Lannan Readings & Conversations
Gilbert Sorrentino
with Michael SilverblattWednesday November 10 2004
Reading, November 10, 2004
Conversation, November 10, 2004
Downloadable Podcast of this event is now available.
Gilbert Sorrentino, "like a reckless heir to Borges, Barthelme and Groucho Marx, co-opts the language of critical discourse to subvert his audience's preconceptions and, in so doing, redraws the boundaries of 'acceptable' art" (The New York Times). For much of the 1950's and 60's, Sorrentino published literary journals and magazines and in 1965 took a job at Grove Press where his first editing assignment was Alex Haley's The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Sorrentino's first novel, The Sky Changes, was published in 1966, and over 20 titles of fiction and poetry have followed. In 1973, Sorrentino published his most commercially successful work, Mulligan Stew. Of his novel, Blue Pastoral, the Atlantic Monthly says, "Sorrentino demonstrates, with a steady flow of puns, parodies, misquotations (deliberate), incorrect historical references (ditto), and hideous verse (presumably also ditto), that the country abounds in foolishness."
Michael Silverblatt, a New York native, studied at Johns Hopkins University, where he came under the influence of such cutting-edge author-teachers as Donald Barthelme and John Barth. Dubbed "the best reader in America" by Norman Mailer, he is the host of the literary talk show Bookworm, which he created in 1989 for KCRW 89.9 FM in Santa Monica. He has participated in numerous Readings & Conversations programs, interviewing Gore Vidal, Susan Sontag, Salman Rushdie, and A.S. Byatt, among others. Bookworm airs locally on KSFR 101.1FM every Sunday at 1:30pm.
R&C Calendars
Explore Lannan
Timothy Ferris
with Ed KruppWednesday April 28 2004 Streaming Audio and Podcast Now Available Continued...
From Readings & Conversations