Virtual Memories 599 - Mirana Comstock

Conversation begins at 9:35

This one's all about legacies: familial, literary, cultural & institutional! Mirana Comstock (https://miranacomstock.viewbook.com/p...) joins the show to celebrate the publication of The Algonquin Round Table: 25 Years with the Legends Who Lunch (Excelsior Editions/SUNY Press, https://bookshop.org/a/4669/978143849..., by her grandfather, the late literary lion Konrad Bercovici (http://konradbercovici.com). We get into how Mirana discovered this manuscript, what it meant to edit it & write the intro, what it was like to help bring the Algonquin scene & Konrad's writing to life for a new generation of readers, and the experience of growing up in a multigenerational household of compulsive artists & writers. We talk about why her grandfather's immense literary stature (https://www.konradbercovici.com/liter...) diminished, the nature of charisma and The Aura, the scandal of Chaplin stealing Konrad's script for The Great Dictator (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032553), how the Algonquin habitués were the influencers of their time (only with something to say), how the Algonquin scene was like Vienna café society transposed into New York & American capitalism, Mirana's discoveries as she researched the figures in the book, and why there'll never be another book like this one. We also discuss the New-York Historical Society's acquisition of Konrad's papers (https://chimeraobscura.com/vm/files/N..., her New York and how it's changed, her idea for transforming her family's writing into a meta-stage production, and a lot more. More info at https://chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode... • Support The Virtual Memories Show via   / vmspod   or https://paypal.me/vmspod and via our e-newsletter, https://buttondown.email/vmspod