WYPL Book Talk

Louis Ferrante - Borgata: Rise of Empire

Guest host Matt Ward welcomes retired gangster and current historian Louis Ferrante on for an epic two-hour interview. Ferrante's new book is Borgata: Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia, first part of the planned Borgata Trilogy) covering the Mafia's first one hundred years, from 1860's Sicily to 1960's America.

Brad Taylor - Dead Man's Hand

 

Prior to becoming a best-selling thriller writer, Brad Taylor served in the U.S. Army for twenty-one years retiring as a lieutenant colonel after serving in several special-forces capacities in multiple deployments around the globe. His Pike Logan thriller series began in 2011 with One Rough Man, and today we’ll talk about the 18th entry, Dead Man’s Hand, which is published by William Morrow. 

Vanessa Sasson - The Gathering: A Story of the First Buddhist Women

Dr. David Mason is back today as guest host. Dave is a professor of religious studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. This week he speaks with a returning guest, Dr. Vanessa Sasson, who is also a professor of religious studies, but at Marianopolis College in Quebec. They last spoke about her debut novel, Yasodhara, and today they will be discussing her most recent work of historical fiction, The Gathering: A Story of the First Buddhist Women, which is available from Equinox Publishing. 

 

Avery Cunningham - The Mayor Maxwell Street

Avery Cunningham joins me to discuss her debut novel, The Mayor of Maxwell Street which is published by Hyperion. A native of Jackson, TN and now a resident of Memphis, Avery has crafted a tale set in the early 1920s in Chicago, as the wealthiest African-American families have gathered for the funeral of the son of the richest black man in the nation. The Sawyer family’s daughter, Nelly, only wants to become a journalist, but her parents have other plans for her future, as she chases after the most mysterious criminal in Chicago’s underworld, The Mayor of Mawell Street. 

 

Fergus Bordewich - Klan War - Part 2

Fergus M. Bordewich is a former journalist and now a longtime historian. His books include THE FIRST CONGRESS: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government, BOUND FOR CANAAN: The Story of the Underground Railroad, KILLING THE WHITE MAN'S INDIAN: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentieth Century. Today we wrap up with the second of our two-part conversation about his latest book, KLAN WAR: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction which is published by Knopf. 

 

Fergus Bordewich - Klan War - Part 1

Fergus M. Bordewich is a former journalist and now a longtime historian. His books include THE FIRST CONGRESS: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government, BOUND FOR CANAAN: The Story of the Underground Railroad, KILLING THE WHITE MAN'S INDIAN: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentieth Century. Today we begin the first of our two-part conversation about his latest book, KLAN WAR: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction which is published by Knopf. 

 

Martin Clark - The Plinko Bounce - Part 2

 

 

Martin Clark is a retired circuit court judge from Patrick County, Virginia and is the author of six novels, including Plain Heathen Mischief and The Jezebel Remedy. Today is the conclusion of a two-part interview about his newest novel, The Plinko Bounce which is published by Rare Bird Books. 

Martin Clark - The Plinko Bounce - Part 1

Martin Clark is a retired circuit court judge from Patrick County, Virginia and is the author of six novels, including Plain Heathen Mischief and The Jezebel Remedy. Today is the first half of a two-part interview about his newest novel, The Plinko Bounce which is published by Rare Bird Books. 

Laurence Leamer - Hitchcock’s Blondes

Laurence Leamer is a journalist and author with quite an accomplished body of work under his belt. His journalism has appeared in publications including Harper's, The New York Times Magazine, and Newsweek. His books have covered gritty topics like coal mining and lynching, political titans like the Kennedys and Ronald Reagan, and the brightest stars in the arts including, Johnny Carson, Ingrid Bergman, Truman Capote and now Alfred Hitchcock, in the recently released Hitchcock's Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director's Dark Obsession which is published by GP Putnam’s Sons.

Maureen Corrigan - Banned Books, Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works

 

Maureen Corrigan is the Nicky and Jamie Grant Distinguished Professor of the Practice in Literary Criticism at Georgetown University. She is perhaps bet known as the longtime book critic for the NPR program Fresh Air and is the author of Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading, and So We Read On: How “The Great Gatsby” Came to Be and Why It Endures. Earlier this year continuing education company The Great Courses made available her series of lectures, entitled, Banned Books, Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works. 

