Talking Volumes, 2000-2001

Off Keck Road

By Mona Simpson

Mona Simpson's new novel is the story of Bea Maxwell, a woman who comes of age in the 1950s in a small Wisconsin town. "Off Keck Road" follows her extended circle through their lives, their frustrations and successes, and on toward old age. Simpson's first novel was the highly acclaimed "Anywhere But Here," and other works of hers include "The Lost Father" and "A Regular Guy." (10/17/2001)

Midmorning interview: October 17, 2000, 10 a.m.

Live appearance: November 11, 2001, 7 p.m.

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Collected Stories

By Ellen Gilchrist

Chosen by Ellen Gilchrist herself, "Collected Stories" brings together for the first time the author's favorite stories from her 15 previous collections. (11/22/2001)

Midmorning interview: November 22, 2000, 10 a.m.

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The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth: Minneota, Minnesota

By Bill Holm

Minneota native Bill Holm celebrates small-town life in this newly reissued book of essays, fondly chronicling the quirks and idiosyncrasies that make every hometown unique. (12/15/2001)

Midmorning interview: December 15, 2000, 10 a.m.

Live appearance: January 11, 2001, 10 a.m.

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The Bonesetter's Daughter

By Amy Tan

Amazon.com writes, "Set in contemporary San Francisco and in a Chinese village where Peking Man is being unearthed, The Bonesetter's Daughter is an excavation of the human spirit: the past, its deepest wounds, its most profound hopes." (02/01/2001)

Midmorning interview: February 1, 2001, 10 a.m.

Live appearance: March 10, 2001, 7 p.m.

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The Weight of All Things

By Sandra Benitez

This heart-rending and suspenseful novel sees war through the eyes of a 9-year-old boy who has lost his mother. Inspired by actual events of the 1980s, Benitez builds a literary monument to the common people of El Salvador caught in the no-man's-land between opposing factions who care for power and ideas. (12/15/2001)

Midmorning interview: March 21, 2001, 10 a.m.

Live appearance: April 9, 2001, 7 p.m.

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Jim the Boy

By Tony Earley

"Jim the Boy" explores a year in the life of a 10-year-old boy growing up in tony Aliceville, North Carolina, during the depression. With clarity and poise, Earley chronicles Jim's upbringing by his mother and three laconic uncles on a farm. (04/19/2001)

Midmorning interview: April 19, 2001, 10 a.m.

Live appearance: May 11, 2001, 7 p.m.

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Big As Life: Three Tales for Spring

By Maureen Howard

"Big As Life: Three Tales for Spring" is the second of four fictions she is writing based on the seasons. It presents three tales of moral resonance united by the sense of renewal that marks the advent of spring. (05/24/2001)

Midmorning interview: May 24, 2001, 10 a.m.

Live appearance: June 14, 2001, 7 p.m.