Today is the fourth installment of my conversation with British novelist Tom McCarthy. When we met in Toronto last year, we talked a lot about music and movies between events, and I was keen to pick up where we left off when we corresponded by email…
WARNING!: This conversation contains adult themes and references to avant-garde New York rock bands!
Part Four
DW: The music of The Velvet Underground features in MEN IN SPACE, and I know we share a love of My Bloody Valentine. How does music influence your work?
TM: Funnily enough (and without giving away too much of the book’s ending), the last word in Men in Space is ‘soon’, the title of the final song on My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless. It’s not an accident. I’m of a generation that grew up on music, and it’s shaped our whole sensibility in a really intimate way. Also, formally and thematically the best musicians are way ahead of the game: think of techniques like sampling, or the rapid-fire subcultural allusiveness of, say, Sonic Youth. It’s hard to say exactly how music’s influenced my work, but it’s surely as inextricable from my life and work as for most people of my age.
DW: Who are listening to at the moment?
TM: Just now, Nirvana.
DW: REMAINDER - a book about repetition - was published in 2005, 2006 and again in 2007. Do you ever feel like life is imitating art?
TM: When someone hijacks an aeroplane and flies it in a figure-of-eight until it runs out of fuel, then I’ll know that Remainder’s found the one Quixotic reader every book potentially has, its Mark Chapman.
DW: After the struggle to get REMAINDER published, how did it feel to see your debut novel on the cover story of the New York Times Book Review?
TM: It felt nice.
DW: When you were visiting Toronto last year for the International Festival of Authors (IFOA) you met with Canadian filmmaker Vincenzo Natali. He’s directing the film version of J. G. Ballard‘s HIGH-RISE, which has similarities with REMAINDER. Don’t you live in a 60’s high-rise? After reading Ballard, I think I would find using the lift either incredibly stimulating or completely debilitating!
TM: It was great meeting Vincenzo, and I can’t wait to see his take on Ballard. I do live in a 60s high-rise. It’s fantastic. Bizarrely (since you’re talking of movies and directors), the producer who’s putting together the film adaptation of Remainder came to visit me here recently - and got stuck in the lift on his way down. He got freed eventually and the project’s still on. I should have bargained for a bigger percentage before phoning the fire brigade.
DW: Are you interested in film as medium? The protagonist in REMAINDER actively avoids it, and yet it seems tailor made for you...
TM: Although the hero of Remainder doesn’t allow cameras at his re-enactments (effectively turning them into film sets without a film), he’s obsessed with DeNiro in Mean Streets, and with heroes in movies generally. Whereas the rest of us are continually comparing ourselves to characters in movies and falling short, he reasons, characters in movies aren’t comparing themselves and their actions to anyone or anything: they’re ‘just being’ - and are therefore more authentic. His logic’s skewed, but I’d say it’s shared by virtually everyone who’s ever seen a movie.
DW: What are your favourite movies?
Orphée by Jean Cocteau: best film ever made, all about transmission, death, love, poetry and time. The INS radio project was a direct appropriation of the scenes in that film where the dead poet Cégeste sends radio messages on illicit frequencies to Orphée, who copies and repeats them. I like Tarkovsky‘s work, and was thinking of it when I wrote Remainder: all the slowness, the absorption in surface and texture. Another film I hadn’t seen then but have since and think is brilliant is Dennis Hopper’s The Last Movie, in which a Peruvian townsfolk continually ‘film’ movies with wicker cameras and sound-booms after they’ve seen an American movie crew do it for real, making stylised events repeat ad infinitum. Lynch’s latest film Inland Empire is stunning too: completely literary, labyrinthine, regressive. It’s the best piece of art in any medium I’ve come across for years.
Photo credit: David Boulogne
Biologist Dr. Marlene Zuk, the author of RIDDLED WITH LIFE, was interviewed by Bob McDonald on CBC Radio One’s Quirks and Quarks on Saturday!
It’s a fabulous discussion, but be warned, there is a lot of talk of insect sex and weird parasites. Ewww....!
Roses are red
Violets are blue
April is Poetry Month
And time for podcasts, too!
OK fine, that poem was pretty lame. For much, MUCH better poetry, listen out these podcasts on the School Library Journal’s website:
Julie Larios reads from Yellow Elephant. (Find out more about the book here.)
Douglas Florian reads from Zoo’s Who. (Find out more about the book here.)
Not too long ago, Design Klub recorded a podcast interview with modern quilter extraordinaire, Denyse Schmidt.
