Episode 50 — Maud Newton

Summary: Maud Newton is the guest. One of the web's most influential book bloggers. She also reviews books and is a former attorney who now works as an editor and writer for (a legal publishing division of) Thomson Reuters. She has written about culture and the arts for numerous publications, including The New York Times, Bookforum, and The Paris Review, and she was the recipient of the 2009 Narrative Prize for “When the Flock Changed,” an excerpt from her novel-in-progress. Pleased to have her on the program—the 50th episode! Plenty to discuss. Topics of conversation include: blogging, books, Bookslut, Laila Lalami, Dennis Johnson, tax law, Florida, unhappy childhoods, reading, conservatism, liberalism, law school, religion, Brooklyn, Jennifer Howard, insularity, Mark Sarvas, George Murray, Lizzie Skurnick, The Chimerist, Laura Miller, The Millions, The Rumpus, HTML Giant, The Second Pass, John Williams, Tumblr, Twitter, timing, prostitutes, critics, memoirs vs. novels, revision, perfectionism, obsessiveness, absurdities, familial dysfunction, and religious extremism. Monologue topics: AWP 2012, Chicago, AutoZone, batteries, mentally disabled man, sushi, strip malls, air travel, nerves, George Harrison, neck pillows, and Darwinian writerly tension.