Interview by Laura Miller
An interview with Kelly Link
Laura Miller speaks with the author of "Stranger Things Happen" about the making of Link's new book and her writing process.
Kelly Link has lived in Philadelphia, Miami, Boston and Greensboro, N.C., moving every five years or so, settling for the moment in Brooklyn, N.Y. Books have been a constant in her peripatetic life, from studying literature to working in bookstores and for publishers and, of course, writing. Link recently visited Salon’s New York offices to talk about “Stranger Things Happen,” her new story collection.
“Kelly Link is the exact best and strangest and funniest short story writer on earth that you have never heard of at the exact moment you are reading these words and making them slightly inexact. Now pay for the book.” — Jonathan Lethem, author of “Motherless Brooklyn”
“‘Stranger Things Happen’ is a tremendously appealing book, and lovers of short fiction should fall over themselves getting out the door to find a copy.” — Washington Post Book World
Listen to an excerpt of the interview below.
Family demons
Salon's books editor speaks with author Rick Moody about the making of his new collection of stories, "Demonology."
Salon’s books editor speaks with author Rick Moody about the making of his new collection of stories, “Demonology.”
Laura Miller is New York editorial director for Salon. Her criticism and book reviews have appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post Book World, the Village Voice, the San Francisco Examiner and the New York Observer.
Electoral courage
William Ian Miller, author of "The Mystery of Courage," talks about why John McCain's bravery ruined his presidential bid.
Salon’s books editor speaks with author William Ian Miller about courage in presidential candidates, what voters are looking for and how bravery has affected the campaigns of John McCain, Al Gore and George W. Bush.
Laura Miller is New York editorial director for Salon.com. Her criticism and book reviews have appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post Book World, the Village Voice, the San Francisco Examiner and the New York Observer.
The good coward
William Ian Miller, author of "The Mystery of Courage," talks about our cultural philosophies of courage and cowardice.
William Ian Miller is a professor of law at the University of Michigan. Miller holds both a Ph.D. in English and a law degree from Yale University and has taught at Yale, the University of Chicago and the University of Bergen in Norway.
His diverse interests and areas of study include Icelandic sagas, medieval history, social and political theory and vices and virtues. Miller is the author of five books including “Humiliation: And Other Essays on Honor, Social Discomfort, and Violence” and “The Anatomy of Disgust,” which Salon called “a wonderfully unclassifiable work that mixes history and philosophy with autobiographical reflections, ranges from frank (though never crude) discussions of the comic potential of flatulence to the deeper implications of disgust for democratic society.”
In his most recent work, “The Mystery of Courage” (Harvard University Press), Miller addresses everything from the war memoir to the ambiguous nature of courage and cowardice to our perceptions of courage according to class, race and gender. Drawing on varied sources such as Greek epics and Tim O’Brien’s writings on Vietnam, Miller attempts to define bravery in the human experience.
Listen to Salon Books editor Laura Miller speak with William Ian Miller about his latest book.
