Otherppl With Brad Listi

Jac Jemc is the guest. Her new story collection, A Different Bed Every Time, is due out from Dzanc Books this fall.  Jesse Ball says "To Jemc the world is a place where each person, every human cypher, must devour another. What then can we do, if we are devoured, if we are overcome with our own devouring? Her escape plan is inspired and ancient -- to become protean, to dwell in costume after costume, parcelling away the truth that can be found in each. But where is it hid? Ask her, though she may not say." And Lindsay Hunter says "Jac Jemc is an artisan. A Different Bed Every Time stays with you long after you've finished reading. Every story is painstakingly crafted with words and imagery that are honed and placed just so, creating a mosaic you feel grateful, exhilarated, thrilled to experience." Monologue topics:  awards shows, the word "lil," humanity, world peace, fuckedness.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Letitia Trent is the guest. Her debut novel, Echo Lake, is now available from Dark House Press. Kirkus Reviews says "Trent’s years as a poet serve her well in this heavily atmospheric novel, which deftly conjures up both evil and the small town’s complicit reluctance to face its past." And Kyle Minor says "Echo Lake is more than just a good debut novel. It is the coming-out party for Letitia Trent, the new poet-queen of neo-noir." Monologue topics: awards shows, celebrities, awkwardness, The Dude, Jeff Bridges. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leesa Cross-Smith is the guest. Her debut story collection Every Kiss a War is now available from Mojave River Press.  It was a finalist for the Flannery O'Connor Short Fiction Award and the Iowa Short Fiction Award. Roxane Gay says “Leesa Cross-Smith is a consummate storyteller who uses her formidable talents to tell the oft-overlooked stories of people living in that great swath of place between the left and right coasts. She offers thrilling turns of phrase like, 'His mouth tasted like thousand-page Russian novels I’d never read,' or 'let your smeary mouth be his question mark.' Where she is most stunning is in the endings of each of the 27 stories in Every Kiss a War, creating crisp, evocative moments that will linger long after you’ve read this book’s very last word.” Monologue topics:  mail, friends, IRL communities, fostering connectivity, being social.      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guillaume Morissette is the guest. His debut novel, New Tab, is now available from Vehicule Press. Melissa Broder says “In this hilarious novel, Morissette meditates on finding and making meaning in a time when distractions coalesce to form the new and glossy void. The deconstruction of regrets, an email with feelings and the screaming universe cement Morissette as both a master of the absurd and a seer of the real. I lol’d.” And Dazed and Confused calls him "Canada's Alt Lit poster boy." Monologue topics: being late, rushing, being unprepared, Alt Lit initiation, Frank Hinton's genitals.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julia Fierro is the guest. She is the founder of the Sackett Street Writers' Workshop and her debut novel, Cutting Teeth, is now available from St. Martin's Press. The Millions says "When a group of thirty-something parents gather at a ramshackle beach house called Eden, no serpent is required for the sins, carnal and otherwise, to pile up. Fierro, founder of Brooklyn's Sackett Street Writers' Workshop, argued in The Millions last year that writers need to put the steam--and the human sentiment--back into sex scenes in literary novels. You may want to keep Fierro's debut novel on a high shelf, away from children and prudish literary snobs." And Megan Abbott says "Julia Fierro’s Cutting Teeth offers immense rewards to readers far beyond those who will identify with the frantic, conflicted, yearning parents who fill the novel (though many will). It’s for any reader seeking a tale rich in character, strong in voice and filled with both incisive social critique and a luminous generosity of spirit, a rare combinat

John Brandon is the guest. His new story collection, Further Joy, is now available from McSweeney's.  Kirkus Reviews calls it “An impressive collection, cleareyed and penetrating.” And Booklistcalls it "Intensely readable, and enormously entertaining.” Monologue topics: vacation, relaxation, terrifying hippies, chickens, dancing white women, Coldplay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Smith Henderson is the guest. His debut novel, Fourth of July Creek, is now available from Ecco. Ron Charles of The Washington Post calls it “The best book I’ve read so far this year...Henderson choreographs these parts so masterfully that the novel is never less than wholly engaging… All week I was looking for opportunities to slip back into these pages and follow the trials of this rural social worker.” And The New York Times says “First novels don’t come much more confidently written or fully imagined than this.” Monologue topics: travel, family travel, parental aspirations, travel hell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miranda Beverly-Whittemore is the guest. Her new novel, Bittersweet, is now available from Crown. It is a New York Times bestseller and the official June selection of The TNB Book Club. Entertainment Weekly says “What begins a little like Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep quickly warps into a sickly addictive thriller…think ABC’s Revenge when it was good, only more scandalous…With books like Bittersweet to stuff in beach bags, it’s beginning to feel a lot more like summer." And The New York Times Book Review says "A fairy tale aspect—of the Grimm, not the Disney variety—pervades the novel, which artfully builds an increasing sense of menace…Like a Downton-in-Vermont, Bittersweet takes swift, implausible plot turns, and its family secrets flow like a bottomless magnum of champagne, but Beverly-Whittemore succeeds in shining a light into the dark, brutal flaws of the human heart.” Monologue topics:  success, competition, ego, Vanity Fair, The Last Magazine.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi

Mike Sacks is the guest. His new book, Poking a Dead Frog: Conversations with Today's Top Comedy Writers, is now available from Penguin. Bob Odenkirk says “No one generates more interesting, revealing, or entertaining interviews than Mike Sacks. Poking a Dead Frog is a classic.” And Will Ferrell says “This book is what I really look forward to in a book about humor: rich with words and humor, and funny stories with words. Thank you for your time.” Monologue topics: family vacation, sweltering heat, chickens, fear, sexlessness.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robin Sloan is the guest. His bestselling novel, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, was the May 2014 selection of the TNB Book Club. It is now available in paperback from Picador.  George Saunders calls it “A real tour de force [and] a beautiful fable...The reader is swept along by Sloan’s enthusiasm.” And John Hodgman says “In a time when actual books are filling up tag-sale dollar boxes, along with VHS tapes and old beepers, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore reminds us that there is an intimate, adventurous joy in the palpable papery things called novels, and in the warm little secret societies we used to call ‘bookstores.’ Robin Sloan’s novel is delightfully funny, provocative, deft, and even thrilling. And for reasons more than just nostalgia, I could not stop turning these actual pages." Monologue topics: Episode 300, Stephen King, Lorrie Moore, Teju Cole, angst, Mary Karr, false summits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ariel Schrag is the guest. Her new novel Adam is now available from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  Publishers Weekly says "Schrag's frisky debut...is one of the most original coming-of-age stories of recent years." And Flavorwire says "Ariel Schrag’s story about a teenager who goes to spend the summer in New York with his sister is unlike any coming-of-age story you’ll read anytime soon. Funny and tender... Anybody familiar with Schrag’s comics won’t be disappointed with her work as a novelist; if you haven’t read her other work, let Adam be your introduction and read everything else you can find of hers from there." Monologue topics: preschool, social anxiety, inferiority, courtesy, instincts.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tom Barbash is the guest. His story collection Stay Up With Me is now available in paperback from Ecco. The Daily Beast calls it “Fantastic…These Cheever-esque stories all show that Barbash has a sensitive ear towards the subtle ways that relationships are formed and altered, but he’s also not afraid to open a story with a car accident and watch the sparks fly.” And The New York Times says “These stories should come with a warning: They might undo you.” Monologue topics: competition, competitive mania, confusion, fear, loathing.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brittani Sonnenberg is the guest. Her debut novel, Home Leave, is now available from Grand Central Publishing. Karen Russell says "It's hard to believe that this astonishing novel is Brittani Sonnenberg's first--she writes about family with wisdom, humor, and native daring. Here is Persephone's journey, undertaken by an entire family, the Kriegsteins, who ricochet through time zones, moving from Berlin to Singapore to Wisconsin to Shanghai to Atlanta, together and alone. Sonnenberg's prose is so vital and so enchanting that you will read this book in the dilated state of a world-traveler, with all of your senses wide open. Her family members are so well-drawn and complex that you'll close this book certain they exist." And Wim Wenders calls it "A captivating tour de force that follows a nomadic family across generations and continents." Monologue topics: mail, multilingualism, cultural superiority, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Iran, Egypt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicholas Grider is the guest. His story collection, Misadventure, is now available from A Strange Object. Brian Evenson calls it "A dark and luscious hell ride through the damaged but nonetheless appealing rituals of bondage. These are tantalizing and difficult stories in which fantasy and reality bleed (quite literally) into one another." And Matt Bell says "Each of these compelling stories is ruled not by certainty but by maybe, by sometimes, by ‘this is not necessarily a proclamation of anything’—and so we finally sense behind their pages the nervous heart of the modern man, stubbornly clinging to a fading authority, now more desperately than ever before.” Monologue topics: thanks, Skylight Books, xTx, Roxane Gay, Lisa Mecham, curtseying.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron Gwyn is the guest. His new novel, Wynne's War, is now available from Eamon Dolan Books. Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, says "Gwyn’s (Dog on the Cross) story is a gripping tale of men at war in the desolate snow-capped mountains of eastern Afghanistan, and captures the essence of close combat—the terror, excitement, chaos, tension, and cruelty, as well as the harsh decisions men make under stress...its gritty realism is part of the strength." And Nic Pizzolatto, creator of HBO's True Detective, says “Wynne's War is a deep and beautifully written story of men, war, and madness, told by a young American master. A page-turner of poetic and savage grace, of our time but transcending it, this novel takes its rightful place among the great American literature of war.” Monologue topics:  bad news, miscarriage, feeling bad about feeling bad, bad luck, bad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ana Carrete is the guest. Her poetry collection Baby Babe is now available from Civil Coping Mechanisms. Sam Pink says “The first time I heard Ana’s writing was 2 years ago. In November of 2010, I read at the ‘Ear Eater’ reading series in Chicago. Ana was another reader. She was reading via Skype. There were a lot of people at the reading. After I read, I walked out of the room and stood in a hallway, staring at the floor. After a few difficult conversations with people in the hallway, I heard the host of the reading talking to someone on the computer. It was Ana. Ana started reading. I laughed a lot and enjoyed her reading. Seemed like other people weren’t enjoying it as much as me but I was enjoying it a lot. I stood in the hallway laughing and shaking my head ‘Yes’ and people looked at me. I kept thinking, ‘I want to go into the room and watch her face reading’ but then I would think, ‘No, don’t do that, just listen.’ Not sure why I kept telling myself not to go into the room where she was reading but I st

