The world has changed in unexpected and challenging ways. On this show, first broadcast a couple of years ago, guest host Jane Kaczmarek presented three stories that reminded us that life’s twists and turns can still be entertaining. First, a wife finds something unexpected in her local thrift shop in “Second Hand” by Andres Neuman. The story is performed by Kaczmarek. Our second story is Dawn Powell’s “Dinner on the Rocks,” an elegant comedy of bad manners in which a snobbish couple aims to humiliate their humbler guests. It’s performed by Christina Pickles. Our final story, “Fortune Cookie,” is an uncharacteristically lighthearted piece by Hubert Selby, Jr. best known for dark novels of urban life such as Last Exit to Brooklyn and Requiem for a Dream. The reader is Michael Imperioli.
ACTORS & ARTISTS
Michael Imperioli is best known for his role on The Sopranos, for which he won an Emmy Award. Additional television credits include Californication, Lucifer, Law & Order, Life on Mars, Blue Bloods, Detroit 1-8-7, Hawaii Five-0, Alex Inc., Mad Dogs, Escape at Dannemora, Project Blue Book, and Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector. He also appeared in the films Goodfellas, Jungle Fever, Bad Boys, The Basketball Diaries, Clockers, Dead Presidents, Lean on Me, I Shot Andy Warhol, Last Man Standing, Last Full Measure, Primal, and Summer of Sam, which he co-wrote and co-produced. In 2008, Imperioli wrote and directed his first feature film, The Hungry Ghosts.
Jane Kaczmarek is best known for her role as Lois on Malcolm in the Middle, for which she received 7 consecutive Emmy nominations as well as nominations for the Golden Globe and SAG Awards. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin and Yale School of Drama, Kaczmarek made her television debut on The Paper Chase and Hill Street Blues and most recently can be seen on The Big Bang Theory, This Is Us, Carol's Second Act, and Mixed-ish. In New York, Kaczmarek has appeared on Broadway and off at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Second Stage, the Public Theatre, New York Theater Workshop, and 6 seasons at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Her recent theater credits include in Long Day's Journey Into Night, Our Town with Deaf West Theatre, and The Year to Come at La Jolla Playhouse. Kaczmarek’s favorite job is raising her three kids and reading/hosting Selected Shorts across America.
Andrés Neuman is an Argentinian writer whose works include the novels Talking to Ourselves, which was selected as the best book of the year by Typographical Era, and Traveler of the Century, for which he received the Alfaguara Prize, the National Critics Prize, and a Special Commendation from the jury of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. His short story collection, The Things We Don’t Do, was longlisted for the Best Translated Book Award and won the Firecracker Award for fiction, given by the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses with the American Booksellers Association. His most recent novel, Fracture, was recently published in English.
Christina Pickles has appeared on and off-Broadway in Man and Superman, The Seagull, You Can’t Take It With You, War and Peace, The Misanthrope, A Pagan Place, and Chez Nous. She received the Los Angeles Critics Awards for Cloud Nine, Undiscovered Country, and The Letters of Janet Flanner. Her television credits include Saint Elsewhere, earning her five Emmy nominations; Friends, for which she received an Emmy nomination as Ross and Monica’s dysfunctional mother; How I Met Your Mother; and Childrens Hospital. Her films include Grace of My Heart, Legends of the Fall, Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, and The Wedding Singer. Christina recently appeared on the TV series Great News,Doubt, 9JKL, and Dollface. Pickles won an Emmy Award for her starring role on the Web series Break a Hip.
Dawn Powell (1896 - 1965) was the author of numerous novels, including Dance Night, The Wicked Pavilion, A Time to Be Born, and The Golden Spur, which was a National Book Award finalist. She also wrote many plays, including Big Night, and the short story collection Sunday, Monday, and Always. At her death, nearly all of her books were out of print. In 1981, a critical study by Gore Vidal sparked renewed interest in Powell. Her diaries, published thirty years after her death, were hailed by TheNew York Times as “one of the outstanding literary finds of the last quarter century.” There are more of her books in print today than at any time in her life.
Hubert Selby, Jr. (1928 - 2004) was a celebrated author of many novels, including the classics Last Exit to Brooklyn and Requiem for a Dream, both of which were adapted into films. Additional works include The Room, The Demon, and the short story collection Song of the Silent Snow. Selby taught creative writing at the University of Southern California and was the subject of the 2005 documentary, Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow.
