Tom McGuane with Richard Powers: the Long and Short of It | 3-6-2018 | LIVE from the NYPL

LIVE from the NYPL | Recorded live at the New York Public Library, Berger Forum, on March 6, 2018.
“I can’t imagine wanting to do more or better than a short story,” said Tom McGuane. “A story has as much of an emotional payoff as a novel. It has to do with the the pristine lyric language, the concision of the narrative…The best stories, I think of them as apertures. They’re how the dissonances come to light.” The National Book Award-nominated author looks back on a life of stories, in celebration of Cloudbursts, his latest book, which collects short stories from throughout his career. McGuane will speak with fellow author Richard Powers, whose works explore connections among disciplines from photography and artificial intelligence to musical composition and game theory.

Thank you New York Public Library! This was truly a wonderful conversation with Richard and Tom. I totally enjoyed it!

[@kaitlinmeadows6273]

The great, sensitive, deep, funny, keenly observant minds of two of our most profound literary masters! What a beautiful experience to share this magic brew!

[@SuperOlds88]

I tried reading The Sporting Club and threw it away about a third of the way through it. Why I tried reading it I have no idea, I despise fiction. Anything that Mr. McGuane has written in the non-fiction form is some of my favorite reading and I re-read them often. I have done some of the types of fishing and hunting that he has done so I feel a lot of emotion reading his stories. I grew up in Michigan so I can get a sense of his time there too, then I moved west. I am sure glad he changed his writing for the better in my opinion. I wish he had 10 or 15 more books to read.

[@maryforster1417]

This interview was awesome! I want to tell everyone I know to watch it, but I know most won't...they don't know what they are missing. Such intelligence and generosity ....from both Richard Powers and Thomas McGuane...I loved this interview!

[@mr59301]

The telling of that Kissimee joke, alone, was worth the 90 minutes of attention but his observations on the mind of a good cutting horse are what leave me smiling as he leaves the room. What an extraordinary life and mind to witness at work and play.

[@skyj5529]

It was the cutting horse talk, remarks about Jim Harrison's poetry, McGuane's quiet and humility, and Powers' respect for him that held me rapt.

[@erniereyes1994]

Thomas McGuane is one of my all time favorite story writers, up there with Hemingway and Denis Johnson.

[@sclogse1]

"The mistaken belief that we're put here alone and everything else is just a resource."

[@Lily_Rowan]

Where have I been all his life? Jeeze Louise

[@michaelkeith2207]

I want to be Tom Mcguane.

[@Immarkyo58]

I told him that once in an interview and he told me he'd wanted to do what I did, which was work as a fish biologist. "Maybe we can trade?" he said. I said he had the better of the two choices.

[@yusefasabiyah495]

Trowel a bat becave, through a solemn