Denyse Schmidt has a quilt exhibition called “New Traditions” on now at the P Design Gallery in Denver, running until May 12th.
If you can’t make it to Denver (I wish I could!), the next best thing might be to check out her book, Denyse Schmidt Quilts: 30 Colorful Quilt and Patchwork Projects, in which she shares some of her patterns and techniques. She’s also designed a beautiful line of stationery with Chronicle Books. Here’s a list of Denyse Schmidt’s books and stationery.
Listen to the full podcast interview with Denyse Schmidt here (approx. 26 minutes long).
Have a listen to Episode 14 of the Chronicle Books podcast.
In this episode, we talk to Nick Bantock, best-selling author of the Griffin and Sabine series, about his new novel, Windflower. We also hear from Les Beletsky, the author of Bird Songs, a new book that includes illustrations and audio recordings of North American birds, drawn from the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Worst-Case Scenario author David Borgenicht has the week off—and while he’s away, we give listeners the chance to muse about what you would do if you were trapped in...well, tune in to find out.
LISTEN NOW (file size=11.1MB)
And remember, if you have a worst-case scenario survival tip, tell us what it is. Create a short video and submit it to the “What’s Your Worst-Case Scenario?” Video Contest.
July 19, 2006 article on MarketWatch.com by Frank Barnako, “Why Anthony Bourdain cooked up podcasts”
Link to Article: “Almost 3,000 miles from the book capital of the world, a small Canadian company is using the Internet to compete with the industry’s giants ..."
July 21, 2006 article in the Tyee on must-read books on the Middle East—includes Palestine by Joe Sacco (Fantagraphics)
Link to article, “What to Read While the Cradle Burns”: “Far from dry policy prescriptions, these compelling narratives stand apart from myriad other books in the field by relating the human story behind the headlines and focusing on fundamental issues that rarely make the news ..."
July 20, 3 Drawn & Quarterly books are shortlisted for the Canadian cartooning award.
Link to Quill and Quire article: In the best book category Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle, Wimbledon Green by Seth and Paul Moves Out by Michel Rabagliati join Dragonslippers: This Is What an Abusive Relationship Looks Like by Rosalind B. Penfold (Penguin Canada) and Scott Pilgrim Volume 2 by Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni Press).
July 19: The Art of Superman Returns give-away on Jack FM
For info visit: www.m2omedia.com and scroll down to THE ART OF SUPERMAN RETURNS
“This is a must-have for true Superman fans. Daniel Wallace’s The Art of Superman Returns features exclusive interviews and background detail alongside photos, sketches, storyboards and production art covering everything from the iconic ‘S’ logo and Metropolis, to the Fortress of Solitude and beyond!
July 18: ELLE’s best books “From serious to sexy and everywhere in between, here are some hot summer reads” by Kat Tancock.
Link to the article: Featured books include Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by Faiza Guene (Harcourt), “... for a taste of what has been called the Bridget Jones of the Paris suburbs, pick up Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by French writer Faiza Guene ...” and A Year in Japan by Kate T. Williamson (Princeton Architectural Press), “... Once you’ve browsed through her selections of Japanese cultural tidbits, from the wide selection of beautiful washcloths to illustrations of plum, apple and cherry blossoms, you’ll come away with a deeper appreciation of Japanese culture—not to mention a gorgeous book to brighten your coffee table."
July 17: New York City: 4th Edition (Lonely Planet) by Beth Greenfield & Robert Reid reviewed on the BookLoons website. Link to the article:“There’s a certain quality to travel guides, an element that makes these types of books informative and instructional, but rarely entertaining. Lonely Planet’s New York City guide breaks that mold. It is as full as charm, energy, and engaging, provocative attitude as the inhabitants of New York themselves.”
Raincoast Books and the Anthony Bourdain podcasts were featured yesterday in Frank Barnako’s Internet Daily column.
Read the article here.
Mr. Barnako and I had a very interesting conversation earlier in the day about Anthony Bourdain, Raincoast’s online program and how podcasts fit into the mix.
Here’s one of my quotes from the article: “I don’t see the Raincoast podcasts as a replacement to mainstream media,” she [Monique Trottier] continued. “I see them as an augmentation to the existing book coverage on radio, TV, and print. More people are gravitating online after hearing a book recommendation from a friend, or listening to a radio interview with the author, or seeing a TV spot. I want to make sure they can find what they’re looking for, including the extras like a podcast, a chapter excerpt, an interview with the author.”
What I love about the Bourdain podcasts is that intimacy you get listening into his private conversations vs. hearing him speak at an author event.
If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the 3-Part Podcast: Anthony Bourdain Uncensored, have a listen.
Part Three: Not All Nasty Bits
And thank you again to Frank Barnako for his fine article on Anthony Bourdain and the Raincoast podcasts.
Raincoast Books—Podcast Edition 7—The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain
The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Useable Trim, Scraps, and Bones by Anthony Bourdain
LISTEN NOW (23.4 MB, MP3 Runs: 16:10)
This is the final installment of Raincoast’s 3-part podcast series with celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, the best selling author of Kitchen Confidential and The Nasty Bits, and host of the TV show No Reservations.
On June 12, 2006, Anthony Bourdain spent a day in Vancouver doing media interviews and bookstore appearances to talk about his new book The Nasty Bits.
He wore a lapel microphone during the entire day, allowing Raincoast Books and At Large Media to record Bourdain’s casual conversation with fans, private moments in the car, and regular interview style questions.
..........
In Part Three—Not All Nasty Bits Anthony Bourdain talks about:
- What chefs have in common
- Whether he misses day to day restaurant work
- and what he’s afraid of.
Bourdain also discusses:
- Work ethic
- The Omelette of Truth
- Human nature
- Advice for the fast foodie
- Pub food
- Tattoos
- How he started writing
- and what he’s working on next.
LISTEN NOW (23.4 MB, MP3 Runs: 16:10)
..........
The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain (Bloomsbury USA, 1-58234-451-5).
Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books.
ANTHONY BOURDAIN UNCENSORED: Raincoast Books Brings You a Day in the Life of a Reluctant Celebrity Chef
Listen to Part 2 of Raincoast’s special 3-part podcast on Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef, traveller and author of the bestsellers Kitchen Confidential and The Nasty Bits.
LISTEN NOW
Click here to play the MP3 (Runs: 12:46)
It’s 8 a.m. at Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks in Vancouver
- Anthony is greeted with a breakfast of champions.
- Why Barbara-Jo had to have Anthony visit her store.
- Anthony meets the fans.
- Anthony’s advice on “must sample” street food vendors in New York City.
- Who comes to book signings and why.
- He just doesn’t seem like your usual kind of cookbook author ...
- The best hidden cooks in New York.
- Happy 50th birthday wishes and why life is like pinball.
LISTEN NOW (MP3 runs 12:46)
Or subscribe to the podcast series
by iTunes: Searching “Raincoast” on iTunes or
(click here to subscribe directly via iTunes)
by Feedburner: http://feeds.atlargemedia.com/raincoast
........................
WHAT’S PLAYING NOW: 3-Part Podcast on Anthony Bourdain
Part 1: Bourdain’s World (Play Now)
Part 2: The Book Signing (Play Now)
Part 3 in this series will be released next week on July 18.
........................
About the Anthony Bourdain Podcast
On June 12, 2006, Anthony Bourdain spent a day in Vancouver doing media interviews and bookstore appearances (see photos). He wore a lapel microphone during the entire day, allowing Raincoast Books and At Large Media to record Bourdain’s casual conversation with fans, private moments in the car, and regular interview style questions. It’s Bourdain as you’ve never heard him before.
ANTHONY BOURDAIN UNCENSORED
Raincoast Books Brings You a Day in the Life of a Reluctant Celebrity Chef
Listen to Part 1 of Raincoast’s special 3-part podcast on Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef, traveller and author of the bestsellers Kitchen Confidential and The Nasty Bits.
LISTEN NOW
Click here to play the MP3 (16.9 MB, MP3 Runs: 14:57)
Or subscribe to the podcast series
by iTunes: Searching “Raincoast” on iTunes or
(click here to subscribe directly via iTunes)
by Feedburner: http://feeds.atlargemedia.com/raincoast
About the Anthony Bourdain Podcast
On June 12, 2006, Anthony Bourdain spent a day in Vancouver doing media interviews and bookstore appearances (see photos). He wore a lapel microphone during the entire day, allowing Raincoast Books and At Large Media to record Bourdain’s casual conversation with fans, private moments in the car, and regular interview style questions. It’s Bourdain as you’ve never heard him before.
The Schedule: 3-Part Podcast on Anthony Bourdain
Part 1 starting July 4: Bourdain’s World (Play Now)
Part 2 starting July 11: The Book Signing
Part 3 starting July 18: Not All Nasty Bits
Marketing Magazine is reporting that Harper Collins Canada will launch a podcast series in mid-July consisting of interviews with Canadian authors to promote their new books. Congratulations to Harper Collins. In late November 2005 House of Anansi joined Raincoast Books as a Canadian podcaster. Here’s the original post regarding Anansi. And it was way back on November 15 that Raincoast announced its first podcast. Here’s Raincoast’s first posting on the podcast series.
UPDATE: By the way, HarperCollins started podcasting in January 2006 with Jay Ingram. Steve Osgoode, Director Online Marketing and New Media, HarperCollinsCanada, (a guy definitely in the know) wrote me a note saying they did 21 episodes. You can hear the first podcast by visiting Jay Ingram’s website.
Today Raincoast launched Podcast Edition #5, a 3-part podcast series on Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef, traveller and author of the bestsellers Kitchen Confidential and The Nasty Bits.
LISTEN NOW (16.9 MB, MP3 Runs: 14:57)
Part One: Bourdain’s World
- Anthony Bourdain’s most surprising questions.
- How to train for a career in the entertainment business
- Listener mail
- grossest Canadian Food
- getting sick from food
- how Anthony stays trim
- How to succeed in just about anything you do
- Advice to would-be culinary school students
“Seal eyeball ... quite delicious ... I mean like sushi.”
“Having been a heroin addict is really good training for a career in the entertainment business.”
“I’ve only been poisoned to the point of needing immediate medical assistance once—in France, of all places.”
LISTEN NOW (16.9 MB, MP3 Runs: 14:57)
Part 2 in this series will be released next week on July 11, Part 3 on July 18.
ANTHONY BOURDAIN UNCENSORED
Raincoast Books Brings You a Day in the Life of a Reluctant Celebrity Chef
Listen to Raincoast’s special 3-part podcast of Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef, traveller and author of the bestsellers Kitchen Confidential and The Nasty Bits.
The Schedule: 3-Part Podcast on Anthony Bourdain
Part 1 starting July 4: Bourdain’s World (Play Now)
Part 2 starting July 11: The Book Signing
Part 3 starting July 18: Not All Nasty Bits
You can LISTEN NOW
Click here to play the MP3, running time: 14:53
Or subscribe to the podcast series
by iTunes: Searching “Raincoast” on iTunes or
(click here to subscribe directly via iTunes)
by Feedburner: feed://feeds.atlargemedia.com/raincoast
About the Anthony Bourdain Podcast
On June 12, 2006, Anthony Bourdain spent a day in Vancouver doing media interviews and bookstore appearances (see photos). He wore a lapel microphone during the entire day, allowing Raincoast Books and At Large Media to record Bourdain’s casual conversation with fans, private moments in the car, and regular interview style questions. It’s Bourdain as you’ve never heard him before.
About Raincoast Books: Raincoast Books is a Canadian publisher and distributor based in Vancouver, BC. On November 16, 2005, Raincoast officially launched its literary podcast series. Authors interviewed to date include Jim Lynch, Nathan Sellyn, and Sherri Magee and Kathy Scalzo. http://www.raincoast.com/podcast/index.html
About At Large Media: At Large Media works with world-class companies and organizations to build meaningful connections with consumers. They work across a variety of media platforms to provide clients with the strategic support they need to succeed as leaders in today’s Information Economy.
See http://www.atlargemedia.com for more information.
Media Contact
Monique Trottier
Internet Marketing Manager of Raincoast Books
monique at raincoast dot com
Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef and author of The Nasty Bits will be in Victoria and Vancouver in June.
Event details:
Victoria:
Bolen Books presents
Anthony Bourdain
Sunday June 11, 1 pm
At the Alix Goolden Performance Hall, 907 Pandora.
Tickets $10, available now at Bolen Books! Cash and cheque only please.
Bolen.bc.ca
Vancouver:
CBC Radio One, The Georgia Straight, The Vancouver Writers Festival, and Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks are pleased to present
Anthony Bourdain - The Nasty Bits
Sunday, June 11 at 7:00pm
The Yale Hotel
1300 Granville Street, Vancouver
www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub
The CBC Studio One Book Club is an intimate gathering of ONLY 300 audience members. It is hosted by Sheryl MacKay of CBC Radio and John Burns of the Georgia Straight, and is recorded for broadcast on North by Northwest and other CBC Radio programs. Microphones are set up for audience questions.
