Episode 44 — Eleanor Henderson

Summary: Eleanor Henderson is the guest. She's the author of the debut novel TEN THOUSAND SAINTS, now available in trade paperback from Ecco. It was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2011 by the New York Times Book Review. In a glowing review for the Times, Stacey D'Erasmo writes: "The ambition of TEN THOUSAND SAINTS, Eleanor Henderson’s debut novel about a group of unambitious lost souls, is beautiful. In nearly 400 pages, Henderson does not hold back once: she writes the hell out of every moment, every scene, every perspective, every fleeting impression, every impulse and desire and bit of emotional detritus. She is never ironic or underwhelmed; her preferred mode is fierce, devoted and elegiac." A great deal to talk about here. Topics of conversation include: Ithaca, Greece, bumper stickers, teaching, luck, children's books, agents, revisions, rejections, editorial notes, Jim Rutman, Sterling Lord Literistic, the sales process, Lee Boudreaux, bedside manner, editorial tricks, pregnancy, anxiety, straight edge, Split Lip, fundamentalism, punk rock, nerds, dating, architecture, West Palm Beach, Virginia, Soul Asylum, freon, drugs, death, environmentalism, aging, hippies, convictions, savants, Georgia, and extreme moderation. Monologue topics: love, divorce, cute old couples, hunchbacked old couples, weddings, psycho-sexual mind games, Filmmaker magazine, and my burgeoning literary media empire.