Bookmarks: Authors on Their Life-Changing Encounters With Books

If you could ask Margaret Atwood one question, what would it be? We came up with a good one. In fact, we asked Atwood, Tommy Orange, Lidia Yuknavitch, Jericho Brown and many more writers and creators the same question – “What book have you read that you’d consider personally life-changing, and why?” Their answers are the subject of “Bookmarks,” a new podcast from Wisconsin Public Radio and the producers of “To The Best Of Our Knowledge.”

“Great writers are great readers. And boy do they have stories to tell. Not just about the books they write, but about the books they read,” said Charles Monroe-Kane, senior producer of “To The Best Of Our Knowledge” and “Bookmarks.” “We’ve been asking authors for years to tell a story about that one book that left a mark. And oh my God, they’re so good. Funny, sexy, surprising, poignant. So now, we’re sharing them with listeners in this special bite-sized podcast. The lineup is incredible: Alice Walker, Phillip Pullman, Anne Lamott, Orhan Pamuk, even Werner Herzog. In the end, maybe the book that marked one of these authors just might leave a mark on you. It’s about three minutes every week of awesome.”

About "To The Best Of Our Knowledge" (TTBOOK)

TTBOOK is a nationally syndicated, Peabody award-winning radio show where long-form interviews lead us to dive headlong into the deeper end of ideas. We have conversations with novelists and poets, scientists and software engineers, journalists and historians, filmmakers and philosophers, artists and activists—anyone with a big idea and a passion to have a creative and engaging conversation about it.

About Wisconsin Public Radio 

For over 100 years, Wisconsin Public Radio has served the people of Wisconsin with quality news, music, talk and entertainment. On air, online and in the community - we work for Wisconsin. WPR is a service of the Educational Communications Board and University of Wisconsin-Madison. Listen, learn more and donate at www.wpr.org. 

Catch up on previous episodes

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"We Have Always Lived in the Castle" By Shirley Jackson (Penguin Classics)

Laurence Jackson Hyman, son of the famed horror author Shirley Jackson, recommends her 1962 classic tale for its scares, suspense, and strangeness. 

"Disappearance at Devil's Rock" by Paul Tremblay

The horror and fantasy novelist recommends a chilling pair of ghost stories from Paul Tremblay that flip genre conventions on their head. 

"Skin" by Kathe Koja

Citing the book's enormous influence on her own work, novelist Gemma Files recommends Kathe Koja’s horror story set against the backdrop of 1990s counterculture scenes of art, body modification and underground music.

"The Land at the End of the World" by António Lobo Antunes

The author of "The Sympathizer" recommends António Lobo Antunes' novel.

"The Wayfinders" by Wade Davis

Composer Philip Glass says he was transported by "The Wayfinders" — Wade Davis' celebration of indigenous cultures.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
'A Confederacy of Dunces' by John Kennedy Toole
Gene Smith's Sink by Sam Stephenson
The Peregrine by J.A. Baker
"White Fang" by Jack London
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys