For as long as language has existed, humans have questioned their place in the cosmos. Why are we here? Can an individual make a difference? What is the measure of a life well-lived? Is our trajectory preordained or do we chart our own course? Is there any goal more noble than to simply be a good person? The characters in these novels are, by all accounts, as average as any of us. And this is why care about their journeys, their choices, and the joyful and sorrowful ways in which a single life unfolds each day.

Presenters: David James Duncan, Paul Harding, Lydia Millet

Moderator: Kate McCune