction of a different order, Dark Land, Dark Mirror.

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San Francisco’s City Lights Bookstore, the landmark independent bookstore founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin, recently featured rising author Bruce Holbert in conversation with KRCB’s Suzanne M. Lang in an evening hosted by Peter Maravelis. Holbert’s latest novel is Whiskey —“A gut-punch of a bleak family saga that satisfies on many levels.” says Kirkus Reviews.

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A timely encore presentation of Rosemary Manchester in conversation with Brad Herzog, collaborator on Carolyn Goodman’s memoir, My Mantelpiece: a Memoir of Survival and Social Justice. Goodman, who died in 2007, was the mother of Andy Goodman, who in 1964 along with James Earl Chaney and Michael Schwerner, was murdered in Mississippi while trying to register black voters .Carolyn turned her son’s death into a mission to educate, communicate, and take action against injustice.

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From Homer to Harry Potter, literary critic and philosopher Martin Puchner takes the reader on an epic journey through the history of literature, and so the history of humanity in The Written World, The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, and Civilization. This work is lively and accessible and Martin brings that energy to his conversation with Suzanne Lang.

A kaleidoscope is a plaything, an optical device that continuously juxtaposes elements in a mirrored chamber, generating constantly changing patterns according to the twist of the viewer. Alexandra Chasin’s Assassin of Youth: A Kaleidoscopic History of Harry J. Anslinger’s War on Drugs, does just that. Suzanne talks with Alexandra Chasin on this eye opening view of modern history.

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It’s all about food. Suzanne Lang talks with Adam Federman on his book Fasting and Feasting, the Life of Visionary Food Writer Patience Gray. Gray became somewhat of a cult figure when she published Honey from a Weed in 1986.

Also featured is Elaine Khosrova, a gastronomic rock star who specializes in stories about food history and culture, and Suzanne talks with Elaine about her book, Butter, a Rich History.

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To celebrate the release of Bruce Holbert’s third novel, Whiskey, here is a reprise of two previous conversations between Bruce and Suzanne M Lang on the release of his first novel, Lonesome Animals, followed by the truly amazing The Hour of Lead. Bruce is a gritty and poetic writer who explores character and landscape with a unique voice. We’ll feature a conversation about Whiskey on a future episode, but this show will bring you up to speed on the emergence of Bruce Holbert.

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Tamed and Untamed, Close Encounters with the Animal Kind. Suzanne Lang talks with two of the world’s most celebrated animal writers, Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. They have collaborated on a book of essays. Sy and Liz are also good friends and practically next door neighbors. Join us as we talk about the minds, lives, and mysteries of animals …in the wild and in our homes.

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Two California writers who both had long non-literary careers before publishing these heralded first works join Suzanne M. Lang in conversation on this episode of A Novel Idea. Barbara Ridley’s When It’s Over is a sweeping historical fiction set during WWII that exposes elements of that war and on European refugees that resonates today …and is a pretty good love story too.

Laurie Ann Doyle’s collection of short stories, World Gone Missing, is a loving homage to Northern California and twelve searing tales of loss, love, and what goes missing.

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Emerging from the economic consulting and the tech sector, Jaime B. Hansen aims to inspire and empower women through videos, speaking and speaking out; her latest book is Expanding the Conversation.

Also, born in the USA but as a baby but sent back to El Salvador when his mother was deported, Rand Ertll has spent a lifetime in activism. He eventually made it back to this country and grew up in South Central Los Angeles during the racially tense time of the 1980s. Randy discovered that education was a route out of poverty and violence, and he has emerged as a social justice advocate and activist, and the author of four non-fiction books along with the remarkable fiction, The Lives and Times of El Cipitio.

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