Episode · The Book Review · 2024-07-18
Books mentioned on Our Critics' Year in Reading
Dwight Garner recommended Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton, and discussed Be Mine by Richard Ford, Onlookers by Ann Beattie, I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home by Lorrie Moore, King: A Life by Jonathan Eig, and Biography of a Phantom by Robert Mack McCormick. Alexandra Jacobs recommended People Collide by Isle McElroy and The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland. Gilbert Cruz discussed Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen and Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs by Kerry Howley. Jennifer Szalai discussed The Rigor of Angels by William Egginton and Doppelganger by Naomi Klein.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Be Mine
Discussed“I mean the Richard Ford was the closeout it's the novel was called be mine it's the last novel in his Frank baskam series”
Where to get it
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Onlookers
Discussed“and batty has a new book of stories called onlookers that came out this year and what's interesting about it and it's very good is that it's really a portrait of a town”
Where to get it
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I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home
I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home by Lorrie Moore is a contemporary novel that follows a man on a melancholic road trip with his undead girlfriend.
Discussed“and finally Lori Moore published this really odd book this year called I am homeless if this is not my home and it verges on emo horror”
Where to get it
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People Collide
People Collide is a sophomore fiction novel by Isle McElroy that examines modern relationships through an imaginative and disruptive body-swapping premise involving a married couple.
Recommended“and the one that sticks out in my memory most recently is isle McElroy who did a sophomore fiction called people Collide and it's about a married couple that switch bodies”
Where to get it
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Birnam Wood
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton is a gripping literary thriller set in modern-day New Zealand that follows an undercover eco-activist guerrilla gardening group that clashes with an American tech billionaire over a disputed plot of land.
Recommended“yeah elanar Kens Burnham Wood is in some ways my novel of the year and it's not really my kind of book”
Where to get it
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Best Minds
Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen is a deeply moving work of narrative nonfiction that investigates a tragic childhood friendship, severe mental illness, and the complex failures of institutional and societal support systems.
Discussed“I feel like thematically there are parts of that book that dove somewhat with one of the books on our top 10 books of the year list which is the best Minds by Jonathan Rosen”
Where to get it
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Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs
Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs by Kerry Howley is a riveting investigation into the modern surveillance state, government secrecy, and the extraordinary case of intelligence contractor Reality Winner.
Discussed“but I really want to give you a little bit more Runway to talk about Bottoms Up and the devil laughs by Carrie Howley”
Where to get it
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The Country of the Blind
The Country of the Blind is a compelling book by Andrew Leland that investigates the multifaceted experience of vision loss, weaving together personal memoir, historical context, and philosophical inquiry.
Recommended“one excellent book that I think was a contender for top whatever was the country of the Blind by and Leland”
Where to get it
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King: A Life
King: A Life by Jonathan Eig is a definitive, deeply researched biography of Martin Luther King Jr.
Discussed“there's a new biography of Martin Luther King published by Jonathan IG and who' previously written a biography of M mmed Ali”
Where to get it
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Biography of a Phantom
Discussed“but this book this biography it's called biography of a phantom gives you this thing that he wrote 50 years ago”
Where to get it
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The Rigor of Angels
The Rigor of Angels by William Egginton is an ingenious group biography and philosophical exploration that examines the ultimate nature of reality by weaving together the lives and ideas of Jorge Luis Borges, Werner Heisenberg, and Immanuel Kant.
Discussed“well and I do okay so the book is called the rigor of angels and it's by William eginton and the three main people that he writes about”
Where to get it
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Doppelganger
Doppelganger by Naomi Klein is a piercing work of nonfiction that explores the psychic distortions, political fragmentation, and public confusion of modern life, particularly examining the isolation and paranoia amplified online during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Discussed“so her book was called doppelganger and it starts off sort of As A Memoir of our own experience during the pandemic”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“I actually feel my my year was not intentionally but by coincidentally book bookended by these huge this Prince Harry's spare and then Barbara strien”
“and then Barbara strien my name is Barbara those were the book ends of my year practically”
“read like The Win wrote about the epistolary book 44 cheering Crossroad which I uh have never read”