Phillip Lopate on Adopting a Voice Against Sentimentalism.
Novelist and essayist Phillip Lopate. In "Against Joie de Vivre," his new collection of essays, Lopate writes about - and rails against - the enforced gaiety of dinner parties, camaraderie in bars, teaching Chekhov to 10-year-olds and overwrought writing about architecture. In one essay, `Samson and Delilah,' Lopate uses the biblical essay to ruminate on power relations within his own family, and his confused love relationship with his mother and wife. His other books include "Bachelorhood," "The Rug Merchant" and "Confessions of Summer." One of his best-known works, "Being with Children," recalls his trials and triumphs as a teacher of writing at a New York City public school. (Rebroadcast. Original date May 26, 1989).
Other segments from the episode on November 6, 1989
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