Episode · The Book Review · 2017-10-06
Jennifer Egan on The Book Review: books mentioned (Oct 2017)
Jennifer Egan Talks About 'Manhattan Beach'
Gilbert Cruz discussed Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan and World Without Mind by Franklin Foer. Pamela Paul discussed A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, Move fast and break things by Jonathan Taplin, and One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. Jennifer Egan discussed The Keep by Jennifer Egan, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, and mutiny on the bounty by Charles Nordhoff And James Norman Hall. Alexandra Alter discussed Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Greg Cowles recommended Warning light by David Ricciardi, and discussed One more warbler by Victor Emanuel. John Williams discussed The lost weekend by Charles Jackson and We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Jennifer Szalai discussed My life as a Russian novel by Emmanuel Carrère.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Manhattan Beach
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan is a historical fiction novel set against the backdrop of wartime New York through a noir lens, exploring the experiences of Americans during a time of immense national power.
Discussed“the Pulitzer prizewinning author will be here to talk about her new novel Manhattan Beach”
Where to get it
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World Without Mind
World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech by Franklin Foer is a blend of memoir and critique examining the monopolistic dominance and societal dangers posed by major technology corporations.
Discussed“Franklin fer will join us to talk about his new book world without mind”
Where to get it
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A Visit from the Goon Squad
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel told in a series of fragmentary, interconnected vignettes exploring time, music, ambition, and memory.
Discussed“so for those who have not read goons Squad very briefly describe that novel”
Where to get it
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The Keep
The Keep by Jennifer Egan is a gothic thriller novel that unfolds inside an unusual prison setting and an unreal realm.
Discussed“interviews with live people are just essential and they have been all the way through with my fiction you know for example with the keep which is a lot of it takes place in a prison”
Where to get it
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Treasure Island
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is a classic adventure novel that follows young Jim Hawkins on a dangerous quest for buried pirate treasure.
Discussed“and so you know it there's a kind of stylization of the Noir but also I at a certain point I thought you know I'm writing an old-fashioned adventure story on some level you know I was thinking about BS like Treasure Island Mutiny on the Bounty I mean big Stories full of danger and crime and survival and and”
Where to get it
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mutiny on the bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall is a historical adventure novel recounting the infamous 1789 mutiny against Captain William Bligh aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty.
Discussed“and so you know it there's a kind of stylization of the Noir but also I at a certain point I thought you know I'm writing an old-fashioned adventure story on some level you know I was thinking about BS like Treasure Island Mutiny on the Bounty I mean big Stories full of danger and crime and survival and and”
Where to get it
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Move fast and break things
Move Fast and Break Things by Jonathan Taplin is a critical examination of how major technology companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon cornered modern culture and undermined democratic institutions.
Discussed“do you think that you that Jonathan toppan wrote a book uh that came out earlier this year called move fast and break things in which he characterized these companies”
Where to get it
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Never Let Me Go
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is a haunting dystopian novel that explores the poignant lives of students at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school who slowly discover a dark and tragic truth about their engineered existence.
Discussed“he's very got this very spare elliptical idiosyncratic style where you have this first person narrator like the butler in Remains of the Day or or the girl in uh Never Let Me Go which is a boarding school in England”
Where to get it
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The Remains of the Day
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro is a masterclass in psychological fiction, following an aging English butler named Stevens as he reflects on his career of dedicated service and his unrequited love amid the shifting political landscape of post-World War II Britain.
Discussed“he's very got this very spare elliptical idiosyncratic style where you have this first person narrator like the butler in Remains of the Day or or the girl in uh Never Let Me Go which is a boarding school in England”
Where to get it
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Warning light
Warning Light by David Ricciardi is a contemporary thriller novel centered on high-stakes espionage and international danger.
Recommended“it's a book called warning light the author's name is David richardi that's r i CC I a RDI”
Where to get it
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One more warbler
Discussed“the name of the book is one more warbler a life with birds”
Where to get it
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The lost weekend
The Lost Weekend by Charles Jackson is a classic psychological novel about severe alcoholism that later inspired the acclaimed Billy Wilder film adaptation.
Discussed“the first is just a novel that's been on my shelf for a long time that I've been meaning to read which is Charles Jackson's The Lost weekend which was the inspiration for the Billy Wilder movie which I've never seen and I'm about halfway through the novel which is terrific”
Where to get it
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We Were Eight Years in Power
Discussed“the other thing I'm reading is tanasi coat's new book somewhat new it's a collection of pieces from the Atlantic over the past eight or nine years along with some new introductory Mini essays that he wrote for them called we were eight years in power an American Tragedy”
Where to get it
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One Good Turn
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson is a crime novel featuring the recurring investigator Jackson Brody.
Discussed“began reading um an old Kate Atkinson book this is one of her Jackson Broody novels called one good turn”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (5) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“she is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of a visit from the Goon Squad as well as other novels and is a journalist as well who has written for the New York Times magazine as well as for the book review”
“I was promoting the keep at the book fair but I was researching this book with elderly ladies who were were all too eager to talk to me”
“yeah with some incredible masterpieces in it like Moby Dick and others that is one component of this book for sure”
“Jennifer Egan's latest book is Manhattan Beach”
“one was Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and other writings which is part of a collection”