Guest host David Strathairn presents two stories about longing. In Peter Carey’s “American Dreams,” a small Australian community is transformed into a tourist destination by a bizarre bequest. Strathairn is the reader. And writer and actor Lisa Fugard performs her own beautiful “Night Calls,” about a lonely widower, his young daughter, and an endangered bird.
Guest host David Strathairn presents two stories about longing. In Peter Carey’s “American Dreams,” a small Australian community is transformed into a tourist destination by a bizarre bequest, and no one is quite sure if the gesture was kindly, or malicious. Carey was born in Australia but now makes his home in New York where he directs Hunter College’s MFA Program in Creative writing. And who better than the protean author of novels such as War Crimes, Bliss, The Tax Inspector and the Booker Prize winning Oscar and Lucinda and True History of the Kelly Gang. His most recent book is A Long Way From Home. “American Dreams” was first published in The New Yorker.
David Strathairn is known for his early work with director John Sayles, including “Return of the Secaucus Seven,” “The Brother from Another Planet,” “Matewan,” “City of Hope,” ” Eight Men Out,” “Limbo,” and “Passion Fish.” His long subsequent career includes his Oscar-nominated performance in “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “ The River,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “The Bourne Legacy,” “Darkest Hour,” “Lincoln,” “Fast Color,” and “Godzilla. On television he starred in the Syfy series “Alphas” and has appeared recently on “Billions,” and in the mini-series “McMafia” and “The Expanse.” His extensive stage career includes performances in “The Birthday Party,” ”Hapgood,” “The Cherry Orchard,” and “The Heiress,” among many others.
Our second story is by the author and actor Lisa Fugard. While her father Athol has portrayed the grim consequences of South African apartheid in his plays, Fugard’s delicate short story shows a different face: a land of complex beauty in which hope and sadness is also reflected in our relationship with animals. In “Night Calls,” a grieving widower is tied to his obligations at a nature preserve which houses a rare endangered bird, and his empathetic daughter can read his every mood. Fugard reads this haunting tale herself, complete with eerily beautiful bird and animal calls.
Fugard’s short stories have been published in Story, Outside, and numerous literary magazines. Her many travel articles, essays, and book reviews have appeared in the New York Times. Her first novel, Skinner’s Drift, was named a notable book of 2006 by the New York Times. Skinner’s Drift was also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times’ Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the runner-up for the 2007 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Fugard lives in California, and is at work on her second novel.