Kelly Braffet is the guest. Her novel Save Yourself is now available in paperback from Broadway Books. Dennis Lehane calls it "The real deal. Save Yourself is an electrifying, tomahawk missile of a thriller with honest-to-God people at its core. It rocks the house." And The New York Times says "There’s storytelling skill to burn here. Ms. Braffet has empathy for her working-class characters and brings neglected places to convincing life." Monologue topics: orders of business, questions from listeners, blogging, what I'm reading currently.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lee Klein is the guest. He has two books out this year. The first is called Thanks and Sorry and Good Luck, available now from Barrelhouse. The second, due out in August 2014, is called The Shimmering Go-Between (Atticus Books). Blake Butler says "Somewhere on the brutal truth continuum between Bill Hicks and Mussolini, Lee Klein’s rejection letters are mini-masterpieces of literary criticism disguised as no-thank-yous from Writer’s Hell. And yet, in each, a little lesson; a steadfast faith that says 'I took the time to read what you created and this is exactly what I thought.' They should be passing these things out under the pillows at MFA camp; we’d all be better off." And Elizabeth Ellen says "Lee Klein made me cry. He was the only editor ever to make me. This was back in 2002. I wish I still had the email. I remember it going something like, 'whenever you have the instinct to write a line like that, delete it immediately, without prejudice.' I hated him for a while. I pictured him looking like the guy in

Katherine Faw Morris is the guest. Her debut novel, Young God, is now available from Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.  Daniel Woodrell says "Young God is a poetic, grim, and beautifully dark novel about backwoods violence and horror recounted in a numbed, laconic voice. Morris writes with splendid economy, chapters short as contes, and plenty of slashing insights on the rough world of throwaway lives and varieties of wrong." And Richard Hell says "This book is so clean and dirty: thirteen-year-old Nikki’s nipples pop like buttons; Kool Kings come in a hard box; white goo tastes a little salty but mostly like nothing. The best dreams are of nothing. Except that it is not nothing. It is charged white space: These pages happen to you and now you’re awakening, groping groggily to reconstruct. Get mixed up by it. Enter the single-wide and find some ecstasy with Katherine Faw Morris." Monologue topics: mail, videos, intoxicated listeners on rooftops, my bad memory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch

Stacey D'Erasmo is the guest. Her new novel, Wonderland, is now available fromHoughton Mifflin Harcourt. Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, calls it "A spellbinding look into the protagonist’s being... meticulously crafted ... Days and shows pass, but within this routine, a transformation slowly creeps into the narrative: that of commitment, and, perhaps, hope for the future." And Michael Stipe says "The world of Wonderland is authentic, vibrant, and genuine. Stacey D’Erasmo explores the delight and terror of second chances. A great read!" Monologue topics:  heat, Santa Ana winds, climate change, indifference, idiocy, fear. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices