Lawrence Weschler, author, Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder

Air Dates: December 18-20, 2021

This week's guest on REPORT FROM SANTA FE is Lawrence Weschler, author of works of creative nonfiction and staff writer at the New Yorker for twenty years where his work shuttled between political tragedies and cultural comedies. Among his award-winning books are "Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder," "Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees," and "Everything that Rises: A Book of Convergences."

In this far-ranging, in-depth interview, Weschler discusses the nature of art and consciousness saying “the most important thing about what art is, is how you perceive yourself perceiving the things that ARE... it's about the long, slow process of learning to SEE...But the greatest art, the greatest wonder of all, is just what is going on when you are looking at something.”

Quote:When someone witnesses something amazing, what matters most is not 'out there' . . . but deep within, at the vital emotional center of witness. -Lawrence Weschler

Weschler also describes his new biographical memoir, "And How Are You, Dr. Sacks?" written about his friend Dr. Oliver Sacks, the extraordinary neurologist famous for writing such books as "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" and "Awakenings."

Weschler is a two-time winner of the George Polk Awards—for Cultural Reporting in 1988 and Magazine Reporting in 1992—and was also a recipient of the Lannan Literary Award (1998). "Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder" was shortlisted for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and "Everything that Rises" received the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism.