The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club (The Leonard Lopate Show)

Tom Wolfe, the iconic bestselling writer – and one of the best-dressed! – just died at the age of 87 from pneumonia. He was known for his satirical light touch over the course of many novels, ranging from The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, to The Right Stuff and The Bonfire of the Vanities. He was a guest on this show back in 2012 for The Bonfire of the Vanities. Listen to the interview here.

Edgar Award-winning crime/thriller novelist and television writer Megan Abbott joins us to talk about our scary story contest, and we will speak to the runner ups and the winner! Read the winning story and the runner ups below! This segment is guest hosted by Jonathan Capehart. Winner Beauty Is In the Eye By Tammy Green Something struck my eye as I gazed up at the church steeple in St. Stephen’s Square in Vienna. The force of it made me wince. “What is it, Anne,” my boyfriend asked. It was our first trip together. I was eager to please him. I blinked, my eye watered, and the pain was gone. “Nothing,” I said. “Something flew into my eye.” The rest of the day, I forgot about my eye. We visited museums in former Habsburg palaces. I moved closer to view a marble statue of Calliope next to a floor-to-ceiling mirror and caught a glimpse of myself. No doubt about it: my left eye was red. I cursed my bad luck. At dinner, Jim said, “You know, you look perfect – for Hallowe’en.” I grew pale and asked, “Does it really show?” “Blood red,” he said. I was no longer hungry, and eager to leave. I said, “Let’s get somebody to look at this eye tonight.” We walked quickly to our hotel. The clerk drew back at the sight of me. He said, “What do you want?” “We’re guests here,” Jim said, laughing at this strange reaction. “Can you tell us where to find a doctor?” The clerk handed Jim a card. He said, “Sir, go to this address immediately.” Jim scratched his head. The card read, “Dr. Zauber. 13, Schuldig Strasse”. “It’s a few blocks away,” the clerk said. “Hurry, or Herr Doctor Zauber will be gone!” Jim grabbed my hand, and we ran to Schuldig Strasse. The full moon shone on a huge wooden door. Jim knocked. The door slowly creaked open. A figure in the shadows behind it asked, “Who is there?” “We need to see Doctor Zauber,” said Jim. He tried out his German. “Meine Freundin ist sehr krank.” Suddenly, a bright light shone from within. Whoever it was took a long look at me. “Ahhh!” the figure said. “Komm herein.” The hallway was cold and I was sorry that I had not brought a sweater. Jim put his arm around me. The increasing light revealed an elderly woman in drab clothing. She directed us to a bench outside another wooden door. “Cheery place,” said Jim. “Maybe we should have tried to find the local hospital.” “Nothing is open tonight,” said the woman. “It is All Hallows Eve.” Just then, my eye rolled about in all directions. I screamed in pain. The door opened and a middle-aged man in a medical coat stepped out. “Good evening, I am Herr Doctor Zauber. I am sorry to have kept you waiting. Let me see the patient.” He gestured for me to enter an examining room. We both got up. “Not you sir, just the patient,” the doctor insisted. “But—” Jim protested. “She will be fine,” the doctor said. I whimpered, “Jim, let me go!” Jim loosened his hold. The doctor led me to the examining table and closed the door. He aimed a slit lamp at my left eye. “Please tell me how this began,” he said. “I was in St. Stephen’s Square today –” I said. “At what time?” He interrupted me. “About one o’clock,” I said. “Is that really important? I looked up—” “Did the clock strike when you looked up,” he asked. “Come to think of it, yes. Then something hit my eye,” I said. My eye began to tear. The doctor observed this and asked, “Why did you not go to a doctor sooner?” “It didn’t seem serious,” I said. He stepped forward with an anxious look. “I’m sorry to tell you that it is very serious. I must perform an operation now, or you will lose your eye.” I squinted in disbelief. “I need some eye drops. An infection is –” Doctor Zauber shook his head. “No, my dear, it is not an infection. It is an invasion. In the belfry of St. Stephen’s Cathedral lives a foul creature that emerges at the 13th hour of October 31st. As the bell tolls, it soars above the square and drops its eggs. These eggs feed on the unfortunate eyes of the innocent. You do not believe me,...

It's Halloween, and here at the Leonard Lopate Show Book Club, we're celebrating this spooky time of year with Edgar Award-winning crime/thriller novelist and television writer Megan Abbott. We're also joined by Paul Collins, author of the biography Edgar Allan Poe: The Fever Called Living. They discuss writing for the mystery, crime and noir genres, and share some of their favorite stories. We also want to hear from you! Do you enjoy writing stories about things that go bump in the night? Be sure to check our current scary story contest!

