Podcast appearances and mentions of Susan Cheever

According to Amazon, Tom Shroder is an award-winning journalist, editor, and author. His most recent book, "The Most Famous Writer Who Ever Lived: A True Story of My Family," an investigation into the life of his grandfather, Pulitzer Prize winning author MacKinlay Kantor. Book critic Susan Cheever said, "In writing a history that is also a meditation on writing, Shroder has created a book that is as useful as it is fascinating." Shroder is also the author of "Acid Test: LSD, Ecstasy, and the Power to Heal," selected as a Washington Post notable book of 2014. His earlier book, the best-selling "Old Souls," is a classic study of the intersection between mysticism and science.Shroder is also co-author, with former oil rig captain John Konrad, of "Fire on the Horizon,the Untold Story of the Gulf Oil Disaster." Sebastian Junger, author of "War" and "The Perfect Storm," says of Fire on the Horizon, "It's one of the best disaster books I've ever read.. . I tore through it like a novel, but with the queasy knowledge that the whole damn thing is true. A phenomenal feat of journalism."As editor of The Washington Post Magazine, he conceived and edited two Pulitzer Prize-winning feature stories. His most recent editing project, "Overwhemed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time," by Brigid Schulte, was a New York Times bestseller.In addition to being an author and editor of narrative journalism, Shroder is one of the foremost editors of humor in the country. He has edited humor columns by Dave Barry, Gene Weingarten and Tony Kornheiser, as well as conceived and launched the internationally syndicated comic strip, Cul de Sac, by Richard Thompson. With humorist Barry and novelists Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard, he concocted and edited "Naked Came the Manatee," a satirical serial novel.Shroder was born in New York City in 1954, the son of a novelist and a builder, and the grandson of MacKinlay Kantor, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his civil war novel "Andersonville." Shroder attended the University of Florida where he became Editor of the 22,000 circulation student daily newspaper despite the fact that he was an anthropology major (an affront for which the university's journalism faculty was slow to forgive him). After graduation in 1976, he wrote national award-winning features for the Fort Myers News Press, the Tallahassee Democrat, The Cincinnati Enquirer and the Miami Herald. At the Herald he became editor of Tropic magazine, which earned two Pulitzer Prizes during his tenure.Shroder is also known for his creation, along with Barry and Weingarten, of the Tropic Hunt, which has become the Herald Hunt in Miami and the Post Hunt in Washington, a mass-participation puzzle attended by thousands each year.

The queens get quick (and dirty), summarizing a poet's oeuvre in one sentence.If you'd like to support Breaking Form, please consider buying Aaron's and James's  books (both 2023):Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.When James says that Aaron makes a "Stuck the Landing" flourish, he means the kind of gesture made over and over in this montage of gymnasts sticking the landing!Watch an Elizabeth Bishop documentary here (including interviews with  Bidart,  Strand, Howard Moss, Mary McCarthy, and James Merrill). ~56 min.Watch John Ashbery accept, in delightfully odd fashion, a lifetime achievement award at the 2011 National Book Award here. (~10 min).Here's a 40-min documentary on Robert Frost that's worth watching. Watch this interview with Gwendolyn Brooks (~30 min), courtesy of Maryland's Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo).Listen to this ~2min recording of Jorie Graham reading her poem "Why" from To 2040 (Copper Canyon Press) here.Watch James Merrill read Bishop's "One Art" and his own "Developers at Crystal River" at the San Francisco Poetry Center in 1980. (~5 min)Watch this interview with Stanley Kunitz, on the occasion of his becoming  Poet Laureate (~20 min).Read Anthony Hecht's poem "More Light! More Light!" which deals centrally with Nazi executions in the Holocaust, or listen to him read the poem (3.5 min) here. We mention two articles about Cummings's anti-Semitism. The review of Susan Cheever's biography is here. The article Aaron mentions is available through J-Stor here. The article (and lost poem) that The Awl published about Cummings can be read here. Eloise Klein Healy's most recent book is A Brilliant Loss, published in 2022 by Red Hen Press and available here. She is the author of 10 books of poetry. Check out her website: https://www.eloisekleinhealy.com. You can read the poem that Celeste Gainey recites on the show, "Asking About You," here. Celese Gainey is the author of The Gaffer, published by Arktoi Books, an imprint of Red Hen Press. You can read more about her and her poetry on her website here.In 1974, Gainey was the first woman to be admitted as a gaffer to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.). In addition to lighting dozens of documentaries, she worked for such programs as 60 Minutes, ABC Close-Up, and 20/20, as well as on feature films like Dog Day Afternoon, Taxi Driver, and The Wiz.

Here you will find background information and anecdotes related to Season 2 Episode 2 with Susan Cheever, including: the ghost of John Cheever, a Carver interview about Cheever, a relevant bible verse explained, and more. 

In this episode I interview Guggenheim Fellow and Pulitzer Prize winning writer, Susan Cheever. We begin by discussing what might be Raymond Carver's most unusual story, "The Train". "The Train" is a sequel to "The Five-Forty-Eight", a beloved short story by her father, John Cheever. We met at the OSU archives in Columbus, Ohio (where Carver's papers are kept) to discuss "The Train", Raymond Carver and John Cheever's friendship, and Susan Cheever's many fine books of fiction and nonfiction. 

Today, Emma sits down (more then six feet apart and after being tested for COVID - 19) with her Mom, Susan Cheever.  They discuss childhood - struggles and joys - if Susan has a favorite child, and Emma asks only one super ridiculous question. ENJOY! RATE AND REVIEW ON ITUNES!  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/emmawillmannshow/support

I appreciate you guys very much. SPECIAL THANKS TO BOB FROM BOSTON FOR A FEW REASONS BUT FOR THE MONTHLY SUPPORT --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/emmaspod/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/emmaspod/support

A young man from a wealthy family is accused of committing two rapes while still in high school. Before he could be tried on these charges he'd flee the jurisdiction and disappear for eight years before finally being brought to justice. Resources:  "Accused Rapist and His Flight Trouble Darien" by Elizabeth Neuffer for The New York Times, Aug 27, 1987 "From Ski Slopes of Europe to a Rape Trial" by George Judson for The New York Times, Jan 31, 1995.  "Judgment Days" by Bill Hewitt for People.com, Nov 4, 1996. "Son of Darien" by Susan Cheever for The New York Times, April 27, 1997.  Vanity Fair Confidential: Fugitive Son, based on reporting by Jennet Conant for Vanity Fair Magazine, first aired on Jan 24, 2017.  Sponsor:  Bombas - www.Bombas.com/ONCE for 20% off any purchase between November 18 and December 5, 2019.   

The Outer Limits of Inner Truth Explores Why Some Children Remember Their Previous Life Incarnation For the first time ever, we do a Forensic Soul Analysis on Cathy Bryd and her son Christian – both of whom shared a historic past life as mother & son. In addition, we offer tips, insights, and advice to parents who believe their kids may be remembering or are being affected by an earlier life incarnation. Featuring (In Order of Appearance) Tom Shroder / Author of   is the author of the book “The Boy Who Knew Too Much,” Extended Bios Tom Shroder Tom Shroder is an award-winning journalist, editor, and author of . His most recent book, “The Most Famous Writer Who Ever Lived: A True Story of My Family,” an investigation into the life of his grandfather, Pulitzer Prize winning author MacKinlay Kantor. Book critic Susan Cheever said, “In writing a history that is also a meditation on writing, Shroder has created a book that is as useful as it is fascinating.” Shroder is also the author of “Acid Test: LSD, Ecstasy, and the Power to Heal,” selected as a Washington Post notable book of 2014. His earlier book, the best-selling “Old Souls,” is a classic study of the intersection between mysticism and science. Shroder is also co-author, with former oil rig captain John Konrad, of “Fire on the Horizon,the Untold Story of the Gulf Oil Disaster.” Sebastian Junger, author of “War” and “The Perfect Storm,” says of Fire on the Horizon, “It’s one of the best disaster books I’ve ever read.. . I tore through it like a novel, but with the queasy knowledge that the whole damn thing is true. A phenomenal feat of journalism.” As editor of The Washington Post Magazine, he conceived and edited two Pulitzer Prize-winning feature stories. His most recent editing project, “Overwhemed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time,” by Brigid Schulte, was a New York Times bestseller. In addition to being an author and editor of narrative journalism, Shroder is one of the foremost editors of humor in the country. He has edited humor columns by Dave Barry, Gene Weingarten and Tony Kornheiser, as well as conceived and launched the internationally syndicated comic strip, Cul de Sac, by Richard Thompson. With humorist Barry and novelists Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard, he concocted and edited “Naked Came the Manatee,” a satirical serial novel. Cathy Byrd Cathy Byrd is the author of the book “The Boy Who Knew Too Much,” which was released by Hay House on March 21, 2017. The movie rights for this remarkable story have recently been purchased by 20th Century Fox and producer DeVon Franklin who created the movies “Heaven is for Real” and “Miracles from Heaven.” Cathy is a residential real estate broker and mother of two young children who never had aspirations of becoming a writer until her two-year-old son began sharing memories of being a baseball player in the 1920s and ‘30s. What makes this story even more fascinating is that Byrd’s son Christian Haupt has been touted by the international media as being a baseball prodigy since the age of two when he was discovered on YouTube by Adam Sandler for a baseball-playing cameo role in the movie “That’s My Boy.” Shortly after his fourth birthday, Christian became the youngest person to ever throw a ceremonial first pitch at a Major League baseball game and his YouTube baseball videos have now been viewed by more than 15 million people. Christian’s case has been studied by Dr. Jim Tucker from the University of Virginia Medical School department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences. Dr. Tucker has continued the research on children’s past-life memories that was originally started by Dr. Ian Stevenson in 1967. The University of Virginia now has over 2,500 documented cases of children who remember past lives on file.    

When she was 13, her father let her skip school to stay home and read in bed. “It was a great paternal moment, too,” she tells the New York Society Library, “to say to your child: I get that this is more important than going to school today.” The making of a reader, the making of a writer. With music from Tomas Rodriguez,

The Dark Eclipse: Reflections on Suicide and Absence A. W. Barnes “Barnes brilliantly understands the memoirist’s spiritual prerogative—we are able to bring the dead back to life in our prose. We can take the pictures off the wall and make them dance; we can take the facts of dry documents and make them into vivid stories. The Dark Eclipse is a beautiful example of this.” —Susan Cheever, author of Home Before Dark and Note Found in a Bottle: My Life as a Drinker The Dark Eclipse is a book of personal essays in which author A.W. Barnes seeks to come to terms with the suicide of his older brother, Mike. Using source documentation—police report, autopsy, suicide note, and death certificate—the essays explore Barnes’ relationship with Mike and their status as gay brothers raised in a large conservative family in the Midwest. In addition, the narrative traces the brothers’ difficult relationship with their father, a man who once studied to be a Trappist monk before marrying and fathering eight children. Because of their shared sexual orientation, Andrew hoped he and Mike would be close, but their relationship was as fraught as the author’s relationship with his other brothers and father. While the rest of the family seems to have forgotten about Mike, who died in 1993, Barnes has not been able to let him go. This book is his attempt to do so. Published by Bucknell University Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press. A.W. BARNES has a Ph.D. in English Literature and an MFA in Creative Writing. His nonfiction has appeared in Broad Street, The Away Journal, Gertrude Press, and Sheepshead Review. His academic book Post-Closet Masculinities in Early Modern England was published by Bucknell University Press in 2009. He lives in New York City.

Ron McIntire from the Grasping at Beers blog joins the show for a second visit to share four different kinds of booze and to discuss Drinking in America by Susan Cheever. Topics include: the history of alcohol in the United States, John's & Ron's own alcohol histories, and more. https://www.graspingatbeers.com/ 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:04:42 - Graspingatbeers.com and John & Ron’s mutual passion for booze. https://www.graspingatbeers.com 00:06:27 - Drink #1 Jim Beam Black Bourbon and John’s Top 3 Bourbons under $35 00:09:22 - The Mayflower and alcohol consumption in Colonial America 00:15:24 - The ubiquity of alcohol in human society 00:18:20 - Bridging gaps between different people by sharing alcohol 00:22:26 - Drink #2 Dad’s Hat Pennsylvania Rye Whiskey and Ron’s whiskey heritage 00:28:32 - U.S. Alcohol Consumption Data from 1620 to 2018 00:33:43 - Universal Basic Income 00:41:15 - Origins of human alcohol consumption and Drunken Monkey Hypothesis 00:46:30 - Drink #3 Troegs Perpetual Double IPA (John’s Favorite Beer) 00:47:40 - Craft beer bubble? 00:51:45 - Prohibition: How did such a drunk country force sobriety on its citizens? 00:59:40 - Uber saving lives by reducing incentives to drive drunk 01:00:58 - Alcohol and the Secret Service https://www.ranker.com/list/drunk-richard-nixon-stories/stephanroget?page=2 https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/richard-nixon-watergate-drunk-yom-kippur-war-119021 http://www.businessinsider.com/drunk-richard-nixon-nuke-north-korea-2017-1 01:06:05 - Drink #4 Southern Tier Choklat Orange 01:10:51 - John’s first time drunk 01:13:42 - Ron’s first ever drink 01:21:10 - Ron’s drunk story 01:23:19 - Our favorite and least favorite alcohol varieties: IPAs, stouts, whiskeys, red wine, etc

In our Infidelity series thus far, we've heard from the cheaters, from those who have been cheated on, and from a psychotherapist and expert on the topic. In this final installment, the Sugars focus on the often-overlooked experience of "the other woman" and the moral responsibility that comes with the role. They discuss with the novelist and biographer Susan Cheever, who was "the other woman" in an affair...twice.

This week on StoryWeb: E.E. Cummings’s book The Enormous Room. While in graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, I was fortunate enough to take a class on literature of the 1920s. Taught by Professor Walter Rideout, the seminar featured both classics from the decade – such as Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby – as well as lesser-known works such as Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons and Elizabeth Madox Roberts’s The Time of Man. I was captivated by the many literary works we studied throughout the course of the semester. One piece that completely captured my attention was E.E. Cummings’s autobiographical 1922 book, The Enormous Room. Before this time, e e cummings (with lower-case letters) had been to me “merely” a poet. As lovely and brilliant as his poetry is, I am a lover of prose, of story. (Why else would there be StoryWeb?!) The Enormous Room fit the bill for me. Whether you classify it as a memoir or as an autobiographical novel, it is beautifully written and magnificently illustrated with Cummings’s pen-and-ink drawings. The book tells of Cummings’s experiences as an American prisoner in a French detention camp during World War I. After having delivered a “daring commencement address on modernist artistic innovations” at Harvard University and having thus declared the trajectory of his creative career, Cummings left for France with his college friend John Dos Passos and enlisted in the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps. Though he had been raised in a pacifist family (his father, Edward Cummings, was perhaps the best-known Unitarian minister in Boston), Cummings wanted the excitement of being near the front. But things did not play out exactly as Cummings had planned. Through an administrative mix-up, he was not assigned to an ambulance unit for five weeks. Based in Paris while he awaited his assignment, he fell in love with the city and its women and, from all accounts, whiled away his time quite delightfully. Eventually, he did get attached to an ambulance unit, where he befriended another American, William Slater Brown. Known as B. in The Enormous Room, Brown was a pacifist, and in letters back home, both he and Cummings wrote about their pacifist leanings. Both were arrested by the French military “on suspicion of espionage and undesirable activities.” Cummings and Brown ended up at the Dépôt de Triage in La Ferté-Macé in Orne, Normandy. They were imprisoned with other detainees in a large room – which Cummings dubbed “the enormous room.” In the resulting book, Cummings sketches characters, describes the prison barracks and the prison yard, and ultimately details his spiritual triumph over adversity, using John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress as his literary model. He does all this with his trademark quirky use of language, enriched here by his liberal use of French phrases, which he intersperses freely into the text. Woven throughout the text are Cummings’s pen-and-ink sketches of prison life and those other prisoners whose quirks and eccentricities he brings to life in words – and images. Cummings ended up spending just three-and-a-half months at the prison camp, and he went on to become a great poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. In addition to his prose books, plays, and essays, he wrote approximately 2,900 poems and created numerous paintings and drawings. The Library of American website has an insightful essay on The Enormous Room. Kelsey Osgood’s article on the creation of Cummings’s signature style in The Enormous Room is also helpful. To learn more about Cummings and the rest of his literary career, visit the Poetry Foundation website. A wide variety of resources related to Cummings and his literary creations can be found at the Modern American Poetry website. An excellent article on Cummings and his rebellious legacy can be found at the alumni magazine for his alma mater, Harvard. His biographer, Susan Cheever, describes Cummings and his literary reputation in “The Prince of Patchin Place,” published in Vanity Fair. Poet Billy Collins contributed an article to Slate titled “Is That a Poem? The Case for E.E. Cummings.” If you’re interested in Cummings’s impressive output as a cubist painter, visit the E.E. Cummings Art Gallery. You can learn more about his work as an artist at ArtFixx. A full roster of Cummings links – from literature to art – is available at the E.E. Cummings Society website. Ready to add some of Cummings’s work to your library? Of course, you’ll want to have a copy of The Enormous Room (and you’ll want to make sure it’s the version Cummings intended, complete with his illustrations). If you want to delve into Cummings’s poetry, look no further than e.e. cummings: complete poems, 1904-1962 or, if you want something a bit more abbreviated, check out 100 Selected Poems. Some have said that The Enormous Room is a sophomoric work, not reflective of the mature Cummings. But for me, The Enormous Room is vastly underrated: it is a sheer pleasure to read that most people miss. Yes, it is grim in places – but in its expression of spiritual joy, joy gained after much suffering, and struggle, it is exquisite. In his expression of boundless joy in the very midst of human suffering, Cummings reminds me of Ludwig van Beethoven and his composing of The Ninth Symphony, especially “Ode to Joy.” (See my post on Immortal Beloved, a biopic on Beethoven, to learn more about the transcendent “Ode to Joy” scene.) It has been more than thirty years since I’ve read The Enormous Room, but I still remember the sorrow and the joy Cummings expressed in its pages. I’m so glad Professor Rideout included The Enormous Room in his course on the 1920s. F. Scott Fitzgerald – another American writer who was enamored of Paris – said, "Of all the work by young men who have sprung up since 1920 one book survives—The Enormous Room by e e cummings.” Unfortunately, the book has not survived in the way Fitzgerald thought that it would, but it’s very much a book worth reading. Cummings emerges as a person of great sensitivity: a poet of spiritual wonder shines through. Visit thestoryweb.com/cummings for links to all these resources and to hear Cummings read his poems at the 92nd Street Y in 1949 and at YMHA Poetry Center in New York in 1959. Listen now as I read an excerpt from Chapter 5, “A Group of Portraits,” from The Enormous Room.   With the reader's permission I beg, at this point of my narrative, to indulge in one or two extrinsic observations. In the preceding pages I have described my Pilgrim's Progress from the Slough of Despond, commonly known as Section Sanitaire Vingt-et-Un (then located at Germaine) through the mysteries of Noyon, Gré and Paris to the Porte de Triage de La Ferté Macé, Orne. With the end of my first day as a certified inhabitant of the latter institution a definite progression is brought to a close. Beginning with my second day at La Ferté a new period opens. This period extends to the moment of my departure and includes the discovery of The Delectable Mountains, two of which---The 'Wanderer, and I shall not say the other---have already been sighted. It is like a vast grey box in which are laid helter-skelter a great many toys, each of which is itself completely significant apart from the always unchanging temporal dimension which merely contains it along with the rest. I make this point clear for the benefit of any of my readers who have not had the distinguished privilege of being in jail. To those who have been in jail my meaning is at once apparent; particularly if they have had the highly enlightening experience of being in jail with a perfectly indefinite sentence. How, in such a case, could events occur and be remembered otherwise than as individualities distinct from Time Itself? Or, since one day and the next are the same to such a prisoner, where does Time come in at all? Obviously, once the prisoner is habituated to his environment, once he accepts the fact that speculation as to when he will regain his liberty cannot possibly shorten the hours of his incarceration and may very well drive him into a state of unhappiness (not to say morbidity), events can no longer succeed each other: whatever happens, while it may happen in connection with some other perfectly distinct happening, does not happen in a scale of temporal priorities---each happening is self-sufficient, irrespective of minutes, months and the other treasures of freedom. It is for this reason that I do not purpose to inflict upon the reader a diary of my alternative aliveness and nonexistence at La Ferté---not because such a diary would unutterably bore him, but because the diary or time method is a technique which cannot possibly do justice to timelessness. I shall (on the contrary) lift from their grey box at random certain (to me) more or less astonishing toys; which may or may not please the reader, but whose colours and shapes and textures are a part of that actual Present---without future and past-whereof they alone are cognizant who, so to speak, have submitted to an amputation of the world. I have already stated that La Ferté was a Porte de Triage ---that is to say, a place where suspects of all varieties were herded by le gouvernement français preparatory to their being judged as to their guilt by a Commission. If the Commission found that they were wicked persons, or dangerous persons, or undesirable persons, or puzzling persons, or persons in some way insusceptible of analysis, they were sent from La Ferté to a 'regular' prison, called Précigné, in the province of Sarthe. About Précigné the most awful rumours were spread. It was whispered that it had a huge moat about it, with an infinity of barbed-wire fences thirty feet high, and lights trained on the walls all night to discourage the escape of prisoners. Once in Précigné you were 'in' for good and all, pour la durée de la guerre, which durée was a subject of occasional and dismal speculation---occasional for reasons (as I have mentioned) of mental health; dismal for unreasons of diet, privation, filth, and other trifles. La Ferté was, then, a stepping-stone either to freedom or to Précigné, the chances in the former case being---no speculation here---something less than the now celebrated formula made famous by the 18th amendment. But the excellent and inimitable and altogether benignant French government was not satisfied with its own generosity in presenting one merely with Précigné---beyond that lurked a cauchemar called by the singularly poetic name, Isle de Groix. A man who went to Isle de Groix was done. As the Surveillant said to us all, leaning out of a littlish window, and to me personally upon occasion 'You are not prisoners. Oh, no. No indeed. I should say not. Prisoners are not treated like this. You are lucky.' I had de la chance all right, but that was something which pauvre M. le Surveillant wot altogether not of. As for my fellow-prisoners, I am sorry to say that he was---it seems to my humble personality---quite wrong. For who was eligible to La Ferté? Anyone whom the police could find in the lovely country of France (a) who was not guilty of treason, (b) who could not prove that he was not guilty of treason. By treason I refer to any little annoying habits of independent thought or action which en temps de guerre are put in a hole and covered over, with the somewhat naïve idea that from their cadavers violets will grow whereof the perfume will delight all good men and true and make such worthy citizens forget their sorrows. Fort Leavenworth, for instance, emanates even now a perfume which is utterly delightful to certain Americans. Just how many La Fertés France boasted (and for all I know may still boast) God Himself knows. At least, in that Republic, amnesty has been proclaimed, or so I hear.---But to return to the Surveillant's remark. J'avais de la chance. Because I am by profession a painter and a writer. 'Whereas my very good friends, all of them deeply suspicious characters, most of them traitors, without exception lucky to have the use of their cervical vertebræ, etc., etc., could (with a few exceptions) write not a word and read not a word; neither could they faire la photographie as Monsieur Auguste chucklingly called it (at which I blushed with pleasure): worst of all, the majority of these dark criminals who bad been caught in nefarious plots against the honour of France were totally unable to speak French. Curious thing. Often I pondered the unutterable and inextinguishable wisdom of the police, who---undeterred by facts which would have deceived less astute intelligences into thinking that these men were either too stupid or too simple to be connoisseurs of the art of betrayal---swooped upon their helpless prey with that indescribable courage which is the prerogative of policemen the world over, and bundled same prey into the La Fertés of that mighty nation upon some, at least, of whose public buildings it seems to me that I remember reading Liberté. Egalité. Fraternité. And I wondered that France should have a use for Monsieur Auguste, who had been arrested (because he was a Russian) when his fellow munition workers made la grève, and whose wife wanted him in Paris because she was hungry and because their child was getting to look queer and white. Monsieur Auguste, that desperate ruffian exactly five feet tall who---when he could not keep from crying (one must think about one's wife or even one's child once or twice, I merely presume, if one loves them) 'et ma femme est très gen-tille, elle est fran-çaise et très belle, très, très belle, vrai-ment elle n'est pas comme moi, ---un pe-tit homme laid, ma femme est grande et belle, elle sait bien lire et écrire, vrai-ment; et notre fils ... vous de-vez voir notre pe-tit fils . . .'----used to, start up and cry out, taking B. by one arm and me by the other: 'Al-lons, mes amis! Chan-tons "Quackquackquack."' Whereupon we would join in the following song, which Monsieur Auguste had taught us with great care, and whose renditions gave him unspeakable delight: 'Un canard, déployant ses ailes ..........................................(Quackquackquack) II disait à sa canarde fidèle ..........................................(Quackquackquack) Il chantait (Quackquackquack) Il faisait (Quackquackquack) ....Quand' (spelling mine) 'finirons nos desseins, ..............................Quack. .....................................Quack. ..........................................Quack. .................................................Qua- .........................................................ck.' I suppose I will always puzzle over the ecstasies of That Wonderful Duck. And how Monsieur Auguste, the merest gnome of a man, would bend backwards in absolute laughter at this song's spirited conclusion upon a note so low as to wither us all.    

Historian Susan Cheever joins The Steve Fast Show to discuss the role that alcohol has played in shaping American History. #alcohol

America has a love-hate relationship with alcohol, and it's fair to say that drinking has changed the course of American history - for better and for worse. Susan Cheever explored that relationship for her new book "Drinking in America: Our Secret History" and joins us on this week's WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, 28 purloined Pappy Van Winkle bottles may not receive the reprieve many Bourbon fans were hoping for once the "Pappygate" case in Kentucky ends, and flooding has closed Scotland's Glencadam Distillery for repairs. We'll also answer a listener's questions on how to prepare for a whisky festival and more on this week's WhiskyCast!

In Episode 6, we chat with Josh Christie, manager at Sherman's Books and Stationery in Portland, ME. Get excited. You also can stream the episode on iTunes and Stitcher. Find us on Tumblr at drunkbooksellers.tumblr.com. Follow us on Twitter at @drunkbookseller for updates, book recs, and general bookish shenanigans. Epigraph Bitches in Bookshops Our theme music, Bitches in Bookshops, comes to us with permission from Annabelle Quezada. It’s the best. Introduction   [0:30] In Which We Drink Strong Stouts and Cat Valente Singing in Russian for a Talent Show Josh is the perfect guest for Drunk Booksellers. He is the manager and book buyer at Sherman's Books and Stationery in Portland, Maine (not Oregon). He’s also the co-author of Maine Outdoor Adventure Guide and The Handbook of Porters & Stouts, as well as the author of Maine Beer: Brewing in Vacationland. In his spare time, he’s an adjunct professor on the The Maine Brew Bus and a co-host of The Bookrageous Podcast.  Drink of the Day: As one might expect from a stout & porter expert, Josh gave us three options for our drink of the day. Lion Stout Guinness Foreign Extra Stout Anchor Porter Josh is reading Drinking in America: Our Secret History by Susan Cheever, Judge This by Chip Kidd, and The Beer Bible by Jeff Alworth.   Kim’s reading Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss (pubs April 2016) and Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor.   Emma’s reading Thunderstruck & Other Stories by Elizabeth McCracken, Nimona by Noelle Stevensen, Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente (also mentioned Six-Gun Snow White) Books we’re excited about: The Witches: Salem, 1692  by Stacy Schiff (also mentioned Cleopatra: A Life) The One-In-A-Million Boy by Monica Wood (pubs April 2016) Embed with Games: A Year on the Couch with Game Developers by Cara Ellison  (pubs February 2016) Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five (Bookmarked Series) by Curtis Smith (pubs March 2016) Harry Potter Coloring Book from Scholastic, Inc.  Contraband Cocktails: How America Drank When It Wasn't Supposed to by Paul Dickson (published by the ever-awesome Melville House) The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip by George Saunders & Lane Smith The Good Book: Writers Reflect on Favorite Bible Passages, edited by Andrew Blauner  Gratitude by Oliver Sacks Chapter I   [20:17] In Which We Love Everything Except Rap and Polka, Particularly Maps Sherman’s Books & Stationery has 5 locations in Maine, with a 6th opening in 2016.  Most surprising bestseller (other than adult coloring books): The Historical Atlas of Maine, edited by Stephen J. Hornsby   Also mentioned: Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free by Hector Tobar, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr If maps and books are your thing, definitely check out Plotted: A Literary Atlas by Andrew Degraff and Daniel Harmon . We all love it so hard.   From Plotted: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle Chapter II   [32:23] In Which We Lust after Built-in Bookshelves, Love Everything Except Rap & Polka Josh loves some good narrative nonfiction: Mary Roach, Erik Larson, Stacy Schiff, John Muir, and Ralph Waldo Emerson Kim and Emma get overexcited about handselling nature essays to Josh. Emma loves Limber by Angela Pelster. Kim’s excited about Annie Dillard’s forthcoming collection, The Abundance: Narrative Essays Old and New (pubs March 2016). Josh recs the Best American series, particularly Best American Sports Writing Go read anything published by Write Bloody. Especially Andrea Gibson (start with Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns).  Originally posted by x-rayvisions   Chapter III   [41:06] In Which We Love Maps and Weirdos, Learn that Maine is More Than Just Lighthouses & Lobsters,  Josh’s Wheelhouse includes books with maps, character indexes, and anything that’s super weird, such as Mort(e) by Robert Repino Josh’s very practical Station Eleven/Wild book: SAS Survival Guide by John Lofty Wiseman  Josh’s real Station Eleven/Wild book: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace Go-To Handsell: Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed, The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner Originally posted by cuddle   Generally Impossible Handsells: Poetry and Graphic Novels If you’re not a graphic novel reader yet, start with Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, The Sculptor by Scott McCloud, or Habibi by Craig Thompson That annoying Slate article that Josh mentions can be found here: Don’t Support Your Local Bookseller. Feel free to read it if you feel like angrily ranting at everyone you interact with for the next few years. Epilogue   [51:27] In Which Josh Tells Us About His Awesome Bookish Wedding and Where You Can Find Him On the Internet Josh and his wife gifted each other literary tattoos as wedding presents, because they’re the coolest. Josh is getting the the Escapist’s key from The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon and his wife is getting the the Brakebills seal from Lev Grossman’s The Magicians. Totes adorbs, right? Favorite Bookstore other Than Your Own: WORD (aw, yeah!), Harvard Book Store, Porter Square Books, Northshire Bookstore Favorite Literary Media: PANELS, Reading Aloud Podcast If you’re not listening to Bookrageous, go remedy that immediately. We love it so hard.  Find Josh on the interwebz at: Twitter: @jchristie Website: BrewsAndBooks.com Instagram: JChristie7 You should probably follow us on Twitter @drunkbookseller if you’re not doing so already. We’re pretty cool. Emma tweets @thebibliot and writes nerdy bookish things for Book Riot. Kim occasionally tweets at @finaleofseem.  Make sure you don’t miss an episode by subscribing to Drunk Booksellers from your podcatcher of choice. Also, if you read this far in the show notes, you should probably go ahead and rate/review us on iTunes too. The only compensation we get from this podcast is a nerdy ego-boost, so we’d love to hear how much you’re digging it.

Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson once said that the program he helped create is, “utter simplicity which encases a complete mystery.” Our guests reflect on the Twelve Steps and how they resonate in their personal stories and in Buddhist and Christian teachings. See more at onbeing.org/program/spirituality-addiction-and-recovery/229

Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson once said that the program he helped create is, “utter simplicity which encases a complete mystery.” Our guests reflect on the Twelve Steps and how they resonate in their personal stories and in Buddhist and Christian teachings.

The writer--and daughter of author John Cheever--served as the keynote speaker for ADAP's thirtieth anniversary celebration.

The writer--and daughter of author John Cheever--served as the keynote speaker for ADAP's thirtieth anniversary celebration. Listen to the introduction by Lee Bowie, Dean of the College.

Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson once said that the program he helped create is, “utter simplicity which encases a complete mystery.” Our guests reflect on the Twelve Steps and how they resonate in their personal stories and in Buddhist and Christian teachings.