S3 Ep. 16: Solitude Versus Sociability: David Means and Candace Bushnell on Being Alone and Making Connections

In this episode, acclaimed fiction writer David Means and Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell share their experiences with solitude and sociability in quarantine. Means, author of the recent short story collection Instructions for a Funeral, talks to Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell about how writers use solitude to their advantage. Bushnell discusses the crucial role social life and friendship plays in Sex and the City and in the lives of New Yorkers. She also speaks about her new novel Rules for Being a Girl. To hear the full episode, subscribe to the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. And check out video excerpts from our interviews at LitHub’s Virtual Book Channel and Fiction/Non/Fiction’s YouTube Channel. This podcast is produced by Andrea Tudhope.  Guests: David Means Candace Bushnell Selected readings for the episode: David Means Instructions for a Funeral Assorted Fire Events The Secret Goldfish The Spot Hystopia “Two Ruminations on a Homeless Brother” Candace Bushnell Rules for Being a Girl (co-written with Katie Cotugno) Is There Still Sex in the City? Sex and the City Summer and the City The Carrie Diaries Lipstick Jungle   Others I See the World by Jamaica Kincaid, Paris Review Daily On Isolation and Literature, The Millions William Carlos Williams Katie Cotugno Anna Karenina Edith Wharton Jane Austen Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices