Otherppl with Brad Listi

Miranda Beverly-Whittemore is the guest. Her new novel, Bittersweet, is now available from Crown. It is a New York Times bestseller and the official June selection of The TNB Book Club. Entertainment Weekly says “What begins a little like Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep quickly warps into a sickly addictive thriller…think ABC’s Revenge when it was good, only more scandalous…With books like Bittersweet to...

Mike Sacks is the guest. His new book, Poking a Dead Frog: Conversations with Today's Top Comedy Writers, is now available from Penguin. Bob Odenkirk says “No one generates more interesting, revealing, or entertaining interviews than Mike Sacks. Poking a Dead Frog is a classic.” And Will Ferrell says “This book is what I really look forward to in a book about humor: rich with words and humor, and...

Robin Sloan is the guest. His bestselling novel, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, was the May 2014 selection of the TNB Book Club. It is now available in paperback from Picador.  George Saunders calls it “A real tour de force [and] a beautiful fable...The reader is swept along by Sloan’s enthusiasm.” And John Hodgman says “In a time when actual books are filling up tag-sale dollar boxes, along wi...

Ariel Schrag is the guest. Her new novel Adam is now available from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  Publishers Weekly says "Schrag's frisky debut...is one of the most original coming-of-age stories of recent years." And Flavorwire says "Ariel Schrag’s story about a teenager who goes to spend the summer in New York with his sister is unlike any coming-of-age story you’ll read anytime soon. Funny and te...

Tom Barbash is the guest. His story collection Stay Up With Me is now available in paperback from Ecco. The Daily Beast calls it “Fantastic…These Cheever-esque stories all show that Barbash has a sensitive ear towards the subtle ways that relationships are formed and altered, but he’s also not afraid to open a story with a car accident and watch the sparks fly.” And The New York Times says “These...

Brittani Sonnenberg is the guest. Her debut novel, Home Leave, is now available from Grand Central Publishing. Karen Russell says "It's hard to believe that this astonishing novel is Brittani Sonnenberg's first--she writes about family with wisdom, humor, and native daring. Here is Persephone's journey, undertaken by an entire family, the Kriegsteins, who ricochet through time zones, moving from B...

Nicholas Grider is the guest. His story collection, Misadventure, is now available from A Strange Object. Brian Evenson calls it "A dark and luscious hell ride through the damaged but nonetheless appealing rituals of bondage. These are tantalizing and difficult stories in which fantasy and reality bleed (quite literally) into one another." And Matt Bell says "Each of these compelling stories is ru...

Aaron Gwyn is the guest. His new novel, Wynne's War, is now available from Eamon Dolan Books. Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, says "Gwyn’s (Dog on the Cross) story is a gripping tale of men at war in the desolate snow-capped mountains of eastern Afghanistan, and captures the essence of close combat—the terror, excitement, chaos, tension, and cruelty, as well as the harsh decisions men make...

Ana Carrete is the guest. Her poetry collection Baby Babe is now available from Civil Coping Mechanisms. Sam Pink says “The first time I heard Ana’s writing was 2 years ago. In November of 2010, I read at the ‘Ear Eater’ reading series in Chicago. Ana was another reader. She was reading via Skype. There were a lot of people at the reading. After I read, I walked out of the room and stood in a hall...

Kelly Braffet is the guest. Her novel Save Yourself is now available in paperback from Broadway Books. Dennis Lehane calls it "The real deal. Save Yourself is an electrifying, tomahawk missile of a thriller with honest-to-God people at its core. It rocks the house." And The New York Times says "There’s storytelling skill to burn here. Ms. Braffet has empathy for her working-class characters and br...

Lee Klein is the guest. He has two books out this year. The first is called Thanks and Sorry and Good Luck, available now from Barrelhouse. The second, due out in August 2014, is called The Shimmering Go-Between (Atticus Books). Blake Butler says "Somewhere on the brutal truth continuum between Bill Hicks and Mussolini, Lee Klein’s rejection letters are mini-masterpieces of literary criticism disg...

Katherine Faw Morris is the guest. Her debut novel, Young God, is now available from Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.  Daniel Woodrell says "Young God is a poetic, grim, and beautifully dark novel about backwoods violence and horror recounted in a numbed, laconic voice. Morris writes with splendid economy, chapters short as contes, and plenty of slashing insights on the rough world of throwaway lives and...

