Episode · The Book Review · 2021-02-19
Books mentioned on Writing About Illness Without Platitudes
Pamela Paul recommended Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad, and discussed Treadmill to Oblivion by Fred Allen, I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron, and A Promised Land by Barack Obama. Suleika Jaouad recommended Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy and The two kinds of decay by Sarah Manguso, and discussed Illness as Metaphor by Susan Sontag. John Williams recommended Her First American by Lore Segal and Other People's Houses by Lore Segal, and discussed The White Album by Joan Didion and Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion. Also mentioned: Harpo speaks! by Harpo Marx and others, Act one by Moss Hart, Heartland by Mort Sahl, Just the funny parts by Nell Scovell, and My life as a goddess by Guy Branum.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Between Two Kingdoms
Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad is a compelling memoir chronicling the author's battle with leukemia and her subsequent journey of recovery and reintegration into normal life.
Recommended“sea jwad joins us to talk about her Memoir between two kingdoms”
Where to get it
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Autobiography of a Face
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy is a poignant memoir recounting the author's battle with Ewing sarcoma during childhood, the subsequent extensive facial reconstructive surgeries she endured, and her painful journey toward self-acceptance amidst relentless scrutiny of her physical appearance.
Recommended“one book though that I did read over and over and over again was the autobiography of a face by Lucy gy and it became my kind of sick girl Bible and still is”
Where to get it
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The two kinds of decay
The Two Kinds of Decay is a memoir by Sarah Manguso that explores the author's harrowing experience with a devastating autoimmune disease during her youth.
Recommended“the other book that I really loved was sarum anda's two kinds of decay”
Where to get it
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Illness as Metaphor
Illness as Metaphor by Susan Sontag is a critical essay collection that examines how cultural myths and moral stigmas attached to diseases like cancer and tuberculosis exacerbate the suffering of patients.
Discussed“everyone who is born holds dual citizenship in the Kingdom of the well and in the Kingdom of the sick Susan sag wrote an illness as metaphor”
Where to get it
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Treadmill to Oblivion
Discussed“let's start with Fred Fred Allen treadmill to Oblivion its a good title 1954”
Where to get it
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Harpo speaks!
Harpo Speaks! is an autobiographical memoir by Harpo Marx, written with Rowland Barber, that chronicles the life, career, and behind-the-scenes antics of the famous silent comedian.
Recommended“Harpo speaks by Harpo Marx in 1961”
Where to get it
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Act one
Act One is an autobiographical work by Moss Hart that details the playwright's impoverished Brooklyn childhood and his eventual rise to success in the theater.
Recommended“right up there with act one mossart”
Where to get it
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I Feel Bad About My Neck
Discussed“another book that you included in here is Nora Efron's I feel bad about my neck”
Where to get it
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Heartland
Heartland is a notable book by Mort Sahl that offers sharp insights into society and culture.
Discussed“one is Heartland by mortol”
Where to get it
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Just the funny parts
Just the Funny Parts by Nell Scovell is a memoir detailing the author's extensive career as a television writer and humorist in various writers' rooms.
Recommended“Nel Scovell recently wrote a book called just the funny parts which is maybe the best book I've read from the point of view of someone who's a a comedy writer in writer rooms and also a portrait of of sexism in in modern comedy that is very perceptive”
Where to get it
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My life as a goddess
Discussed“guy brandom is a comic that wrote a book called My Life as a goddess that has some of the sharpest kind of Comedy criticism in it along with Memoir”
Where to get it
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The White Album
The White Album is a prominent collection of essays by Joan Didion that captures the cultural and social landscape of the turbulent late nineteen sixties and seventies.
Discussed“I've read the Classic 60s collection slouching towards betham and and The White Album and I I've read play it as it lays her novel one of her novels and and more of the non-fiction”
Where to get it
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Play It as It Lays
Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion is a stark and haunting 1970 novel that captures the profound existential alienation and emotional desolation of a former actress adrift in the desolate landscapes of Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Discussed“I've read the Classic 60s collection slouching towards betham and and The White Album and I I've read play it as it lays her novel one of her novels and and more of the non-fiction”
Where to get it
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Her First American
Her First American is a novel by Lore Segal that chronicles the complex relationship between an older immigrant journalist and a young American woman.
Recommended“I'm I'm going to go back a bit to something I read earlier this year but that I knew I would talk about at some point which is this truly great novel called her first American by lur seagull who I talked about a few weeks ago on the podcast for another book”
Where to get it
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Other People's Houses
Other People's Houses by Lore Segal is a semi-autobiographical novel that chronicles the experiences of a young girl displaced by World War II who finds herself living with a succession of different foster families.
Recommended“A Memoir well a novel she wrote that was essentially a memoir in the form of a novel called other people's houses which is also terrific”
Where to get it
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A Promised Land
A Promised Land by Barack Obama is the presidential memoir by the 44th President of the United States, offering a detailed and reflective look into his early life, political rise, and the first term of his historic presidency.
Discussed“so I am going to talk about a book that probably both of you read or at least read in part which is is Barack Obama's a promised land and I feel like many of our listeners have probably read it”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“I had packed a suitcase full of books including War and Peace which was on my bedside table”
“thus perhaps the title of your book between two kingdoms”
“the first third of the book all comes from roughly the era of slouching towards Bethlehem the late 60s”