Jasper Fforde is a British novelist unlike any you have ever read. He is a literary experimentalist of the first order who has carved out a special niche for himself within the literary world. His first novel The Eyre Affair was published in 2001 and followed by a series called Thursday Next about a literary detective of that name. He is unfailingly inventive, and clever, and fun to interview. But then what would you expect from a young man who owns and flies his own DH 82 Tiger Moth airplane. On the Frumkes Show Jasper discusses his life and the publication of his latest book Shades of Gray.

Nelson George chats with me about “CITY KID,” his new book about what it was like growing up black and nerdy in Brooklyn, Nelson who is a talented writer, musician, entrepreneur, etc. eventually moved to Fort Greene where he saw it grow from a relatively seedy area into one of the hot new communities for artists and writers. He regales me with fascinating stories about some of his celebrity friends who also grew up in the hood; Chris Rock, Spike Lee, and others.

Steven Pinker is one of the world’s greatest cognitive scientists and thinkers straight from Harvard and MIT. Pinker graced the cover of the New York Times Magazine recently talking about his own genome which he had allowed to be decoded. Pinker is not only bright and nice, he is genuinely bold intellectually and he is really interesting. Hear us banter.

Keith Gessen is one of those extraordinary new talents exploding on the literary scene.

Peter, who is executive editor of The New Republic, and author of U.S. Versus Them; How a Half Century of Conservatism has Undermined America’s Security, is one of the more informed and articulate voices out there. . . well worth listening to. He is also a keynote speaker at the Writer’s Conference 2009 this coming June.

I interview the South African wunderkind Ceridwyn Dovey who is only 27, but brilliant and gorgeous. Her novel BLOOD KIN, received glowing reviews and notices. She is clearly someone you should know about.