This is your chance to talk to Anthony Bourdain about his books, his travels, his passion for food, and more!
The CBC Radio Studio One Book Club will be on location for Chef Bourdain, at the historic and legendary Yale Hotel on Granville Street. He will be autographing books after the CBC Radio Studio One Book Club taping, and Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks will be on site with a special price that night. YOU MUST BE 19 YEARS OLD OR OLDER TO ATTEND THIS EVENT.
The only way to get in is to win!
For details and to enter visit www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub. ** Entries close at midnight, Thursday, June 8, 2006. Each winner will receive two tickets. No tickets available at the door.
Don’t live in BC? Can’t make the event?
Submit your question to podcast guru Robert Ouimet who will interview Anthony Boudain in the upcoming Raincoast Podcast.
Submit your questions to with the subject line “Ask Tony”. Send your questions before June 9 so Robert has time to prepare.
All questions will be entered into a draw for a signed copy of The Nasty Bits.
Design*Sponge has started podcasting and their first interviews happen to be with two fantastic designers, who among other projects, create Chronicle gift products: stationery, cards, address books and journals. Find out how they began, how they work and what inspires them.
Design*Sponge’s first podcast is an interview with Lotta Jansdotter
http://designsponge.blogspot.com/2006/04/ds-podcasts_13.html
See images on the Chronicle website
Here’s another podcast from Design*Sponge —an interview with Jill Bliss.
http://designsponge.blogspot.com/2006/04/jill-bliss-podcast.html
There’s also a (written) interview with Jill Bliss on fredflare.com
http://fredflare.com/diary/jillbliss.php
See images on the Chronicle website
On April 1st, Chronicle Books (distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books) launched a podcast series.
Every two weeks podcasts subscribers will get behind-the-scenes looks at upcoming and newly released titles from Chronicle Books. Each episode will feature exclusive author interviews, man-on-the-street commentary and entertaining tidbits on topics ranging from cooking to vacations.
Like the Raincoast Podcast series, Chronicle’s podcasts are absolutely free.
Visit the Chronicle Books website to listen to the podcast or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.
About Episode 1 of the Chronicle Podcast
Episode 1 features the authors of The Meat Club Cookbook, a quick tip from the author of the best-selling Worst Case Scenario handbook series, and comedian and novelist Craig Ferguson on his new book, Between the Bridge and the River.
Meat Club (Girls Only) Cookbook by Vanessa Dina, Kristina Fuller and Gemma DePalma; and illustrated by Caroline Hwang.
Perfect for gals who love their meat! In the podcast, the authors note that they’ve been cooking together for forever but officially the meatclub happened in 2002 when they were “tired of the Portobello mushroom burger, which is not a burger.” They talk about needing a good cut of meat and a great butcher. The book is an easy reference for women used to reheating pre-made meals. It’s basically a one-on-one guide to cooking meat, which the authors assure us is “really very simple.” So sit down, listen to the podcast, and enjoy a good steak.
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Life by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht
Coming soon is the next handbook in the Worst-Case Scenario series. The Life handbook presents instant, make-or-break solutions to hundreds of everyday life crises of relationships, parenting, weather, travel, sports and hobbies, pets, money, school, technology, beauty and fitness, holidays and more.
In the podcast David Borgenicht answers the question “What would you do if you were caught on a golf course in a thunderstorm?” (Insider tip: Don’t stand under the trees.)
Between the Bridge and the River: A Novel by Craig Ferguson
Glasgow-born Craig Ferguson took over the Late Late Show on CBS in 2005. Between the Bridge and the River is his foray into fiction. In the podcast Ferguson says “the only thing comparable to writing a novel is standup.”
Between the Bridge and the River follows two preachers, one Scottish and one American, as they head for a comic collision. Ferguson says he wrote the novel trying to sort out his own attitudes to death and religion. About the God Thing, he says “my mother was a church goer and my father wasn’t. There was no real argument about it. It was just who did you side with on Sunday morning. Obviously as soon as possible I went with my father’s hanging around watching TV approach."
Buy the Books
Amazon.ca
chapters.indigo.ca
Independent retailer
Podcast Links
Chronicle Books podcasts
Raincoast Books podcasts
Raincoast podcasts are available from iTunes by searching for "Raincoast" or the RSS feed is available from Feedburner at 
Check out our NEWEST Podcast for Clancy with the Puck, a hilarious tale of hockey hubris.