Meg Wolitzer – The Ten Year Nap
9781594483547 (paperback)
Penguin Group, $16.00
Writerscast host David Wilk interviews author Meg Wolitzer, whose novel The Ten Year Nap has recently been released in a paperback edition. This brilliantly written novel, set in contemporary New York City, portrays the lives of a group of women who have set aside their careers to raise children. Wolitzer paints her characters with the complexity and sympathy they deserve, but she never lets them off the hook for their foibles and failings. Women and men will recognize – sometimes painfully – much that is familiar to those who have lived through and come after the post-first wave of feminism in modern urban culture. Her humor is subtle but can make the reader laugh out loud as well.
In a wide ranging discussion Wilk and Wolitzer discuss the story line, characters and issues raised in The Ten Year Nap, as well as Ms. Wolitzer’s approach to writing and books and how she works. For any fan of Meg Wolitzer’s novels, and there are many, listening to this interview will be fun and illuminating. The Ten Year Nap is a wonderful book and highly recommended to anyone interested in contemporary American fiction.
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The People of the Book – Geraldine Brooks
978-0143115007 (paperback)
Penguin Books, $15.00
Writerscast host David Wilk interviews Pulitzer Prize winning author Geraldine Brooks, on tour for the release of the paperback edition of her newest novel, People of the Book. This brilliant and engaging historical novel has a story that spans centuries, using the Sarajevo Haggadah as the focus. As one reviewer has said: “There’s a romance between Brooks and the world, and her writing is as full of heart and curiosity as it is intelligence and judgement.” Carrie Brown, The Boston Globe.
In a wide ranging discussion with host Wilk, Ms. Brooks talks about her work and her working methods as a historical novelist. Wilk and Brooks talk in depth about The People of the Book. The author also offers fascinating details about the novel she is working on now, based on the Wampanoag Indians of Martha’s Vineyard, where she lives with her family. Her own website www.geraldinebrooks.com is a rich source of information about this wonderful writer and her consistently rich and rewarding fiction.
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