To The Best of Our Knowledge

from Wisconsin Public Radio
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Have you seen the David Lynch film "Mulholland Drive"? Did you understand it? One reviewer says watching "Mulholland Drive" is "like playing Twister and Scrabble simultaneously while high on LSD." In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge two young men talk about their internet audio commentary track for "Mulholland Drive." They think they understand it. Maybe. Also, the making of a literary critic. How Sven Birkerts went from writing fiction to writing about fiction.

Photo Credit:Marion Ettlinger http://www.elinorlipman.com

Novelist Elinor Lipman has written an essay for the New York Times on the fine art of blurbing – writing short, pithy quotes to appear on fellow authors' dust jackets. She tells Jim Fleming she has lost friends when her blurbs weren't positive enough, and she tries to blurb only books she really likes. Ben Greenman is the author of a book called "Superbad: Stories and Pieces." One of the stories it contains is called "Blurbs" which is nothing but a collection of blurbs. Greenman reads it, and talks with Steve Paulson.

Sven Birkerts tried to write a novel, but realized he had more success writing about fiction than writing fiction. He tells Steve Paulson how he became a literary critic. Birkerts' memoir of being the child of Latvian immigrants is "My Sky Blue Trades: Growing Up Counter in a Contrary Time." Also, Andy Ross and Sean Weitner put up on the Internet (at the Flak Magazine website) their audio commentary on David Lynch's film "Mulholland Drive." They talk about it with Jim Fleming, and we hear clips of the film and the commentary. To download the audio commentary for "Mulholland Drive", visit http://www.flakmag.com/film/commentary/mulholland.html

Henry Raddick is an enthusiastic contributor of reviews to the Amazon.com website. He tells Steve Paulson that he reads all the books he reviews, only says good things about them, and tells us a bit about his pet Pug, Grendel. Raddick has his own cult following on the website. Also, Doug Gordon profiles Cole's notes, the Canadian inspiration for America's CliffsNotes. And finally, Andy Ross and Sean Weitner provide a little critical commentary of the show we've just heard.

To read Henry Raddick's amazon.com reviews, visit http://www.amazon.com Double-click on "Friends & Favorites" located under the heading "Amazon.com Services" in the far left column. Then enter "Henry Raddick" in the search box in the upper left corner of the new page. Hit "Enter" key. This will take you to one of Henry's recent reviews. Beneath the review is a link labelled "See all of Henry Raddick's reviews". Click on this.

Books:

• Sven Birkerts, My Sky Blue Trades: Growing Up Counter In A Contrary Time (Viking)
• Ben Greenman, Superbad: Stories and Pieces (McSweeney's Books)
  

Music:

• -- "The Girl At The Typewriter"/Raymond Scott from the CD, "The Music of Raymond Scott: Reckless
  Nights and Turkish Twilights" (Columbia)
• -- "K.C. Blues"/Charlie "Yardbird" Parker from the CD, "Ross Porter's After Hours with Verve" (CBC Stereo/Verve)
• -- "Jitterbug"/Angelo Badalamenti with the City of Prague Philharmonic from the CD, "David Lynch's Mulholland Drive" (Milan/BMG Distribution)
• -- "The Beast"/Milt Buckner from the CD, "David Lynch's Mulholland Drive" (Milan/BMG Distribution)
  -- "Huckleberry Duck"/Raymond Scott from the CD, "The Music of Raymond Scott: Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights" (Columbia)
• -- "(What A) Wonderful World"/Sam Cooke from the CD, "National Lampoon's Animal House Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" (MCA Records)
• -- "I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me"/The John Buzon Trio from the CD, "Ultra-Lounge Volume Two: Mambo Fever" (Capitol)
• -- Audio clip from "David Lynch's Mulholland Drive" DVD Video (Universal)

Distribution dates:

• week of 09/08/2002 - hour 2