Episode · The Book Review · 2024-07-18
Books mentioned on From the Archives: Colson Whitehead and Jeffrey Toobin
Gilbert Cruz recommended American heiress by Jeffrey Toobin, and discussed The noble hustle by Colson Whitehead and Beloved by Toni Morrison. Colson Whitehead discussed Roots by Alex Haley, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, and The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Jeffrey Toobin recommended The skies belong to us by Brendan I. Koerner. Wesley Morris discussed White trash by Nancy Isenberg, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Evicted by Matthew Desmond. John Williams recommended Look at me by Anita Brookner, The debut by Anita Brookner, Should you leave? by Peter D. Kramer, and The examined life by Stephen Grosz. Pamela Paul discussed Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda and others and Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. Also mentioned: The Stand by Stephen King, Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me by Javier Marías, and Black Gold by Marguerite Henry.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The noble hustle
The noble hustle by Colson Whitehead is a non-fiction humor book about poker and personal reflection.
Discussed“that was The Noble Hustle Noble Hustle yeah so how did you get from The Noble Hustle to the Underground Railroad”
Where to get it
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Roots
Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley is a monumental historical novel that traces several generations of an African American family from freedom through slavery to emancipation, leaving a profound mark on American culture and historical awareness.
Discussed“I don't think people walk around think about slavery in a deep way all the time in their daily lives obviously exposed to Roots When I was very young and studied it in college”
Where to get it
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Beloved
Beloved by Toni Morrison is a powerful historical fiction novel that tells the harrowing story of Sethe, an escaped enslaved woman haunted by the trauma of her past and the literal ghost of her daughter.
Discussed“It also seems that I mean we're roughly the same age that depictions of slavery obviously there was roots and there was beloved but in the last decade or so have almost reexamined it”
Where to get it
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One Hundred Years of Solitude
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez is a landmark novel that chronicles the multi-generational history of the Buendía family in the fictional town of Macondo and stands as a masterwork of magical realism.
Discussed“and then I just rad and it's mentioned in the review I was very glad to see it 100 Years of Solitude which I read when I was in high school and had a bit impact on me and I read it a few months before I started writing this book”
Where to get it
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The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historical fiction novel that reimagines the antebellum South by turning the secret network of abolitionist routes into a literal subterranean railway system utilized by an enslaved woman named Cora seeking freedom.
Discussed“certainly so describing the different rooms in the museum the soothing blue walls of life on the slave ship evoked the Atlantic sky here Kora stalked a section of the ship's deck around the Mast”
Where to get it
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The Stand
Stephen King's monumental post-apocalyptic epic The Stand details the devastating sweep of a weaponized influenza strain that wipes out the vast majority of humanity, leaving survivors to choose sides in a final conflict between good and evil.
Discussed“I was in between my freshman in sophomore years of college and picked up a Stephen King novel The Stand I had never ever read a book for pleasure boy was I hooked hooked to pleasure reading”
Where to get it
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Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me
Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me by Javier Marías is a complex and haunting novel by the acclaimed Spanish author that investigates themes of memory, death, and unexpected tragedy.
Recommended“in the summer of 2005 I had just gotten back home to Sweden after spending a year in Spain and I had brought a book back with me called tomorrow in the battle think of me by the Spanish author Javier maras then unknown to me I started reading it and it made a huge impression on me”
Where to get it
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Black Gold
Black Gold by Marguerite Henry is a classic children's horse novel based on the true story of the legendary thoroughbred racehorse.
Discussed“margarito Henry's Black Gold still stands out as the story of a thoroughbred racehorse that broke his leg during the Kentucky Derby but black gold won that race on three legs and a heart”
Where to get it
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The skies belong to us
The skies belong to us by Brendan I.
Recommended“and there was this other great book by Brendan Kerner the skies belong to us about can I tell you something I love that book so much that book was so weird and funny and strange and again an example of how insane the 70s were that to me was one of the real revelations in writing this book”
Where to get it
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American heiress
American Heiress by Jeffrey Toobin is a gripping true crime account documenting the dramatic kidnapping, radicalization, and subsequent criminal trial of Patty Hearst.
Recommended“the book again is am ays the wild Saga of the kidnapping crimes and trial of Patty Hurst by Jeffrey tubin”
Where to get it
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White trash
White Trash by Nancy Isenberg is a historical examination of class, poverty, and social stigma in America across four centuries.
