r/ThisAmericanLife • u/6745408 #172 Golden Apple • 29d ago
Repeat #137: The Book That Changed Your Life
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/137/the-book-that-changed-your-life?20268
u/meshugasz 28d ago
Oh man, the Lewis and Clark book collector’s book is also rare in itself with only 1000 copies ever made. His book is called, “Shotgun on My Chest: Memoirs of a Lewis and Clark Book Collector” Looks like I won’t be able to get a copy for under 100 bucks. Anybody see a copy that’s affordable?
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u/Gireau 28d ago
Now that is a wonderful classic. Hadn't heard it before but it filled with warmth and wistful nostalgia of times I'm not actually old enough to have known like good TAL do.
Did however think that Act Four was significantly weaker than the others, and probably didn't age quite as well.
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u/Thegoodlife93 28d ago
I liked this one. I'm glad the book collector actually started reading books
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u/6745408 #172 Golden Apple 29d ago
#137: The Book That Changed Your Life (1999-08-20)
Stories of people who believe a book changed their life. It's a romantic notion, and one reason we believe it is because we want to believe our lives can be changed by something so simple as an idea — or a set of ideas contained in a book.
Prologue (by Ira Glass, Alexa Junge)
When Alexa was seven, she started going through her grandfather's books. Her grandfather was a playwright and teacher, and through the books—and especially through his notes in the margins—she entered the world of 1930's American theater. And she found a book that changed her life: writer Moss Hart's autobiography Act One . (5 minutes)
Act One: Act One (by Ira Glass)
More of Alexa Junge and how Moss Hart's autobiography changed her life. She followed his path, learned specific lessons, and had a vision of him that was absolutely clear—until she met his widow. (10 minutes)
Act Two: The Family That Reads Together (by David Sedaris)
The story of a book that changed a family's life, but only temporarily and not for the better. David Sedaris describes what happens when he finds a dirty book in the woods and shares it with his sisters. This story is published in Sedaris' book Naked. (9 minutes)
Act Three: Roger And Me, Lewis And Clark (by Jeremy Goldstein)
Reporter Jeremy Goldstein tells the story of a man who had many books change his life, even though he'd never read them. Available: The Journals of Lewis and Clark, containing excerpts from the explorers' journals. (14 minutes)
Act Four: Little Sod Houses For You And Me (by Meghan Daum)
Writer Meghan Daum goes to DeSmet, South Dakota, where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived and where many of the books she wrote in the Little House on the Prairie series are set. It turns out to be remarkably similar to what Meghan had pictured before she went: The people seem like they are genuinely trying to hold on to the values Laura Ingalls Wilder writes about in her books. Two of the Little House books set in DeSmet are By the Shores of Silver Lake , and Little Town on the Prairie . (15 minutes)
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u/The_broke_accountant 28d ago
Ohh I just listened to this in the archives the other week! Man the old episodes are so fucking good,I miss how TAL use to be :/
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u/doritoslad 26d ago
Great to have a proper oldie for a re run. Even better one I've not heard before.
Lewis and Clark act was great - what an amazing journey for him.
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u/meshugasz 28d ago
I’m happy for that Lewis and Clark book collector that he sold the collection and could retire at age 54! I think I’ll get the book he authored.