Margo Jefferson on CONSTRUCTING A NERVOUS SYSTEM
\u201cI didn't want that more traditional kind of arc of childhood to a certain stance of wisdom or resignation or triumph. I wanted\u2014partly because I felt with\xa0Negroland, and very much with this book\u2014that ability to change persona, change my position, to acknowledge that one was performing at times, and that one played many, many roles \u2026 I wanted to be able to take in all of that, and a traditional memoir structure wasn't going to allow it.\u201d Margo Jefferson is one of our most astute and elegant cultural critics, full stop. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize for criticism, she\u2019s also the acclaimed author of several books, including her latest,\xa0Constructing a Nervous System. Margo joins us on the show to talk about finding a new language for criticism, engaging with art on her own terms, Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald, investigating herself as a critic and a teacher, and much more with Poured Over\u2019s host, Miwa Messer. And we end the episode with another set of TBR Topoff book recommendations from Margie and Marc.
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Featured Books:
Constructing a Nervous System: A Memoir\xa0by Margo Jefferson
Negroland\xa0by Margo Jefferson
Song of the Lark\xa0by Willa Cather
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Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow\xa0us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).
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A full transcript of this episode is available\xa0here.