A Brave Man on Life Elsewhere

Share

Nicholson Baker is a brave man. He knew what he was getting himself into. He went ahead anyway. The hardest part was getting his fingerprints taken. “I’m a writer,” he says, “I bash away on a keyboard all day, every day. How would I know that bashing away on a keyboard all day wears your fingerprints out?”

The acclaimed author’s fingerprints were required for the job he had applied for. He ignored the warnings of his family to boldly venture forth.Nicholson’s new non-fiction book, Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids, is a meticulously detailed account of his 28 days working as a K-12 substitute teacher in a Maine public school district. His day-by-day, documentary reportage is an illuminating snapshot of public education in America today. What emerges from Baker’s experience is a complex, often touching deconstruction of American public schooling, children swamped with overdue assignments, over­whelmed by the marvels and distractions of social media and educational technology, and staff who weary themselves trying to teach in step with an often outmoded or overly ambitious standard curriculum.

Baker is an inventive and remarkable writer and Substitute is filled with humor, honesty, and empathy. Make sure you don’t miss Norman B’s conversation with Nicholson Baker on the next edition of Life Elsewhere.

Life Elsewhere Show #193 airs:
Sundays 12 noon ET at The Source WMNF HD3  

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

Correspondence Through Poetry. A Mind-Numbing Week.

Father Verses Sons: A Correspondence in Poems by Herbert Gold...

The sound of change: Music’s influence on anti-war and human rights movements

Throughout history, music has served as a powerful catalyst for...

Little boy running with American flag at sunset
Top 5 free weekend activities

6th of July Family Backyard BBQ Mulligan’s Irish Pub 23253...

Alsace Walentine & L.L. Kirchner
Once endangered, Florida independent bookstores are growing by building community

Locally owned independent bookstores, once considered an endangered species, are...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Follow us on Instagram

The Morning Show Friday
Player position: