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Best of the Book Nook: The Good German by Joseph Kanon

Vick Mickunas' 2001 interview with Joseph Kanon

Joseph Kanon returned to the program to discuss his novel "The Good German." Back in those days, 20 years ago, Dayton was still a hub for visiting authors. Hundreds of writers came through our region each year on book tours. Lots of those people were first-time writers. Joseph Kanon had been one of those. He had come through Yellow Springs for an interview when he published his first novel, "Los Alamos."

By the time he came through to talk about "The Good German," we were well acquainted. It was always such a joy to interview an articulate, erudite man like him. Before he became a novelist he had a long career in book publishing so we were able to talk about the book world from many different perspectives.

"The Good German" was set in Germany as WWII was ending. It was deeply researched and that made it a fascinating read.

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, and Wright Memorial Public Library.

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Vick Mickunas is the host of Book Nook on WYSO, which he created in 1994. He has conducted more than 1,700 author interviews, from Studs Terkel to Lee Child to John Glenn. He is a book critic for the Dayton Daily News and the Springfield News-Sun.