Otherppl with Brad Listi

Fiona Maazel is the guest. Her new novel, Woke Up Lonely, is now available from Graywolf Press. The Daily Beast says "[Maazel] has a real talent for taking these existential millstones of modern life—fear of death, failure, being alone, everything—and filtering them into morbidly funny, troublingly familiar forms. . . . Woke Up Lonely easily refutes the idea that the novel is a staid, obsolete form of writing. The stakes in Maazel's book are at least as real as any work of nonfiction, and it's a good deal more fun to read than any manifesto." And Bookforum raves "Woke Up Lonely is another wunderkammer, a deeply felt and wildly original novel that repays the attention it demands, and once read won't be soon forgotten." Monologue topics: having nothing to say, saying something anyway, to-do lists, talking about writing, my dogs, dog baths. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scott Nadelson is the guest. His new memoir, The Next Scott Nadelson: A Life in Progress, is now available from Hawthorne Books. Kirkus calls it "Eloquent and universal." And The Portland Mercury says "It’s unusual to read a memoir built of short stories, but it works—instead of forcing a narrative arc onto his own life, as so many memoir writers do, Nadelson simply places these stories next to one another, allowing their edges to overlap, tugging the reader forward and backward in time. The results are funny, quietly compelling, and unflinchingly frank. Nadelson has built a golem out of paper and typeface." Monologue topics: my little sister's wedding, peer pressure, alcohol, the Cajun element.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tupelo Hassman is the guest. Her debut novel, Girlchild, has just been published in paperback by Picador.  The New York Times raves "A voice as fresh as hers is so rare that at times I caught myself cheering. . . .I’d go anywhere with this writer." And The Boston Globe says "So fresh, original, and funny you’ll be in awe… Tupelo Hassman has created a character you’ll never forget. Rory Dawn Hendrix of the Calle has as precocious and endearing a voice as Holden Caulfield of Central Park.” Monologue topics: the Internet, Fiona Apple, going crazy, the world is bullshit.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rob Roberge is the guest. His new novel, The Cost of Living, is now available from Other Voices Books. It is the April selection of the TNB Book Club. Cheryl Strayed says "Roberge’s writing is both drop-dead gorgeous and mindbendingly smart. The Cost of Living is an intimate, original, important novel that I’ll be recommending for years to come." And Scott Shriner, bass player for Weezer, says "This is a guy who clearly knows his way around a tour bus. And around a massive drug habit. A dark, funny, frightening, and above all authentic book about the toll the rock and roll lifestyle can take." Monologue topics: Boston, terrorism, tragedy, talking about speechlessness, confusion, darkness, realism, pragmatism, idealism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michelle Orange is the guest. Her new essay collection, This is Running for Your Life, is now available from Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. The Daily Beast calls it "A brilliant collection of essays on modern life, and ways that technology and connectivity are changing how we interact with the world....As Orange brilliantly breaks down the state of modern life and how it stands in relation to technology and the commoditized image, she tells us much of what we already have intuited, but might have been afraid to admit to ourselves...." And Publishers Weekly raves "In this whip-smart, achingly funny collection, film critic Orange (The Sicily Papers) trains her lens on aging, self-image, and the ascendancy of the marketing demographic, among other puzzles of the Facebook generation....[this is] a collection whose voice feels at once fresh and inevitable." Monologue topics: TNB Literary Experience, tweets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jennifer Spiegel is the guest. In 2012, she published two books:  The Freak Chronicles, a story collection, now available from Dzanc Books; and Love Slave, a novel out from Unbridled Books. About The Freak Chronicles, bestselling author Lauren Groff says "The Freak Chronicles is a miracle of a story collection: passionately political and a shout of ambivalence about political passion, intensely personal and furiously global. We readers are lucky to find Jennifer Spiegel, a writer who is self-satirizing and vulnerable and elegant as hell." About Love Slave, Publishers Weekly says "Spiegel's novel evokes the psychic angst of Manhattanites presumptuous enough to describe themselves as struggling artistes, yet entitled enough to melt down when they can't order breakfast in a diner after 11am...the writing is fresh and witty, and Sybil is a sympathetic character worthy of rooting for as she searches for something to believe in." Monologue topics:  the gym, stress, running, the woman with magazines, stopping, Lawn Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Owen King is the guest. His new novel, Double Feature, is now available from Scribner. Karen Russell raves “What a kinetic, joyful, gonzo ride—Double Feature made me laugh so loudly on a plane that I had to describe the plot of Sam's Spruce Moose of a debut film (it stars a satyr) to my seatmate by way of explanation. Booth and Sam are an unforgettable Oedipal duo. A book that delivers walloping pleasures to its lucky readers.” And Larry McMurtry says “Double Feature is a beautiful, wrenching beginning, and Owen King is a young writer of immense promise.” Monologue topics: listener feedback, overdoing gender politics, Bad Sex in Fiction Award. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amity Gaige is the guest. Her new novel, Schroder, has just been published by Twelve, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing. Jennifer Egan says "In Schroder, Amity Gaige explores the rich, murky realm where parental devotion edges into mania, and logic crabwalks into crime. This offbeat, exquisitely written novel showcases a fresh, forceful young voice in American letters." And Jonathan Franzen raves "The measure of Gaige's great gifts as a storyteller is that she persuades you to believe in a situation that shouldn't be believable, and to love a narrator who shouldn’t be lovable. Seldom has such a daring concept for a novel been grounded in such an appealing character." Monologue topics: Amazon, Goodreads, indepenent presses, small furry animals, extinction, predators, apathy, confusion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Periel Aschenbrand is the guest. She is the author of two memoirs, the latest of which is called On My Knees. It is available now for pre-order and will be published by Harper Perennial on June 18, 2013. Jonathan Ames raves "Ribald, outrageous, gutter-mouthed, hilarious—a startling new voice in American letters. Watch out Portnoy, watch out Caulfield, watch out Bukowski, watch out E. L. James. Hell, everybody, real or imagined, just watch out! Because here comes Periel Aschenbrand!” And The New York Times calls her "Unsavorily compelling. . .in the manner of a female Howard Stern.” Monologue topics: insomnia, nightmares, pool bars, sushi, low tide, sleep apnea, Buddhism, pity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Giancarlo DiTrapano is the guest. He's the editor of NY Tyrant magazine and the publisher of Tyrant Books, an independent press based in New York City. His authors include Brian Evensen, Blake Butler, Eugene Marten, and Michael Kimball.  And later this year, in June, he'll be publishing Marie Calloway's debut novel, what purpose did i serve in your life.  Sheila Heti says "I have never read a book like this before. It’s painful, shocking and brilliantly written, with a great sensitivity to which details should be revealed and which should stay concealed. It’s formally complex, completely unforgettable, highly contemporary and plainly great. A terrifying proposal: could this be the Great American Novel for the twilight of “Great” America?" Monologue topics: nudity, Lena Dunham, streaking, sports, IMAX.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices