Best of AOT: John Hodgman and Jonathan Coulton Sing About Hobos

John Hodgman was once a literary agent in New York City. He is now a self-proclaimed minor TV celebrity, most famous for his role as PC in Apple’s “Get a Mac” advertising campaign and his regular appearances as the “resident expert” on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

During the time in between, he paid a visit to the Tattered Cover book store in Denver to discuss his book of made-up facts, The Areas of My Expertise, along with his personal troubador, Jonathan Coulton.

Hodgman and Coulton are nothing if not obsessed with depression-era hobos, as you’ll hear in this podcast. They sing about hobo nickels, lint-knitting, the hobos’ failed attempt at a U.S. Government takeover, and much, much more.

If you enjoyed this Best of Authors On Tour podcast, please listen to the entire John Hodgman podcast, where, among other things, he conducts the entire audience Q&A session via walkie talkie.

This podcast was originally recorded on February 17, 2006.

AOT #190: Christopher Kimball Podcasts The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook

In honor of the 10th Anniversary of the popular cooking show America’s Test Kitchen, Chris Kimball, founder and host of America’s Test Kitchen and founder and editor of Cook’s Illustrated magazine, will discusses the new Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook.

($39.95) America’s Test Kitchen ISBN #978-1-933615-55-4.

AOT #189: Jeannette Walls Podcasts Half Broke Horses

Journalist Jeanette Walls, author of the critically acclaimed memoir The Glass Castle, discusses her new novel Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel, the story of her grandmother, told in a first-person voice that is authentic, irresistible, and triumphant. Lily Casey Smith, Jeannette Walls’s no nonsense, resourceful, and spectacularly compelling grandmother, lived a life of adventure, toil, heartbreak and triumph. Half Broke Horses is Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults, as riveting and dramatic as Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa or Beryl Markham’s West with the Night.

($25.00) Scribner ISBN #978-1-41658-628-9.

AOT #188: Michael Chabon Podcasts Manhood for Amateurs

Michael Chabon, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author whose works include The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Wonder Boys, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, reads from and discusses his new book Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son. Chabon’s first major work of nonfiction, Manhood for Amateurs is a memoir as inventive, beautiful, and powerful as his acclaimed, award-winning fiction. In these insightful, provocative, slyly interlinked essays, Chabon presents his autobiography and his vision of life and explores what it means to be a man today.

($25.99) Ecco ISBN #978-0-06-149018-7. You can visit Michael Chabon’s official web site as well.

AOT #187: Joseph Kanon Podcasts Stardust

Joseph Kanon, the acclaimed, bestselling author of The Good German and Los Alamos, discusses his new novel Stardust. In his most absorbing and accomplished novel yet, Kanon tells a mesmerizing tale of Hollywood, post-war political intrigue, and one man’s determination to learn the truth about his brother’s death.

($27.95) Atria ISBN #978-1-4391-5614-8. You can visit Joseph Kanon’s official web site as well.

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Princeton Review’s Best 371 Colleges by Rob Franek

The Best 371 Colleges is a comprehensive college guide written for any student or parent mystified by the confusing college admissions process. This essential college-planning guide, from the experts at The Princeton Review, provides the facts about the best schools in the country, popular college ranking lists, and the information needed to make a smart decision about which schools to consider.

Revealing answers from college students cover each school’s unique character and give you extensive insight into their classes, financial aid, social life, and everything in between. Students are the experts, after all, and they talked to 122,000 of them!

Random House / Princeton Review Books, $22.99, July 2009, ISBN#: 978-0-375-42938-5

AOT #186: Ralph Nader Podcasts Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us!

Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and two-time candidate for President of the United States, is a relentless force for grassroots activism and democratic change in America. Nader discusses and reads from his new novel Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!, a vivid fictional account that answers the question “What if?” What if a cadre of super-rich individuals tried to become a driving force in America to organize and institutionalize the interests of the citizens of this troubled nation?

($27.50) Seven Stories ISBN #978-1-58322-903-3. You can visit Ralph Nader’s official website as well.

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Best of AOT: John Grogan Recounts Marley’s Day on a Movie Set

Before Marley & Me was a huge Hollywood hit — and merely an internationally best-selling book — author John Grogan paid a visit to the Tattered Cover book store in Denver to look back on life with Marley, the “world’s worst dog.”

The book is full of side-splittingly familiar stories that most dog owners can, unfortunately, relate to. The passage from Marley & Me that Grogan chose to read, though, recounts an experience few of us have had to endure: watching our dog disrupt a day of shooting on a movie set.

Many of us assume that animals appearing in film are specially trained to “act,” but as you’ll hear in this podcast, sometimes low-budget movies cast low-budget pets and are forced to live with the consequences!

This podcast was originally recorded on March 20, 2006. You can also listen to the uncut John Grogan: Marley & Me Podcast.

AOT #185: David Cross Podcasts I Drink for a Reason

David Cross, known for roles on the small screen such as “never-nude” Tobias Funke on Arrested Development and the role of “David” in Mr. Show With Bob And David, as well as a hugely successful stand-up routine full of sharp-tongued rants and rages, reads from and discusses his first book I Drink for a Reason. With a mix of personal essays, satirical fiction posing as truth, advice for rich people, information from America’s least favorite Rabbi and a top-ten list of top-ten lists, Cross’ first book is as unique as the comedian himself.

($23.99) Grand Central ISBN #978-0-4465-7948-3. You can visit David Cross’s official web site as well.

AOT Partner Offer:
Download the I Drink for a Reason audiobook from Audible.com

AOT #184: Diana Gabaldon Podcasts An Echo in the Bone

Diana Gabaldon’s brilliant storytelling has captivated millions of readers in her bestselling and award-winning Outlander saga. Gabaldon reads from and discusses An Echo in the Bone, the enormously anticipated seventh volume which continues the extraordinary story of the eighteenth-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his twentieth-century time-traveling wife, Claire Randall.

($30.00) Delacorte ISBN #978-0-3853-4245-2 .

AOT Partner Offer:
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