Episode · The Book Review · 2024-07-18
Books mentioned on Robert Caro on How He Does It
Pamela Paul discussed Working by Robert A. Caro, Master of the Senate by Robert A. Caro, and Hard news by Seth Mnookin. John Williams discussed The Overstory by Richard Powers, Frederick Douglass by David W. Blight, and Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli. Alexandra Alter discussed The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, Be With by Forrest Gander, The new Negro by Jeffrey C. Stewart, and Amity and Prosperity by Eliza Griswold. Greg Cowles discussed Ulysses by James Joyce and Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong. Tina Jordan discussed The Magic of Handwriting. The Pedro Corrêa do Lago Collection by Christine Nelson.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Working
Working by Robert A.
Discussed“but instead you have written this other book working researching interviewing writing why did you decide to do this”
Where to get it
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Master of the Senate
Master of the Senate by Robert A.
Discussed“and you start off Master of the senate for example with a a woman who cannot vote it feels like your your your heart”
Where to get it
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The Overstory
The Overstory by Richard Powers is a sweeping, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that intertwines the lives of several Americans whose fates are connected to trees and environmental activism.
Discussed“there are the literary awards which everyone always looks forward to and in five categories so I'll start with the the fiction category that was won by Richard powers for his novel The over story”
Where to get it
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The Great Believers
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai is a powerful, emotionally devastating novel that chronicles the devastating impact of the AIDS crisis on the arts community in 1980s Chicago alongside a parallel storyline in modern-day Paris.
Discussed“but sometimes piters can get a little political and so I was thinking maybe some of the novels that were nominated like also Rebecca maai is the great Believers which touches on the AIDS epidemic in the 80s was a good Contender too”
Where to get it
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Be With
Discussed“in the Poetry category a poet named Forest Gander won for a collection called be with and it's a sad collection shot through with grief because it concerns among other subjects the death of his wife another acclaimed poet CD Wright who died in 2016 quite suddenly”
Where to get it
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Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass by David W.
Discussed“but the big one I think the history winner this year was one that at least I had heard a lot of people predicting in the days before the prize was announced which was David W blight's big biography of Frederick Douglas yes which is just titled Frederick Douglas subtitled profit of freedom and that got a lot of great”
Where to get it
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The new Negro
Jeffrey C.
Discussed“in biography the winner was the new negro the life of Elaine lock by Jeffrey C Stewart and both of those books that the Frederick Douglas book and this biography of Elaine lock got a ton of critical attention and awards”
Where to get it
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Amity and Prosperity
Amity and Prosperity by Eliza Griswold is a Pulitzer Prize-winning work of investigative journalism that chronicles one Pennsylvania family's struggle against the environmental and social fallout of the fracking boom.
Discussed“General non-fiction Was Won by Eliza Griswald for her book Amity and prosperity one family and the fracturing of America”
Where to get it
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Lost Children Archive
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli is a sweeping, structurally inventive novel that weaves together themes of family road trips, the migration crisis at the southern U.S.
Discussed“I'm reading a book called Lost Children archive which got a lot of attention this year when it was published just a couple months ago I think by Valeria louisi and I had read a couple of Lou's earlier books”
Where to get it
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Ulysses
James Joyce's landmark modernist novel Ulysses chronicles an ordinary day in the life of Leopold Bloom in Dublin, mapping human consciousness and daily existence through a revolutionary stream-of-consciousness technique.
Discussed“well you haven't heard me talking about ulyses for a while and there's I that there is a good reason for that namely shame I've pretty much stalled out in the the long very long night Town section of ulses”
Where to get it
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Goodbye, Vitamin
Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong is a poignant and humorous novel that follows a young woman who returns home to help care for her father, who has been diagnosed with dementia.
Discussed“it it's a book called goodbye vitamin by a woman named Rachel Kong”
Where to get it
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The Magic of Handwriting. The Pedro Corrêa do Lago Collection
The Magic of Handwriting.
Discussed“I'm not reading anything light it's almost not like really reading it's it's sort of like looking I have the magic of handwriting which is the catalog that accompanied a an exhibit at the Morgan Library which is just a few blocks from here which I think Greg you said you saw”
Where to get it
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Hard news
Hard News: 21 Brutal Months at The New York Times and How They Changed American Media by Seth Mnookin is a piercing journalistic account of the intense internal turmoil, journalistic lapses, and high-profile scandals that shook the historic newspaper during a tumultuous period.
Discussed“the book is called hard News 21 brutal months at the New York Times and how they changed the American Media by Seth manukan and I read it”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (11) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“and his new book working to celebrate and honor National poetry month we'll have a special reading by special poet”
“he is also the author of the years of lynon Johnson four volumes of them thus far and the power broker Robert Moses and the fall of New York”
“and the power broker Robert Moses and the fall of New York Bob thanks so much for being here”
“this week Reginald Dwayne Betts whose most recent book was Bastards of the Reagan Era and whose next book felon will be released in October reads May 24th 1980 by Joseph Brodsky”
“this week Reginald Dwayne Betts whose most recent book was Bastards of the Reagan Era and whose next book felon will be released in October reads May 24th 1980 by Joseph Brodsky”
“and the finalists in that category were civilizing torture by W fitzu Brundage and American Eden David hosac botany and Medicine in the garden of The Early Republic by Victoria Johnson”
“and the finalists in that category were civilizing torture by W fitzu Brundage and American Eden David hosac botany and Medicine in the garden of The Early Republic by Victoria Johnson”
“the finalists in The biography category were the road not taken Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam by Max Boot and PR's Duchess By Carolyn Weber who's a frequent contributor to the book review”
“finalist in that category were rising dispatches from the new American Shore by Elizabeth rush and in a day's work by Bernice Young”
“finalist in that category were rising dispatches from the new American Shore by Elizabeth rush and in a day's work by Bernice Young”
“I think one was called faces in the crowd and and there was another slender book and they were fairly short very beautiful very smart full of great imagery but a bit bit oblique and a bit elliptical which I like”