59 min
Bookwaves/Artwaves – April 18, 2024: Don Winslow – Viet Thanh Nguyen KPFA - Bookwaves/Artwaves
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- Politics
Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Links to assorted local theater & book venues
Don Winslow, author of “City in Ruins,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded via zencastr on April 10, 2024
Don Winslow is the author of 22 novels, many of which focus on crime and the criminal underworld, including The Cartel, The Force, Savages (which became an Oliver Stone film), and The Border. His latest novel, “City in Ruins”, concludes the trilogy of “City on Fire” and “City of Dreams,” which told of a mob war using as a template the story of the Trojan War, The Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid and other works. In this latest novel, we follow the character of Danny Ryan, (Aeneas) as he winds up in Las Vegas (the founding of Rome), with forays into the Odyssey and the greek tragedies of Aeschylus and Europides. Don Winslow has stated that these will be his final novels.
Don Winslow also produces political videos aimed at saving the American democracy from Donald Trump, and is a vital force on Twitter.
Photos: Richard Wolinsky. Complete Interview.
A conversation with Viet Thanh Nguyen, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his novel, The Sympathizer, which has now been adapted into a television miniseries. The interview was recorded in the KPFA studios, May 5, 2016. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky
Viet Thanh Nguyen came over from Vietnam with his family at the time of the fall of Saigon. The Sympathizer is the story of a Communist exile in America following the end of the Vietnam War, both a spy and in some respects, a lover of American culture.
An Associate Professor at the University of Southern California, Viet Thanh Nguyen is the author of two non-fiction books, Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America and Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War, a non-fiction bookend to his novel. A sequel to The Sympathizer, The Committed, was published in 2021.
Complete 40-minute interview.
Review of “Tiger Style!” at TheatreWorks Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts through April 28, 2024.
Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links
Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended.
Book Stores
Bay Area Book Festival Family Day, May 4th, events around Berkeley. 2025 Festival: June 1-2, guests include Joan Baez, Naomi Klein, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jonathan Lethem.
Book Passage. Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events.
Books Inc. Mix of on-line and in-store events.
The Booksmith. Monthly Event Calendar.
Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months.
Green Apple Books. Events calendar.
Kepler’s Books On-line Refresh the Page program listings.
Live Theater Companies
Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC). The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Steven Adly Guirgis, May 4, 7 pm, Marin Shakespeare Company, San Rafael.
African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar.
Alter Theatre. See website for upcoming productions.
American Conservatory Theatre Kristina Wong Sweatshop Overlord, March 30 – May 5, 2024, Strand Theater. A Strange Loop, April 18 – May 12, Toni Rembe Theater.
Aurora Theatre Blue Door by Tanya Barfield, April 19 – May 19. Streaming: March 14-19.
Awesome Theatre Company. Awesome High: A Sketch Comedy Play, directed by Nikki Menez, April 12-27, Eclectic Box, 446 Valencia, SF.
Berkeley Rep Galileo, World Premiere Musical, book by Danny Strong, with Raul Esparza, May 5 – June 10, Roda Theatre.
Berkeley Shakespeare Company. See website for upcoming schedule.
Boxcar Theatre. See website for upcom
Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Links to assorted local theater & book venues
Don Winslow, author of “City in Ruins,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded via zencastr on April 10, 2024
Don Winslow is the author of 22 novels, many of which focus on crime and the criminal underworld, including The Cartel, The Force, Savages (which became an Oliver Stone film), and The Border. His latest novel, “City in Ruins”, concludes the trilogy of “City on Fire” and “City of Dreams,” which told of a mob war using as a template the story of the Trojan War, The Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid and other works. In this latest novel, we follow the character of Danny Ryan, (Aeneas) as he winds up in Las Vegas (the founding of Rome), with forays into the Odyssey and the greek tragedies of Aeschylus and Europides. Don Winslow has stated that these will be his final novels.
Don Winslow also produces political videos aimed at saving the American democracy from Donald Trump, and is a vital force on Twitter.
Photos: Richard Wolinsky. Complete Interview.
A conversation with Viet Thanh Nguyen, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his novel, The Sympathizer, which has now been adapted into a television miniseries. The interview was recorded in the KPFA studios, May 5, 2016. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky
Viet Thanh Nguyen came over from Vietnam with his family at the time of the fall of Saigon. The Sympathizer is the story of a Communist exile in America following the end of the Vietnam War, both a spy and in some respects, a lover of American culture.
An Associate Professor at the University of Southern California, Viet Thanh Nguyen is the author of two non-fiction books, Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America and Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War, a non-fiction bookend to his novel. A sequel to The Sympathizer, The Committed, was published in 2021.
Complete 40-minute interview.
Review of “Tiger Style!” at TheatreWorks Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts through April 28, 2024.
Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links
Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended.
Book Stores
Bay Area Book Festival Family Day, May 4th, events around Berkeley. 2025 Festival: June 1-2, guests include Joan Baez, Naomi Klein, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jonathan Lethem.
Book Passage. Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events.
Books Inc. Mix of on-line and in-store events.
The Booksmith. Monthly Event Calendar.
Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months.
Green Apple Books. Events calendar.
Kepler’s Books On-line Refresh the Page program listings.
Live Theater Companies
Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC). The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Steven Adly Guirgis, May 4, 7 pm, Marin Shakespeare Company, San Rafael.
African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar.
Alter Theatre. See website for upcoming productions.
American Conservatory Theatre Kristina Wong Sweatshop Overlord, March 30 – May 5, 2024, Strand Theater. A Strange Loop, April 18 – May 12, Toni Rembe Theater.
Aurora Theatre Blue Door by Tanya Barfield, April 19 – May 19. Streaming: March 14-19.
Awesome Theatre Company. Awesome High: A Sketch Comedy Play, directed by Nikki Menez, April 12-27, Eclectic Box, 446 Valencia, SF.
Berkeley Rep Galileo, World Premiere Musical, book by Danny Strong, with Raul Esparza, May 5 – June 10, Roda Theatre.
Berkeley Shakespeare Company. See website for upcoming schedule.
Boxcar Theatre. See website for upcom
59 min