Otherppl with Brad Listi

Julie Klam is the guest. She is the author of several books, the most recent of which is called Friendkeeping: A Field Guide to the People You Love, Hate, and Can't Live Without, now available from Riverhead. Kirkus raves "Klam's voice is often flat-out hilarious… [she] never fails to come up with terrific comic vignettes and sharp one-liners… highly entertaining." And the late-great David Rakoff...

J. Robert Lennon is today's guest.  He is the author of several books, and his latest novel, Familiar, is now available from Graywolf Press. The New York Times Book Review raves “Over the last decade, J. Robert Lennon’s literary imagination has grown increasingly morbid, convoluted and peculiar—just as his books have grown commensurately more surprising, rigorous and fun.” And The Los Angeles Time...

Susan Straight is the guest.  She is the author of several books and has been a finalist for the National Book Award.  Her new novel, Between Heaven and Here, is now available from McSweeney's.  Ayelet Waldman raves "It is only the rarest of novels that cry for a sequel, the most unusual of stories that at once satisfies and leaves the reader aching for more. Susan Straight's remarkable Take One C...

Antoine Wilson is today's guest.  He's the author of two novels, the most recent of which is called Panorama City, now available from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, says "Wilson’s second novel (after Interloper) is fresh and flawlessly crafted as well as charmingly genuine. Oppen Porter is almost 30, a guileless man who lives in a small central California town...

Jami Attenberg is the guest. Her new novel, The Middlesteins, is now available from Grand Central Publishing.  Jonathan Franzen raves "The Middlesteins had me from its very first pages, but it wasn't until its final pages that I fully appreciated the range of Attenberg's sympathy and the artistry of her storytelling." Kate Christensen says "The Middlesteins is a truly original American novel, at o...

Sean Beaudoin is today's guest.  He's the author of several books, the most recent of which is a novel called The Infects, now available from Candlewick Press.  Publishers Weekly raves "Horror goes hand in hand with dark comedy in this wickedly unpredictable adventure, as Beaudoin simultaneously skewers the fast food industry and familiar zombie tropes." Monologue topics:  ayahuasca, psycho-spirit...

Paula Bomer is today's guest. She's the author of two books, the most recent of which is a novel called Nine Months, which is available now from Soho Press. Library Journal calls it A raw, darkly funny, at times appalling page-turner.... Mommy lit lovers will be horrified, but Bomer’s debut novel will resonate with fans of quirky, character-driven fiction in the vein of Richard Russo, John Updike,...

Lorin Stein is the guest.  He is the editor of The Paris Review and the co-editor (with Sadie Stein) of a new anthology called Object Lessons: The Paris Review Presents the Art of the Short Story, now available from Picador Paperback Originals.  From the Editors' Note: Some chose classics. Some chose stories that were new even to us. Our hope is that this collection will be useful to young writers...

Kathleen Alcott is today's guest.  Her debut novel, The Dangers of Proximal Alphabets, is now available from Other Press. Bookslut raves Heartbreaking, honest, and wholly engrossing, The Dangers of Proximal Alphabets dredges the depth of love that divides us, unites us, and ... Continue reading → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steven Gillis is the author of several books and the co-founder of Dzanc Books.  His latest story collection, The Law of Strings, is now available from Atticus Books. Support independent bookstores! Shop here. Also by Steven Gillis: Liars: A Novel Gillis is the author of six novels and two short story collections. A founding member of the Ann Arbor Book Festival Board of Directors, and a finalist...

Benjamin Wood is the guest.  His debut novel, The Bellwether Revivals, is now available from Viking in the United States and Simon & Schuster in the UK. The Bellwether Revivals was an official selection of The TNB Book Club. Joanna ... Continue reading → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amber Sparks is today's guest.  Her debut story collection, May We Shed These Human Bodies, is now available from Curbside Splendor. Raves Michael Kimball: There was Aesop, Thomas Bulfinch, Edith Hamilton, Angela Carter-and now there is Amber Sparks with a ... Continue reading → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

D.T. Max is the guest.  He's a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine and the author of Every Love Story is a Ghost Story:  A Life of David Foster Wallace, now available from Viking. The San Francisco Chronicle calls ... Continue reading → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thad Ziolkowski is the author of the debut novel, Wichita (Tonga Books). Also by Thad Ziolkowski: On a Wave: A Memoir Ziolkowski is the author of Our Son the Arson, a collection of poems, and a memoir, On a Wave, which was a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award in 2003. In 2008, he was awarded a fellowship from the John S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. His essays and reviews have appeared i...

Leigh Stein is the author of the novel THE FALLBACK PLAN and the poetry collection DISPATCH FROM THE FUTURE (Melville House). Support independent bookstores! Buy your copies here. Also by Leigh Stein: SELF CARE: A NOVEL LAND OF ENCHANTMENT: A MEMOIR WHAT TO MISS WHEN: POEMS *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Launche...

David Abrams is the guest.  He's the author of the debut novel Fobbit, which is now available from Grove/Atlantic. Publishers Weekly, in a starred reviews, says Abrams’s debut is a harrowing satire of the Iraq War and an instant classic....Abrams, ... Continue reading → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dana Johnson is the guest.  She's the author of the story collection Break Any Woman Down, winner of the Flannery O'Connor award for short fiction, and her debut novel, Elsewhere, California, is now available from Counterpoint. Aimee Bender raves I ... Continue reading → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alix Ohlin is the guest.  She's the author of several books, the most recent of which are the story collection Signs and Wonders, available now from Vintage, and a novel called Inside, available Knopf.  Both were published in June of ... Continue reading → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Batt is the author of the memoir Sugarhouse (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Support independent bookstores! Buy your copy here. Batt's work has appeared in Tin House and on The Huffington Post and elsewhere. The Missouri Review called him a "heavy hitter" of nonfiction, and he's been nominated six times for the Pushcart Prize and is the recipient of an individual Artist Grant from the Nationa...

George Saunders is today's guest.  He's the bestselling author of several books, including CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, Pastoralia, and The Braindead Megaphone, and his brand new story collection, Tenth of December, is due out from Random House in January 2013. ... Continue reading → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth Ellen is the author of the chapbook Before You She was a Pit Bull (Future Tense) and Fast Machine, a collection of her best work from the last decade. Support indie bookstores! Shop here. Ellen's stories, poems and essays have appeared in numerous online and print journals over the last 15 years, including elimae, Hobart, Fanzine, Bookslut, Muumuu House, BOMBBLOG, American Short Fiction,...

Pauls Toutonghi is today's guest.  He's the author of two novels, the latest of which is called Evel Knievel Days, now available from Crown Books. Kirkus, in a starred review, calls it [A] superb literary effort....With writing both gently ironical ... Continue reading → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oksana Marafioti is today's guest.  She's the author of a new memoir called American Gypsy, now available from Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. Kirkus calls it Engaging . . . Marafioti describes with humor and introspection how the self-described ‘Split Nationality ... Continue reading → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Roggenbuck is the guest.  He is a traveling poet-slash-blogger whose latest poetry collection, Crunk Juice, is now available from Lief Books.  He also hosts a weekly, web-based television show called The Illuminati Power Hour, which is available via Spreecast. ... Continue reading → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maria Semple is today's guest.  For years she worked in television, writing for shows like Mad About You and Arrested Development.  Then, in 2008, she published her debut novel, This One is Mine.  Her follow-up effort, a novel called Where'd ... Continue reading → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices