Talking Volumes 2017 season guide

Talking Volumes 2017 season
Talking Volumes 2017 season
MPR graphic

Minnesota Public Radio and the Star Tribune newspaper are proud to announce the 18th season of Talking Volumes. The Talking Volumes series is hosted by award-winning journalist Kerri Miller.

Season tickets go on sale July 11 to MPR members and July 14 to the general public. Single tickets will go on sale July 18. More information is available from the Fitzgerald Theater.

Sept. 14: Sherman Alexie and "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me"

Political Coverage Powered by You

Your gift today creates a more connected Minnesota. MPR News is your trusted resource for election coverage, reporting and breaking news. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

Sherman Alexie is a poet, novelist and short story writer. His young adult novel, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," is a modern classic. Alexie's other works include the short story collection "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" and the screenplay to the film "Smoke Signals." He has won the Pen/Faulkner Award, the National Book Award and the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival.

From the publisher of "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me":

"Family relationships are never simple. But Sherman Alexie's bond with his mother Lillian was more complex than most. She plunged her family into chaos with a drinking habit, but shed her addiction when it was on the brink of costing her everything. She survived a violent past, but created an elaborate facade to hide the truth. She selflessly cared for strangers, but was often incapable of showering her children with the affection that they so desperately craved. She wanted a better life for her son, but it was only by leaving her behind that he could hope to achieve it. It's these contradictions that made Lillian Alexie a beautiful, mercurial, abusive, intelligent, complicated, and very human woman."

Sept. 27: Jacqueline Woodson and "Another Brooklyn"

Jacqueline Woodson is a poet and novelist. She won the National Book Award for "Brown Girl Dreaming." Her latest novel is "Another Brooklyn," an autobiographical exploration of childhood friendships in 1970s New York. It was nominated for the National Book Award.

From the publisher of "Another Brooklyn":

"Running into a long-ago friend sets memory from the 1970s in motion for August, transporting her to a time and a place where friendship was everything — until it wasn't. For August and her girls, sharing confidences as they ambled through neighborhood streets, Brooklyn was a place where they believed that they were beautiful, talented, brilliant — a part of a future that belonged to them."

Oct. 19: Amy Tan and "Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir"

Amy Tan is the author of the classics "The Joy Luck Club" and "The Kitchen God's Wife," among other novels and children's books.

From the publisher of "Where the Past Begins":

"In 'Where the Past Begins,' Amy Tan is at her most intimate in revealing the truths and inspirations that underlie her extraordinary fiction. By delving into vivid memories of her traumatic childhood, confessions of self-doubt in her journals, and heartbreaking letters to and from her mother, she gives evidence to all that made it both unlikely and inevitable that she would become a writer. Through spontaneous storytelling, she shows how a fluid fictional state of mind unleashed near-forgotten memories that became the emotional nucleus of her novels."

Oct. 31: Ron Chernow and "Grant"

Ron Chernow is a best-selling biographer whose works include "The House of Morgan," "Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller," and "Alexander Hamilton," which was adapted for Broadway as "Hamilton." Chernow has been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award multiple times and was awarded the National Humanities Medal.

From the publisher of "Grant":

"Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and inept businessman, fond of drinking to excess; or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil War; or as a credulous and hapless president whose tenure came to symbolize the worst excesses of the Gilded Age. These stereotypes don't come close to capturing adequately his spirit and the sheer magnitude of his monumental accomplishments. A biographer at the height of his powers, Chernow has produced a portrait of Grant that is a masterpiece, the first to provide a complete understanding of the general and president whose fortunes rose and fell with dizzying speed and frequency.

With his famous lucidity, breadth, and meticulousness, Chernow finds the threads that bind these disparate stories together, shedding new light on the man whom Walt Whitman described as 'nothing heroic... and yet the greatest hero.'"

Nov. 16: Dan Brown and "Origin"

Dan Brown is the author of the blockbuster "The Da Vinci Code," among other best-selling novels. He was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World.

From the publisher of "Origin":

"In keeping with his trademark style, Dan Brown, author of 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Inferno,' interweaves codes, science, religion, history, art, and architecture into this new novel. 'Origin' thrusts Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon into the dangerous intersection of humankind's two most enduring questions, and the earthshaking discovery that will answer them."

Talking Volumes

About the host

Kerri Miller joined Minnesota Public Radio in June 2004. She has been a radio and television news reporter since 1981. She has won numerous awards, including the Society of Professional Journalists National Achievement Award, Minnesota Broadcasters Award, the Associated Press Award and a Gracie Award from the Association of Women in Radio and Television.

About Talking Volumes

Talking Volumes is a partnership of Minnesota Public Radio and Star Tribune, in collaboration with The Loft Literary Center.

Ticket information

Season tickets for Talking Volumes are available in three-show packages ($69 - $75) or full season packages ($115 - $125). Single tickets are $25 - $30 for the general public, and $23 - $28 for members of Minnesota Public Radio and subscribers of Star Tribune.

Season tickets go on sale July 11 to members and July 14 to the general public. Single tickets go on sale July 18. Call the Minnesota Public Radio box office at 651-290-1200 or visit The Fitzgerald Theater website for more information.