Stacey D'Erasmo is the guest. Her new novel, Wonderland, is now available fromHoughton Mifflin Harcourt. Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, calls it "A spellbinding look into the protagonist’s being... meticulously crafted ... Days and shows pass, but within this routine, a transformation slowly creeps into the narrative: that of commitment, and, perhaps, hope for the future." And Michael Sti...

Megan Stielstra is the guest. Her new essay collection, Once I Was Cool, is now available from Curbside Splendor.   Roxane Gay says "In Once I Was Cool, Megan Stielstra is warm and open and wise. Whether she’s writing about the complex loneliness of early motherhood or failing to rise to the occasion or find the right language while living abroad, Stielstra is a masterful essayist. From the first...

Leslie Jamison is the guest. Her new collection of essays, entitled The Empathy Exams, is now available from Graywolf Press. The New York Times Book Review calls it "Extraordinary and exacting....This capacity for critical thinking, for a kind of cool skepticism that never gives way to the chilly blandishments of irony, is very rare. It's not surprising that Jamison is drawing comparisons to Sonta...

Kathleen Rooney is the guest. Her new novel, O, Democracy!, is now available from Fifth Star Press. Jonathan Evison raves “O, Democracy! infuriates and inspires. Rooney has written a brilliant and fiercely readable novel of politics and ideals, both an indictment and a celebration of the American Experiment, which will leave you breathless.” And Elizabeth Crane says “With O, Democracy!, Kathleen R...

Juliet Escoria is the guest. Her new story collection, Black Cloud, is now available from Civil Coping Mechanisms.   Adam Wilson says "Juliet Escoria is like a gutter-punk Grace Paley." And Benjamin Samuel, co-editor of Electric Literature, says "Reading the stories in Black Cloud is like getting punched in the throat; Juliet Escoria leaves you speechless. Her honesty teaches us that beauty can be...

Sommer Browning is the guest. Her new poetry collection, Backup Singers, is now available from Birds Publishing.   Mathias Svalina says "Sometimes I think Sommer Browning is a James Wright for the basic cable generation, at others the gorgeously deformed lovechild of H.D. and Groucho Marx. What I mean is I cannot categorize these poems, and that's the highest compliment I can give any poetry." Mon...

Josh Raab is the guest. He is the founder of The Newer York Press, an experimental literary publisher based in Los Angeles.  Its latest title, The Inevitable June, by Bob Schofield, is now available for pre-order. Monologue topics: the desert, Coachella, fish tacos, sunlight, curmudgeonliness.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Hocking is the guest. His new memoir, The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld, is now available from Graywolf Press. It is the official April selection of the TNB Book Club. Cheryl Strayed says "As generous as it is smart, as intimate as it is grand, as illuminating as it is dark. With grace and guts, Justin Hocking dares to go where few men have gone before: not only out to sea, but also i...

Today's show features conversations with multiple authors, all of whom have contributed to a new anthology entitled Labor Day: True Birth Stories by Today's Best Women Writers.  Guests include the anthology's editors, Eleanor Henderson and Anna Solomon, as well as Amy Brill, Arielle Greenberg, Cristina Henriquez, Heidi Julavits, Jane Roper, Rachel Jamison Webster, Sarah Jefferis, and Sarah Strickl...

Douglas Coupland is the guest. His new novel is called Worst. Person. Ever. and it is available now from Blue Rider Press. The Globe and Mail says “A satirical, misanthropic romp through reality television, environmental disaster and apocalyptic possibilities. Once again, Coupland...has asserted himself as a documenter of our times and anticipator of societal threats.... The plugged-in consumer-cu...

T. Greenwood is the guest. Her latest novel, Bodies of Water, is now available from Kensington Books. Publishers Weekly says "Greenwood is a writer of subtle strength...finding light in the darkest of stories." And Library Journal calls it "...intricate and tragic...This compassionate, insightful look at hope and redemption is a richly textured portrait." Monologue topics: Otherppl Premium, writin...

Scott O'Connor is the guest. His new novel, Half World, is now available from Simon & Schuster.   The Daily Beast calls it "Gripping...The perfect book for our present moment." And Kirkus Reviews calls it "An invigorating historical thriller... Intimately gripping... O'Connor writes with fire." Monologue topics:  company, family, being too busy, wanting to live in utopia, mail.   Learn more about...

Rene Denfeld is the guest. She is an accomplished journalist who has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Oregonian, and other publications. She is also a licensed investigator who specializes in death penalty work. Her debut novel, The Enchanted, is now available from Harper. Publishers Weekly calls it “A striking one-of-a-kind prison novel....[with] rich, haunting prose...A stunning firs...