Episode 9 — Steve Almond

Summary: Steve Almond is the guest. He's the bestselling author of books like CANDYFREAK, MY LIFE IN HEAVY METAL, and ROCK AND ROLL WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE. And now he has a new story collection out from Lookout Books called GOD BLESS AMERICA, which Lorrie Moore calls "funny and beguiling and completely original." Topics of conversation include: communes, Jennifer Egan, too much television, nauseating self-doubt, anxiousness over books one hasn't read, the absurdity of continuing to write even though writing is often miserable, high class problems, the scarcity of attention, Charles Dickens, hamsters eating carrots, the god-awful guilt one feels when one realizes that one is complaining about the difficulty of writing in a world where most people don't have access to potable water, the phrase "God Bless America," Kurt Vonnegut, Don DeLillo, and more.