Next on Copper Robot: Jonathan Lethem
mi...@mitchwagner.com
Our next guest on Copper Robot is novelist Jonathan Lethem, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the MacArthur "genius grant." Lethem is author of "Fortress of Solitude" and "Motherless Brooklyn". His latest novel, "Chronic City," features a fictionalized version of Second Life. We'll talk with Jonathan about Second Life, books, writing, Brooklyn, and more.
"Fortress of Solitude"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375724885?ie=UTF8&tag=copprobo-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=0375724885
"Motherless Brooklyn"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375724834?ie=UTF8&tag=copprobo-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0375724834
"Chronic City"
http://www.amazon.com/Chronic-City-Jonathan-Lethem/dp/0385518633/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263238289&sr=1-1
WHEN: Sunday, Jan. 17, 6 pm Pacific Time/Second Life Time
WHERE: The lovely Seaside Theater, World2Worlds Island in Second Life, watch the live video on the Web, or listen to the podcast later on http://www.CopperRobot.com.
Seaside Theater SLURL:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/World2Worlds/223/36/26
Live Web video:
http://copperrobot.com/video/
Lethem's best-known novels put a fantastic spin on contemporary life in Brooklyn, where he was born and lived much of his life. "Motherless Brooklyn" is a funny and poignant story about a petty criminal with Tourette's Syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder who solves the murder of his beloved boss. "Fortress of Solitude" is a realistic coming-of-age novel about a boy growing up in Brooklyn around 1970, that becomes a fantasy novel when the boy discovers a magic artifact that gives him superpowers.
In his latest novel, "Chronic City", Lethem goes across the river to Manhattan, to tell the story of Chase Insteadman, a directionless former child star living on residuals from his 80s TV show. Chase meets up with Perkus Tooth, a half-mad pop-culture critic, and they forge a peculiar friendship around marijuana, hamburgers, and Tooth's bizarre theories. A fictionalized version of Second Life is important to the novel. In "Chronic City", Second Life is called "Yet Another Life," and it fits in with a major theme of the novel, which is that none of the characters know what's real and what isn't. I loved "Chronic City", and reviewed it here. Also, Wagner James Au interviews Lethem about the Second Life connection.
Mitch Wagner's Blog: Reading "Chronic City," by Jonathan Lethem
http://blog.mitchwagner.com/2009/11/reading-chronic-city-by-jonathan-lethem.html
Wagner James Au: "The Second Life of Jonathan Lethem"
http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2009/12/the-second-life-of-jonathan-lethem.html
Much of Lethem's work is science-fictional. "Gun With Occasional Music" is a hard-boiled detective story featuring talking animals, made intelligent using "evolution therapy." "Amnesia Moon" takes place in a post-apocalyptic America, and "Girl In Landscape" tells the story of a colonist on another planet.
"Gun With Occasional Music"
http://www.amazon.com/Gun-Occasional-Music-Harvest-Book/dp/0156028972/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263238337&sr=1-1
"Amnesia Moon"
http://www.amazon.com/Amnesia-Moon-Jonathan-Lethem/dp/015603154X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263238375&sr=1-1
"Girl In Landscape"
http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Landscape-Novel-Jonathan-Lethem/dp/0375703918/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263238406&sr=1-1
See you Sunday for what's sure to be a fascinating conversation.
ABOUT COPPER ROBOT:
Copper Robot is an interview podcast recorded live in Second Life, with guests talking about books, technology, popular culture, politics, Second Life, and more. The Copper Robot host is veteran journalist Mitch Wagner. To get updates about Copper Robot, join our Second Life group or follow us on the Web at http://CopperRobot.com. We're also on Twitter, Facebook, and iTunes, and we have an e-mail mailing list--to find out about those, go to the Web site and look for the pretty column of icons on the right side of the page.
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Mitch Wagner
http://CopperRobot.com
SL: Mitch Wagner
+1 (213) 514-5597
Twitter: @MitchWagner
Twitter: @CopperRobot
Skype: Mitch.Wagner
mi...@mitchwagner.com
Mitch Wagner
--
Mitch Wagner
http://CopperRobot.com
SL: Mitch Wagner
+1 (213) 514-5597
Twitter: @MitchWagner
Twitter: @CopperRobot
Skype: Mitch.Wagner
mi...@mitchwagner.com
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