Why people recommend it
Lawrence Wright’s novel The End of October explores a catastrophic global pandemic and its profound societal consequences. The book was featured and discussed on several episodes of The Book Review podcast. Alexander Alter spoke about the novel on The Book Review in July 2024, noting that the timing of the book felt remarkably and frighteningly pre-sent regarding pandemic events, and she later remarked on the bizarrely prescient nature of its plot points. Dwight Garner also joined the discussion on The Book Review that same month, praising the work and stating that Wright deserved awards for creating such a genuinely intelligent virus-based thriller. Additionally, Gilbert Cruz introduced the novel on the podcast, acknowledging it as a departure from Wright's previous works like The Looming Tower and Going Clear, and prompting the author during an interview about the extensive research required to construct a fictional pandemic narrative. Throughout these conversations, the speakers highlighted how closely the fictional narrative mirrored real-world health crises, drawing considerable attention to Wright's ability to anticipate such sweeping global events through his meticulous storytelling and thorough background research in the medical and scientific fields.
Who recommended it
- Gilbert Cruz Discussed
- Alexander Alter Recommended
- Dwight Garner Recommended
- Alexandra Alter Discussed
Gilbert Cruz — 2 mentions
“God save Texas going clear about Scientology the looming Tower and now a new book called the end of October which is a novel”
“I don't know how you did that Larry but the book is the end of October”
Alexander Alter — 1 mention
“I guess the big lesson of the pandemic is no one can predict the future except perhaps Lawrence Wright yes let's talk a little bit about some of the books coming out next week including wri's book his book and I read it on a net Galley is remarkably preent to a frightening degree and it is about a global”
Dwight Garner — 1 mention
“Lawrence Wright gets some sort of award give him all the prizes for coming up with a really intelligent virus-based Thriller it's called the end of October”
Alexandra Alter — 1 mention
“they of course published his novel which was about a global pandemic and it was called the end of October and really had bizarrely prean and extremely similar plot points”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I reviewed Lawrence WS the end of October”