Why people recommend it
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan is a contemporary novel by the acclaimed British author that generated substantial literary discussion upon its release. The book was featured prominently on The Book Review podcast in December 2025. During the episode What Did 2025 Mean for Books?, MJ Franklin recommended the novel by announcing it as the upcoming selection for the podcast's book club, inviting listeners to join the reading group for the following week. Earlier in the month, on the December 12, 2025 episode titled Our Book Critics on Their 2025 in Reading, host Gilbert Cruz brought up the novel during a conversation with Dwight Garner, highlighting Garner's review of the book as one of the standout literary evaluations from the fall season. Cruz expressed his admiration for the review and the novel itself, emphasizing its prominent place in the literary landscape of late 2025. Through these podcast segments, the novel received enthusiastic promotion both as a critical highlight of the publishing year and as a community-focused reading selection for engaged book lovers tuning into the show.
Who recommended it
- MJ Franklin Discussed
- Gilbert Cruz Discussed
MJ Franklin — 1 mention
“We will be back next week with our book club. We're reading [music] What We Can Know by Ian Mchuan. We hope you'll join us.”
Gilbert Cruz — 1 mention
“One of the ones that stood out to me this fall was your your review of the new Ian Mchuan book, which is a novel called What We Can Know.”