Episode · The Book Review · 2020-04-24
Books mentioned on The Great Alaska Quake of 1964
Pamela Paul discussed This Is Chance! by Jon Mooallem, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, and Griffin & Sabine by Nick Bantock. Elisabeth Egan recommended The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Fifth Anniversary Limited Edition by Charlie Mackesy, and discussed The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. Alexandra Alter recommended The End of October by Lawrence Wright, Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin, Stray by Stephanie Danler, and Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld, and discussed The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. Parul Sehgal discussed Fifty-Two Stories by Anton Chekhov. Jennifer Szalai discussed Notes from an Apocalypse by Mark O'Connell.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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This Is Chance!
This Is Chance! by Jon Mooallem is a historical nonfiction book chronicling the 1964 Alaska earthquake and the voice that held a city together during the disaster.
Discussed“John muam joins us now he's a writer at large for the New York Times magazine and his new book is called this is Chance the shaking of an All-American City a voice that held it together”
Where to get it
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Our Town
Our Town by Thornton Wilder is a Pulitzer Prize-winning play that examines the ordinary, everyday lives of the inhabitants of a small fictional American town, ultimately meditating on the universal themes of mortality and human connection.
Discussed“you use the Thorton Wilder play our town as a a kind of framework can you explain how you did that why you made that decision a big thread of the story is this community theater group in Anchorage who was doing our town and was interrupted by the the Quake that weekend”
Where to get it
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The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Fifth Anniversary Limited Edition
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy is a beautifully illustrated fable offering gentle wisdom and comfort for readers of all ages.
Recommended“but the book is called the boy the mole The Fox and the horse and it's by a British writer named Charles Maxie and it is a picture book that is intended for human beings of all ages ages 8 to 88 I believe is how the author puts it in his introduction”
Where to get it
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Griffin & Sabine
Discussed“there was Griffin and Sabine as you point out in your column those kind of books that could sit around in the living room and anyone could pick up and get something out of it and they've kind of Fallen by the wayside”
Where to get it
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The Giving Tree
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a famous children's picture book that tells the poignant, allegorical story of a selfless tree and a boy who takes from it throughout his life.
Discussed“I compared it to The Giving Tree but the message of it is very different from the giving tree where the giving tree is all about somebody taking”
Where to get it
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The End of October
Lawrence Wright’s novel The End of October explores a catastrophic global pandemic and its profound societal consequences.
Recommended“I guess the big lesson of the pandemic is no one can predict the future except perhaps Lawrence Wright yes let's talk a little bit about some of the books coming out next week including wri's book his book and I read it on a net Galley is remarkably preent to a frightening degree and it is about a global”
Where to get it
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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Discussed“I'm very curious to see how people react to is a prequel to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins I'm always interested to see what happens when Blockbuster authors try to continue their franchises kind of beyond the lifespan of the story that initially took off particularly when there is a huge movie adaptation and things like that”
Where to get it
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Little Eyes
Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin is a contemporary novel exploring a chilling global obsession with small, robotic surveillance pets that connect people across the world.
Recommended“little eyes by Samantha schweblin she is an Argentinian author who writes these sort of Fantastical stories and novels but they're kind of real they're more realistic than not they're sort of uncannily between the two and so this novel is about a world in which people have become obsessed with these little toys that are operated by people in”
Where to get it
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Stray
Stray by Stephanie Danler is a deeply personal, fully autobiographical memoir that explores the author's turbulent upbringing, her complicated relationship with her family, and the lingering impacts of trauma and addiction.
Recommended“two other titles that people are really looking forward to are Stephanie danler stray her first novel Sweet Bitter was a huge hit... and her new book is fully autobiographical it's a memoir and it's titled stray and it looks at her relationship with the people in her life who have shaped her”
Where to get it
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Rodham
Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld is an imaginative alternative history novel that explores what might have happened to Hillary Clinton's life and career had she declined a marriage proposal from Bill Clinton.
Recommended“and another book people are really looking forward to is Curtis sfi's new novel rodom which is an alternative history of Hillary Clinton's life how it might have turned out if she had not accepted Bill Clinton's marriage proposal so she's done the first lady or former first lady Laura Bush now she's doing an almost president or would be”
Where to get it
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Fifty-Two Stories
Discussed“and in my situation I got to review this new translation of check off stories so perhaps I can just jump into that it's translated by um the premier Russian translators Richard pavir and Lissa volansky and it's it's 52 stories that they say is a lively take on his range but in reality it's it's the stories that they”
Where to get it
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Notes from an Apocalypse
Discussed“yes so a book I reviewed actually this was recently was a book called notes from an apocalypse a personal Journey to the end of the world and back by a Critic named Mark a Connell and this is a case where the subtitle really gives you a sense of what it was that he wanted to do with this”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (7) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“I mean this was you know 1964 was when the The Feminine Mystique came out it was it was a time when you know people and Anchorage were not talking about feminism right”
“well there was the way things work of course the David mol book”
“of the story in exhalation Ted Chang's most recent collection called the life cycle of software objects where you have these people creating these kind of sentient avatars”
“Ted Chang's most recent collection called the life cycle of software objects where you have these people creating these kind of sentient avatars”
“two other titles that people are really looking forward to are Stephanie danler stray her first novel Sweet Bitter was a huge hit and it was the semi-autobiographical tale about a waitress in New York City and it was about the restaurant scene and it people called it a Kitchen Confidential of our time that was in our New York”
“I reviewed notes from an apocalypse a personal Journey to the end of the world and back by Marco Connell and I reviewed 52 stories by Anton of translated by Richard pav and L volansky”
“I reviewed notes from an apocalypse a personal Journey to the end of the world and back by Marco Connell and I reviewed 52 stories by Anton of translated by Richard pav and L volansky”