Victoria Patterson on Drift (2009)

Tuesday, August 20, at 2 PM on KPFK, another “best of” from the Bibliocracy archives, edited to include a special Fund Drive reminder that Bibliocracy has been delivering terrific author interviews and readings since 2008. Today, my 2009 interview with Victoria Patterson on her debut book, Drift, a defining —- for the author and her hometown, Newport Beach —- short story collection from and about Orange County, California. This is where it started for the writer Victoria Patterson, who with Drift was a finalist for the California Book Award, the 2009 Story Prize, with Drift selected as one of the best books of 2009 by The San Francisco Chronicle. Since then she’s written the novel The Little Brother and a second short story collection titled The Secret Habit of Sorrow. She is also the author of The Peerless Four and the Edith Whartonesque OC classic, This Vacant Paradise. Back then, Drift was ranked among the “10 Quintessential Books about Orange County” by Orange Coast Magazine and ranked #4 for “10 Best Books Set in Orange County” by The OC Register. A master of characterization and an astute social observer, all of Patterson’s writing offers political critique, humor, wit, and empathy and her titles compete with each other, including Drift, for where to start reading, or rereading her work. Perhaps the rebroadcast will invite new readers or encourage further exploration of a mid-career writer who has made such an incredible impact.

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