Otherppl With Brad Listi

Gregory Sherl is the guest. His new book Monogamy Songs is now available from Future Tense. The Huffington Post raves "The problem with post-confessionalism is that its most uninspired iterations have been sprinkled across America for the past quarter-century; that is, the problem with post-confessionalism isn't post-confessionalism, it's post-confessionalists. No longer: Gregory Sherl is the post-confessionalist we've been looking for, which is to say that there's nothing smarmy, self-important, or false about these poems or this poet. Sherl is that rare author who can speak earnestly about the vagaries, pleasures, and discouragements of living and still charm your pants off. You'll enjoy walking around his head a bit, I guarantee." And Rain Taxi says "...Sherl has written a book full of love and surprising emotional power." Monologue topics: facial hair, signifiers, head scarves, hard-won truth, wisdom, messiah complexes, author photos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Susan Orlean is the guest. A staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, she is also the bestselling author of several books, including The Orchid Thief and Rin Tin Tin. The New York Times Book Review raves "The collecting mania that Susan Orlean has so painstakingly described is, like the orchid, a small thing of grandeur, a passion with a pedigree...Stylishly written, whimsical yet sophisticated, quirkily detailed and full of empathy for a person you might not have thought about empathetically...The Orchid Thief shows her gifts in full bloom." And Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, says "I adored [Rin Tin Tin]. It weaves history, war, show business, humanity, wit, and grace into an incredible story about America, the human-animal bond, and the countless ways we would be lost without dogs by our sides, on our screens, and in our books. This is the story Susan Orlean was born to tell—it's filled with amazing characters, reporting, and writing." Monologue topics: Episode 200, spreadi

Peter Mattei is the guest. His new novel, The Deep Whatsis, is now available in the United States from Other Press, and in the UK from The Friday Project.  Kate Christensen raves "With zingy, hilarious glee, Peter Mattei takes a sharp stick and pokes it at many deserving underbellies: the puffery of corporate America; hipsters, yoga dudes, and the general pretentiousness of north Brooklyn; and many more. The Deep Whatsis is a provocative, darkly subversive, deeply satisfying novel." And Publishers Weekly calls it "[A] morbidly satiric look at corporate culture at the crossroads of art and consumerism...Mattei serves up a rampant critique of haute New York society." Monologue topics: screenwriting, when comedy is received as tragedy, film school, humiliation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Megan Abbott is the guest. Her latest novel, Dare Me, is due out in paperback from Reagan Arthur / Back Bay Books on August 27, 2013. The New York Times Book Review raves "Megan Abbott has [written]...The Great American Cheerleading Novel, and—stop scowling—it's spectacular.... Subversive stuff... Heathers meets Fight Club good." And Entertainment Weekly calls it "A psychologically astute thriller...Abbott's latest is not only a page-turning mystery—it's also a close look at teen girls' ferocious rivalries and intense bonds." Monologue topics: mail, feminism, Adelle Waldman, Episode 195. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Molly Ringwald is the guest. Her debut novel, When It Happens to You, is now available in paperback from It Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. Lauren Groff, bestselling author of Arcadia, raves "When It Happens to You is absolutely lovely, a smart, emotionally sophisticated, intricately dovetailed novel of stories. World, I'm telling you now: Molly Ringwald is the real deal." And Kirkus calls it "A beautiful exploration of how the heart's irrational responses to love and betrayal can stand in the way of forgiveness... Ringwald deftly weaves together the threads of these stories, creating a tapestry that captures the emotional landscape of both young and well-worn relationships." Monologue topics:  over-thinking things, Sixteen Candles, Anthony Michael Hall, Farmer Ted, near disasters.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Janice Clark is the guest. Her debut novel, The Rathbones, is now available from Doubleday.  It is the official August selection of The TNB Book Club. Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, says “A teenager comes of age and grapples with the heavy burdens of family secrets against the backdrop of the 19th Century New England whaling industry in this beautifully written, playful and intricate debut novel.  Clark creates evocative descriptions . . . making her images and encounters between people especially vivid.” And The Millions says "The Rathbones is the most sui generis debut you’re likely to encounter this year. Think Moby-Dick directed by David Lynch from a screenplay by Gabriel Garcia Marquez…with Charles Addams doing the set design and The Decembrists supplying the chanteys. Clark writes a beautiful prose line, and the story, like the ocean, gets deeper, richer, and stranger the farther out you go.” Monologue topics:  bikes, LA, tourist vans, celebrity sightings, mistakes. Learn more about your ad

Adelle Waldman is the guest. Her debut novel, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., is now available from Henry Holt.  Jess Walter calls it “A smart, engaging 21st-century comedy of manners in which the debut novelist Adelle Waldman crawls convincingly around inside the head of one Nathaniel (Nate) Piven. [She shows] herself to be  . . . a savvy observer of human nature . . . . terrific at describing the halting miscommunications of a relationship. Nate’s self-destructive moodiness and reverse-engineered justifications are especially well drawn; his shallow pick-a-fight thoughts may even be painfully familiar.” And Katie Roiphe, writing for Slate, says "We have lately heard ad infinitum the new sensitive literary man’s account of his life and times... what we haven’t yet heard enough of is the smart literary woman’s view of him. With Adelle Waldman’s funny, provocative satire, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., we have a valuable new anthropology of the type. In a debut novel told from his point of view, Waldma

Abigail Tarttelin is the guest. Her new novel, Golden Boy, has just been published in the United States by Atria Books. Booklist, in a starred review, calls it “A dramatic, thoroughgoing investigation of the complexities of sexuality and gender.... A warmly human coming-of-age story, thanks to the fact that Max is such an appealing character. And so his desperate search for identity is gripping, emotionally engaging, and genuinely unforgettable.”   And Emily St. John Mandel says     “Abigail Tarttelin is a fearless writer. In Golden Boy, she balances a harrowing coming of age with a deeply compassionate portrait of a family in crisis, and the result is sometimes brutal, often tender, and always compelling. This is a gripping and fully-realized novel.”   Monologue topics:  politics, media, money, Washington DC, power, This Town, dystopia, depression.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Antosca is the guest. A staff writer on the upcoming NBC show Believe, helmed by J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuarón, he is also the author of several books, the most recent of which is a story collection called The Girlfriend Game, available now from Word Riot Press. Peter Straub says "These lovely stories float out to us from a long, dark alley-way where Franz Kafka and Bruno Schultz are mugging Ray Bradbury.... Nick Antosca has reached a level of blissful mastery." And Publishers Weekly says "Antosca's scalpel dissects love, family, and illusions of morality in this brutal and often uncomfortably sexual collection. Combining scathing horror and psychological realism, these 12 vivisections of the inhuman condition marry stinging social commentary with psychological horror... Horror's expected icons are replaced by neighbors and families, with relationships being the monsters... This literate, thoughtful horror will inspire long-lasting unease." Monologue topics: addicition, moral ambiguity, the vastness

Alissa Nutting is the guest. Her debut novel, Tampa, is now available from Ecco.  Time magazine calls it "A gutsy attempt by a young, female author to embody a wholly unsympathetic female narrator and probe the question of whether society lets women essentially get away with crimes for which men are excoriated." And Salon says "It may be the summer’s best beach read — that is, if you ditch the disconcertingly woolly black velour dust jacket, and make sure your kids aren’t peeking over your shoulder. ...Beyond mere titillation, Tampa gets at fundamental questions: What are the limits of reader empathy? If an individual we’d view as an unrepentant criminal explains her twisted thought process, are we complicit if we keep reading? And is an adult woman seducing a young male student — with its air of 'hot for teacher' fantasy — meaningfully different from male pedophilia?" Monologue topics:  listener feedback, closing thoughts on the 'lovely and talented' debate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph

Elliott Holt is the guest. Her debut novel, You Are One of Them, is now available from Penguin. The New York Times Book Review raves "You Are One of Them is a hugely absorbing first novel from a writer with a fluid, vivid style and a rare knack for balancing the pleasure of entertainment with the deeper gratification of insight. More, please.” And Darin Strauss says “Elliott Holt is not just a promising writer, but a great writer. She’s young, and she’s a master. I was going to write that You Are One of Them could’ve been written by an Alice Munro or a Susan Minot, but that would be wrong. Because this book could only have been written by Elliott Holt, whose powerful new voice is her own.” Also in this episode:  a brief conversation with Alexander Maksik, whose new novel A Marker to Measure Drift is the official July selection of the TNB Book Club. Monologue topics: lovely and talented, sexism, feminism, TNB Book Club. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sean Carswell is the guest. His new novel is called Madhouse Fog. Patricia Geary says “I’m a huge fan of Carswell’s fiction: he’s intelligent, hilarious, incisive, and his ear for dialogue is extraordinary. Nevertheless, I found Madhouse Fog to be a geometric progression of his talent—besides being compelling and wonderfully strange (I lost sleep over it; it’s a damn hard book to put down), it is the epitome of literary sophistication. I loved this novel!” And Scott O'Connor says “Sean Carswell is full of surprises. He’s funny, frightening, madcap, philosophical. His writing has a real warmth of spirit, and the kind of deft observation that changes the way you see things long after you leave the page.” Monologue topics: Amazon, Apple, Big 5 publishers, the future of publishing, the business of publishing, paranoia.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alina Simone is the guest. Her debut novel, Note to Self, is now available from Faber & Faber. Sam Lipsyte says “People as multi-talented and skilled as Alina Simone, who sings beautifully, writes essays, and now foists upon us a truly funny and poignant novel, need to be stopped. And maybe they will be, but in the meantime, there is no harm in falling into the soulful voice of Simone's narrator, Anna, as she struggles with the end of numb, cubicled youth and the awkward beginnings of new life.” And Kirkus calls it “A remarkably assured debut . . . Wicked, witty.” Monologue topics: Fourth of July, the weird story of how my bad back was finally healed.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lee Boudreaux is the guest. She is the editorial director at Ecco Press and has worked with a long list of notable authors, including Stephen King, David Wroblewski, Alissa Nutting, Patrick DeWitt, and Ben Fountain.  Monologue topics:  mail, strange mail, Whole Foods, marriage, parenthood, using your words.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Domenica Ruta is the guest. Her new memoir, With or Without You, is now available from Spiegel & Grau. Entertainment Weekly calls it “Stunning . . . comes across as a bleaker, funnier, R-rated version of The Glass Castle and marks the arrival of a blazing new voice in literature.” And The New York Times Book Review calls it “A luminous, layered accomplishment.” Also this episode:  a brief conversation with Jessica Anya Blau, whose new novel, The Wonder Bread Summer, is now available from Harper Perennial.  Monologue topics:  the sun's lethal nature, worrying about people not being worried about me. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erika Kleinman is the guest. Her new mini-memoir, My Life as a Dyke, is now available as an ebook exclusive from Thought Catalog. From the publisher: "Being a lesbian doesn’t come natural to everyone. That’s what Erika Kleinman learned during her sexual awakening in 1990s Seattle, when she began dating a host of butch women who were all too willing to show her the ropes. My Life as a Dyke recounts Kleinmans’ relationships with candor and humor while making one thing clear: no matter who you’re interested in, dating can be a nightmare." Monologue topics:  people smiling at me, cosmic energy, narcissism, walking meditation, Los Angeles.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maggie Nelson is the guest. She is the critically acclaimed author of books like The Red Parts, Bluets, and The Art of Cruelty. The New York Times Book Review calls The Art of Cruelty "An important and frequently surprising book . . . could be read as the foundation for a post-avant-garde aesthetics. . . . Nelson, who is also a poet, is such a graceful writer that I . . . just sat back and enjoyed the show.” And BOMB Magazine says of Bluets "From blue factoids like Benedict de Saussure’s 1789 invention of 'cyanometer, with which he hoped to measure the blue of the sky,' to her own struggles with depression, Nelson gifts us with what seems like a lifetime study of blue while somehow slyly avoiding any of the obvious 'blue' clichés. Maggie Nelson continues to raise the bar higher in what a reader can expect from a book. Bluets is smart yet intimate, quiet yet provocative, and a welcome addition to the poetic non-fiction discourse." Monologue topics: mortality, memory, writing, childhood, wiping, O.J. Simpson, m

Julie Sarkissian is the guest. Her debut novel, Dear Lucy, is now available from Simon & Schuster. Joyce Carol Oates says "Dear Lucy introduces a young writer with a most original voice and a tenderly eccentric vision.  Julie Sarkissian has created a boldly lyrical, suspenseful, and mysterious fictional world in this striking debut novel." And Ron Rash raves "In Dear Lucy, Julie Sarkissian has accomplished what many veteran novelists never achieve: a startlingly original work that is also profound and wise in the vagaries of the heart. What an amazing debut." Monologue topics: mail, listener reactions to the Tao Lin episodes, Alt-Lit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Savoca is the guest. His new novel is called I Don't Know I Said, and it's available now from Publishing Genius Press. Michael Kimball says "There’s a hell of a lot more charm in Savoca’s book than a novel about sad and smart twenty-somethings should ever have." And Scott McClanahan says “Man, this book gets in you. It’s like baby food. You could go to the store and buy a jar and eat it with your hands, but it’d be better to have someone who shares your last name spoon it out on your tongue. After reading it, you will say, ‘Give me more, Momma.’ I want more. MORE. MORE. GIVE US MORE MATTHEW.” Monologue topics: writing, superstition, childhood, memory, punting the ball at the new girl, shooting my little sister with a slingshot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emily Gould is the guest. She is the author of the memoir And the Heart Says Whatever (Free Press, 2010), and her novel entitled Friendship is due out from FSG in 2014. A former co-editor at Gawker, she now runs her own publishing venture called Emily Books, with Ruth Curry. Curtis Sittenfield says of And the Heart Says Whatever: "These smart, poignant essays about being young and literary in New York City are like a twenty-first century version of The Bell Jar but with more pot, sex, technology, and (thank goodness) a different ending." Monologue topics: moaning, humming, Starbucks, Miles Davis, elevators, neighbors, styrofoam, avoidance, existential pain.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices