S.A. Cosby on 'Razorblade Tears'
16 July 2021 - 58 minsOn this week’s podcast, S.A. Cosby says that a writer friend once told him: “I think you’re like the bard of broken men.” In Cosby’s new novel, “Razorblade Tears,” the fathers of two married gay men who have just been murdered team up to track down the killers. Cosby says that the fathers — Ike, who’s Black, and Buddy Lee, who’s white — are familiar to him.
“I grew up with men like Ike and Buddy Lee,” he says. “Maybe not necessarily violent men, but men who were emotionally closed off, who were unable to articulate or communicate their frailties, their feelings. I grew up in an environment where masculinity was all about presentation, was about being ‘tough,’ whatever that means. So when I...
Andy Weir on Writing the Hit Book Behind the Movie ‘Project Hail Mary’
The author talked about adapting his best-selling novel for film, creating the beloved character Rocky and making complex science feel approachable.
39 mins
20 March Finished
Louise Erdrich on Her New Story Collection and the Mystery of Writing
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author talks process and “Planet of the Apes.”
34 mins
13 March Finished
The Avett Brothers’ Bassist on Writing a John Quincy Adams Book
Bob Crawford discusses the leap from stage to page and why his new book, “America’s Founding Son,” feels so relevant.
38 mins
6 March Finished
Book Club: Let's Talk About 'Wuthering Heights,' by Emily Brontë
Emily Brontë’s classic “Wuthering Heights” has long been a favorite among readers, and the novel is back in the zeitgeist thanks to Emerald Fennell’s recent film adaptation. On this week’s episode, host MJ Franklin discusses “Wuthering Heights” with colleagues from the New York Times Book Review.
54 mins
27 February Finished
Director Clint Bentley on Adapting ‘Train Dreams’ for the Big Screen
The latest film from the writer and director Clint Bentley, “Train Dreams,” is nominated for four Oscars, including best adapted screenplay. The movie is based on Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella of the same name and tells the story of Robert Grainier, a logger in the Pacific Northwest, in stream-of-consciousness, nonlinear prose. This week, Gilbert Cruz talks with Bentley, who wrote the screenplay with Greg Kwedar, his longtime collaborator, about how he went about translating Johnson’s work into a visual medium. Bentley first read “Train Dreams” just after college, long before he ever thought of making it into a movie. When producers with rights to the book approached Bentley, he was suddenly worried. “Going back and reading the book again,” Bentley said, “I was like, Oh, maybe this thing is unadaptable.” Set on capturing the spirit of the book, Bentley and Kwedar focused on “the vastness of this small little life,” he said. “We very rarely have an understanding of our lives in the moment we’re actually living them,” Bentley said. “We only start to understand them when it’s too late.”
38 mins
24 February Finished
Guillermo del Toro on Writing and Directing the Oscar-Nominated ‘Frankenstein’
Ahead of this year’s Academy Awards, the director appeared on the Book Review podcast to speak about his latest film.
35 mins
20 February Finished