Writers on a New England Stage

The former journalist and political talk show personality opens up about his new book, "Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero."

Stephen King reads from "The Dome" and gets personal in a live interview.

A reading and interview with Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club and Choke. His latest novel is Damned, the story of a dead but plucky thirteen-year old and her many misadventures through Hell.

Elizabeth Gilbert reads from her new book, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Piece with Marriage, and talks about her relationship, skipping yoga in the mornings, and why Pamela Anderson is a great philosopher.

This segment was produced by Shannon Dooling.

The controversial author and self-proclaimed inventor of a new genre of literary non-fiction, Ben Mezrich's bestselling books include Bringing Down the House and The Accidental Billionaires. The first was the source for the film, 21 and the second was adapted into the Academy Award-winning movie The Social Network.

David McCullough is widely known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning writing on great leaders and American politics, in books such as Truman and John Adams. In his newest work he turns his focus to Americans abroad in Nineteenth Century Paris.

In this edition of Writers on a New England Stage, McCullough reads from his newest book, The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, a chronicle spanning generation, and sits down for a conversation about his work, his influences, and America's age-old fascination with The City of Light.

Neil Gaiman is often credited for expanding the audience for comics beyond white, teenage boys with his Sandman series. But he is also a true multi-media phenom, a filmmaker, (now) recording artist, screenwriter for the likes of Dr. Who, and prolific author, including the multi-award winning, groundbreaking novel American Gods.

Ann Patchett's new novel, State of Wonder, is topping all the big reading lists right now. She reads from the book, tells a terrifying true story about her close encounter with an anaconda, and has a blisteringly funny conversation with Virginia.

Links:

• Ann Patchett
• Telegraph Review of State of Wonder
• The New York Times Weighs In

Joyce Carol Oates reads from her new book, A Widow's Story, and talks about her writing life and the experience of crafting this book with Virginia Prescott.

Joseph Ellis, Pulitzer Prize winning author and historian, reads from his new book, First Family. He also talks about why the likes of Abigail and John Adams will never come again.

Links:

• The book
• Christian Science Monitor review

The bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman, and Krakatoa visited the Music Hall in Portsmouth to talk about his new book, Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Disasters, Titanic Storms and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories. It’s a biography of the ocean, from its origins 195 million years ago, through centuries of discovery, trade, war, and harvest to what he calls “the forgotten ocean” of today.

Links:

• Atlantic
• Seattle Times Review

Today on Word of Mouth, a conversation with Margaret Atwood, recorded live at the Music Hall in Portsmouth as part of the “Writers on a New England Stage” series.  Virginia spoke with the award winning author of the dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale. They talked about pessimism, hope for the future, and learning survival skills in Canada. 

Atwood also read from her newest novel, The Year of the Flood.

Links:

Today on Word of Mouth, a conversation with Isabel Allende, live from the series. Allende is the best selling Latin-American author in the world. Beginning with her 1982 debut, House of the Spirits, Ms. Allende’s novels have been praised for their historical accuracy, deep sensuality and what critics call "magical realism." She has written 17 more books including novels, memoirs and young adult stories since she was forced to leave her native Chile. She and her family fled after a military coup toppled the presidency of her father’s cousin, Salvador Allende. She now lives and writes in California.

The author of Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, and The Blind Side joined NHPR's Jon Greenberg at the most recent installment of Writers on a New England Stage to discuss his latest work of nonfiction, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. It's a character-rich and darkly humorous account of how the US economy “was driven over the cliff” by a collection of professionals entrenched in the financial world.

This event was made possible with support from Cambridge Trust of New Hampshire.

Today on Word of Mouth, a conversation with Jodi Picoult, live from the "Writers on a New England Stage" series. The prolific novelist’s 17th book, House Rules, recently debuted at the #1 spot on the New York Times bestsellers list for hardcover fiction. We spoke to her about her work and her life as a mother of three here in Hanover, New Hampshire. But first, we hear Jodi Picoult reading from her new book.