Act Two: Me Minus You
Writer Marie Phillips has a short story about a strange man in a parking lot, offering to grant one wish.
There are 44 results for "Literature"
Act Three: Never Hear the End of It
Producer Sean Cole tells one of his favorite stories — about the ending of the book A Clockwork Orange.
Act One: Go To The Mattresses
Shamyla always loved books. Like lots of other eleven-year-olds back in 1989, she loved The Babysitters Club.
Act Two: Book Fishing In America
In Richard Brautigan's novel "The Abortion," he imagines a library where regular people can come and drop off their own unpublished books. Nothing is turned away.
Act Two: If Wishes Were Horses
Two women attempt very different transformations. One wants to become a mother.
Prologue
Ira talks to Australian novelist Gerald Murnane. He’s never left Australia.
Act Three: Earth Angel
Actor Alex Karpovsky reads a short story by Etgar Keret, from his book, “The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God." (4 minutes)
Act Three: My Own Private U.F.O.
A story about God and extraterrestrials, told by Elna Baker.
My Own Private U.F.O.
Prologue
Richard Klein of Cornell University explains that the way we view love really began with love poems in the 13th century—an illusion.
Act One: Twas The Morning After
A Christmas poem from David Rakoff, about holidays in The Big City. Rakoff's the author of, most recently, Half Empty.
Act Two: God Said, Huh?
Julia Sweeney, a Catholic, tells the story of how her faith began to crack after reading a most alarming book...called the Bible. Her story is excerpted from her play, "Letting Go of God," which ran in Los Angeles.
Act Three: The Lie That Binds
A story from David Sedaris about how the movie The End of the Affair almost ended his relationship. He argues that being in love sometimes means not saying what's going through your head.
Act Three: Conservation Of Energy And Matter
David Sedaris outlines an experiment he conducted with fluids and a tube and a bag. The result: The Stadium Pal.
Act Two: One Crucible Leads To Another
We hear excerpts from two autobiographies which each describe the same moment, but in very different ways. Elia Kazan and Arthur Miller agree that they met with each other in 1952, around the time Kazan named the names of his old friends to the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
Prologue
A story of faith lost, thanks to a book about extraterrestrials and a Rabbi.
Act Two: Save The Last Dance For Me...Again
Host Ira Glass talks with Francine Pascal, who's written or invented the plot lines for over 700 books for teenagers in the various Sweet Valley High series....Sweet Valley Kids, Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley University, Sweet Valley Senior Year. She explains why a prom story is a must for teen movies and TV shows.
Act Three: The Green Team Of Boy Millionaires, Beppo The Amazing Supermonkey From Planet Krypton, And The Man From Sram
Ira talks with Jonathan Morris, the amazingly funny and charming editor of the website Gone and Forgotten, an Internet archive of failed comic book characters. Jonathan explains what makes a new superhero succeed, and what makes him tank.
Act One: Dewey Decimal Beats Truman
Sarah Vowell visits four Presidential libraries on a fact-finding tour for...President Clinton. Not that he asked her.
Prologue
Host Ira Glass describes a children's book from the 1970s called Nobody's Family Is Going to Change by Louise Fitzhugh, the author of Harriet the Spy. On the surface, it sounds like a rather menacing title for a kids' book. But in fact, the story is about how kids can finally find peace if they stop hoping that their parents will ever be any different.
Act Two: You Know What Mr Bear Would Say
A truly remarkable children's book just came back in print: The Lonely Doll, by Dare Wright. Jean Nathan tells the story of the book and its author, and how the author's life came to resemble something from her book.
Prologue
When Alexa was seven, she started going through her grandfather's books. Her grandfather was a playwright and teacher, and through the books—and especially through his notes in the margins—she entered the world of 1930's American theater.