NPR: E.L. Doctorow on Sherman and ‘The March’ [Real Player] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4964601 2006 PEN/Faulkner Winners http://penfaulkner.org/winners.htm Wired for Books: Audio Interview with E.L. Doctorow [Real Player] http://wiredforbooks.org/eldoctorow/ A Cloud of Dust: John Updike Reviews “The March” http://www.newyorker.com/critics/content/articles/050912crbo_books General Sherman’s Memoirs http://www.sonofthesouth.net/union-generals/sherman/memoirs/general-sherman-memoirs.htm Sherman House Museum http://www.shermanhouse.org/ Over thirty years ago, E.L. Doctorow wrote a multi-layered narrative about America’s Gilded Age that incorporated the likes of Harry Houdini, Emma Goldman, Stanford White, and Scott Joplin. The book was called “Ragtime”, and established Doctorow as an author of note within the minds of the American public. Since then, he has written a number of books, including “Billy Bathgate”, which was awarded the PEN/Faulkner award in 1990. This week, the author was presented with the award a second time for his novel, “The March”. The novel is set during Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s well-known “scorched-earth” campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas. The book has been quite favorably reviewed since its publication last year, and John Updike (writing in The New Yorker) remarked that the work “…offers an illumination, fitful and flickering, of a historic upheaval that only fiction could provide”. Responding to the announcement of his award, Doctorow kept his comments to one newspaper brief, noting simply that he was “very gratified”. The first link will take visitors to an article by Bob Thompson from this Tuesday’s Washington Post, which offers some additional details about Doctorow’s recent award. The second link will take visitors to a very nice audio feature from National Public Radio that was originally broadcast in October 2005. The segment, conducted by Robert Siegel, includes a selection from the novel read by Doctorow, along with a printed excerpt from the novel’s first chapter. The third link leads to the official announcement of this year’s PEN/Faulkner award, along with information about all of the finalists. The fourth link leads to a 44-minute interview with Doctorow, conducted by Don Swaim in 1986 for the series, “Wired for Books”. The fifth link leads to a thoughtful and delightful review of “The March”, offered by John Updike in the pages of the September 12, 2005 issue of The New Yorker. The sixth link leads to an online version of Sherman’s extensive memoirs, where he recounts his vast military experiences and expeditions. The final link will take visitors to the website of the historic Sherman family home in Lancaster, Ohio.