William Gladstone: The Twelve (a novel)
978-1593155568 – Hardcover – Vanguard Press – $19.95
William Gladstone, author of the new novel, The Twelve, interviewed by Writerscast host David Wilk.
The Twelve is a terrific first novel by an experienced book industry professional, west coast based William Gladstone. I know the author personally, and I’ve read this novel at various stages of its development. In its final published form, it has become a compelling read on a subject of great interest to many people – the future. It’s a book with a strong spiritual message but one that does not get in the way of its fast moving and intriguing story.
The publisher’s description of the book goes like this: “The Twelve is an extraordinary and unforgettable novel about a most unusual man. As a child, Max lives in a world of colors and numbers, not speaking until the age of six. As an adult, Max ventures on a journey of destiny to discover the secret behind the ancient Mayan prophecy about the “end of time,” foretold to occur on December 21, 2012.
When he is fifteen years old, Max has a near death experience during which he has a vision that reveals to him the names of twelve unique individuals. While Max cannot discern the significance of these twelve names, he is unable to shake the sense that they have deep meaning. Eight years pass before Max meets the first of the twelve.
With this, Max’s voyage of discovery begins, as he strives to uncover the identities and implications of “the twelve”—individuals he will meet during his journey towards truth, all of whom seem connected, and all of whom may hold the answer to what will happen at the exact moment the world may end. The novel takes the reader on a series of global adventures, culminating in a revelation of why and how Max and the twelve are destined to unite to discover the magnitude of the meaning of December 21, 2012. Only the twelve can provide the answers, as the fate of all humanity rests in the balance.”
In my fast-paced interview with author Gladstone, we talk about the genesis of the novel, his sense of the meaning of the book, and what the future holds for humanity.
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Andi Silverman: Mama Knows Breast: A Beginner’s Guide to Breastfeeding
September 8, 2009 by David
Filed under Non-Fiction
978-1594741654 – paperback – Quirk Books – $14.95
Andi Silverman, author of Mama Knows Breast, interviewed by Writerscast host David Wilk
As a middle aged man, I am clearly not the audience for this book, but when I saw a copy of the book and read the first few chapters I knew right away this would be an author I wanted to interview. Mama Knows Breast is a great title for a book (as well as for the author’s very well put together and consistently informative website). And her publisher, Quirk Books, has put together a beautifully produced paperback with very cool and comforting illustrations.
As the author, Andi Silverman tells me in our interview, she wanted to write the book she needed when she was looking around at books about breastfeeding – something not medical, or like a textbook, but a book for moms by a mom, with humor, a caring approach, and above all, not judgmental regardless of the decisions each mom makes about breastfeeding.
And of course, as she rightly points out, breastfeeding is not just a subject for women. Having been father to two breastfed children, I can attest this is true. Breastfeeding is not a choice that every woman or family can make of course. But breast milk is healthy and natural, and better for the baby and child than any formula. My interview with Andi Silverman reflects her spirit and approach as an author – she is full of good advice gently given, and is someone almost any woman would want to consult for advice.
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James Gustav Speth: The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability
August 30, 2009 by David
Filed under Non-Fiction
978-0300151152 – paperback – Yale University Press – $18.00
While I was reading The Bridge at the Edge of the World, I often would exclaim out loud as so many of the ideas the author talks about are ones I believe in and feel are important to the dialog about the future of our planet. This is an important book that should be widely read, discussed and used as the basis of action – and soon!
Co-founder of the NRDC, former Yale University dean, and former White House advisor James Gustave Speth has been a leader in the environmental movement for more than 30 years.
Now, faced with overwhelming evidence of galloping degradation of the planet, Speth has concluded that the environmental project—his project—has failed. No matter how hard environmentalists work, the current of destruction against which they are swimming is simply too swift. In order to preserve a livable planet for future generations, Speth argues in The Bridge at the Edge of the World that the current itself must be altered. And the current is that untouchable edifice, American-style consumer capitalism.
I found this book to be powerful and compelling and wanted to talk to “Gus” Speth about the implications of his thinking. How should we go forward when we know that the way we live today is putting us on a collision course with the natural world? How do we build new ways of living that are sustainable? And how are we going to do this in the face of so many entrenched interests that will oppose the essential changes we feel are necessary for human survival and for the preservation natural systems in a viable planet earth?
While this interview is perhaps all too brief, Speth talks in depth about some of his ideas and answers my questions with his typical incisiveness and intelligence.
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Alice Eve Cohen – What I Thought I Knew: A Memoir
August 10, 2009 by David
Filed under Non-Fiction
978-0670020959 – Hardcover
Viking – $24.95
Alice Eve Cohen’s memoir tells an incredible story – a writer and playwright, she was diagnosed as infertile in her thirties, she adopted a daughter with her then-husband (whom she later divorced). At 44 she began to experience strange physical symptoms – after six months of suffering she was finally recognized as being pregnant. In many ways that was only the beginning of her story – which is an incredible, honest, sometimes funny but as often a painful journey of discovery.
I generally am not that interested in the modern memoir – most people’s stories are just not that interesting. But I was attracted to Alice’s story right away, partly because of my own experience with DES and its damages to the children whose mothers took that fertility drug. Alice’s persona shines through her story. She is vivid and clear about everything that happened to her and how she felt at the time, and later, and she pulls no punches, including her own foibles, fears, and weaknesses throughout.
Overall What I Thought I Knew is a wonderful book that holds our attention throughout. It’s transformative for the author and for the reader. In my interview with Alice Eve Cohen, we talked in detail about the book and her experiences then and now (the events took place several years ago). She’s not only a wonderful writer but a great interview subject as well.
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Martin Melaver – Living Above the Store
July 29, 2009 by David
Filed under Non-Fiction
9781603580854 – Hardcover
Chelsea Green Press – $27.95
This is one of the most important and challenging books I have read in a long time. In this book Martin Melaver tells stories about his life, his business, his family, and his community, as a framework for understanding how business can (and must) change, in order to become truly sustainable, to become additive rather than extractive, and to rethink the way business is done. As the publisher says: “Living Above the Store is for readers who care about issues of community and sustainability as well as for those who want to learn more about how a socially responsible business can first redefine, and then find, success.” In this interview, Martin and I talk in depth about the key ideas in the book, and talk in detail about some of the practical issues the book raises for so many who want to make a difference. Martin demonstrates his clarity of thought and deep commitment to truly making change in business and community. Highly recommended!
Martin Melaver has been CEO of Melaver, Inc., since 1992. Never content with the well-trod path, he has a PhD in literature from Harvard University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He is actively involved with numerous community organizations in and around Savannah, Georgia. Melaver splits his time between Savannah and Tel Aviv, Israel. …
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Lev Raphael – My Germany: A Jewish Writer Returns to the World his Parents Escaped
July 19, 2009 by David
Filed under Non-Fiction
978-0299231507 – Hardcover
University of Wisconsin Press $26.95
Lev Raphael grew up loathing everything German. A son of Holocaust survivors, haunted by his parents’ suffering and traumatic losses under Nazi rule, he was certain that Germany was one place in the world he would never visit. Those feelings shaped his Jewish and gay identity, his life, and his career. In “My Germany.” Raphael explores many layers of his personal life, including his visits to Germany, his complex relationships with his parents and his inner self. My interview with this interesting and engaging writer ranges across a variety of subjects, including the author’s writing methods, a discussion about this new book and his life as a writer, the nature of memoir, memory, and the discovery of self.
