Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about the things she loves most: books and words and why they matter. In Ben Loory’s “The Book,” a contrarian volume becomes a literary sensation, and alters one woman’s life. The reader is Jane Kaczmarek. In “Things I Know to be True” by Kendra Fortmeyer, originally published in One Story, a damaged veteran uses words to hold his life together. The reader is Calvin Leon Smith. And in a special feature, Wolitzer visits a favorite indie bookstore, Three Lives & Company: http://threelives.com/who.html The Greenwich Village icon, which was founded in the 1980s, is a haven for readers, writers, and book lovers of all kinds. Michael Cunningham calls it “One of the greatest bookstores on the face of the Earth. Every single person who works there is incredibly knowledgeable and well read and full of soul.” And you’ll meet some of them—and the books they treasure--on this show.
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Sizzling Summer Travels
Host Meg Wolitzer presents a quartet of summer stories. Umberto Eco endures trial by mini bar in “How to Travel with a Salmon,” read by Jin Hah. A scenic getaway turns eerie in Elizabeth Spencer’s “The Weekend Travelers,” read by Campbell Scott. Life looks up—way up—for an overworked restaurant owner in “The Man, The Restaurant, and the Eiffel Tower,” by Ben Loory, read by Stana Katic. And upper-class “frenemies” have a reckoning in Edith Wharton’s “Roman Fever,” read by Maria Tucci.
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Sleight of Hand
Meg Wolitzer presents stories that take the idea of “the magic of fiction” literally—or literarily. The British writer Penelope Lively offers up a tricky combination of love and real estate in “The Third Wife,” performed by real-life husband and wife Patricia Kalember and Daniel Gerroll. The only “trick” in our next story, “Tempo,” by R.O. Kwon, is the trick the mind plays when it wishes the present would restore a lost bit of the past. The reader is Hettienne Park. And Dave Eggers’ “The Alaska of Giants and Gods” includes a real magic act, but also the longing for some other kind of magic, misplaced on a rocky road, to be restored. Kate Burton reads.
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Laughing in the Face of Danger
Meg Wolitzer presents four works that consider various forms of risk, and risk taking. In “Clicking on Heaven’s Door,” by Anand Giridharadas, performed by Negin Farsad, the pearly gates require an online account, a password, a security question…you get the idea. “The Stand-In,” by Gerald Jones and Jean Marple, imagines a unique job. It’s read by Tony Hale. David Sedaris creates the ultimate in well-meant interference in other people’s lives—oh, and there’s a parrot. “Farnsworth” is read by Jessica Keenan Wynn. And—dining at the end of the world. Where’s the waiter? Robin Hemley’s “The Last Customer,” is read by Jane Curtin and Mike Doyle.
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Margaret Atwood: Future Imperfect
Meg Wolitzer presents stories by the incomparable Margaret Atwood, drawn from SELECTED SHORTS’ archives and a live performance evening hosted by the author. “There Was Once” is a brief satire about the art of writing and the importance of free speech. It’s performed by René Auberjonois, Zach Grenier, and Jane Kaczmarek. “Widows,” performed by Ellen Burstyn, is a delicate and ironic tale in which a recently widowed woman becomes accustomed to her new role. And Atwood is in full dystopian throttle in “Freeforall” where reproductive rights have become a matter of life and death. The reader is Becky Ann Baker. Portions of Atwood’s onstage talk with fellow writer A.M. Homes are also featured, and the full interview is available as a bonus on our podcast.
Our greatest actors transport us through the magic of fiction, one short story at a time. Sometimes funny. Always moving. Selected Shorts connects you to the world with a rich diversity of voices from literature, film, theater, and comedy. New episodes every Thursday, from Symphony Space.
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