Guest host Michael Cerveris presents two stories about untrue love. A devoted wife worships her sailor husband in Daphne du Maurier's "La Sainte-Vierge," read by Kathryn Erbe. And Paul Giamatti reads a sci-fi classic by Robert Sheckley, "Pilgrimage to Earth," in which a traveller from a distant planet comes to Earth to find love.
Guest host Michael Cerveris presents two stories about untrue love. Both were featured as part of a special program--hosted by Paul Giamatti--celebrating the vintage reprint series, New York Review of Books Classics, which reprints older works that the Review thinks should have a second life.
First, a devoted wife worships her sailor husband in Daphne du Maurier's "La Sainte-Vierge," read by Kathryn Erbe. English writer du Maurier is famous for classic thrillers like Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, The Birds, and Don't Look Now, but this story is a subtle tale of love and marriage in a small fishing village.
Reader Kathryn Erbe, known for her work on "Law and Order: Criminal Intent” and “Oz.” Additional television credits include “American Experience,” “Billions,” “The Sinner,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Instinct,” and “Pose.” Her recent film credits include “Kensho at the Bedfellow,” “Dating My Mother,” “Assassination Nation,”and “Alex Strangelove.” As a member of the Steppenwolf Theater Company, Erbe has appeared in many productions, including “The Grapes of Wrath,” “Curse of the Starving Class,” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.” She is also a member of the Atlantic Theater Company. Erbe was nominated for a Tony Award for her work in “The Speed of Darkness” and recently appeared in “The Father,” opposite Frank Langella. Additional theater credits include “Ode to Joy,” “Checkers,” “Nikolai and The Others,” and “Natural Affection.”
Our second story is a science fiction classic by prolific author Robert Sheckley, who wrote hundreds of short stories and contributed scripts to films and television. In his introduction to the live performance, Paul Giamatti, who also reads the story, said Schekley often wrote about people--or creatures--who don't find the world--or worlds--as they imagined them. This is certainly true of "Pilgrimage to Earth," in which a futuristic traveller from a distant planet comes to Earth to find its only remaining commodity: love.
Giamatti has received two Golden Globes, three SAG Awards, and an Emmy Award for his numerous film and television appearances. His film credits include “Straight Outta Compton,” “Love & Mercy,” “Twelve Years a Slave,” “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” “Win Win, “Barney’s Version,” “Sideways,” “American Splendor,” “Cinderella Man,” for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, “All Is Bright,” which he also produced, and “Private Life.” His many memorable television roles include the title character in the HBO miniseries “John Adams,” Ben Bernanke in “Too Big to Fail,” and God and Juror #10 in “Inside Amy Schumer.” He has appeared on Broadway in Kevin Spacey's revival of “The Iceman Cometh” and “Arcadia.” He can currently be seen on Showtime’s “Billions.”
