Guest host David Sedaris presents two stories about people who have guilty consciences—or ought to. In “Juniper Tree,” by Lorrie Moore, a trio of old friends visits a fourth friend—who’s just died. It’s read by Jill Eikenberry. And there’s a poison pen at work in a picturesque town, in Shirley Jackson’s “The Possibility of Evil,” read by Dana Ivey.
In “Juniper Tree,” by Lorrie Moore, a trio of old friends visits a fourth friend—who has just died.
Lorrie Moore is the author of the story collections Like Life, Self-Help, Birds of America, and Bark, as well as the novels Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?, Anagrams, and A Gate at the Stairs, which was shortlisted for the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her most recent work is the essay collection See What Can Be Done. After many years as a professor of creative writing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Moore is now Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University. Moore has received honors for her work, among them the Irish Times International Prize for Literature, a Lannan Foundation fellowship, as well as the PEN/Malamud Award and the Rea Award for her achievement in the short story.
"Juniper Tree" is read by Jill Eikenberry, who starred in the Broadway productions of “Moonchildren,” “Watch on the Rhine,” “Summer Brave,” “Onward Victoria,” and “All Over Town.” Off-Broadway, she won an Obie Award for her performances in “Lemon Sky” and “Life Under Water,” and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for “The Kid.” She earned a Golden Globe Award and five Emmy nominations as Ann Kelsey on NBC’s “L.A. Law,” and received the Humanitas Prize for “Destined to Live,” a breast cancer documentary she co-produced and hosted on NBC. Her film credits include “Arthur,” “Something Borrowed,” “Young Adult,” and “Keep in Touch.” Television work includes guest roles on “Law & Order,” “Body of Proof,” and “The Small Time.”
In our second story, Shirley Jackson’s “The Possibility of Evil,” there’s a poison pen at work in a picturesque town. Jackson (1916-1965) first received wide critical acclaim for “The Lottery,” which was published in The New Yorker in 1948 and went on to become one of the most anthologized stories in American literature. She is the author of six novels, includingThe Haunting of Hill House, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle; five collections of short stories and essays, including Just an Ordinary Day; and two family memoirs, Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons. Several of her stories have adapted for television, theater, and film, including “June,” based on “The Daemon Lover.” “The Haunting,” based on The Haunting of Hill House, and the Hungarian film Hosszú Alkony, based on “The Bus.” As you might imagine, Jackson was a master at low-key dread, and this story of a community blighted by malice is no exception.
Reader Dana Ivey appeared in numerous American and Canadian stage productions before debuting on Broadway in the 1981 production of “Macbeth.” Her Broadway credits include five Tony-nominated roles, in “Heartbreak House,” “Sunday in the Park with George,” “The Last Night of Ballyhoo,” “The Rivals,” and “Butley.” She also created the title role in the Off Broadway performance of “Driving Miss Daisy,” which earned her an Obie. Ivey has also appeared in numerous films, including “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “Sabrina,” and “Ghost Town.” On television she's appeared on "Law & Order," "The Practice," "Monk," and "Boardwalk Empire." She was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2008.
