Podcast appearances and mentions of matt sumell

In today's flashback, an outtake from Episode 374, my conversation with Matt Sumell, author of the novel-in-stories Making Nice (Picador). It first aired on August 5, 2015. Sumell is a graduate of UC Irvine's MFA program, and his fiction has since appeared in Esquire, the Paris Review, Electric Literature, One Story, Noon, and elsewhere. He lives in Los Angeles, California.  *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch @otherppl Instagram  YouTube TikTok Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Stories, But Shorter” has it’s first live show at the Last Bookstore in Downtown Los Angeles with two great short story writers! Xuan Juliana Wang reads “Future Cat” from her upcoming book “Home Remedies”, and Matt Sumell reads “Toast” from his book, “Making Nice”. Host Cassi Jerkins, producer Jeremy Schmidt and the audience ask questions after each short story.. We have a great discussion about using humor to deal with the hardships of life, the uncertainty and agony of transitioning from young adult to adult, and grief. Links to Share Xuan Juliana Wang - http://www.xuanjulianawang.com Matt Sumell - https://www.mattsumell.com Follow “Stories, But Shorter” on Twitter & Instagram - @storiesbutshorter The Last Bookstore - http://lastbookstorela.com

A conversation between scrappy writer Matt Sumell and his social justice warrior sister Jackie Sumell. They're two "curly-haired troublemakers" who grew up in a household that was torn apart by a gender war. Decades later, that war still dominates their relationship.

For most people, early middle age doesn’t include a philosophical reading list and a deep dive into existentialism. But if Anne Gisleson’s new memoir, The Futilitarians, is anything to go on, it probably should. By turns intellectual, poignant, playful, and deeply funny, The Futilitarians explores both the personal—from Anne’s Catholic upbringing in New Orleans, to her father’s death, to the suicides of her sisters—and the universal, the questions that mankind has grappled with for millennia. What is the correct way to live, to experience loss, to grow old? And what does it mean to be human? Anne is joined by Matt Sumell, whose stories have appeared in Esquire, The Paris Review, and others. He is also a recipient of a Glenn Schaeffer Award and an Arlene Cheng Fellowship. 

Matt Sumell is the guest. His novel-in-stories, Making Nice, is available now from Henry Holt.  Note: Our conversation was recorded earlier in July, days before my son was born, so you'll hear us talking about the impending birth a little bit. I logged a bunch of interviews in the weeks leading up to delivery, anticipating a busy late summer, so if you hear things that seem chronologically lagging, baby-wise, that's why.  And so. Matt Sumell. There are people in the world who are naturally funny, I feel, and by that I mean this: they're the ones who don't even have to tell a joke, and they're still funny. They barely have to say a word. It's like their essence is funny. They walk into the room, and things get funnier automatically. It's just who they are, it's the charge they give off. Matt Sumell is like this. He's a character. You'll get it almost right away when you listen to him talk. And he's a hell of a writer. In the monologue, I read and respond to some mail from listeners.  I've been getting a lot of great email lately.  So much.  Many of you have taken the time to send good wishes re: the arrival of my son, and I want you to know how much I appreciate that. Thank you.  (I'm not gonna overdo it reading such emails, as I feel like that would be overkill.)  That said, the mail runs the gamut, subject-matter-wise, and I'll be reading more of it in episodes to come; I want to try to get to as much of it as possible on-air.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Sumell ("Making Nice") joins the show. We discuss his new novel featuring a protagonist as hilarious as he is heartbreaking.