Page by Page

Welcome! Welcome to Page by Page, a weekly radio show on Aspen Public Radio hosted by Jonathan Bastian. Each week we feature interviews with some of the most important living writers from our studios in the Rocky Mountains. The show also features a unique and introspective blend of essays, reviews and readings to create a program of diverse and direct ideas. If you can’t catch the show live on APR (Wed. 6pm MST), you can follow up with us here to listen to podcasts of each week’s show or subscribe to our weekly podcasts on iTunes. We also hope you’ll enjoy reading Jonathan Bastian’s weekly essays and reviews, all of which you can find here as well. Enjoy!

The Sam Lipsyte Interview

Feb 10 |03:29

Sam Lipsyte discusses his most recent novel, “The Ask,” with host Jonathan Bastian.

Top Young Talent: Adam Levin and Grace Krilanovich

Jan 28 |03:01

A conversation with two of the best young fiction writers, Adam Levin (“The Instructions”) and Grace Krilanovich (“The Orange Eats Creeps”)

They speak with host Jonathan Bastian about their debut novels.

Stuff White People Like, Part Two

Jan 28 |02:48

A conversation with Christian Lander, founder of the blog “Stuff White People Like,” and author most recently of “Whiter Shades of Pale.”

The Vertical Farm

Dec 9 |20:02

Growing Food Up and not Out: Dr. Dickson Despommier on his new book, “The Vertical Farm.”

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Latest Writings

The Strange Beauty of ‘The Sheltering Sky’
15 Aug 2011

One of the most common pieces of criticism regarding many novels is: the ending sucked.
It seems much easier to write a great beginning, to sustain the quality through the middle sections and then, suddenly, to flop the ending. In fact, reading the ending of any book is a strange experience, [...]
Reading ‘The Waves’ and Giving Virginia Woolf Another Try
15 Aug 2011

Every year I pick up “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf, and every year I put it back down after about 10 pages. It’s become predictably hilarious.
“Mrs. Dalloway” is one of those classic books that the literati assumes we’ll not only love, but will change our lives. So by not loving [...]
Laughing as  America Topples: Gary Shteyngart’s ‘Super Sad True Love Story’
10 Oct 2010

No one seems to have a very smiley vision of the future, or at least America’s future.
It’s kinda fun to predict irretrievable disaster, isn’t it?
The Fox-MSNBC news talking heads predict political melt down. The environmentalists are throwing up white flags and buying land in Canada. The artists are [...]
Motorcycles,  Montana, Words
30 Sep 2010

Eleven days on a motorcycle — listening to the engine scream into the north country of Wyoming and Montana — will do funny things to your head.
There’s the stubborn shiver of steel below your body, vibrations squirming up your spine and jangling the lining of your brain. [...]
The Siberian Tiger  as Myth: The Lore of John Vaillant’s ‘The Tiger’
20 Sep 2010

LISTEN to an interview with John Vaillant:
(press the play button above)
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READ Jonathan Bastian’s review of ‘The Tiger’:
You have to imagine the location.
You are 6,000 miles to the east of Moscow, nearly a quarter-way around the world, but still technically in Russia. To the south is China. Japan is [...]
Take Me to ‘Absurdistan,’ Misha
20 Sep 2010

Imagine an extremely fat Russian. He wears Adidas track suits and loves rap. He is very rich and in this 30s. His name is Misha Vainberg, and he’s the hero, in a way, of Gary Shteyngart’s novel “Absurdistan.”
Misha, who is exiled in St. Petersburg, spends his days dreaming [...]
Alright, Jonathan Safran Foer, I Give In: The Importance of ‘Everything is Illuminated’
1 Sep 2010

The colossal success of “Everything is Illuminated” by Jonathan Safran Foer was a scarring slap in the face to us young aspiring novelists.
Foer was 25 years old when the book was published.
We put our pens down. We shut our laptops. We went for long walks, alone, in [...]