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Virtual Memories Show #127:
Michael Dirda – The Meandering Reflections of a Literary Sybarite

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“I enjoy going back to Lorain, Ohio because I’m reminded that the world of Washington and the East Coast literary establishment is a very narrow, special one that’s parochial in its own way. The rest of the world has other concerns: family, job and life in general. Whereas we get all up in arms about very minor things.”

Pulitzer Prize-winning book reviewer Michael Dirda rejoins the show to talk about his new collection, Browsings: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living with Books (Pegasus Books). We discuss the importance of reading for pleasure, the difference between book-collecting and shopping, the role of the book reviewer (and how it differs from that of the critic), a recent negative review he didn’t want to write, why he doesn’t read reviews of his work, what his mother said when he won the Pulitzer Prize, and more! Give it a listen!

“The books that you don’t grasp immediately, the ones that leave you off-kilter . . . those are often the books that really last, and matter.”

Our first three-time guest also talks about the democratization of book reviewing, the problems of storing books in his basement, what he wants an author to think upon reading his book review of a book, his affinity for Clive James’ work, whether his reviews have a coded autobiographical element to them, how the limitations of the book review form shaped his style, why he disagrees with John Clute’s philosophy on spoilers, and more!

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We talk about a lot of books in this episode. Here’s a list of ’em (Note: if I ever go to a Patreon crowdfunding model for the show, this is the first thing that goes subscriber-only):

• Little Big Man – Thomas Berger
• Suspects – Thomas Berger
• The Creators: A History of Heroes of the Imagination – Daniel Boorstin
• The Discoverers – Daniel Boorstin
• Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
• The Unquiet Grave: A Word Cycle by Palinurus – Cyril Connolly
• The Moving Toyshop – Edmund Crispin
• Browsings: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living with Books – Michael Dirda
• Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainments – Michael Dirda
• On Conan Doyle: Or, The Whole Art of Storytelling – Michael Dirda
• The Robe – Lloyd C. Douglas
• The New Lifetime Reading Plan: The Classical Guide to World Literature, Revised and Expanded – Clifton Fadiman
• Party of One – Clifton Fadiman
• Enter Conversing – Clifton Fadiman
• The Recognitions – William Gaddis
• Muse: A novel – Jonathan Galassi
• The Green Carnation – Robert Hichens
• The Odyssey – Homer
• Appleby’s End – Michael Innes
• Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts – Clive James
• Kim – Rudyard Kipling
• Zorba the Greek – Nikos Kazantzakis
• Dazzle – Judith Krantz
• V R Lang: Poems & Plays with a Memoir – Alison Lurie
• Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds – Charles Mackay
• Bright Lights, Big City – Jay McInerney
• The Scarlet Pimpernel – Baroness Orczy
• Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
• Burning the Days: Recollection – James Salter
• Memorable Days: The Selected Letters of James Salter and Robert Phelps
• Anathem – Neal Stephenson
• Walden – Thoreau
• Stoner – John Williams
• On Writing Well – William Zinsser

Enjoy the conversation! Then check out the archives for more great episodes! You might like:

• Michael Dirda, part 1 and part 2
• Clive James
• John Crowley, Scott Edelman
• Frank Wilson
• Jessa Crispin

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About our Guest

Michael Dirda is a weekly book columnist for The Washington Post, and he received the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for criticism. He is the author of the memoir, An Open Book: Chapters fom a Reader’s Life, and of four previous collections of essays: Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainments, Bound to Please, Book by Book: Notes on Reading and Life, and Classics for Pleasure, in addition to his newest collection, Browsings. His previous book, On Conan Doyle: Or, The Whole Art of Storytelling, received a 2012 Edgar Award for best critical/biographical work of the year. Michael Dirda graduated with Highest Honors in English from Oberlin College and earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature (medieval studies and European romanticism) from Cornell University. He is a contributor to The New York Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, the online Barnes & Noble Review, The American Spectator, and several other periodicals, as well as a frequent lecturer and an occasional college teacher.

Credits: This episode’s music is Ah, Putrefaction by Jaristo, from Hans Zimmer’s film music for Sherlock Holmes. The conversation was recorded at the Boston Marriott Burlington on a pair of Blue enCORE 200 microphones feeding into a Zoom H5 digital recorder. I recorded the intro and outro on a Blue Yeti USB Microphone. Processing was done in Audacity and Logic Pro. Photo of Mr. Dirda by me.