One of my very favorite new books of the year last year was the novel, Murder.

I first heard about it from my friend Carol, who has very good taste in books.

And she talked about how inventive it was and that she couldn't put it down.

And later she said she really appreciated that it was a novel about an addict who was sober that didn't rely on

a relapse to keep the plot going. There is not a relapse in the book, spoiler, but there is

just about everything else. Friendship, sex, manual gardening work to make ends meet, art and

artist, death and artist, death, and generational family trauma,

and dream sequences with Lisa Simpson. Writer Kavei Akbar included it all, and it felt so exciting

to be in his mind. Kave is a poet, martyr, which is just out in paperback, is his first novel, and it was a finalist for the

National Book Award.

He's the director of English and creative writing at the University of Iowa.

But his path there was crooked and definitely seemed unlikely at times.

During his early 20s, Kave was a practicing addict with drugs and alcohol.

He's been sober for years and years now, and we talk about how that happened for him,

including the people who knew just how to invite him into his first recovery meetings,

when Kave showed up curious and reluctant to be a joiner.

Kave and I also talk about his Iranian father and his American mother, and how as a sober person, he is still very aware of how drawn he is to sensational experiences, things that make him feel exhilarated and

changed and transcendent, and how these days that comes from writing and teaching and making

a home with his spouse.

There's no feeling more narcotic in my life today than having written.

If I write a thousand words in the morning or if I write a draft of a poem,

you know, I can get into a fight with my spouse.

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