Why people recommend it
Welcome Home by Lucia Berlin is a posthumous volume featuring an uncompleted memoir, letters, and sketches that offer a rare window into the nomadic and turbulent life of the celebrated short story writer. On an episode of The Book Review titled Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah on “Friday Black”, Dwight Garner offered a critical assessment of the publication, characterizing the memoir and letters as relatively minor material within her broader body of work. Conversely, during the episode Immaturity in American Politics, host John Williams and guest Naja Spiegelman discussed the book much more favorably while reviewing it alongside her story collection Evening in Paradise. Spiegelman and Williams explored the unique experience of reading the memoir and stories in tandem, noting how the sketches of the places Berlin lived provide valuable context for her artistic vision and life experiences. Through these contrasting evaluations, the podcast contributors provided listeners with a nuanced perspective on Berlin's posthumous output, balancing reservations about minor fragments against the undeniable appeal of gaining deeper insight into a singular literary voice.
Who recommended it
- John Williams Discussed
- Dwight Garner Discussed
- Naja Spiegelman Discussed
John Williams — 2 mentions
“this is John Williams and I'm joined by Naja spiegelman who wrote a lovely review this week in the book review of two books by Lucia Berlin Evening in Paradise more stories and welcome home A Memoir with selected photographs and letters”
“this book of Memoirs welcome home is some letters that she wrote It's also some sketches she wrote about the places she had lived”
Dwight Garner — 1 mention
“and also a non-fiction book called Welcome Home which is an uncompleted Memoir that she wrote and also the book contains some letters and that second book Welcome Home the Memoir and the letters is pretty minor stuff”
Naja Spiegelman — 1 mention
“and when you're reading these two volumes together Evening in Paradise and welcome home from her memoirs”