Episode 56 — Jessica Keener

Summary: Jessica Keener is today's guest. Her debut novel, NIGHT SWIM, is now available from Fiction Studio Books. Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Egan says: "Jessica Keener steps boldly into the terrain of Eugene O'Neill, conjuring up the pathologies and quirks of a besieged Boston family in stark, quivering detail that never entirely distracts us from the looming sense of crisis. This gripping first novel announces the arrival of a strong, distinct and fully evolved new voice." A super-interesting and unexpected conversation. Jessica is delightful. Topics include: Purim, Esther, Haman, Hamantashen, International Women's Day, Russians, Brookline, Boston, bone marrow, aplastic anemia, Karmu, white light, love at first sight, The South, Atlanta, Flannery O'Connor, books, Brown, New York, manners, Emory, self-hypnosis, fear, death, gay nightclubs, wealth, spirituality, the afterlife, writing, out-of-body experiences, Time-Life books, hippies, Woodstock, writing speed, goals and satisfaction. Monologue topics: Walter, raisins, wailing children, veterinarians, medicine, mushrooms, and Queen Latifah.