Episode 584-With Nathan Ballingrud

The Functional Nerds Podcast

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Nathan Ballingrud, author of THE STRANGE.

About THE STRANGE: Since Anabelle’s mother left for Earth to care for her own ailing mother, her days in New Galveston have been spent at school and her nights at her laconic father’s diner with Watson, the family Kitchen Engine and dishwasher as her only companion. When the Silence came, and communication and shipments from Earth to its colonies on Mars stopped, life seemed stuck in foreboding stasis until the night Silas Mundt and his gang attacked.

At once evoking the dreams of an America explored in Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles and the harder realities of frontier life in Charles Portis True Grit, Ballingrud’s novel is haunting in its evocation of Anabelle’s quest for revenge amidst a spent and angry world accompanied by a domestic Engine, a drunken space pilot, and the toughest woman on Mars.

About Nathan Ballingrud: Nathan was born in Massachusetts in 1970, but spent most of his life in the South. He studied literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at the University of New Orleans. Among other things, he’s been a cook on oil rigs and barges, a waiter, and a bartender in New Orleans.

His most recent book is called Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell, from Saga Press. His first book is North American Lake Monsters, from Small Beer Press. He’s won two Shirley Jackson Awards, and has been shortlisted for the World Fantasy, British Fantasy, and Bram Stoker Awards. His novella “The Visible Filth” was made into a movie called Wounds, from Annapurna Pictures. It’s written and directed by Babak Anvari and stars Armie Hammer, Zazie Beetz, and Dakota Johnson.

He lives in Asheville, NC.

This week’s picks:

• Nathan: Driving and exploring the backroads
• Tracy: On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes by Alexandra Horowitz
• Patrick: Project Smoke: Seven Steps to Smoked Food Nirvana by Steven Raichlen

Links:

• Nathan Ballingrud on Twitter
• Tracy Townsend on Twitter
• Patrick Hester on Twitter
• The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2023 Patrick Hester

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