 

Stephan Pastis - Looking Up

 

Stephan Pastis is best known as the writer and artist for the wildly successful daily comic strip Pearls Before Swine. The latest collection of strips, Pearls Seeks Enlightenment was recently published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. Stephan also writes novels for all ages, but the publisher says that they are great especially for middle schoolers. His Timmy Failure series was successful, even spawning the major motion picture Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made. The Trubble Town books followed in 2021 and 22. His new novel, appropriate for middle grade readers and older, is entitled, Looking Up, and it is published by Aladdin, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. 

 

Hayley Arcenaux - Wild Ride: My Journey from Cancer Kid to Astronaut

Hayley Arceneaux is a physician's assistant with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. Not only an employee, she is also a successful patient who recovered from pediatric cancer at St. Jude. A couple of years ago, she was offered a seat on a Space X flight to orbit the earth for three days and raise money for St. Jude. In 2022, her Memoir Wild Ride: A Memoir of I.V. Drips and Rocket Ships was published, and 2023 sees the young readers' adaptation Wild Ride: My Journey from Cancer Kid to Astronaut, which is published by Convergent Books.

Jonathan Eig - King: A Life Pt. 2

I’m happy to welcome Jonathan Eig back to the program today for the second of our two-part conversation about his new, exhaustive biography of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ent, King: A Life which is published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Jonathan is a best-selling and award-winning author of non-fiction. His titles are Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig, Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted Gangster, The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution, and the multi-award-winning Ali: A Life, about boxer and activist Muhammad Ali.

 

Jonathan Eig - King: A Life Pt. 1

Jonathan Eig is a best-selling and award-winning author of non-fiction. His titles are Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig, Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted Gangster, The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution, and the multi-award-winning Ali: A Life, about boxer and activist Muhammad Ali. Today, we’ll begin the first of a two-part interview about his new exhaustive biography of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., King: A Life which is published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 

 

Polly Stewart - The Good Ones

Polly Stewart is an associate professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies at Virginia Military Institute. Her essays have a appeared in The New York Times, Poets and Writers, among others. Today we will be speaking about her new novel, a thriller, entitled The Good Ones which is published by Harper. 

 

Julie Carr - Mud, Blood, and Ghosts - Part 2

 

This week we have the second of a two-part interview as Dr. David Mason speaks with Dr. Julie Carr about her book, Mud, Blood, and Ghosts: Populism, Eugenics, and Spiritualism in the American West published by the University of Nebraska Press. David is the director of the Asian Studies Department at Rhodes College. Julie is the director of the Women’s Studies Department and professor of English at the University of Colorado Boulder. 

 

Julie Carr - Mud, Blood, and Ghosts - Part 1

 

This week we have the first of a two-part interview as returning guest host Dr. David Mason speaks with Dr. Julie Carr about her book, Mud, Blood, and Ghosts: Populism, Eugenics, and Spiritualism in the American West published by the University of Nebraska Press. David is the director of the Asian Studies Department at Rhodes College. Julie is the director of the Women’s Studies Department and professor of English at the University of Colorado Boulder. 

 

Paul Kix - You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live Pt. 2

 

We're happy to welcome Blake McVey back as guest host of the program today. Blake is the public services director of the historic Cossitt Library in downtown Memphis. Today is the second of a two-part interview with journalist and author Paul Kix. Paul's journalism has appeared in many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, and The New Yorker. His first book is The Saboteur: The Aristocrat Who Became France's Most Daring Anti-Nazi Commando, and today he and Blake will conclude their discussion of his latest title, You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America which is published by Celadon Books. 

 

Paul Kix - You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live Pt. 1

We're happy to welcome Blake McVey back as guest host of the program today. Blake is the public services director of the historic Cossitt Library in downtown Memphis. Today is the first of a two-part interview with journalist and author Paul Kix. Paul's journalism has appeared in many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, and The New Yorker. His first book is The Saboteur: The Aristocrat Who Became France's Most Daring Anti-Nazi Commando, and today he and Blake will begin discussing his latest title, You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America which is published by Celadon Books. 

 

Peter Cozzens - A Brutal Reckoning Pt. 2

Peter Cozzens is on the program today for the second of a two-part interview. Peter is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer and a historian. He has edited or written almost twenty books, having won many awards along the way. Today we will wrap up our chat about the last book in his trilogy of books looking at U.S. government wars against Native Americans. The first two were: The Earth Is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West and Tecumseh and the Prophet. The new one is A Brutal Reckoning: Andrew Jackson, the Creek Indians, and the Epic War for the American South which is published by Alfred A. Knopf.