Mentioned in Podcasts

Person

Every book Francine Prose recommended on podcasts

Key facts

  • Francine Prose has recommended or discussed 7 books on podcasts, as of September 16, 2026.
  • Francine Prose has talked about books on 1 podcast, as of September 16, 2026.
  • Those books came up in 1 episode, as of September 16, 2026.
  • The 3 books Francine Prose has mentioned in the most episodes, as of September 16, 2026: Anna Karenina, Loitering with Intent and Finnegans Wake.
  • The latest episode with a book mention from Francine Prose aired on September 16, 2026.

Updated

Guest on How I Write · 7 books · 1 episode across 1 podcast

Francine Prose is a literary figure who frequently appears on author-centric podcasts to discuss the mechanics of fiction, the relevance of classic literature, and the challenges of the writing process. Throughout her appearance on How I Write, she reflected on various canonical works and narrative techniques. She discussed James Joyce's Finnegans Wake to illustrate her limited patience for obscure or overly difficult writing, and brought up Anton Chekhov's Lady with the Dog as an example of an effective indeterminate ending. Prose also analyzed how authors handle point of view and large party scenes by examining Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. In discussing teaching, she mentioned Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre as an enduring representation of female rage alongside Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, and referenced Gabriel García Márquez's The Autumn of the Patriarch when talking about books written without paragraph breaks. Additionally, Prose recommended Muriel Spark's Loitering with Intent during a conversation about the phenomenon of fictional characters coming to life, highlighting the book as a great exploration of that experience.

Books recommended by Francine Prose

Who said what is determined automatically. In hand-checked samples, at least 6% of mentions were credited to the wrong speaker — sometimes an interviewer’s line recorded as the guest’s, sometimes the reverse. Every entry below quotes the words and links to the episode, so you can check it.

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  1. Anna Karenina

    Leo Tolstoy · Discussed · 1 episode

    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is a monumental masterpiece of nineteenth-century literature exploring themes of love, family, societal hypocrisy, and tragic fate.

    Discussed
    “I mean there there are certain things that are hard like party scenes that party scenes are really I mean there are a lot of people and they're all talking at once and there's all this interaction and how do you follow it so that you look at I mean I guess James Joyce is the dead is the all-time”
    How I Write Francine Prose: This Is What a Harvard Writing Masterclass Feels Like … 2026-09-16
    Where to get it
    AmazonListen on Audible

  2. Loitering with Intent

    Muriel Spark · Recommended · 1 episode

    Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark is a witty, brilliant 1981 novel set in post-war London that follows an ambitious young female writer named Fleur Talbot as she navigates the eccentricities of the autobiographical writing world, where the bizarre events of her real life begin strangely mirroring the fiction she creates on the page.

    Recommended
    “Have you read um Mural Sparks Lording with intent? I have not. It's really great, but it's the only thing I know about the phenomenon that I most of my close friends who are writers have had”
    How I Write Francine Prose: This Is What a Harvard Writing Masterclass Feels Like … 2026-09-16
    Where to get it
    AmazonListen on Audible

  3. Finnegans Wake

    James Joyce · Discussed · 1 episode

    Finnegans Wake by James Joyce is an experimental, highly complex work of modern fiction known for its dense, multilingual portmanteau language and cyclical structure.

    Discussed
    “I if someone put a gun to my head and said, "You have to read Finnegan's Wake now." It, you know, I go, "Shoot me.”
    How I Write Francine Prose: This Is What a Harvard Writing Masterclass Feels Like … 2026-09-16
    Where to get it
    AmazonListen on Audible

  4. Great Expectations

    Charles Dickens · Discussed · 1 episode

    Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is a classic Victorian novel following the orphan Pip as he navigates social class, ambition, and personal growth.

    Discussed
    “Well, I you know, one year I taught Jane Air and uh and Great Expectations in the same year. And Janeire is the greatest representation of of female rage ever.”
    How I Write Francine Prose: This Is What a Harvard Writing Masterclass Feels Like … 2026-09-16
    Where to get it
    AmazonListen on Audible

  5. Jane Eyre

    Charlotte Brontë · Discussed · 1 episode

    Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is a celebrated Victorian novel following the turbulent life and emotional maturation of its eponymous orphaned protagonist.

    Discussed
    “Well, I you know, one year I taught Jane Air and uh and Great Expectations in the same year. And Janeire is the greatest representation of of female rage ever. And that that hasn't gone away.”
    How I Write Francine Prose: This Is What a Harvard Writing Masterclass Feels Like … 2026-09-16
    Where to get it
    AmazonListen on Audible

  6. Lady with the Dog

    Антон Павлович Чехов · Discussed · 1 episode

    Discussed
    “I mean, one thing is I really like indeterminate endings, you know. I mean, there's the ending of uh uh Czechov's lady with the pet dog, which is and they realize that the hardest part was still before them.”
    How I Write Francine Prose: This Is What a Harvard Writing Masterclass Feels Like … 2026-09-16
    Where to get it
    AmazonListen on Audible

  7. The Autumn of the Patriarch

    Gabriel García Márquez · Discussed · 1 episode

    Discussed
    “The Garcia Marquez's Ottoma the Patriarch is one paragraph without paragraph breaks. And a friend of ours, a Polish artist, was saying, "Oh, I hate this book."”
    How I Write Francine Prose: This Is What a Harvard Writing Masterclass Feels Like … 2026-09-16
    Where to get it
    AmazonListen on Audible

Appearances

EpisodePodcastDateBooks
Francine Prose: This Is What a Harvard Writing Masterclass Feels Like | How I WriteHow I Write2026-09-168