The world grows quiet, and a horrible weekend in the country.
This week on Selected Shorts: The world grows quiet, and a horrible weekend in the country.
This program has the provocative title “Let’s Not Talk” because in both of the two featured stories, a longing for silence plays an important part. Kevin Brockmeier’s “The Year of Silence” was included in The Best American Short Stories 2008 It speculates on what it would be like if all the noise, all the sounds of civilization and daily life, were to fade to an auditory stillness. Brockmeier lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, and is the author of such novels as THE BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEAD and THE TRUTH ABOUT CELIA. Reader Anthony Rapp appeared on Broadway in the musical “Rent” and as Charlie Brown in the Broadway revival of “YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN.”
Host Isaiah Sheffer likens our second story, Ring Lardner’s “Liberty Hall” to the traveling game of “Conversation Stoppers” in which players vie for the honor of making the most boring observation. In this Lardner tale, first published in 1928 in a magazine with the fitting title “Hearst’s International Cosmopolitan,” a sophisticated show business couple get trapped in a ghastly chatter-filled weekend and take extraordinary measures to escape. The zestful reader is five-time Emmy winner and screen actor Christina Pickles.
“The Year of Silence” by Kevin Brockmeier, read by Anthony Rapp
“Liberty Hall” by Ring Lardner, read by Christina Pickles
For additional works featured on SELECTED SHORTS, please visit Symphony Space For information about the 2009 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize contest, go to http://www.symphonyspace.org/shorts/writing_contest
This program has the provocative title “Let’s Not Talk” because in both of the two featured stories, a longing for silence plays an important part. Kevin Brockmeier’s “The Year of Silence” was included in The Best American Short Stories 2008 It speculates on what it would be like if all the noise, all the sounds of civilization and daily life, were to fade to an auditory stillness. Brockmeier lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, and is the author of such novels as THE BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEAD and THE TRUTH ABOUT CELIA. Reader Anthony Rapp appeared on Broadway in the musical “Rent” and as Charlie Brown in the Broadway revival of “YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN.”
Host Isaiah Sheffer likens our second story, Ring Lardner’s “Liberty Hall” to the traveling game of “Conversation Stoppers” in which players vie for the honor of making the most boring observation. In this Lardner tale, first published in 1928 in a magazine with the fitting title “Hearst’s International Cosmopolitan,” a sophisticated show business couple get trapped in a ghastly chatter-filled weekend and take extraordinary measures to escape. The zestful reader is five-time Emmy winner and screen actor Christina Pickles.
“The Year of Silence” by Kevin Brockmeier, read by Anthony Rapp
“Liberty Hall” by Ring Lardner, read by Christina Pickles
For additional works featured on SELECTED SHORTS, please visit Symphony Space For information about the 2009 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize contest, go to http://www.symphonyspace.org/shorts/writing_contest
About Selected Shorts
Selected Shorts features some of the finest artists of the American theater reading contemporary and classic short fiction-the most distinguished works of the early masters such as Chekhov, Maupassant, Malamud and dozens of others.
To listen to this program, and other recent programs, subscribe to the Selected Shorts podcast
Hosted by Isaiah Sheffer
Produced by
Features
Show Archive
Show Archive
Feeds
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.