That's right, we want your best original scary story. Anything in the vein of mystery, crime, noir, and horror, is fair game. Megan Abbott is the Edgar-award winning author of seven novels, including Dare Me, The End of Everything, and The Fever, and she is also a writer on the new HBO show "The Deuce." And she will be reading and judging your submissions! The deadline is Monday, November 13. This can be a self contained short story or the beginning of a longer tale, but it must contain some sort of beginning, middle and end. 1,000 words max. Email your submissions to bookclub@wnyc.org The winner will have their story posted on our showpage, and will speak to Megan about their story live, on-air. To learn more about the contest, and about our Halloween Book Club, click on the audio player above.

For this month's Leonard Lopate Show Book Club segment, we will be addressing how to start your own book club, keep your book picks from getting stale, and how to keep it going for years. Lynn Lobash, who oversees reader services at the NYPL, and Glory Edim, the creator of the Brooklyn based book club and online community “Well Read Black Girl,” join us to discuss tips and tricks for starting a book club and keeping it going. We will also hear from a few subscribers to our Book Club Newsletter who have been in book clubs for a number of years.

National Book Award-winning novelist Colum McCann joins us for the final installment in our Leonard Lopate Book Club series dedicated to reading James Joyce’s epic Ulysses. He’ll be joined by returning Ulysses expert Michael Groden, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus in the Department of English and Writing Studies at Western University.

As we continue to read Ulysses for The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club, we will be joined by Edna O'Brien. She will share why this novel has influenced her life and writing. Edna O'Brien is the author of The Country Girls trilogy, The Light of Evening, The Love Object, The Little Red Chairs, and many other acclaimed books. Born and raised in the west of Ireland, O'Brien has lived in London for many years. Click here to subscribe to The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club newsletter!

Michael Groden, distinguished university professor emeritus in the Department of English and Writing Studies at Western University, kicks off our new Leonard Lopate Book Club series dedicated to reading James Joyce’s epic Ulysses, often described as “the greatest novel never read.” Groden is the author of several books including Ulysses in Progress and Ulysses in Focus. Groden will be preparing the book club to read Ulysses, and will talk about the qualities that make the book both important and satisfying. He’ll also give advice and strategies for dealing with the features that can make it a difficult read.

What books do you love and want to pass on to your children? The Leonard Lopate Book Club wants to hear from you about the books you're giving to young readers over the holidays... and all year round... in the hopes that they'll love them as much as you do! To guide the conversation, we'll be joined by two very accomplished children's book authors: Jon Scieszka, author of books like The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales and Math Curse, founder of Guys Read, and a former National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, and Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award winner, Young People’s Poet Laureate, and author of Brown Girl Dreaming and Miracle's Boys. Write us in the comments and tell us about a book you love, why you love it, and why you want the kids in your life to love it too. Also let us know if you've given the gift of a book that's backfired!

Michael Chabon is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Wonder Boys, and The Yiddish Policeman's Union. But back in 1989, when Mr. Chabon was merely a debut novelist, he had a shocking experience. He paid a visit to his dying grandfather, who was staying with Chabon's mother in Oakland, California, and who, in a drug and illness-addled haze, began telling long-suppressed stories about his life as a young man. For a week, Chabon listened to these stories, trying to make sense of what he was hearing. Now, nearly 3 decades later, he has returned to them in a new novel called Moonglow. Michael Chabon joins The Leonard Lopate Book Club and takes your questions about his accomplished career, as well as the new novel. Submit your questions for him below. Events: Michael Chabon will be signing books at the Union Square Barnes & Noble (33 East 17th Street) on Monday November 21st at 7:00 p.m. On Wednesday, December 7th from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m., he'll be speaking as part of the New York Public Library's "LIVE from the NYPL" series. It will be held at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (476 Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street). Click here for more information and tickets.

From novels and memoirs, to plays and poetry, it's no secret that books have the power to move us and remain with us long after we finish the final chapter. For this month's Leonard Lopate Show Book Club, we want to hear all about the books and authors that have changed your life! We'll hear from literary stars Susan Orlean and Emma Straub about their favorite books. Both writers are featured in The Books that Changed My Life, edited by Bethanne Patrick, who will also join the conversation. Leave your comments and questions for Susan Orlean and Emma Straub below, or tweet them to @LeonardLopate! You can also leave a message for us on Anchor, below: Click here to subscribe to The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club newsletter!

The Sellout follows the story of one man's quest to get his hometown, the "agrarian ghetto" of Dickens, California, put back on the map after its unceremonious removal. He enlists the help of Dickens' only celebrity resident, Hominy Jenkins, the last surviving original cast member of "The Little Rascals." As Paul Beatty's plot unfolds, so does his particular sense of satirical humor... with the protagonist becoming a slave owner, seeking to reestablish racial segregation, and taking his fight all the way to the Supreme Court. The novel earned Paul Beatty the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. The poet and author answers all of your questions about his career, and about the book! Leave your questions for Paul Beatty below, or tweet them to @LeonardLopate! Click here to subscribe to The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club newsletter!

