We are excited to share the podcast that is for book and bookstore enthusiasts everywhere: The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan. Kaplan has been a bookseller and has owned the independent bookstores Books & Books for over 35 years.
Listen to The Literary Life for conversations about all things literary, with writers, readers, publishers, old friends, new friends, and anyone who might wander into Books & Books with an interesting story to tell about their connections to books, reading, or writing.
In this episode with author Rick Bragg, Rick and Mitchell talk about Rick’s southern roots, his career as a journalist, and the voices that have informed his books including his latest, The Best Cook in the World, Tales from My Momma’s Table.
Bragg says, “By the time I was ready to do a book, I had seen. I had been to the Middle East; I had been in places where you could get killed for your shoes, but the hero in my existence had always been my mom, who really did go 18 years without a new dress so that I could have school clothes, and who really did work on her knees, who really did take in laundry and ironing, who really did cook with other people’s babies swinging on her hip.”
In The Best Cook in the World, Rick Bragg finally preserves his heritage by telling the stories that framed his mother’s cooking and education, from childhood into old age. Because good food always has a good story, and a recipe, writes Bragg, is a story like anything else.
Check out other titles featured on The Literary Life playlist.
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