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David Morrell – The Shimmer
978-1593155377 – Hardcover
Vanguard Press $25.95
David Morrell is one of the better action thriller novelists writing today. Not only does he write well, but his novels always have terrific characters, explore complex emotional relationships, and are driven by great story telling. When I picked up The Shimmer, I already had a number of other books on my plate and no real intention of reading it right away. But after the first few pages I could not put it down. This wonderful novel combines elements of the thriller novel with science fiction and fantasy, historical fiction, modern psychological horror stories. My interview with the interesting and voluble David Morrell gives readers a chance to get to know quite a bit about this novel, his 28th, and much more about his background as a writer, a teacher and storyteller. The Shimmer takes place in a town in Texas modeled closely on the real-life town of Marfa and includes a great deal of real history woven into a gripping modern tale. This book is a great example of Morrell’s work, and this interview was a lot of fun for me to do. — David Wilk
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P.W. Catanese – Happenstance Found (The Books of Umber Series)
June 23, 2009 by David
Filed under Children's Authors, Fiction
978-1416975199 – Hardcover
Aladdin (Simon & Schuster) $16.99
P.W. Catanese is the author of a number of books for children and young adults who lives in Connecticut. In this podcast, Writerscast host David Wilk interviews Catanese, who talks in detail about his life as a writer, his earlier series of fairy tale retellings for younger readers, and his latest novel, the excellent Happenstance Found, which is the first in a new series he has created called The Books of Umber. The novel opens with Happenstance, a strange boy of undetermined age, waking up in a cave with no memories of who he is or anything about the fantastic world in which he lives. He soon encounters Lord Umber, an adventurer who seems familiar with our world as well as his own, and his two companions — a brute cursed to be forever truthful and a one-handed artist and archer… As the group attempts to learn about his origins, they’re forced to confront a supernatural assassin and secrets from Umber’s own mysterious past. The world Catanese creates in this novel is highly compelling; his new series should appeal both to adults who love a good fantasy and to the younger readers to whom it is aimed.
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Kwei Quartey – The Wife of the Gods
978-1400067596 (Hardcover)
Random House $24.00
Dr. Kwei Quartey is medical doctor, born in Ghana and raised by an African American mother and a Ghanian father. He has lived and practiced medicine in California (where he is the lead physician for an urgent care clinic) for a number of years; he wanted to be a writer since he was a young boy and writes in the morning before going to work. Writerscast host David Wilk interviewed Kwei during a recent visit to New York where he was appearing at Book Expo America. Dr. Quartey talks about his writing, the background for his new novel, a complicated and beautifully written mystery set in contemporary Ghana. Wilk and Quartey explore many aspects of the writing life as it has emerged for this first time novelist. Wife of the Gods is an impressive debut by a new talent, and as the first in a series based on his compelling main character, Inspector Darko Dawson. This interview should be an equally compelling introduction to the author and his work for many readers.
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Arthur Phillips – The Song is You – Part 2 of a 2 Part Interview
9781400066469 (hardcover)
Random House, $25.00
Writerscast host David Wilk continues his interview with Arthur Phillips, acclaimed author of Prague, The Egyptologist and Angelica. Phillips was born and raised in Minnesota, educated at Harvard, and now lives in Brooklyn, the setting for his newest novel The Song is You. It is a beautifully written, complicated, sometimes painful, often extremely funny and very modern novel. Music is a critical underpinning of the story, and the complexity of the relationship between listener and performer is deeply entwined with the unusual love story that is at the heart of the novel. Phillips is widely considered one of the best novelists writing today – and The Song is You is solid evidence of how good he really is. Kate Christensen’s New York Times review says it best: “the whole novel zings with fresh insight and inspired writing. “The Song Is You” is smaller, more focused and more character-driven than Phillips’s earlier books, and it’s not only a welcome new direction, but also a novel impossible to put down.”
In this second segment of a lively and revealing two part interview with Writerscast host David Wilk, Phillips continues to discuss his newest book, and how he wrote it, the role of music in the novel, what he is working on next and explores some of the interesting and interior elements of the novel and his life as a writer.
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