WYPL Book Talk

Stephen talks to Richard "Dixie" Hartwell about his first novella When the Buddha Met Bubba.

Stephen Usery talks to Ron Hall about his new book Sputnik, Masked Men, and Midgets: The Early Days of Memphis Wrestling.

Stephen Usery interviews Dan Chaon, winner of the 2006 Academy Award in Literature, about his critically-acclaimed second novel Await Your Reply which weaves together three plots about identity theft.

 

 

Bill Wilson talks to guest Clay Travis about On Rocky Top, his investigation of the calamitous 2008 season for the Tennessee Volunteers football team that lead to the firing of Coach Phillip Fulmer. This podcast boasts an extra ten minutes of conversation looking at the prospects for the team under new head coach Lane Kiffin.

Stephen Usery interviews the publisher of The Daily News, Eric Barnes, about his debut literary tech thriller, Shimmer.

 

Congratulations to Book Talk guest and Nashville resident Lydia Peelle for being named to the National Book Foundation's 2009 5 Under 35 program. Past Book Talk guests who have been honored are Fiona Maazel (2008) and ZZ Packer (2006).



Stephen Usery interviews Lydia about Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing, her first collection of award-winning short stories. Download the podcast today!

Linda Lloyd talks to Robert Dalby about the third installment of his series set in Second Creek, Mississippi A Piggly Wiggly Wedding.

Stephen Usery interviews David O. Stewart about his book Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy. It's a fascinating look into the event that presaged the squandered hope of Reconstruction following the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Download the podcast today!

 

Susan Gray talks to one of America's most successful inspirational fiction writers ReShonda Tate Billingsley about her new novel The Devil is a Lie.

Stephen Usery interviews Edgar Award winner and reigning crown princess of noir Megan Abbott about her latest look at the seamy side of the human experience, Bury Me Deep.

 

In this podcast, Stephen Usery interviews Attica Locke about her debut novel, Black Water Rising, which is set in Houston, Texas's oil boom in the early 1980s as the legacy of racism and corporate greed come to a head.

Stephen Usery interviews Sam Haskell about his book, Promises I Made My Mother. It's a memoir that tracks the moral grounding Haskell's mother gave him and how it helped in his personal life and his career as the head of television for the legendary William Morris talent agency. Download the podcast today!

Stephen Usery talks to Frank McNair about The Golden Rules for Managers: 119 Incredible Lessons for Leadership Success, his collection of pithy maxims for managers new and experienced.

In this episode of Book Talk, Stephen Usery interviews British writer Simon Van Booy about his second collection of short stories Love Begins in Winter.

Stephen Usery interviews Neil White about his memoir, In the Sanctuary of Outcasts. It's an extremely moving telling of White's time in a federal prison for bank fraud in Carville, Louisiana which in the early 1990s shared facilities with the last American colony for survivors of leprosy, which is now known as Hansen's disease. The podcast has 17 extra minutes of conversation!

Linda Lloyd talks to Mary Kay Andrews about her latest, juicy slice of southern hi jinks in The Fixer Upper. Download, listen, enjoy!

Stephen Usery interviews Edgar Award-winning author John Hart about his latest thriller, The Last Child, in which a teenage boy searches for his sister a year after her abduction. Download the podcast today!

Stephen Usery talks to Izzy Rose about her memoir The Package Deal: My (not-so) Glamorous Transition from Single Gal to Instant Mom. Download the podcast today!

 

Stephen Usery interviews Karen Essex about her latest historical novel, Stealing Athena which looks at women involved in the creation of the Parthenon and the British removal of many statues from there in the early 19th century.

Tune in to Book Talk this Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. as Stephen Usery interviews Barry Mazor about his new book Meeting Jimmie Rodgers: How America's Original Roots Music Hero Changed the Pop Sounds of a Century. Mississippi native Rogers was one of the world's most popular recording artists in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and has been elected to the Rock 'n' Roll, Blues, and Country Halls of Fame. Download the podcast while you're waitin' on a train.