Episode · Pod Save America · 2018-12-24
Books mentioned on Christmas Mailbag! | Pod Save America
Tommy Vietor recommended The Last Campaign by Thurston Clarke, Becoming by Michelle Obama, and Less by Andrew Sean Greer. Dan Pfeiffer recommended The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner, There There by Tommy Orange, The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin, and The Witch Elm by Tana French. Also mentioned: The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Last Campaign
The Last Campaign by Thurston Clarke is a historical non-fiction book that chronicles the final, poignant months of Robert F.
Recommended“and as you know I don't really read but I read the last campaign by thirst and Clark about Bobby Kennedy's campaign in 68 is fantastic”
Where to get it
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Becoming
Becoming is a widely discussed memoir by Michelle Obama that details her life, public journey, and transition through various stages, including her time as First Lady of the United States.
Recommended“Michelle Obama's book becoming excellent just read that”
Where to get it
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Less
Less by Andrew Sean Greer is a comedic novel that follows a failed novelist nearing fifty who accepts a series of haphazard international literary events to escape a wedding.
Recommended“and the novel less I think at one that Pulitzer Prize last year is very well worth a read”
Where to get it
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The Mars Room
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner is a gritty, critically acclaimed contemporary novel that explores the bleak realities of the American women's prison system through the eyes of an inmate named Romy Hall.
Recommended“so the three best books I read this year maybe like best is not the rubber three most favorite books ever and this year were the Mars room by Rachel Kushner”
Where to get it
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There There
There There by Tommy Orange is a powerful polyphonic novel that follows a diverse group of Native American characters living in modern-day Oakland, California.
Recommended“they're there by tommy orange”
Where to get it
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The Immortalists
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin is a contemporary novel that follows four siblings in 1969 New York City who visit a psychic rumored to know the exact date of each person's death, shaping the rest of their lives in profound and unexpected ways.
Recommended“and the immortal list by Chloe Benjamin”
Where to get it
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The Arrest
The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem is a dystopian novel that follows a former television writer struggling to survive in a post-collapse rural Maine community after a mysterious technological catastrophe cripples modern civilization.
Recommended“and then one other book is the funeral detective by Jonathan Lethem who was probably my favorite author of the last decade or so”
Where to get it
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The Witch Elm
The Witch Elm by Tana French is a suspenseful psychological mystery novel exploring memory, trauma, and family dynamics following a young man who returns to his ancestral home.
Recommended“and then one other book is the funeral detective by Jonathan Lethem who was probably my favorite author of the last decade or so”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“but when I was a kid like young kid we would all wait my family always get together and we would read the night before Christmas on Christmas Eve which was the day you're reading listen his podcast and also my birthday”
“and then now with Emily's family we have a tradition that they've had for a long time which is they play an audio version of the Christmas Carol Dickens the Christmas Carol and everyone sits around and has like hot chocolate or whatever and no one everyone has to put their phones away”