December 26, 2002 - Jennifer Egan's novel "Look at Me" intertwines the live of two women named Charlotte--one is a fashion model recovering from a serious car crash--the other is a rather plain looking high school student trying to find her place in the world. "Look at Me" was a finalist for the National Book Awards. Egan says her work as a journalist for the New York Times Magazine often fuels her fiction writing. She says "Look at Me" is an investigation of beauty in American society.
January 1, 2003 - MPR's Euan Kerr reports on Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov and his composition "La Pasión según San Marcos" (St. Mark Passion) draws from many influences. There is the classical music and klezmer he learned through his Russian Jewish immigrant parents; passionate tango of Astor Piazzola which resonates through Argentina; as well as the deep, and at times militant, Christianity of South America.
January 1, 2003 - Advice columnist Dan Savage gave himself an enviable assignment for his new book- he decided to tour across America, taking an in depth look at the seven deadly sins. He traveled from Texas to Iowa, from California to New York and made at least one stop in Las Vegas, Nevada. He learned to shoot, gamble, swing... he ate with abandon, envied the rich, lazed around and joined a pride parade. The result was "Skipping Towards Gomorrah", a parody of Robert Bork's 1996 book "Slouching Towards Gomorrah." Savage says he wanted to write the book to counter conservatives like Bork who accuse Americans of living lives full of sin:
January 7, 2003 - MPR’s Euan Kerr interviews local musician David Levin about his CD "Zuni." Levin is part of a song circle, a group of individual musicians who meet to play their own songs, and to accompany one another.
January 20, 2003 - The Minnesota State Capitol was the backdrop for several of today's Martin Luther King Junior Day ceremonies. The Capitol building is often the site of many official state celebrations. But the building is notable in its own right. A new book showcases the Capitol's architect Cass Gilbert, who designed the building in 1905. Gilbert used St. Peter's Basilica in Rome as the model for Minnesota's vast capitol dome. He also drew on his experiences studying and traveling in Europe to design the U. S. Supreme Court Building and the Woolworth Building in New York City. Minnesota historian Paul Clifford Larson examines Gilbert's European influences in his new book "Cass Gilbert Abroad: The Young Architect's European Tour. " Larson says Gilbert tried to cover a lot of ground on his first European trip.
January 21, 2003 - The Guthrie Theater's new production of "Mrs. Warren's Profession" forces audiences to consider issues like women's rights, religion, and prostitution. These topics were considered so racy when George Bernard Shaw wrote the play in 1893 that censors in London wouldn't allow it to be staged. When "Mrs. Warren's Profession" opened in New York in 1905, it was viewed as scandalous. I spoke with Catlin O'Conner who plays the title role in the Guthrie production. She says when Shaw penned the play, he was forbidden from even using the word prostitution.
January 21, 2003 - Very little happens in Nicholson Baker's new novel "A box of matches." The novel is a recording of the thoughts of a man who gets up early every morning to light a fire. He tries to avoid any light other than the glow of the flames. Then he sits and thinks about his life, delighting in the ordinary. He attempts simple tasks, such as washing the previous nights casserole dish by touch alone.
January 21, 2003 - The Guthrie Theater's new production of "Mrs. Warren's Profession" forces audiences to consider issues like women's rights, religion, and prostitution. These topics were considered so racy when George Bernard Shaw wrote the play in 1893 that censors in London wouldn't allow it to be staged. When "Mrs. Warren's Profession" opened in New York in 1905, it was viewed as scandalous. I spoke with Catlin O'Conner who plays the title role in the Guthrie production. She says when Shaw penned the play, he was forbidden from even using the word prostitution.
January 22, 2003 - Minnesota film maker Patrick Coyle says his film "Detective Fiction" is getting a good response at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was shot entirely in Minneapolis and tells the story of a technical writer struggling with sobriety and writing a 1940's style detective novel. "Detective Fiction" had it's Sundance premiere this past Monday. Coyle says there's a lot of great energy in Park City, Utah.
January 24, 2003 - The long-time President of the Minnesota Orchestra, David Hyslop, (HISS-lop) says he's stepping down. Hyslop told the Orchestra Board today (Fri) he'll retire after the Orchestra's Centennial Concert on November 5th. Hyslop told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr he has always said he would retire at 62, but decided to step down early in part because that would have taken him through the next musicians contract negotiation.