Book Beat, a daily feature running two minutes or less about books and writers, was broadcast on WCBS-AM in New York and distributed nationally by the CBS Radio Stations News Service (CBS RSNS) from 1982 through 1993. Not mere commentary, the broadcasts featured the actual voices of the prominent writers interviewed by Don Swaim at CBS in New York. The features are posted here as mp3 files. Click to hear or "save as" to download them to an iPod or other mp3 player. They're organized chronologically. Use Search Site at the bottom of the page to locate a specific author. The UNEDITED, NEVER AIRED interviews, used as the basis for each Book Beat feature, are posted separately at Ohio University's WIRED FOR BOOKS.
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Stanley Elkin, Don Swaim 4/16/85
"Stan, let me try to explain something to you about the art of fiction." |
John Irving, Don Swaim 5/24/85
"John, If I'd written 'Garp' I would have ended it this way..."
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Jane Ann Phillips, Don Swaim 4/10/85
"This gal needs a personal writing tutor, and I'm just the guy."
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Paul Theroux, Don Swaim 5/27/85
"Paul, you may travel, but I bet you've never been to Asbury Park in January."
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