{"id":17026,"date":"2024-09-03T11:18:21","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T15:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=17026"},"modified":"2024-09-03T11:18:23","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T15:18:23","slug":"episode-603-nicholas-delbanco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-603-nicholas-delbanco","title":{"rendered":"Episode 603 – Nicholas Delbanco"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories Show 603:
\nNicholas Delbanco<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_603_-_Nicholas_Delbanco.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

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

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“More and more I measure success in terms of the distance between intention and execution.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Nicholas Delbanco<\/a> returns to the show to celebrate his 32nd book and his first true foray into memoir (or ME<\/em>-moir), STILL LIFE AT EIGHTY<\/a> (Mandel Vilar Press)! We talk about how the rediscovery of the 40-page history of art he wrote at eleven years old<\/em> (!) sparked this project, how he built the book as a mosaic, why he centers it around the homes, totem-objects, and writers in his life, and why he wanted his first memoir to be an act of gratitude rather than a list of gripes. We get into decision to part with some of his library and the books he regrets selling, his long-term interest in literary and artistic reputation and how its study helped him navigate the transition from “promising” to “distinguished” writer, his writing practice and process, and what he learned when recently revising a series of his early novels. We also discuss his embrace of compression and restraint in his later writing, why he’ll write a fictional character’s poetry but doesn’t write poetry on his own, what his family’s history and business taught him about the balance between the dutifulness and risks of art, his surprise at how quickly John Updike’s reputation waned, what he’s learned in his 80s, and a a lot more. Give it a listen!<\/a> And go read Still Life At Eighty: A Memoir<\/a>!<\/p>\n

“I think this book is a record of contentment, rather than complaint.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n