Joan's picks: Southern Man and The Life of Dai

Southern Man by Greg Iles: Greg Iles writes wonderful fiction set in Natchez, Mississippi -  and this takes place 15 years after the last book, Natchez Burning. There are malevolent forces at work - a tinderbox of racial tension dividing Natchez and a third party US Presidential candidate with no good ambition on the national stage. Penn Cage - lawyer, former mayor and mainstay of these stories - is desperate to stop the chaos in both his city and his country, as America teeters on the edge of full scale implosion. 

The Life of Dai by Dai Henwood: the beloved New Zealand comedian has made thousands of New Zealanders laugh and often helped them forget their pain – but now, battling incurable cancer he shows us that laughter truly can be the best medicine and that life holds a lot of joy, if we only know where to look for it. This is his memoir of a terrific career, a life well lived, and finding peace and quiet in the small moments. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Time to talk books now, and I'm joined by Joan McKenzie.
Good morning.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
Hello.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Southern Man by Greg Isles. Now, this is a follow up.

Speaker 3 (00:23):
Yes, yes, yes, I am one of Greg Eyles's biggest fans.
The guy is amazing.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
What do you love about him?

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (00:30):
He writes these big, epic, huge books which are all
set around the town of Natchez in Mississippi, which is
actually where he lives, so he knows it intimately. And
I often as I read his books, I think, I
wonder what it's like living there and reading about your community,
because of course, being Mississippi, it's been so divided done
racial lines, and he uses that through his books, that

(00:50):
history and writes these extraordinary stories. So his lead guy
is a chap called pen Cage, who is a big
citizen of Natchez. He used to be the mayor. He's
a lawyer, he's a dad, he's an all round good
guy who tries to make sure that the right things
happen in his town. And in this book Southern Man,
as you said, it takes place fifteen years after the

(01:14):
last book that he wrote about that area, and now
things are really breaking down. They're still trying to come
to terms with the history that they have. There's really
malevolent forces at work. There's a guy who wants to
stand as an independent for the US presidency and he
is not a good guy and absolutely should not win
the presidency, but he's on a mission to make sure

(01:36):
that he does. And pen Cage finds out that there's
corruption going on at the highest levels and the place
is just a tinderbox waiting to explode. Now this book
runs to around about one thousand pages, and I could
not put it down, just like with all of his I.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Was going to say, your arms will get tied. You
need to put it down. That's incredible.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
He is amazing.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
So you get bang for your buck with this one.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yes you sure do, Okay? Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
The Life of die by die Henwood.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Yes, well this is somewhat more sobering. Die hen Would,
of course, is the beloved New Zealand comedian. He's had
an amazing career here in New Zealand and I'm sure
that everybody listening has seen him or heard him at
some stage over the years. And he was recently diagnosed
with stage four cancer, so he knows that he's on

(02:25):
the way out, but he is an incurable optimist. And
reading this book, you know he writes about his life
and his career. It's not all the misery memoir, so
you get a really good understanding of who he is
and how he gets to this point. Early in the book,
he was in Japan where he discovered a real affection
for Buddhism and mindfulness and meditation, which he's carried with

(02:49):
him throughout the rest of his life. And every day
he practices meditation, and he says that he's a natural
optimist and he always expects that things will work out.
And as you read this story of someone who was
going through awful treatments and facing their own mortality, to
see the incredibly positive spin that he can still put

(03:10):
on his life and actually on all of our lives
and persuade us to find the good things that will
keep us up, which is what he does. It's remarkable.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
He's very much living with his incurable disease with huge
amount of dignity, isn't he.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
Yes, he certainly is. And he has this mantra that
he says, which is it yes, Grace. He says, optimism
won't cull me, but pessimism will kill me, and that's
an amazing mantra to have. He's really glass half full,
and it's an inspirational read for someone who, as I said,
is clearly facing their own mortality to be so incredibly optimistic.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Thank you so much, Joe. In The first book we
spoke about was Southern Man by Greg Isles and the
Life of Die by Die Henwood. Will catch up next week.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
See you then.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio