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Episode 308 — Michael Earl Craig

Episode 308 — Michael Earl Craig

FromOtherppl with Brad Listi


Episode 308 — Michael Earl Craig

FromOtherppl with Brad Listi

ratings:
Length:
89 minutes
Released:
Aug 31, 2014
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

Michael Earl Craig is the guest. His latest book, Talkativeness, is available now from Wave Books. 
Publishers Weekly says
"Craig renders unsettling dreams and quotidian clutter with sparse language and a quiet, distant voice to conjure poems brimming with the bizarre. His knack for the disturbing materializes in images from Dick Cheney being wheeled in á la Dr. Strangelove to President Obama's inauguration, to a husband and wife witnessing 'dark turkeys' encroaching on their property, to a speaker declaring his penchant for vocational talent: 'I have just very carefully cut/ my best friend's wife's bangs.' Even the lighter elements of the book seem a bit foul, such as the quick cameo of Death from Ingmar Bergman's Seventh Seal. This is the work of a writer who lives 'in an experimental town' where the 17 on-duty cops can only say, 'That's the way the cookie crumbles.' If it's the qualities of the macabre that lure the reader in, then it's our inability to look away from the grotesque that drive us to continue reading. That inability to turn back, much like the advice Craig offers about catching horses, is what remains at the end of this read: 'you can't fake looking away, horses/ know when you are doing this./ You have to really look away./ Some horsemen never come out of this.'"
Monologue topics: re-reading, Hunter S. Thompson, The Razor's Edge, my bad memory, melatonin, nightmares, fear, superstition.
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Released:
Aug 31, 2014
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth conversations with today's leading writers.    Books, literature, writing, authors, screenwriters, art, life, conversation.    PRAISE FOR THE OTHERPPL PODCAST:   “…[an] excellent literary podcast." -The Paris Review    “Fabulously smart.” -The Rumpus   “…fun, quirky, in-depth…” -NPR   “The perfect way to get the story behind your stories.” -Buzzfeed   “…the preplanned responses of NPR personalities sound somewhat counterfeit when stacked against the largely, if not completely, unscripted monologues that open rawer podcasts, such as Marc Maron’s ‘WTF’ and Brad Listi’s literary ‘Otherppl’ podcast. Mr. Listi, for instance, frequently allows for lengthy pauses in between sentences that convey, without stage directions, the process of someone thinking aloud.” -New York Times   “Good from the word ‘go.’…funny, pointed, thought-provoking. If there’s any justice in the world, this will become huge.” -McSweeney's    “Always engaging and often revelatory…one more cog in a burgeoning literary media empire.” -Filmmaker Magazine   “Listi’s interviews are somehow both more relaxed and more personal than the typical author conversation.” -The Millions   “In a world full of distractions — where almost everything I encounter is practically begging me not to write — Brad Listi’s podcast has made me hit the pause button on my iTunes, blow off social obligations, and sit my ass down in a chair and write. The show is funny, insightful, entertaining, affirming, and, more than anything — inspiring. It’s easily one of the best podcasts on the web.” -Electric Literature   “What’s awesome here is the personal questions, the open quality of the interviews…Listi is a damn good interviewer with an ability to discuss just about anything. His discussions of religion in particular make for an awesomely intimate environment that many other interview podcasts just don’t have.” -Book Riot   “The writers and book-relevant folks [Listi has] chosen to feature range from the up-and-coming to well-established. Indie presses and their authors are abundant, so it’s a great spot to hear about off-the-radar talent. I feel like I’ve gone into some of the episodes barely knowing a name, and I come out with a better understanding of the creative life and, usually, a new book on my to-read list.” -Bustle   ***   otherppl.com    @otherppl   Instagram   Support the show on Patreon   Proud Bookshop affiliate. Buy books here!