Author Archives: Audrey J, Layden

Scott Davis

Memories and Scenes: Shtetl, Childhood, Writers – broadcast 11-24-2014, Scott Davis, Publisher.  This is the first English translation of eleven autobiographical short stories by the beloved and successful 19th century Eastern European Yiddish writer, Jacob Dinezon. In this collection, Dinezon recalls his childhood years in the shtetl, the unusual and memorable characters he encountered along the way, and the events that led to his passion for becoming a writer. Contained within these stories is a treasure trove of Yiddish history, culture, and values the telling of which will amuse, educate and give reason to consider to the reader fortunate enough to open the book and start the journey. Find out more at http://www.pulist.net/memories-and-scenes-shtetl-childhood-writers.html

Danger of Love by Maryam Tabibzadeh (broadcast 9-8-2014) Marjan is the daughter of a Kashvili chieftain, the most powerful man in their province in Persia. Beautiful and educated, she was married at age nine to a rich merchant who is absent for months at a time. Russ is a British Christian missionary doctor stationed in Shiraz just as World War II is breaking out.

When Marjan and Russ meet, in spite of all the obstacles between them—his deep Christian beliefs, her married life, the different cultures they grow up in, and the fact that they could be stoned to death for engaging in an affair—they fall in love. Drama, tragedy and love in its many forms are told in this story. Find out more at ncwriters.org/2014-01-07-18-35-09/book-buzz/5646-danger-of-love-by-maryam-tabibzadeh

Auto Biography by Earl Swift (broadcast) A classic ’57 Chevy, in wretched shape. Hassled by banks, local officials, the FBI, and his own volatile demons, the Chevy’s thirteenth owner embarks on a mission to save the car and preserve the long record of human experience it carries in its steel and upholstery.
Written for both gearheads and Sunday drivers, Earl Swift’s fifth book of narrative nonfiction charts the shifting hopes and fortunes of the people who’ve gripped the car’s steering wheel, throwing a light on the sturdy resilience of the American Dream and our abiding relationship with the automobile. Find out more at earlswift.com

The Committee on Town Happiness by Alan Michael Parker (broadcast 6-9-2014) The Committee on Town Happiness consists of ninety-nine linked stories about disappearing townsfolk. Air balloons are launched to search for the missing, galas proliferate, laws are imposed ad absurdum, and a guerilla group forms as the Committee shapes the future of small-town America in this biting examination of modern bureaucracy. Find out more at alanmichaelparker.com

My Accidental Jihad by Krista Bremer (broadcast 5-26-2014) From acquaintances to lovers to a couple facing an unexpected pregnancy, this is the story of two people – a middle class American raised in Southern California and a Muslim raised by illiterate parents in an impoverished Libyan fishing village – who made a commitment to one another without forsaking their own identities.

Fascinating, often funny, and profoundly moving, this meditation on tolerance explores what it means to open our hearts to another culture and, just as important, to embrace our own.  It is Krista’s unexpected struggle to reach beyond herself, her accidental jihad. Find out more at kristabremer.com/book

Guests on Earth by Lee Smith(broadcast 5-12-2014) A writer at the height of her craft, Lee Smith has created, through her masterful melding of fiction and fact, a mesmerizing novel about a world apart – a time and a place where creativity and passion, theory and medicine, fact and fiction, tragedy and transformation, are luminously intertwined.  Find out more at leesmith.com/guests