Oregon Public Broadcasting

A trio of adventurers traversing the West, chasing the Gold Rush, and a new start. This time-honored theme gets a new twist in the latest novel by Kurt Andersen, writer, editor, and public radio host.

You might know his show, Studio 360, from our Sunday night schedule.

Just as Studio 360 omnivorously devours film, books, music and more -- Andersen's  packing in a lot for his novel 'Heyday'.

The tale follows its hero from beginnings in Europe to 1840s New York -- across Western Trade routes frequented by people desperate to find gold in the American West. A time before NAFTA but when free trade lived in the form of European-Americans running rampant across the continent.

I spoke with Kurt Andersen recently, and asked what he finds so compelling about the 1840s.

Kurt Andersen, the host of Studio 360, heard Sunday nights at 8.

If you'd like to meet him, he'll be reading from his latest novel, 'Heyday', at Powell's in Portland for a reading this Thursday night.

Kurt Andersen

Powells