Episode · The Book Review · 2018-01-12
Books mentioned on Some Assembly Required
Gilbert Cruz discussed The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam by Max Boot. Alexandra Alter discussed Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff. Pamela Paul discussed Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward and The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn, and read Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward for a book club. Greg Cowles discussed The Nothing by Hanif Kureishi. John Williams discussed Winter by Ali Smith. Tina Jordan discussed A Not Entirely Benign Procedure by Perri Klass and Better by Atul Gawande.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam
Discussed“Max boot will join us to talk about his new book The Road Not Taken”
Where to get it
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Fire and Fury
Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury is an explosive investigative look inside the Donald Trump White House that generated massive controversy and public debate upon its release.
Discussed“uh it's Michael Wolf's fire and fury and it's not often that you have the president of the United States engaging in a very public feuded with a publishing house and author”
Where to get it
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Sing, Unburied, Sing
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward is a powerful Mississippi-set novel that functions simultaneously as a raw road trip narrative and a haunting ghost story.
Book club“so this is really a participatory book club and we're super excited to announce the first author on the book club on the first book Choice which is Jasmine Wards sing unburied sing”
Where to get it
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Men We Reaped
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward is a powerful and poignant memoir that examines the tragic deaths of the author's brother and four other young Black men in her rural Mississippi community, exploring systemic poverty, racism, and grief.
Discussed“and she has also written a memoir very moving Memoir called Men We reaped about the death of her brother and four other young africanamerican men in Mississippi”
Where to get it
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Winter
Winter by Ali Smith is a contemporary novel that serves as the second installment in the author's ambitious quartet exploring the four seasons.
Discussed“it's Ali Smith's new book winter which is the second novel in her quartet based on the seasons”
Where to get it
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A Not Entirely Benign Procedure
Discussed“and the first one is a not entirely benign procedure that's Perry class's book and it's composed of her New York Times pieces I guess from the 80s about what it was like to be a woman at Harvard Medical School longtime contributor”
Where to get it
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Better
Better by Atul Gawande is a critically acclaimed collection of essays and surgeon's notes examining performance, diligence, and the pursuit of excellence in modern medicine.
Discussed“and it's also a collection of columns is a tul G's better a surgeon's notes”
Where to get it
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The Woman in the Window
The Woman in the Window by A.
Discussed“because I have read AJ Finn's the woman in the window which atina I know you read as well this book is”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (6) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“her second novel Salvage the bones won the national book award in 2011”
“well I got sidetracked a little after I finished Wallace stegner's angle of repose”
“sounds like Sabbath's theater”
“Autumn came out last year”
“and so people are kind of seeing it as the next girl on the train”
“which was itself the next Gone Girl”