The New Yorker: Fiction
http://www.newyorker.com/online/podcasts/fiction
The New Yorker: Fiction podcast combines two of my likes. Every month, much like the weekly publication, The New Yorker presents a short story, a work of short fiction. The short story is a format I particularly enjoy, as reader, as a writer and as a participant in a short story group sponsored by my local library.
And, since it’s a podcast, the short story of the month is read aloud. Audio fiction is something I was drawn to out of necessity. I once had a job that required a lot of time in my car. Looking for additional distractions besides the radio, I turned to audio books and have developed a permanent t soft spot for the medium.
The twist The New Yorker puts on the podcast is that instead of the author or a professional narrator reading the story, they get another author to pick the story and to read it. It’s great to hear T.C. Boyle or Tobias Wolfe or E.L. Doctorow read Joyce Carol Oates or Vladimir Nabokov or James Thurber but there is a downside to this as well. As I learned through my experience with audio books, if the narrator is bad, it kills the story. And some of the guest authors, while probably whizzes at being writers, prove themselves to be not very good at reading aloud. Reading in a monotone with little inflection is the principal fault I have come across.
But fortunately, that does not happen very often. And when it does, the failure to deliver is ameliorated by the segment after the story. Here, for the remaining eight to ten minutes or so, there is a discussion between the guest author and the moderator. Topics usually touched on in this segment are the cause of the choice of story, some anecdotal background on the author, the guest author and the involvement of either or both with The New Yorker, as well as some breakdown of the story itself. This section is always strong and informative and really helps put some context and zip into the short story format being showcased.
One brief complaint though. The iTunes podcasts have titles which are different from the story itself. I would suggest that the story title, the author and the guest author/reader should be what appear on the iPod scroll, not the vague title they are now using. Many times I want to review this information and I can only do it using the version of the podcast saved on my hard drive.
That said, this one is an easy recommend. It’s monthly and usually less than thirty minutes so time is not a constraint. For me, it is very enjoyable to hear all the different approaches and themes the featured writers use to spin their craft. Learning something about two authors at the same time certainly is an efficient way to expand your knowledge to say the least. And you don’t have to be a little kid to enjoy having a story read to you. So give it a try.
And, since it’s a podcast, the short story of the month is read aloud. Audio fiction is something I was drawn to out of necessity. I once had a job that required a lot of time in my car. Looking for additional distractions besides the radio, I turned to audio books and have developed a permanent t soft spot for the medium.
The twist The New Yorker puts on the podcast is that instead of the author or a professional narrator reading the story, they get another author to pick the story and to read it. It’s great to hear T.C. Boyle or Tobias Wolfe or E.L. Doctorow read Joyce Carol Oates or Vladimir Nabokov or James Thurber but there is a downside to this as well. As I learned through my experience with audio books, if the narrator is bad, it kills the story. And some of the guest authors, while probably whizzes at being writers, prove themselves to be not very good at reading aloud. Reading in a monotone with little inflection is the principal fault I have come across.
But fortunately, that does not happen very often. And when it does, the failure to deliver is ameliorated by the segment after the story. Here, for the remaining eight to ten minutes or so, there is a discussion between the guest author and the moderator. Topics usually touched on in this segment are the cause of the choice of story, some anecdotal background on the author, the guest author and the involvement of either or both with The New Yorker, as well as some breakdown of the story itself. This section is always strong and informative and really helps put some context and zip into the short story format being showcased.
One brief complaint though. The iTunes podcasts have titles which are different from the story itself. I would suggest that the story title, the author and the guest author/reader should be what appear on the iPod scroll, not the vague title they are now using. Many times I want to review this information and I can only do it using the version of the podcast saved on my hard drive.
That said, this one is an easy recommend. It’s monthly and usually less than thirty minutes so time is not a constraint. For me, it is very enjoyable to hear all the different approaches and themes the featured writers use to spin their craft. Learning something about two authors at the same time certainly is an efficient way to expand your knowledge to say the least. And you don’t have to be a little kid to enjoy having a story read to you. So give it a try.
