Wordy Birds

Chasing the White Dog

Original airdate: March 26, 2010

“In Chasing the White Dog, journalist Max Watman traces the historical roots and contemporary story of hooch. He takes us to the backwoods of Appalachia and the gritty nip joints of Philadelphia, from a federal courthouse to Pocono Speedway, profiling the colorful characters who make up white whiskey’s lore. Along the way, Watman chronicles his hilarious attempts to distill his own moonshine — the essential ingredients and the many ways it can all go wrong — from his initial ill-fated batch to his first successful jar of ’shine.” – simonandschuster.com

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Our Hero: Superman on Earth

Original airdate: March 19, 2010

“As with athletes and artists, there has always been a selfish, even a self-serving quality to Superman, to Superman’s ego. He doesn’t require love from the multitudes; Lois Lane will do. Basically, what he needs, and all he needs, is the freedom to act in ways that are satisfying to him.

That’s why he’ll ‘never stop doing good.’

It makes him feel good, dammit.”

-from Our Hero by Tom De Haven

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Gator A-Go-Go

Original airdate: March 5, 2010

“They threw the midget over the balcony, and I was off on the spring break vacation of a lifetime…”

-the first line of Gator A-Go-Go by Tim Dorsey

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Richmond Noir

Original airdate: February 5, 2010

An anthology of all-new noir stories set in Richmond neighborhoods, edited by Blossom, Castleberry and De Haven. With a forward by Tom Robbins.

Features stories by: Dean King, Laura Browder, Howard Owen, Yazmina Beverly, Tom De Haven, X.C. Atkins, Meagan J. Saunders, Anne Thomas Soffee, Clint McCown, Conrad Ashley Persons, Clay McLeod Chapman, Pir Rothenberg, David L. Robbins, Hermine Pinson, and Dennis Danvers.

From the introduction…

“In The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, Henry Miller tosses off a hard-bitten assessment of the City on the James: ‘I would rather die in Richmond somehow,’ he writes, ‘though God knows Richmond has little enough to offer.’ As editors, we like the dying part, and might point out that in its long history, Richmond, Virginia has offered up many of the disparate elements crucial to meaty noir. The city was born amid deception, conspiracy, and violence…”

Tom De Haven is the author of seventeen books, including Freaks’ Amour, Sunburn Lake, It’s Superman! and the Derby Dugan trilogy of novels. Andrew Blossom is the founding editor of Makeout Creek. Brian Castleberry is a playwright, novelist, and music critic. –from www.akashicbooks.com

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2009 Holiday Book Review

Original airdate: December 18, 2009

Liz talks with Kelly Justice, owner of Fountain Bookstore and Ward Tefft, owner of Chop Suey Tuey about the year in books… the book business… and the future of independent bookselling.

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