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Symphony Space
Two compelling tales of transformation and personal revelation.
”…”Our brains are just getting bigger and bigger, and the world dries up and dies when there’s too much thought , and not enough heart.”—Aimee Bender, “The Rememberer”
Two compelling tales of transformation and personal revelation.
What unites this program’s two rather different stories, the first quite serious and the second very comically imaginative, is that both are tales of deepening insight, stories whose main characters undergo profound and life-changing experiences, and finally, if slowly, reach a new level of understanding.
The program begins with “The Seventh Man,” by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, who was born in Kyoto in 1949, and has published many volumes of novels and short story collections. Many Murakami stories have a very hip, modern feel to them. But “The Seventh Man” begins with an old fashioned device--like something from one of Akira Kurosawa’s epic films: On a dark and stormy night, a group of men sit around a circle and tell their stories. The story that the seventh man tells is intimate, and awesome, as read by SHORTS regular John Shea, whose stage, film, and television credits include “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” "The Master and Margarita", "American Days", “Windy City,” “Lois & Clark,” and “Mutant X.”
Our second tale of ever-deepening insight is “The Rememberer,” by the Los Angeles-based writer Aimee Bender, who teaches creative writing at the University of Southern California and has published three books, including the story collection THE GIRL IN THE FLAMMABLE SKIRT and a novel AN INVISIBLE SIGN OF MY OWN which was an LA TIMES Pick of The Year. The heroine of this tale has a lover named Ben who undergoes a remarkable transformation that changes both their lives forever. The tale is told by the distinguished Broadway actress, Marian Seldes. A brief interview with Seldes follows the reading.
“The Seventh Man by Haruki Murakami read by John Shea
“The Rememberer,” by Aimee Bender read by Marian Seldes
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 this site.
Two compelling tales of transformation and personal revelation.
What unites this program’s two rather different stories, the first quite serious and the second very comically imaginative, is that both are tales of deepening insight, stories whose main characters undergo profound and life-changing experiences, and finally, if slowly, reach a new level of understanding.
The program begins with “The Seventh Man,” by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, who was born in Kyoto in 1949, and has published many volumes of novels and short story collections. Many Murakami stories have a very hip, modern feel to them. But “The Seventh Man” begins with an old fashioned device--like something from one of Akira Kurosawa’s epic films: On a dark and stormy night, a group of men sit around a circle and tell their stories. The story that the seventh man tells is intimate, and awesome, as read by SHORTS regular John Shea, whose stage, film, and television credits include “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” "The Master and Margarita", "American Days", “Windy City,” “Lois & Clark,” and “Mutant X.”
Our second tale of ever-deepening insight is “The Rememberer,” by the Los Angeles-based writer Aimee Bender, who teaches creative writing at the University of Southern California and has published three books, including the story collection THE GIRL IN THE FLAMMABLE SKIRT and a novel AN INVISIBLE SIGN OF MY OWN which was an LA TIMES Pick of The Year. The heroine of this tale has a lover named Ben who undergoes a remarkable transformation that changes both their lives forever. The tale is told by the distinguished Broadway actress, Marian Seldes. A brief interview with Seldes follows the reading.
“The Seventh Man by Haruki Murakami read by John Shea
“The Rememberer,” by Aimee Bender read by Marian Seldes
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 this site.
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
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Comments [2]
i signed up or the feed but only got the most recent. how do i hear the seventh man? ....wait. checked www.selectedshorts.org. i can only download as a package? which one? search came up empty. please help!
I wish you would say which books the stories you use are collected in.
Dear Mr. Stephenson:
Thank you for your comment. Specific citations for the stories featured on SELECTED SHORTS are available at our website, www.selectedshorts.org.
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