Opb's State Of Wonder

The toast of the literary season is Portland’s book festival, Wordstock. This week we bring you the first of several shows we taped: a bang-up time with three exceptional authors, and one song that left us starry-eyed, recorded in front of a packed audience at the Winningstad Theater. Peter Ames Carlin on Paul Simon - 1:00Peter Ames Carlin has written about some of the most iconic musicians of the 20th century: Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson. His new book taps into one of the most complex characters in pop history. Paul Simon soundtracked the 1960s, together with his soul mate, frenemy, and long-time musical partner, Art Garfunkel. But as Carlin’s book, “Homeward Bound” shows, Simon’s path is piled with contradictions. The road to Graceland was strewn with misunderstandings, and the man who gave us some of the sweetest harmonies of the 20th century was not the guy you would want to cross over song royalties.We also invited Portland singer-songwriter Luz Elena Mendoza, the inc