Storytelling
'Right-Hand': A Lush Prequel To 'Mason's Retreat'
In The Right-Hand Shore, Christopher Tilghman returns to the racially charged landscape and the crumbling plantations of his book Mason's Retreat. Fresh Air critic Maureen Corrigan calls the prequel "the real deal."
Spending The Night With Sleepwalker Mike Birbiglia.
Comedian Mike Birbiglia has a disorder that makes him sleepwalk. He recounts his worst episode — as well as other painfully embarrassing moments — in his comedic memoir, Sleepwalk With Me.
Spoken-Word Artist David Cale
After leaving England, Cale rose to prominence as a storyteller in the same New York scene as Spalding Grey. He has a new book called Redthroats.
Novelist John Barth on Storytelling.
Novelist John Barth, one of the most inventive of American writers. His works include The Floating Opera, The Sot-Weed Factor and Giles Goat-Boy. His new novel, set on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, is titled The Tidewater Tales. (Rebroadcast. Original broadcast July 23, 1987.)
Telling Stories and "Splitting Hairs"
Actor and playwright Rebecca Wells is touring the country with her new one-woman show, about the life of a beautician.
Telling Stories about Telling Stories
Novelist and professor John Barth tried to make his mark as a jazz drummer; instead, he became a maximalist writer known for his sprawling, metafictional books. He joins Fresh Air to discuss his early career, the nature of storytelling, and his experiences at John Hopkins University as both a student and instructor.
Keeping Black Stories Alive
John O'Neal cofounded the Free Southern Theater, a company closely aligned with the black civil rights movement. Louise Anderson is a prominent African American storyteller. They are both featured in the National Festival of Black Storytellers at Philadelphia's Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum.