Show Notes
Teddy Wayne joins host Stephen Fishbach to discuss his novel 'Loner.' 'Loner' follows Harvard freshman David Federman, who becomes increasingly obsessed with his classmate Veronica. Published in September of 2016, 'Loner' now seems a prescient look at an angry, disaffected young man who demands more from his life. Loner was named a "Best Book of the Year" by NPR, Kirkus, New York post, and Bookish.
More from Paraphrase
Debut novelist — and WNYC host — Tiffany Hanssen joins me to talk writing violence, humanizing morally complex characters, and injecting humor into a dark story.
Debut novelist Anna Nordberg joins me to talk about escalating stakes in scene-setting, being pigeon-holed into a genre, and how to transmogrify your own personal grief into a work of art.
Daniel Pollack-Pelzner joins me to discuss his debut book Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist. How did Lin-Manuel Miranda, the sweet, sensitive son of Puerto Rican parents from an immigrant neighborhood in Manhattan, rise to become the preeminent musical storyteller of the 21st century? Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist is his incredible story as never told before, tracing Miranda's path from an often isolated child to the winner of multiple Tonys and Grammys for his Broadway hits Hamilton and In the Heights; a global chart-topping sensation for his songs in Disney's Moana and Encanto; and the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur Genius Grant.
Lincoln Michel joins me to discuss his second novel Metallic Realms. Perennially single, socially awkward, and drowning in debt, Michael Lincoln finds his life has turned out nothing like the intergalactic lives of the pulp heroes of his youth. But these are pedestrian concerns—he has a higher calling, and that is to preserve for all posterity the greatest series in the history of the written word: The Star Rot Chronicles. Written collectively by Michael's best (and perhaps only) friend Taras K. Castle and his misfit science fiction writing group, the Orb 4, the stories follow Captain Baldwin and his fearless crew on their mind-bending adventures across the Metallic Realms, from solar whales swallowing suns at the edge of spacetime to extraterrestrial romances and interstellar wars. These masterpieces have gone tragically unpublished—until now.
Sara Levine joins me to discuss her novel 'Treasure Island!!!' When a college graduate with a history of hapless jobs (ice cream scooper, gift wrapper, laziest ever part-time clerk at The Pet Library) reads Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island, she is dumbstruck by the timid design of her life. Convinced that Stevenson's book is cosmically intended for her, she redesigns her life according to its Core Values: boldness, resolution, independence, and horn-blowing. The New York Times raves, "A rollicking tale, shameless, funny and intelligent."