The Greater Voice

Food, Food, Food...and cooking....

I don't get cooking. Trust me, I do plenty of it most nights, every morning, and sometimes at lunch. I do it because I MUST - if I don't who will? And every time I cook, I complain. But I have before me a small stack of cookbooks which remind me that, even if I don't recognize it when I'm in the act, I'm taking part in culture, history, and a sort of science.

That's why my favorite part of any cookbook is the section about the foods - not how to make them. For example, in "The Complete Book of Indian Cooking" you get, essentially, a crash course in the history of Indian. Apparently, India has 2000 ethnic groups. I say apparently, because when I interviewed the author,  Suneeta Vaswani, she said no one knows how many ethnic groups are in India...the book did say 2000, though. Tomatoes, meanwhile, a staple of Indian food, made a presence first in the 16th century with European explorers and more assertively under the British rule in the late 1800's. Granted, this may not seem riveting - but it does prove that many a mouthful is about invasion, occupation, recovery, and, in some cases demise.

Other cool facts - these from the cool facts laden book "The Take-Out Menu Cookbook" by Carla Snyder and Meredith Deeds:

- The French eat approximately 500 million snails a year and 45 pounds of cheese per person.
- Americans (in 2002) ate 7.2 pounds of beans each
- Frankfurter sausages came to Germany via the Chinese and to the states via Germany in the 19th century (yes, there is NO purely American food)
- There are more than 40,000 different varieties of rice
- For half the world's population rice is a staple

If these facts aren't fascinating, maybe this one is: garlic is ten times more powerful when crushed in a garlic press. On the show, Snyder recommended cutting it for a subtler, better flavor. On my dreaded cooking excursion last night, I tried that but must admit - I like the strong, garlicy flavor better.

The food show will broadcast in early January on www.thegreatervoice.com.

Tomi dePaola really IS a nice guy

Tomi dePaola, who authored and more to the point illustrated lots of children's books, is a really great guy. By far, the easiest interview I've ever done, mainly because he has such a great sense of humor. Last year, when I was co-hosting another talk show with a veteran host, I received this invaluable piece of advice: "Don't laugh. If you do, you'll lose your credibility." It's invaluable because it proves some advice is really bad, off-the-mark advice. I laughed all the way through the interview. So did he. So, will my listeners (I hope). It was great.

Interestingly, dePaola was a classically trained artist who always wanted to create children's books. Since he was four, he said. He's probably the only person I know who fulfilled an ambition they had since they could process information. As for me, if I followed my ambitions, I'd be Julie Andrews right now.

The interview is on Thursday, December 6 and in the archives after that. I'll definitely play it again. He's great.

It's at:www.thegreatervoice.com.

Out Stealing Horses, NY Times Best...

The New York Times Book Review just chose Per Petterson's book, Out Stealing Horses (Greywolf, 2007) as one of the best of 2007. No doubt - it's subtle, well-crafted, and beautifully written, thanks in part to the skill of translator Ann Born. Set in Norway, the author's home, the book is a coming of age story, entirely free of cliche and over-statement. A consistently compelling read. (I tried to get Petterson for the show, but he doesn't like to give interviews in English and his publicist didn't know how to reach Ann Born.)

What I just said, by the way, is pretty amazing. I get about 20 books a week to review for the show and countless press releases. I review each of them for style, content, and relevance before booking the author. And what I've discovered is, if you like to read, you must be willing to sacrifice. With fiction, many books have great plot but sloppy language (think Grisham). Or they have both, for a few chapters, then leave you stranded with neither. Nonfiction can give you great ideas but the language is so dry a lobotomy is more appealing. I'm not sure why this is the case - although I have a few guesses.

Now the confession (not spicy, I'm afraid): I generally prefer fiction to nonfiction. Still, much of the nonfiction seems better these days. Here are two I highly recommend - the authors British:

- Winged Wonders by Peter Watkins and Jonathan Stockland. This British pair put together an amazing book about birds - not exotic birds but the exotic aspects of ordinary bids such as the pigeon (AKA dove), the raven, and the rooster. In our interview, Stockland revealed a wonderful excitment about the cultural and symbolic worth of these creatures.

- Taj Mahal by Diana and Michael Preston. If you are a closet soap opera lover, here's the real deal. The story of an empire (with all the sadistic, power-mongering, and amazing trimmings) that led to the building of the Taj Mahal and other great monuments of the Moghul empire in he 15 and 16oo's. An informative read - a page-turner, too.

PLEASE - know any great reads, especially fiction? Let me know!

New Format for Show and Tomi dePaola

Creating a radio show is an interesting process. You need to find your own voice and find ways you can bring out the best from your guests. But, you also have to give your listeners what they really want to hear - and will remember.  So, I decided to open the show to listeners in a substantive way: invite them to contribute ideas, recommend books, music, movies, on the show, and send questions for the guests. I don't want a typical open phones talk format, though. It's too reactive and after-the-fact. I'm trying for a more integral approach.

Next show: I'm really EXCITED about interviewing Tomi dePaola, the children's book author and illustrator. He has some great art, a great voice in his latest book Front Porch Tales and North Country Whoppers. All told in a Maine accent and pretty funny. A good read for adults, too. Thank GOD - some really cool, innovative children's books are out there, not the usual simple, predictable stuff. Otherwise, I feel for the kids whose imaginations are stunted enough by TV and video games...and the parents who get stuck reading them.

What it takes for a good children's book: (Says me):

- Rhythmic sentences
- Intricate language (trust me, kids from 2 up CAN handle it)
- Illustrations with edge
- Plot - ANY plot will work. Just something, please. Our kids aren't idiots. They deserve it!!

Other books on my must read list:

- The Jazz Fly - told in a real jazzy style with a CD in case parents are shy...author is Mathew Gollub.
- Nina Hess' book A Practical Guide to Monsters - a GREAT collection. Nina actually researched the monsters so her book has a detailed, energetic and realistic feel - no Disney here!

The show will be on December 5 and in the archives after that...I'm going to send an announcement to listeners asking what they want me to ask Tomi and for their recommendations on children's books.

All comments - even those that strongly disagree with me, are really welcome!

What I discovered

I'm writing my weekly column based on my interviews for the radio production. This one is on poetry - next week's will be on protest. What I discovered was stunning - poetry, the one form of written arts most suited for our times, is woefully neglected. Amazingly, only 1,000 books of poetry get published a year - 200,000 novels and non-fiction get published. They don't sell very well, either: the editor of Curbstone Press told me that he considers 700 books a bestseller. Yet, other bestseller books may sell millions.

Online venues are helping somewhat. Don Selby, who edits poems.com said he gets around 8,000 hits or so to his Web site each day. A good trip to make, I'd say. I've thought about the matter and included that poetry  editors are self-defeating bunch. They don't think poetry can sell so they don't promote it. Then it doesn't sell...

My eyes were particularly open to a book called The Spoken Revolution (Source Books) - an amazing mix of slam poetry and poet laureates. The editor, Mark Eleveld thinks slam poetry is becoming a movement - I hope so. It's so raw and sensual and bold - we need it in these insipid times. Download the show here.