Poetry and Manliness

LibriVox is a showcase for free audiobooks from the public domain, or, as their tagline says: "acoustical liberation of books in the public domain." There are many cool poetry items to choose from in the catalog. Librivox also can use you as a volunteer reader if you have a pleasant voice. Don't forget to peruse the links on the right for more great audio sites and litblogs!


KCRW Bookworm- "Bookworm: A must for the serious reader, "Bookworm" showcases writers of fiction and poetry - the established, new or emerging - all interviewed with insight and precision by the show's host and guiding spirit, Michael Silverblatt." You can listen or subscribe to the podcasts. The schedule is:
On-Air: Thursdays at 2:30 PM
Online: Thursdays at 2:30 PM
Podcast: Automatic MP3 Downloads

Yesterday I heard an interview by Scott Ferrall on Sirius' Howard 101 (8p.m. to 12a.m. ET). Ferrall had the author of Manliness, Harvey C. Mansfield, on the phone. Mansfield is a Harvard professor in the Department of Government, thus the book's subject is not within his sphere of expertise. Granted, Ferrall's show isn't known for in depth literary interviews, but the conversation was interesting nonetheless. Scott's in studio buds were goofing off like normal and asking silly or rude questions. Ferrall told Mansfield something to the effect that his cronies weren't educated, to which, Mansfield replied along the vein of "I gathered that." At the end of the interview, Ferrall apologized for the silliness. Mansfield said it wasn't manly to apologize. My opinion: it also isn't manly to be a condescending ass. You can also find a podcast of Mansfield seriously discussing his book at Peter Schramm's "You Americans" Podcast site. Scroll down the page until you see the link. For more silliness, check out The Broken Newz piece on Mansfield. The site is similar to "The Onion."

Manliness by Mansfield can be found at your local independent bookstore or by searching at Bookfinder or ADDALL.