Novelist Mary Higgins Clark and her signature brand of unputdownable suspense have been keeping readers up at night for decades. She joins The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club to discuss the book where it all began, her first mystery bestseller, Where Are the Children?. She also talks about her life, which in many ways has been as dramatic and interesting as the stories she writes. The so-called "Queen of Suspense" just released her 52nd book, As Time Goes By. Audio Bonus: Listen to an archival interview with Leonard and Mary Higgins Clark from 1989! Click here to subscribe to The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club newsletter!

The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club got a lot of listener questions for Ann Goldstein, the literary translator responsible for bringing Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels to English readers. The most popular question? How does Elena Ferrante use "dialect," and how does Ms. Goldstein interpret it? According to Goldstein, Ferrante's dialect is the language of children, anger, and home, while Italian is reserved for formal education, and for "getting out of where you are." Find out more in the video above. You can also listen to the full on-air interview here!

Elena Ferrante is the pen name for an Italian author who doesn't do interviews, and whose true identity has been kept a secret – and eluded detection – for more than two decades. Ann Goldstein is the only literary translator who has been entrusted with bringing the words of Ms. Ferrante's bestselling Neapolitan novels to English readers. Over the course of the past decade or so, Ms. Goldstein has become one of the most sought-after Italian to English literary translators in the world. Her other notable translation work includes In Other Words, Jhumpa Lahiri’s new Italian-written memoir and The Complete Works of Primo Levi, which was released last fall. And not for nothing, but all of these accomplishments are on top of Ms. Goldstein's day job as head of the copy department at The New Yorker. Ann Goldstein joins The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club to answer your questions about the Neapolitan novels, how she became a celebrity in the translation world, as well as the public face of Elena Ferrante, her process, and her broader body of work. Watch the video: Event: On April 28th at 7 p.m., Ann Goldstein will be in conversation with authors Roxana Robinson and Judith Thurman at The Greene Space to discuss Elena Ferrante and her collection of essays and letters, Bits and Pieces of Uncertain Origin, coming out in November. The event is sold out, but you can watch the live stream here.

Publishing a first novel is a big deal, but not many authors release their debut to much acclaim. Angela Flournoy, though, is exceptional. Her first novel, The Turner House, was a National Book Award finalist, and named one of the National Book Foundation's "5 Under 35." Naturally, we wanted to get some advice from her about writing a first book. “If you think you have a subject matter that’s worthy," she told us, "Even if it’s not what you see on bestseller lists, just pursue it.” Watch the video above for more! You can also click to stream her entire on-air interview with Leonard.

Old houses are witnesses to growing families and changing cities. For her debut novel The Turner House, Angela Flournoy found inspiration in the houses of Detroit, and the families that stayed despite the chaos around them. The results speak for themselves: the book was a National Book Award Finalist, one of the National Book Foundation’s "5 Under 35," and more. Angela Flournoy joins us today for The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club to answer your questions. Submit your questions below! Not a member of The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club yet? Start by subscribing to our newsletter!

When one of his students comes to him and says, "I want to be a writer," Marlon James has one piece of advice: quit. To James, writing is not about talent, it's about discipline and hunger. When he stopped by The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club to discuss his Man Booker Prize-winning novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings, he also told us about how he tunes out the world while he's writing, and how he thinks Shakespeare would have written the ongoing race to the GOP nomination. Find out how by watching the video above!

On the night of December 3, 1976, Bob Marley, his wife, and his tour manager were sitting in the kitchen of his pink mansion when seven men drove up to the house and started shooting. The New York Times reported that Jamaica's Prime Minister flew to Kingston to visit Mr. Marley in the hospital, and that the PM had just recently stated that "there had been a regrettable increase in violent incidents in the island." In fact, the shooting occurred just two days before Marley was scheduled to play Smile Jamaica, a concert intended to ease tensions in the capital. This is the place and time you enter when you open the pages of Marlon James' fantastic novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings. This story of ghosts, singers, CIA agents, drug dealers, politicians, and other various voices from the streets of Jamaica won serious acclaim in 2015. That includes the Man Booker Prize, and the American Book Award. We now add to its accolades... (drum roll, please) it's the February Leonard Lopate Show book club pick! Watch our video with Marlon James:

We enjoy talking about new books here at The Leonard Lopate Show, but there's this other, undeniable part of us that prefers worn pages, creased spines, notes in the margins, and dog eared corners. Phillip Lopate and Jane Smiley talk about some of their favorites. We'll also hear from our listeners who wrote in to tell us all about their cherished re-reads! Don't forget to sign up for our Leonard Lopate Show Book Club newsletter! Lois Hansen, one of our listeners, sent us photos of her 1912 edition of "Anne of Green Gables." (Lois Hansen)