Episode · The Book Review · 2020-09-04
Jeffrey Toobin on The Book Review: books mentioned
Jeffrey Toobin on Writing About Trump
Jeffrey Toobin recommended Reaganland by Rick Perlstein and Common Ground by J. Anthony Lukas, and discussed Opening arguments by Jeffrey Toobin, True Crimes and Misdemeanors by Jeffrey Toobin, The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, France the Dark Years, 1940-1944 by Julian Jackson, The Proud Tower by Barbara W. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman, Transaction Man by Nicholas Lemann, The Second Life of Tiger Woods by Michael Bamberger, THE PLAGUE by Albert Camus, and The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson. Pamela Paul discussed The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante, The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante, and Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala. Dana Tacot discussed My Brilliant Friend by Chiara Lagani and others and The Neapolitan Novels : My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante and others. Dwight Garner discussed Odetta by Ian Zack, Odetta's One Grain of Sand by Matthew Frye Jacobson, One Grain of Sand, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer, Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, and My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgård and others. Jennifer Szalai discussed Hitler by Volker Ullrich and Hitler by Ian Kershaw.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Opening arguments
Discussed“I was one of the prosecutors in the Iran contration in the Lawrence Walsh investigation wrote my first book opening arguments about that”
Where to get it
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True Crimes and Misdemeanors
True Crimes and Misdemeanors by Jeffrey Toobin is a compelling non-fiction book detailing the legal investigations surrounding Donald Trump.
Discussed“and it was unlike true crimes and misdemeanors it was the most Pleasant and fun reporting and writing experience I've ever had”
Where to get it
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Reaganland
Reaganland by Rick Perlstein is a sweeping historical work that chronicles the rise of Ronald Reagan and the conservative movement in America during the turbulent 1970s.
Recommended“well I'm reading now Rick perlin's Reagan land which is so much fun and so great”
Where to get it
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The Killer Angels
Discussed“so the book I read before that was the killer angels by Michael Shara”
Where to get it
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France the Dark Years, 1940-1944
Discussed“I read a book called France the dark years by a professor named Jackson”
Where to get it
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The Proud Tower
The Proud Tower is a brilliant historical work by Barbara W.
Discussed“the proud Tower by Barbara tuckman”
Where to get it
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A Distant Mirror
A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman is a historical narrative that examines the calamitous 14th century in Europe, focusing heavily on the devastation of the Black Death and the Hundred Years' War.
Discussed“it's so funny because the Barbara tuckman that everyone's been talking about most recently has been the distant mirror because of the pandemic”
Where to get it
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The Second Life of Tiger Woods
The Second Life of Tiger Woods by Michael Bamberger is a deeply reported biography exploring the highs, lows, and dramatic athletic comeback of the legendary golfer.
Discussed“the second life of Tiger Woods by Michael bamberger”
Where to get it
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THE PLAGUE
The Plague by Albert Camus is a classic existentialist novel that uses the allegorical setting of a city struck by a deadly epidemic to explore profound themes of human suffering, absurdism, collective responsibility, and resilience.
Discussed“I read the plague by cimu because a group of us you know for obvious reasons were reading that”
Where to get it
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The Splendid and the Vile
The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson is a gripping historical non-fiction account of Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz.
Discussed“I read The Splendid in the vial which is a huge bestseller”
Where to get it
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Common Ground
Common Ground by J.
Recommended“perhaps my favorite book in the whole world which is Common Ground by J Anthony Lucas which is a book about the Boston busing crisis”
Where to get it
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The Lying Life of Adults
Discussed“she is the co-editor of the literary magazine in n+1 and she wrote a cover review for us this week of Elena fante's latest novel The Lying life of adults”
Where to get it
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The Days of Abandonment
The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante is a searing and intense novel that follows a woman's psychological unraveling after her husband abruptly leaves her and their two children.
Discussed“the book I read was an early novel days of Abandonment”
Where to get it
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My Brilliant Friend
My Brilliant Friend by Chiara Lagani, Elena Ferrante, and Mara Cerri is the acclaimed opening volume of the Neapolitan quartet tracking the lifelong friendship of two women in Italy.
Discussed“so those novels are my brilliant friend the story of a new name then those who leave and those who stay and the story of A Lost Child”
Where to get it
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The Neapolitan Novels : My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child
The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante form a gripping literary tetralogy comprising My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child, tracing the lifelong friendship of two women in Naples.
Discussed“so those novels are my brilliant friend the story of a new name then those who leave and those who stay and the story of A Lost Child”
Where to get it
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Wave
Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala is a harrowing and deeply moving memoir documenting the author's survival of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which tragically claimed the lives of her entire family, including her husband, two children, and parents.
Discussed“but so Tali daga's Memoir wave I don't know if you if you read that book and that book was a memoir really heart-wrenching”
Where to get it
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Odetta's One Grain of Sand
Discussed“and the other book is called one grain of sand it's a smaller book by Matthew fry Jacobson”
Where to get it
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One Grain of Sand
Discussed“the album that Matthew fry Jacobson talks about and his book called one grain of sand the album is also called one grain of sand”
Where to get it
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Hitler
Hitler by Volker Ullrich is a comprehensive, two-volume biographical exploration written by a German journalist and historian that chronicles the life and rise to power of the Nazi dictator.
Discussed“yes so vulker rrich is a German journalist and historian and he's written now his second and final volume of a mammoth biography of Hitler”
Where to get it
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Hitler
Ian Kershaw's massive, definitive two-volume biography of Adolf Hitler provides an exhaustive historical examination of the dictator's life, rise to power, and the regime he forged.
Discussed“you know probably a number of people have familiarize themselves with Ian Kershaw's big biography that came out a couple of decades ago”
Where to get it
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The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L.
Discussed“I mean William El shire's book you know the the but what was the title that”
Where to get it
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Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf is Adolf Hitler's notorious autobiographical manifesto detailing his political ideology and antisemitic worldview.
Discussed“and then you know you read these books over and over again and for example the the last volume of canard's my struggle series was essentially a retelling of of mine comp”
Where to get it
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My Struggle
My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgård, translated by Don Bartlett, is a massive, multi-volume autobiographical novel that chronicles the intimate and mundane details of the author's daily life.
Discussed“and then you know you read these books over and over again and for example the the last volume of canard's my struggle series was essentially a retelling of of mine comp”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (10) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Jeffrey tubin will join us to talk about his latest book true crimes and misdemeanors”
“Dana tto will be here to discuss fante's work and her latest novel The Lying life of adults plus our critics will join us for the latest in literary criticism”
“that series of books sort of became this huge phenomenon around the same time that Canal Scar's multivolume my struggle series also became very popular”
“obviously the perfect person to review this latest novel The Lying life of adults for us”
“hubris”
“and the second one was called Nemesis and Nemesis actually began a few years before where rrich picks up”
“I asked him what the most frequently stolen book were from the library and he said it was Kershaw's Hitler biography”
“Dwight I reviewed Odetta by Ian Zach a biography and also one grain of sand by Matthew fry Jacobson”
“Dwight I reviewed Odetta by Ian Zach a biography and also one grain of sand by Matthew fry Jacobson”
“and I reviewed Hitler downfall 1939 to 1945 by vulker olrick which is the second and Final volume of his enormous Hitler biography”