Ep. 42: Dan O'Brien and Shuchi Saraswat

Dan talks to James about his remarkable new collections of plays, PLAYS ONE, and poetry, NEW LIFE, made even more remarkable by Dan's fight with colon cancer. The afternoon after a clean scan, he and James discuss the illness, young writers, and their shared affinity for not reading reviews. Then, Shuchi Saraswat talks about her excellent essay for Tin House and, as a book buyer for Brookline Booksmith, recommends her favorite summer reads and fall books to look forward to.

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Dan O'Brien: http://www.danobrien.org/

Dan and James Discuss:

ILLNESS AS METAPHOR by Susan Sontag 

Sewanee Writers' Conference 

Middlebury College 

THE VOYAGE OF THE CARCASS by Dan O'Brien (DO) 

THE DEAR BOY (DO) 

Andra Harbold 

Blake Montgomery 

School Jacques Lecoq 

Vassar College 

New York Stage and Film 

Williamstown Theatre Festival 

Brown University 

Jessica St. Clair 

Pauline Kael 

THE NEW YORKER 

INDIANA JONES 

THE BODY OF AN AMERICAN (DO) 

ICE GHOSTS by Paul Watson 

Sam Shepard 

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center: National Playwrights Conference 

Patti Smith

BREAD LOAF WRITERS' CONFERENCE 

Thomas Mallon

Pinckney Benedict 

NEW LIFE: POEMS (DO)

WAR REPORTER (DO)

THE HOUSE IN HYDESVILLE (DO) 

THE CHERRY SISTERS REVISITED (DO) 

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Shuchi and James discuss:

RUNNING IN THE FAMILY by Michael Ondaatje 

TIN HOUSE 

Emma Komlos-Hrobsky 

Teju Cole 

John Berger 

W.G. Sebald 

IN THE SKIN OF A LION by Michael Ondaatje 

DIVISADERO by Michael Ondaatje 

IN THE DISTANCE by Hernan Diaz 

MEEK'S CUTOFF dir by Kelly Reichardt 

THE CAT'S TABLE by Michael Ondaatje 

THE BURNING GIRL by Clare Messud 

SMALL TREASONS by Mark Powell 

THE MOUNTAIN by Paul Yoon 

HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES by Carmen Maria Machado 

Kelly Link

Aimee Bender 

Laura van den Berg 

Karen Russell 

AT NIGHT WE WALK IN CIRCLES by Daniel Alarcon 

THE KING IS ALWAYS ABOVE THE PEOPLE by Daniel Alarcon

FIVE-CARAT SOUL by James McBride 

THE GOOD LORD BIRD by James McBride 

Jeffrey Eugenides 

Tom Hanks 

Steve Martin 

Junot Diaz 

Alice Munro 

Jim Shepard 

Brookline Booksmith 

NOBODY IS EVER MISSING by Catherine Lacey  

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