Finding Humor, Fighting Loneliness & Unlikely Friendships with Gordon Jack (E240)
Today’s episode features Gordon Jack, author of Poppy Montgomery Gets Even. After 30 years as a high school librarian and writing two young adult novels, Gordon is turning his attention to adult fiction with a cozy mystery featuring an unforgettable octogenarian crime fighter. He talks about how his years surrounded by books shaped him as a writer, finding humor in complicated characters, and bringing two generations experiencing loneliness together on the page. His Book Flight features funny books that influenced his own writing and sense of humor.
Episode Highlights
On the natural pairing of librarians and writers: “You are in a world of books and surrounded by them.”
How rereading taught Gordon to notice “the craft of a sentence and word choice”
Why “the most important thing about being a writer is that you are interesting to yourself”
Finding humor in the fact that “people are complicated and have faults”
Why Gordon considers himself “more a tinkerer than a creator”
Exploring loneliness among young men and older adults and bringing those generations together through fiction
Connect with Gordon:
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Books and authors mentioned in the episode:
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Hercule Poirot series by Agatha Christie
Transcription by Ben Lerner
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
Country People by Daniel Mason
Nest of Tongues by Randy Ribay
Book Flight
Joy in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse
Today Will Be Different by Marie Semple
CivilWarland in Bad Decline by George Saunders
Dessert Pairing
Birds of America by Lorrie Moore
Episode Sponsor - The Future Lab with Lee Schneider
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