Episode · The Book Review · 2020-11-20
Books mentioned on Joy Williams and Unique Views of America
Pamela Paul discussed Apollo's Arrow by Nicholas A. Christakis and Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar. Nicholas Christakis discussed Blueprint by Nicholas A. Christakis. Alexandra Alter discussed Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu, The Dead Are Arising by Les Payne and others, Tokyo Ueno station by Yu Miri, DMZ Colony by Don Mee Choi, King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender and others, and Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. Tina Jordan discussed The Element of Lavishness by Sylvia Townsend Warner and others. John Williams recommended So long, see you tomorrow by William Maxwell, and discussed They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Apollo's Arrow
Apollo's Arrow by Nicholas A.
Discussed“his new book is called Apollo's Arrow the profound and enduring impact of Corona virus on the way we live”
Where to get it
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Blueprint
Blueprint by Nicholas A.
Discussed“my prior book was blueprint The evolutionary origins of a good Society and I think that I worked on that for nine years”
Where to get it
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Interior Chinatown
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu is a satirical and inventive novel that uses the format of a screenplay to explore race, media representation, and cultural identity in America through the life of a background actor named Willis Wu.
Discussed“the only controversial thing was that Charles Yu who won for his novel interior of Chinatown he won the fiction award”
Where to get it
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The Dead Are Arising
Discussed“Tamara Payne won for the Malcolm X biography that she researched and wrote with her father Les pay and it's called the dead or arising”
Where to get it
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Tokyo Ueno station
Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri, translated by Morgan Giles, is a poignant novel that explores the ghost of a working-class man haunting a Tokyo park and reflecting on his marginalized life.
Discussed“the other I thought lovely moment was when the translation award was given to umir for her novel Tokyo weno Station”
Where to get it
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DMZ Colony
Discussed“The Poetry award went to dumy for her collection DMZ colony and she gave a lovely speech”
Where to get it
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King and the Dragonflies
Discussed“and the award for young people's literature went to Case and Calendar's king and the dragonflies”
Where to get it
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Shuggie Bain
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart is a deeply moving debut novel set in 1980s post-industrial Glasgow, chronicling a young boy's devoted efforts to save his mother from the grips of severe alcoholism.
Discussed“so the winner this year is Douglas Stewart for his debut novel shooky Bane which I think was probably heavily favored to win”
Where to get it
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The Element of Lavishness
Discussed“well I haven't finished it but I'm about halfway through a book called the element of lavish isness that's the collected letters of Sylvia Townsen Warner and William Maxwell”
Where to get it
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They Came Like Swallows
They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell is an exquisite autobiographical novel that captures the profound ripple effects of the 1918 influenza epidemic on a Midwestern family through the shifting perspectives of its members.
Discussed“I happened to read they came like swallows which is Maxwell's 1937 novel about the 1918 influenza epidemic”
Where to get it
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So long, see you tomorrow
So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell is a celebrated, poignant novella that explores a childhood memory, isolation, and a tragic murder in a small Midwestern town.
Recommended“so long see you tomorrow another short novel of his is one of my favorite books so I would recommend both of those”
Where to get it
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Homeland Elegies
Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar is a critically acclaimed novel that blends fiction and memoir to explore identity, belonging, and the American Muslim experience in the post-9/11 era.
Discussed“he was a guest earlier on the podcast aad Oar whose new novel is Homeland elies”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (9) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Nicholas Christa's new book is called Apollo's Arrow the profound and enduring impact of Corona virus on the way we live”
“the other Booker finalists were Brandon Taylor for his novel real life also a debut”
“Diane Cook's novel the new Wilderness and avne doshi's burnt sugar”
“and avne doshi's burnt sugar”
“and established authors on the list were Maza meste for her novel The Shadow King which is set during Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930s”
“and CTI dangu for this mournable body which centers on an outof work middle-aged woman in herar and is sort of a sequel in a way to her debut novel”
“Longtime podcast listeners will know that I was on about a year ago on this segment about what I was reading talking about a Sylvia Townson Warner novel called the corner that held them which was a novel I'd never read never heard of”
“there's a collection of his letters to yodora Welty called what there is to say we have said”
“and then he has a collection with Franco Connor called the happiness of getting it down right”