Episode · The Book Review · 2024-07-18
Books mentioned on Real-Life Political Violence Fuels Fiction in ‘The Abstainer’
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The North water
The North Water by Ian McGuire is a gripping historical novel that follows a disgraced army surgeon aboard a brutal whaling ship bound for the Arctic.
Recommended“all right listeners start with black start with the abstainer the soot the the dark shadowy Manchester novel then go to the northwater for the white novel”
Where to get it
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The Secret Agent
Discussed“actually because he wrote his novel The Secret Agent was was a novel that I read early on when I was thinking about whether this would work”
Where to get it
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Blood Meridian
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy is a harrowing, violent epic novel depicting the brutal realities of the American West through the journey of a runaway teenager known as the kid.
Discussed“and I thought about MacArthur's Blood Meridian his Great Masterpiece and I went back and and read that and that became tremendously helpful”
Where to get it
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Dear Child
Dear Child by Romy Hausmann is a gripping psychological thriller that explores the dark aftermath of captivity and family trauma.
Book club“one of the great things you do with this column each month is suggest questions for discussion whether it's at a formal book club session or in a in a group text with your friends leave us with one of the questions that you had with this book dear Child by Romy Housman”
Where to get it
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Room
Why people recommend it: Emma Donoghue's chilling novel portrays a mother and son surviving years of captivity in a single small room, offering a suspenseful and claustrophobic look at trauma and resilience.
Discussed“all right so there are echoes of room here of course when I first read the description of the book I thought wow this is room all over again but it's really not it it really takes a turn that is completely different from room”
Where to get it
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Miracle Creek
Discussed“another comparison you make in your column this month is to Angie Kim's Miracle Creek and I want to just digress a little bit and talk about that book because that I think came out last year or the year before and got a lot of attention”
Where to get it
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Lessons in Chemistry
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is a witty debut novel set in the early 1960s that follows Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant chemist whose career is sidelined by pervasive workplace sexism, leading her to unexpectedly become the beloved host of a revolutionary cooking show.
Discussed“so this book is a debut novel by Bonnie garas and it's called lessons in chemistry and it's a novel set in the early 1960s and it's about a woman who wants to be a scientist but she encounters sexism and ends up being the host of a TV cooking show instead”
Where to get it
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Pig Earth
Discussed“I'm reading a novel called Pig Earth by John burger burger is best known as a British art critic he wrote a book called ways of seeing that is still used in College art history classes”
Where to get it
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Wild seed
Wild Seed by Octavia E.
Recommended“when you first said Pig Earth I think I was like oh wow I've never read this I have no no idea how we're going to transition from what you're reading to what I'm reading but um the themes sound really resonant I'm reading that's my first Octavia Butler book it's called wild seed and it's in a tetrology”
Where to get it
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Real life
Real Life is a critically acclaimed debut novel by Brandon Taylor that follows a young Black graduate student named Wallace as he navigates isolation, scientific research, and complex interpersonal dynamics within a predominantly white Midwestern university town.
Discussed“so the one I read first was real life which is a novel by Brendan Taylor it's a debut novel I think it's a largely autobiographical novel”
Where to get it
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The Elephant in the Room
The Elephant in the Room by Tommy Tomlinson is a candid memoir chronicling one man's quest to lose weight in a culture shaped by excess.
Discussed“the second book is the elephant in the room one fat man's Quest get smaller in a growing America by Tommy Tomlinson”
Where to get it
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Heavy
Heavy by Kiese Laymon is a powerful coming-of-age memoir that confronts generational trauma, systemic racism, weight, and the complexities of growing up Black in the American South.
Discussed“in the beginning your description really reminded me of heavy the K Layman yes the K Layman book”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (6) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“who are the Manchester Martyrs and how do they figure into Ian McGuire's new book the author of The award-winning novel The northwater will be here to talk about his latest novel The abstainer”
“what makes a great Thriller with enough meat on its bones to discuss in a book club Elizabeth Egan will be here to talk about Romy houseman's dear child”
“Paul Ian McGuire joins us now he is the author previously of the north water which was one of our best books of 2016”
“she was publisher at Crown which is a penguin Random House imprint probably best known for publishing one of the most successful Memoirs in recent memory which is Michelle Obama's becoming she was handpicked to be Michelle Obama's editor and that was the bestselling book of 2018”
“I'm reading a novel called Pig Earth by John burger burger is best known as a British art critic he wrote a book called ways of seeing that is still used in College art history classes”
“he of course won the Pitzer for his most recent book The overstory so I'll be very curious to see what he does next”