Episode · The Book Review · 2024-07-18
Books mentioned on The Uses and Misuses of Identity
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Middlemarch
Middlemarch by George Eliot is widely regarded as a masterwork of Victorian literature, brilliantly capturing the complex social fabric, political undercurrents, and psychological depths of provincial English life.
Discussed“you have this great early quote from Middle March maybe you could share how identity was thought of During the period of George Elliott's novel”
Where to get it
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The lies that bind
The lies that bind: rethinking identity is a non-fiction book by philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah that explores the complex facets of personal and cultural categorization.
Recommended“the book again is called the lies that bind rethinking identity by quame Anthony apia Anthony thank you so much for being here”
Where to get it
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The Coddling of the American Mind
The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt investigates how modern safetyism, parenting trends, and social media dynamics are setting up younger generations for emotional fragility and distress.
Recommended“my pleasure Pamela Jonathan height is the co-author along with Greg ganof of the coddling of the American mind how good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure”
Where to get it
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So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood
So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood by Patrick Modiano, translated by Euan Cameron, is a delicate and atmospheric mystery novel by a Nobel Prize-winning author.
Discussed“so you don't get lost in the neighborhood does begin as a mystery um a writer it's it's I believe it's told in first person this writer has lost a an address book and somebody telephones him and says I found your address book”
Where to get it
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Dora Bruder
Dora Bruder by Patrick Modiano is a haunting biographical novel that traces the author's real-life obsessive quest to uncover the wartime fate of a young Jewish girl who disappeared in Nazi-occupied Paris.
Discussed“and Dora Bruder the book that I'm reading now has a similar kind of slight of hand”
Where to get it
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Another Country
Another Country by James Baldwin is a complex and unflinching 1962 novel that explores the turbulent intersections of race, sexuality, identity, and bohemian life in Greenwich Village and Paris.
Recommended“I'm R reading another country by James Baldwin which I'm sure comes to a shock to nobody who knows me but it was published in 1962 and I think is one of Baldwin's most difficult novels”
Where to get it
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Sabrina
Sabrina by Nick Drnaso is a contemporary graphic novel that explores modern anxiety, surveillance, and the fallout of a tragedy.
Recommended“um I want to talk about two books one very recent the other um many decades old and the the Contemporary book is Sabrina which is a graphic novel by Nick duraso”
Where to get it
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The evening of the holiday
The evening of the holiday is a novel by Australian author Shirley Hazzard.
Recommended“um I just wanted to talk about Shirley Hazard today because I also recently read her first novel Shirley Hazard being the Australian novelist recently deceased who wrote uh the transit of Venus her first novel was called the evening of the holiday”
Where to get it
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The Transit of Venus
The Transit of Venus is a novel by Shirley Hazzard that traces the lives of two orphaned Australian sisters moving to England, exploring complex themes of love, intellect, fate, and betrayal over several decades.
Recommended“the transit of Venus is maybe a perfect novel”
Where to get it
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Nada
Nada is a classic mid-century Spanish novel by Carmen Laforet that portrays a young woman arriving in post-Civil War Barcelona to attend university, only to find her relatives living in squalor and emotional decay.
Recommended“which is called NADA by Carmen lafet it's a novel from 1945 published I realized today when lafet was 23 which made me slightly nauseous”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (7) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“quame Anthony apia will be here to discuss his latest book the lies that bind”
“Jonathan height will be here to talk about his new book The coddling of the American mind”
“one doesn't want to lose track of the fact and the book is called the lies that bind that identities can be useful for people”
“Jonathan height joins us now he has co-written a book with Greg lukianov called the codling of the American mind how good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure”
“and he came to talk to me because I'm a a social psychologist and he he liked my book the happiness hypothesis where I talked about CBT and said John here's what I think is going on”
“and the the graphs that we have in the book in chapter seven of our book are stunning”
“Shirley Hazard being the Australian novelist recently deceased who wrote uh the transit of Venus her first novel was called the evening of the holiday”









