About this episode

The episode discusses Dave Eggers' long journey in writing his novel Contrapposto and features Maria Takolander's insights on her novel The End of Romance.

Why American author Dave Eggers' new novel Contrapposto has taken over 20 years to write. Plus Australian writer Maria Takolander explains the link between Elon Musk, her son and her novel The End of Romance. Firstly, Dave Eggers is the celebrated author of the memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and his many novels, including The Circle and You Shall Know Our Velocity! There are also children's books and he's the founder of the publishing house and literary journal McSweeney's. But did you know that he's also an artist? His novel Contrapposto is about two friends in the American Midwest with big artistic dreams and what it takes to realise their ambitions. The book includes a number of nude illustrations and Eggers tells Claire Nichols why he wants to maintain the mystery about who created them. Then, Australian poet Maria Takolander explains how Elon Musk's plans for the Moon and Mars fuelled her debut novel The End of Romance. It's a haunting dystopian novel set in a future world, where a mother and son struggle to survive in an abandoned house amid societal collapse.

People in this episode

Host: Claire Nichols

Guests: Dave Eggers, Maria Takolander

Topics covered

• literature
• friendship
• dystopian fiction
• art
• writing process

Keywords

• Dave Eggers
• Contrapposto
• Maria Takolander
• The End of Romance
• dystopian novel
• artistic dreams
• Elon Musk

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: McSweeney's

Books & works: Contrapposto, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, The Circle, You Shall Know Our Velocity!, The End of Romance

Places: American Midwest

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