Episode · The Book Review · 2024-07-18
Books mentioned on A.O. Scott on the Work of Wallace Stegner
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Mormon country
Discussed“he wrote a really fascinating book in the' 40s called Mormon country about Utah and the settlement of Utah and the conflicts between Mormon and non-mormon populations and and Native Americans there”
Where to get it
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Angle of repose
Angle of repose by Wallace Stegner is a sweeping historical fiction novel that follows a retired historian confined to a wheelchair who researches his grandparents' lives on the American frontier.
Discussed“but perhaps he gets that reputation most of all from angle of repose tell us about that book”
Where to get it
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Crossing to Safety
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner is a critically acclaimed novel that explores the enduring, decades-long friendship between two couples navigating the complexities of marriage, academic life, and personal ambition.
Discussed“When I talked about stagner Crossing to safety on the podcast a few weeks ago I got a lot of letters from listeners you know enthusing about stegnar”
Where to get it
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The Big Rock Candy Mountain
The Big Rock Candy Mountain is a sprawling, semi-autobiographical novel by Wallace Stegner that chronicles an itinerant American family's struggles and wanderings across the West through decades of marriage and changing economic times.
Recommended“well I think there are a few I mean I I would say my absolute favorite and you know candidate for for my top whatever alltime books is probably Big Rock Candy Mountain which is more sprawling and in some ways maybe less disciplined book because he was younger when when he wrote it”
Where to get it
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A shooting star
A Shooting Star by Wallace Stegner is a mid-century novel that explores the restless life of Sabrina Castro, a wealthy California woman grappling with marital disillusionment and a search for personal meaning.
Recommended“she said TR stegner's remembering laughter his first book recapitulation and a shooting star all are great”
Where to get it
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Recapitulation
Recapitulation by Wallace Stegner is a deeply resonant novel that serves as a sequel to Big Rock Candy Mountain, following the younger son of the central couple as he returns to Salt Lake City later in life.
Discussed“and recapitulation which you just mentioned is the sequel to it many years later the younger son of boow and Elsa Mason the main couple in Big Rock Candy Mountain comes back to Salt Lake City”
Where to get it
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Remembering laughter
Remembering Laughter by Wallace Stegner is a poignant early novella that examines the devastating ripple effects of an illicit romance within a rigid farming community in Iowa.
Recommended“she said TR stegner's remembering laughter his first book recapitulation and a shooting star all are great”
Where to get it
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All the little live things
Discussed“the other book that I think is really interesting which is kind of a mixed bag but an interesting window into stegner's sensibility is a book he wrote from the 60s called All the Little Live things and it's a kind of grumpy old man book about the 60s and hippies and kids”
Where to get it
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Free to Be You
Discussed“the founders of these programs and and will Loop in free to be you and me which was a book and a a program into that”
Where to get it
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Shatter Me
Discussed“the founders of these programs and and will Loop in free to be you and me which was a book and a a program into that”
Where to get it
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Entangled Life
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake is an immersive and eye-opening exploration of the hidden kingdom of fungi, detailing how these organisms shape ecosystems, alter human consciousness, and influence the future of the planet.
Discussed“I mean if anything you so the book is called entangled life and the subtitle is how fungi make our worlds change our minds and shape our futures and the author is Merlin sheld Drake”
Where to get it
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How to Change Your Mind
How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan is a compelling exploration of the history and science of psychedelics, investigating substances like LSD and psilocybin.
Discussed“the other book that I thought of and there are shades of this in in his subtitle was how to change your mind by Michael pollen which came out a few years ago”
Where to get it
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The Vanishing Half
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett is a compelling contemporary novel that examines family, racial identity, and the choices that shape our lives through the lives of twin sisters who choose to live in very different worlds.
Discussed“I reviewed Britt Bennett's second novel The Vanishing half which is about two sisters who grew up in a small town in Louisiana that is established for light-skinned black people”
Where to get it
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The Mothers
The Mothers is a compelling debut novel by Brit Bennett that explores friendship, community, and difficult choices within a contemporary Black church congregation in Southern California.
Discussed“how did this compare with the mother's her first novel”
Where to get it
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How to Be an Antiracist
How to Be an Antiracist is a prominent non-fiction book by Ibram X.
Discussed“I mean there's how to be an anti-racist came out last year wasn't on the bestseller list at all two weeks ago and is now number five in hard cover non-fiction so that's a ibram kendi book”
Where to get it
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Me and White Supremacy
Discussed“me and white supremacy was also not on the hard cover nonfiction list and is on there this week which helps readers understand their participation in white supremacy”
Where to get it
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So you want to talk about race
Discussed“so you want to talk about race is also one that's on the combined list which has sections for white people who want to understand the way race functions in America”
Where to get it
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The New Jim Crow
The New Jim Crow is a landmark 2010 book by Michelle Alexander that exposes how the American war on drugs and mass incarceration system function as a modern caste system, legalizing systemic discrimination against Black people.
Discussed“the new Jem Crow is now on the ebook print combined list and that came out in 2010 that's from Michelle Alexander”
Where to get it
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White Fragility
White Fragility by Dr.
Discussed“white fragility by Robin D'Angelo debut at number one”
Where to get it
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Just Mercy
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is a powerful memoir detailing the author's experiences founding the Equal Justice Initiative and fighting for marginalized defendants on death row.
Discussed“Jess Mercy which is Memoir by Brian Stevenson who a who founded the Equal justice initiative that's number six”
Where to get it
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The Color of Law
Richard Rothstein's The Color of Law is a comprehensive historical investigation into how federal, state, and local government policies systematically segregated American cities through deliberate laws rather than private choices.
Discussed“and the color of law which is about how segregation and American cities were the result of deliberate laws rather than people making individual personal choices and that's by Richard Rothstein”
Where to get it
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The Great Influenza
The Great Influenza by John M.
Discussed“yeah i mean the the great influenza is still on the list it's number two on the paperback non-fiction list”
Where to get it
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Where the Crawdads Sing
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is a bestselling coming-of-age mystery novel set in the marshlands of North Carolina that follows the isolated life of a young girl.
Discussed“you know there's where the croad sings dilia Owens um is number one”
Where to get it
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Little Fires Everywhere
Little Fires Everywhere is a contemporary novel that explores the intertwined fates of families in an idyllic Ohio suburb, touching on themes of race, class, and motherhood.
Discussed“and hard cover fiction little fires Everywhere by Celeste in is number one on the trade paperback list”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“that you know going back to Cod the mark kolansky book you know the fish that Chang the world that sort of are these deep dives into this one creature”