Mon, Mar 3, 2014
Frederic Colier introduces a brand new literary program, Books Du Jour. The new series has a simple premise: every week for the duration of the series, the host will take three authors to lunch to discuss their work and main concerns about life at large. His first guests are Ayana Mathis, "The Twelve Tribes of Hattie"; Gary Shteyngart, "Little Failure: A Memoir," and Joshua Henkin, "The World Without You."
Mon, Mar 24, 2014
This week on "Books du Jour," our guests gather around a table at City Winery to discuss the scent of their new book and share some musing. The interesting aspect about scents is that they are always intimately tied to a location and more particularly to soils. Our three guests carry a distinctive sense of place. Mark Slouka, "Brewster," writes about Brewster, NY, a poignant novel of coming of age, based in the late 60s', about a young man seeking his place in this small country town. There is little wandering outside the borders. Lara Vapnyar complicates the issue of identity by straddling two continents and two time frames. Her "Scent of Pine," moves back and forth between the outskirts of Moscow and the countryside of Maine. Edmund White, on the other hand, with "Inside a Pearl," which refers to Paris, the French capital, continues his peripatetic wandering through the French cultural corridors. His sense of place is about relocation and shifting identity.
Mon, Mar 31, 2014
This week on "Books du Jour," our guests bring some controversy to the table. Conversations move around such topics as the 10,000-hours theory that could turn an average athlete into a world athlete, unless you have the perfect genetic makeup and can bypass the process. David Epstein, in "The Sport Gene," addresses this sort of issues in a highly entertaining book. How much of our genes define our chances to succeed in sports? David M. Howitt, in "Heed you Call," circles back to the hero's journey as defined by Joseph Campbell, to show that putting our mind into a specific coveted endeavor may well yield the results sought after. Are a strong will and awareness enough to achieve our goals? Giovanni Frazzetto, in "Joy, Guilt, Anger, and Love," looks at the impact of neuroscience on emotions. Can science really teach us to better understand ourselves, predict our behaviors and reactions by looking inside our brain? The best way to find out the answers to all these tricky questions is to tune in tonight
Mon, Apr 7, 2014
On the eve of the Supreme Court decision to lift off ceiling on corporate contributions, we will talk with Scott Turow and his new book, "Identical," which deals with the abuse of money used during a mayoral election. Stephan Talty brings a touch of frigid crispiness from upstate New York with his serial killer, "Hangman," who continues to spread havoc among the population of Buffalo. While Jean Hanff Korelitz, in "You Should Have Known" deals with the ironic twist a therapist experiences, when she becomes the victim of circumstances, which force her to swallow the very medicine she prescribed in her bestseller.
Mon, Apr 14, 2014
This week's episode of "Books Du Jour" looks at "transplant" literature. Andre Aciman, who over the years has become a specialist of squares: Abingdon Square, Strauss Park (which looks like a square) and Harvard Square, his latest novel, reflects on the voice of integration. Egyptian born, Andre shares through his novel the daily struggle he encounters to define his identity, the acceptance of other precepts and values, be they moral or ethical. Born in Sarajevo (Bosnia), Aleksandar Hemon offers a different voice, a voice of authenticity and appropriation even in the face of the corruption of language and past. His book "The Book of My Lives" is a collection of essays tracing the last twenty years of his life, from his departure from Bosnia and the irrupting war to the present day acceptance of life's many pluralities. Though born and raised in the states, Joan Silber's "Fools" is a collection of short stories, which deals with the lure of foreign countries. France in this instance, where we meet a cast of drifting American characters, who really are in search of themselves as they try to fill the existential void at the core of their journey. They are idealists who have to grapple with the failures of their beliefs, the fragility of their political choices and societies' demands, before they can fully embrace themselves.
Mon, Apr 21, 2014
The guests cannot emphasize enough the importance of turf. Turf is the stuff of the locals and inherent affinity with the material. Karin Slaughter, the Georgia native, does not drift too far from her roots with her recent novel 'Unseen". Henry Chang's Death Money, follows Jack Yu and his clairvoyant sidekick, into the mystery of the death of an unidentified Asian man and reveals a world both compelling and mysterious in New York City's Chinatown. Maria Konnikova, originally from Russia, explores the many fertile fields of Sherlock Holmes's mind, using the Sir Arthur Doyle's famous reasoner method in her novel Mastermind, offering a guideline on how to transform yourself into the next king investigator of Baker Street.
Mon, Apr 28, 2014
This week's episode of "Books du Jour," continues our mission to share different kinds of literature and books. The guests who have accepted to share our table are perfect examples of our mission. Kelly Cosgwell has written a memoir of blood, sweat and spit. "Eating Fire," is a heart-pumping account of old fashioned activism. In this instance, her memory of the Lesbian Avengers, a group formed in the early 90's, who called for direct action campaigns, battling cops, and mobilizing 20,000 dykes in DC while literally eating fire outside the White House. "Eating Fire" is a witty and urgent coming of age memoir spanning two decades, from the Culture War to the War on Terror. Gwen Edelman's "The Train to Warsaw," takes you on a ride down the tricky memory lane of the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. Through a pair of sympathetic characters, who survived the war, and now decides to revisit Poland for the first time, they must now confront the brutal forces of time and history, which usher them into the darkest corners of their psyche. Edelman brings about a great question. Indeed what does it mean to recapture one's past when this past is pregnant with horrific nightmares? John Wareham, "How to Survive a Bullet in the Heart" is the work of a humanist who is not afraid to roll his sleeve and get the dirty job done. John's job is to visit prisons, and teach poetry to convicts to help them get in touch with their inner life. "How to Survive," is a heart-wrenching collection of short poems written by men in captivity, men who feel regrets, guilt, but whatever else they feel, they lay bare their soul. Check out the closing chapter on self-acceptance. Really moving.
Mon, Aug 4, 2014
This week's episode of "Books Du Jour," continues our mission to share literature from around the world. George Prochnik, "The Impossible Exile, Stefan Zweig at the End of the World," portraits the last years of Stefan Zweig's, once one of the most celebrated authors in the 30's, exile from Austria, after Hitler took power. George Prochnik looks into the Zweig's disintegration and growing disillusion with humanity as he struggles in NY and Brazil. Boris Fishman, "The Replacement Life" looks back at WWII and how it continues to shape the life of people, in this case, ex-URSS immigrants, in our present. A young writer agrees to write letters on behalf of older holocaust survivors to apply for financial retribution from the German government. Of course the stories are not always true, and our hero is forced to face his own moral integrity. Antonin Baudry, "Weapons of Mass Diplomacy" takes a close look at the world of French diplomacy, viewed through the eyes of an assistant speech writer. Although filled with wise quotes from the Greek philosopher Heraticlus, this engaging graphic novel depicts in fact a world of insanity, where big egos clash with the constant maelstrom of last minute world crisis. Even the speeches suffer from an endless state of anxiety.
Mon, Aug 11, 2014
Nicole C. Kear, "Now I see You". Shortly after arriving in college, Nicole is afflicted by a macular degenerative condition. In other words, she will go blind in a few years. This heartfelt memoir traces her journey from learning about her illness through the years of turmoil while attempting to hide her condition, to self-acceptance that only the arrival of children could facilitate. Christopher Beha, "Arts and Entertainments," follows the meandering of a failed screenwriter, for whom the prospect of an easy gain, and so in order to pay for his wife's pregnancy treatment, makes him cross moral lines too easily. The consequences of course are devastating for all parties. But moral decay, soullessness, and the pernicious glib values of Reality TV are really at the heart of this engaging novel. Kerry Zukus & "Inside the Hotel Rwanda," written with Edouard Kayihura, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi, takes a controversial look at what really happened at the Hotel des Milles Collines, known in the Hollywood portrayal as "Hotel Rwanda." This memoir investigates the role played by the hero of the film, Paul Rusesabagina and demonstrates that the movie could not be further from reality. Paul was nothing more than a ruthless, profiteering, and threatening opportunist willing to send anyone into the hands of the Hutu murderers.