Episode 59 — Amelia Gray

Summary: Amelia Gray is the guest. She's the author of three works of fiction, the most recent of which is a novel called THREATS, now available from Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. Doug Dorst, author of 'The Surf Guru,' has this to say about Amelia's work: "The first time I encountered Amelia Gray’s fiction, it slugged me in the jaw. The second time too, and the third. Said jaw-slugging has ensued nearly every time I’ve read something of hers, except for when instead it whispered sad and surprising but undeniable truths about the difficulty of intimacy and sense in the wretched blastoscape of modern life. And then it made me a grilled cheese sandwich to prove that the world can be a kind place, and it waited until I had sated myself and wiped away the crumbs before slugging me in the jaw again." Very pleased to have her on the program. Topics of conversation include: social discomfort, small groups, loud bars, scorpions, Tucson, javelinas, North Carolina, Arizona State, palo verde trees, sitting Indian-style, kid games, Nazis, orphans, violin, taking cures, long distance relationships, bathing at the houses of strange men, Greyhound buses, Presbyterianism, superstition, Mandarin, seclusion, Dungeons & Dragons, weightlifting, broken noses, impulsiveness, bad jokes, anal sex, meeting people on the Internet, knife-throwing, social media, Cindy Sheehan, Austin, philosophy, Tempe, Texas State, competitive spirit, writing in public, and creative faces. Monologue topics include: Mega Millions, Warren Buffett, Gandhi, charity, morality, and giving money away stupidly.