Broadcasting Time: 2006-06-15





American writer Roy Kesey's new book is 116 pages, weighs about the same as a pack of cards, and fits conveniently in your back pocket. But I wouldn't call this book little. Published last month by Bullfight, "Nothing in the World" is the story of Josko Banovic, a young Croat boy turned soldier trying to survive in the midst of war against Serbia. In the early 1990's, Kesey had travelled through Croatia and the book is based on much of what he saw during his time there. "Nothing in the World" is a slight departure for Kesey, who's mostly written short stories and non-fiction pieces for literary magazines. After living in Peru for a few years with his family, Kesey is now based here in Beijing. So I caught up with Kesey, after a recent book tour in the US, to talk about how his travels have influenced his work and why he still prefers writing short stories.

To purchase his book, you can go to www.nothingintheworld.com, amazon.com and powells.com, or you can wait until later this month to get a copy from the Beijing Bookworm. Kesey will be doing a group reading on June 22nd at the Bookworm cafe along with authors with the Opium Magazine World Tour and a solo reading later in July.