{"id":8923,"date":"2015-07-27T20:08:01","date_gmt":"2015-07-28T00:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=8923"},"modified":"2015-07-27T20:08:01","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T00:08:01","slug":"episode-127-the-meandering-reflections-of-a-literary-sybarite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-127-the-meandering-reflections-of-a-literary-sybarite","title":{"rendered":"Episode 127 – The Meandering Reflections of a Literary Sybarite"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories Show #127:
\nMichael Dirda – The Meandering Reflections of a Literary Sybarite<\/a><\/p>\n

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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.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"browsingscover\"<\/a>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<\/a>\"\" (Pegasus Books). We\u00a0discuss\u00a0the 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\u00a0his mother\u00a0said\u00a0when he won the Pulitzer Prize, and more! Give it a listen!<\/a><\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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!<\/p>\n

http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Episode_127_-_The_Meandering_Reflections_of_a_Literary_Sybarite.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

We talk about a lot<\/em> 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)<\/em>:<\/p>\n