Episode #11 “To Be, not be, or Be Be?”
Tonight on NYC LIFE Broadcasting Nov 18th, 2013, at 9:30 pm
Frank Debonair addresses the current state of the nation regarding the invasion of computers, and most precisely of the digital technology, in our lives. Being himself a man of the Sixties, he has a hard time fathoming what a computer is or even what it is for. Nonetheless, he understands that it is a hot topic giving a wide range of social and research writers new insights and opinions about the becoming of our society.
To appease his concerns, you could say to gain clarity, Frank sends the PBI to interview Douglas Rushkoff, “Present Shock;” Patricia Churchland, “Touching a Nerve,” and Jonathan Crary, “24/7.”
For the Book World, Gabriel Levinson from the Antibookclub discusses the pros and cons of micro publishing.
The POTW for this week reflects the serious tone of the episode. Frank Debonair introduces provocative titles, such as the ones by Avi Tuschman, “Our Political Nature,” “The Value of Violence,” by Benjamin Ginsberg, “The Family,” by David Laskin, and finally Salvatore Esposito, “Abu Ghraib: after the Scandal.”
Looking forwards
The Book Case Team
In “Secret Storms,” Julie Mannix von Zerneck and Kathy Hatfield are mother and daughter, lost and found. Their memoir narrates their extraordinary true story of how they were separated at Kathy’s birth and reunited only forty-three years later. Julie, a pregnant upper-class 19 year-old from Philadelphia is confined against her will to a state mental hospital after she refused to abort. On April 19th 1964, she gives birth to a little girl and is forced to give her up for adoption. Julie Mannix von Zerneck worked as an actress on Broadway and TV for many years and now collects rare antic books. Kathy Hatfield teaches high school World Literature in Florida.
Set in the small town of Murn, Ireland, up-and-coming literary talent, Peter Murphy’s second novel, “The River and Enoch O’Reilly tells the tale of Enoch O’Reilly, Elvis Impersonator, self-made preacher, and the nine mysterious deaths caused by the flooding of the town’s river Rua. Enoch, an ex-seminarian doesn’t believe in God but instead prays to Elvis. Peter Murphy is a rock critic and the founder of the spoken-word music ensemble the Revelator Orchestra, based on his first novel, “John the Revelator.” His articles have appeared in Rolling Stone, The Irish Times amongst others.
In “Red Sky in the Morning,” from, first-time author Paul Lynch, is a novel which opens in1832. Coll Coyle, a new father and small farmer, has incurred the wrath of the owner of the land that he works. Events escalate. He goes on the run, pursued by the landowner’s manager, John Faller. Lynch describes Faller as the “incarnation of rational evil.” There can be no emotional engagement with him. He is a clever and deeply logical man. As the book unfolds, we see how he will utilize any circumstance to advance his cause. Paul Lynch is from the small town of Carndonough on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, Ireland. A film critic by trade, Paul saw his first novel auctioned in the UK.
Private Book Investigator interviews Anabel Hernandez, “Narcotic,” for her controversial investigation about the drug cartels plaguing Mexico; while Andre Aciman, “Harvard Square,” looks into the problem of identity and becoming an American; Ayana Mathis, “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie,” tells the story of the Great Migration through the eyes of an unforgettable family (Oprah’s Book Club).
POTW segment features some of the authors we did not have time to interview at the Fest: “BiblioDeath” by Andrei Codrescu. Mircea Cartarescu, “Blinding,” Juan Gabriel Vasquez, “The Sound of Things Falling,” and Ursula DeYoung, “Shorecliff.”
Book World segment will take us to Detroit with Andrew Gulli, publisher of the Strand Mystery Magazine. Andrew is Greek and lives in Detroit . . . PBI talks about bankruptcy.