Discussed“so I'm reading the the Nancy Eisenberg book White Trash the 400 year Untold History of white people in America”
Where to get it
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Between the World and Me
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates is a powerful, epistolary memoir structured as a letter from a father to his teenage son regarding the realities of growing up Black in America.
Discussed“tas's book came out you know a year ago a couple weeks ago and I think I might have looked at it the week after it came out the the book and then I looked at it in February and it was still on the list”
Where to get it
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Evicted
Evicted by Matthew Desmond is a rigorous sociological study that follows low-income families and their landlords in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shedding light on the devastating systemic cycle of poverty and housing instability in American cities.
Discussed“and I was reading if you read the Matthew Desmond book the most shocking evicted the most shocking thing in that book to me is the desperate certainty”
Where to get it
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Look at me
Look at Me by Anita Brookner is a poignant psychological novel that examines loneliness, self-deception, and the quiet struggles of a perceptive young librarian trying to navigate the demands of London's social and intellectual circles.
Recommended“the non- self-reflective one is called look at me so I get it in somehow in every book I read um I want to talk about appreciation for knowing people who recommend great books because this week I'm recommending two things very highly and I would not have read them if it weren't for friends of mine who recommended them”
Where to get it
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The debut
The Debut is a poignant and sharply observed novel by Anita Brookner that explores the solitary life of an English literature scholar.
Recommended“so I read actually earlier this week her first book which was called published in the US as the debut appropriately enough and she published it when she was in her 50s and that was very good and I would recommend it”
Where to get it
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Should you leave?
Should You Leave? by Peter D.
Recommended“it's called should you leave it's by the psychologist uh Peter Kramer who everyone knows for listening to Prozac and who has a new book out also about anti-depressants the subtitle of this book is a psychiatrist explores intimacy and autonomy and the nature of advice”
Where to get it
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The examined life
The Examined Life by Stephen Grosz is a compelling collection of psychoanalytic case studies written by an American-born psychotherapist practicing in London, exploring how people lose and find themselves through therapy.
Recommended“yeah the examined Life by Steven gross so I'm just I'm gonna just keep following John Williams's”
Where to get it
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Hamilton
Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter is a non-fiction companion book to the hit musical that explores the creation of the show alongside the original biographical work by Ron Chernow.
Discussed“um and I am currently uh for those tracking my ongoing Hamilton uh the Ron turnout biography project I am only at the revolution”
Where to get it
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Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow is a comprehensive historical biography that chronicles the life, political career, and lasting legacy of one of America's founding fathers.
Discussed“for those tracking my ongoing Hamilton uh the Ron turnout biography project”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (15) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Coulson Whitehead talking about the Underground Railroad and Jeffrey tubin talking about American erys his book about Patty Hurst both authors I'd interviewed before in fact that year I interviewed Coulson on three separate occasions about the Underground Railroad”
“Coulson Whitehead talking about the Underground Railroad and Jeffrey tubin talking about American erys his book about Patty Hurst”
“Whitehead is the author of many books including Zone one and Sag Harbor and he's also received a MacArthur genius Grant and many other Awards”
“Whitehead is the author of many books including Zone one and Sag Harbor and he's also received a MacArthur genius Grant and many other Awards”
“I had an idea to reread beloved and the known world and Middle Passage”
“I had an idea to reread beloved and the known world and Middle Passage”
“Jeffrey tubin has written many books about the law and other famous cases including OJ and he's a staff writer for the New Yorker and a senior legal analyst at CNN”
“there's the JD Vance book which I haven't H I haven't gotten it yet but I'll I'll read that at some point to it's really interesting too if you contrast the books that people are reading”
“the ones that are sort of trying to understand the Trump movement I don't even know if conservative is probably not even the right word are this Memoir hillbilly elogy this very serious um uh non-fiction book white trash by Nancy Eisenberg and meanwhile the top four best sellers this week that are sort of the right explaining the left”
“Glenn Beck 's Liars is number two”
“crisis of character um by uh Gary burn and Grant M Schmidt is number three”
“and Dick Morrison and Eileen mcan's Armageddon is number four”
“the uh consolation in a certain way to that is that um Hamilton the revolution is number five”
“and then you have hillbilly elgy but I really feel like and then you know two down you have between the world and me it's like people are really trying to understand what's going on right now”
“it's called should you leave it's by the psychologist uh Peter Kramer who everyone knows for listening to Prozac”