Episode · The Book Review · 2024-07-18
Books mentioned on Books That Make Our Critics Laugh
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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American Psycho
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis is a satirical psychological horror novel that explores the depraved and hyper-materialist life of a wealthy New York City investment banker named Patrick Bateman.
Discussed“I don't want to keep talking about offices but I have to go back to something that Alexandra mentioned which is the book American Psycho”
Where to get it
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Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding is a landmark contemporary comedic novel that popularized the Bridget Jones series and captured the experiences of a single British woman navigating romance and professional life in the 1990s.
Discussed“I know that all our all our readers clocked the extra words there in the middle but I mean there's again there's so many different kinds of funny that the slap stickness of Bridget Jones's Diary where the these absurd situations pile up and the narrator's self-deprecation accumulates to the point where I don't know somebody help me”
Where to get it
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Tales of the City
Discussed“and I I read some things I'd never read before and one of them the tales of the city books by armistad mopin I was just so pleased to read that book which IID always thought I don't know what I had thought I knew it was serialized in a newspaper”
Where to get it
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Heartburn
Heartburn is Nora Ephron's semi-autobiographical novel about a culinary writer navigating the painful dissolution of her marriage amidst humor and betrayal.
Discussed“I found uh rereading heartburn very interesting um because I remembered it in such a pure way and the fact is heartburn should probably run with a couple foot and it you know there's some questionable passages in there”
Where to get it
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Airships
Discussed“I imagine with someone like him also his this is a guy that wrote airships I think maybe most famously Dwight correct me if I'm wrong that's the book that's hard to read now and it's it's an amazing book”
Where to get it
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Lightning Rods
Lightning Rods by Helen Dewitt is a daring, highly satirical novel known for its provocative premise, dark humor, and unconventional narrative structure.
Discussed“it's a book called lightning rods it's by Helen DT who people might know if they know her for a book called The Last Samurai but she also wrote this I don't know how to describe it bizarre novel”
Where to get it
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Then we came to the end
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris is a sharply observed, darkly comic novel that chronicles the final days of a failing Chicago advertising agency through the collective voice of its anxious employees.
Discussed“then we came to the end yes by Joshua Ferris”
Where to get it
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Money
Money by Martin Amis is a satirical 1984 novel that skewers the excesses, crass consumerism, and moral bankruptcy of 1980s celebrity culture through the chaotic perspective of protagonist John Self.
Discussed“and I I think more people thought it was funny when it came out than American Psycho”
Where to get it
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A far cry from Kensington
A Far Cry from Kensington is a 1988 novel by Muriel Spark that explores post-World War II London through the experiences of a spirited boarding house resident and publishing worker.
Discussed“but you put a book by her from 1988 called a far cry from Kensington”
Where to get it
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A Confederacy of Dunces
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole is a classic absurdist comedic novel following the eccentric, lazy, and self-important Ignatius J.
Discussed“it's called A Confederacy of dudes the funniest book of all time never so excoriated for exclusion as I recall”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (4) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Alexandra you brought up heartburn by Norah Efron”
“it's a book called lightning rods it's by Helen DT who people might know if they know her for a book called The Last Samurai”
“what about Kingsley what about lucky gym which you know was published before our cut off our arbitrary cut off”
“Jen I want to ask you about Muriel spark an author that I know uh primarily for the prime of M Brody”