(Original recording made in 1999)
When Wally lamb arrived at our studios in Yellow Springs for his first interview in the Book Nook he was on a roll. His first two novels had the unique distinctions of having been picked by Oprah Winfrey as featured picks for her prestigious Oprah's Book Club. In those days Oprah could catapult books that had perhaps been languishing into instant best-sellers.
Lamb's second novel had just been issued as a paperback with the Oprah seal of approval on the cover and this massive book, over 900 pages long, was selling like the proverbial hotcakes. I had not had an opportunity to interview the author until this happened and I have interviewed him since but I really expected this to be my only conversation with him when the focus would be on this particular book. Little did I know that many years later the story would finally be developed into a mini-series that aired on HBO. When the mini-series was underway Lamb's publisher reissued yet another paperback edition of "I Know This Much Is True" and I was able to interview the author once again more than two decades later for the exact same book. You just never know. If you peruse our podcast archive you can listen to that subsequent interview as well.
This initial conversation with Wally Lamb was one of my favorite interviews during that period of the late 1990s.
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, Wright Memorial Public Library, and Tipp City Public.
