I met novelist Joseph Skibell a few years ago as he was organizing an Ellmann Lecture Series at Emory featuring Paul Simon. Together we produced about 15 short videos (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDSBylqXf9oHCDRRXjU3AnUPONaCSvurx) involving faculty, staff and students talking about their favorite Paul Simon songs. It was a bonding experience. In addition to being a fine novelist, Joseph is also a fine guitarist himself and enjoys the film editing process as much as I do. So I grew to appreciate Simon more and began reading Joseph's novels -- and was blown away, particularly by "A Blessing on the Moon."
So now Joseph has a new book -- a collection of short, personal essays -- that are as illuminating as they are laugh-out-loud funny. And it was a simple matter to gather a few insightful readers from the metro Atlanta area to sit down and talk about the book, and later sit down with Joseph to stitch everything together, as well as record him playing the guitar for our little music track.