Friday, August 26, 2011

Bill Moyers Journal, The Conversation Continues

Bill Moyers was a guest on Tavis Smiley recently. It was great to visit with Bill as I miss his PBS show, Bill Moyers Journal. His last show was in April/May 2010. His book, The Conversation Continues, brought back memories.
On TV, I thoroughly enjoyed Bill’s engaging conversations about current events. He spoke with authors, poets, artists, scholars, political figures, and diverse activists, to name a few. My favorite conversations were with writers. He not only asked profound questions, but he invited his audience inside the author’s homes where we witnessed their idiosyncrasies. What fun!
When Tavis interviewed Bill on his show to promote his new book, I relived the conversations from TV. If you have never seen Bill’s show, you will enjoy this book. The written conversations will allow you to feel like you are viewing the TV show from the comfort of your living room.
The book begins with an introduction conversation with Jon Stewart. I understood completely why Bill chose Jon to introduce his book. See if you agree when you read it. Altogether, there are 47 conversations in the book. As I read them, I recalled the conversations on TV. I remembered that some made such an impression on me that I purchased the books immediately after watching the show. For example, Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot wrote a book called, The Third Chapter. She talked about her book in such detail that when I purchased the book, I was very disappointed. There was nothing knew, she said it all to Bill!
Another book I purchased was John Lithgow’s, The Poets’ Corner. John was so inspiring talking to Bill about specific poems that I knew I had to own the entire book. I also purchased the CD collection of the poems. These are not John’s poems, they are a collection of poems, or as John puts it, The One-And-Only Poetry Book For The Whole Family. On the CD the poems are read by John and very special guests, some I recognized, some I did not.
I purchased Susan Jacoby’s book, The Age of American Unreason. I had to purchase this book because I needed words on a page to help me understand the words she said to Bill!
I recommend this book, Bill Moyers Journal, The Conversation Continues, to readers of all ages. There is a conversation in it for everyone. Bill Moyer is an extraordinary journalist. It’s always nice to have a picture to go with a conversation and Bill includes this feature for each of his conversations. Enjoy!

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