Person
Every book Jen Salai recommended on podcasts
Jen Salai is a perceptive critic and guest on The Book Review podcast, where she reviews significant non-fiction, historical works, and translated literature. Her contributions reflect a deep engagement with international authors, biographical histories, and memoirs that explore artistic and political landscapes. Salai discussed reading Dezső Kosztolányi's novel Skylark as part of her current reading routine, and she explained how watching a film adaptation inspired her to pick up Susan Orlean's non-fiction book The Orchid Thief. As a reviewer, she introduced and discussed Adam Higginbotham's meticulously researched book Midnight in Chernobyl. She also reviewed Nell Irvin Painter's Old in Art School, reflecting on the author's artistic journey. In discussions of translated masterpieces, Salai described Magda Szabó's novel The Door as a revelatory reading experience and expressed her enthusiasm for Maggie Nelson's acclaimed book The Argonauts. Additionally, she noted that she had been spending her time reading Joseph Roth's novel Right and Left. Salai's podcast appearances highlight a rigorous critical approach and a distinct preference for deeply researched history, compelling biography, and evocative translated literature.
Books recommended by Jen Salai
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Midnight in Chernobyl
Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham is a gripping historical account documenting the untold story of the world's greatest nuclear disaster.
Recommended“so the book I reviewed this week is midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham”
Where to get it
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Old in art school
Old in Art School by Nell Irvin Painter is a memoir chronicling the prominent historian's journey as she returned to school to study visual art at the peak of her professional career.
Recommended“one was this book White Walling by the art critic Aruna duza and the other was Olden Art School by NE painter or n Irvin painter who's probably best known for her history books”
Where to get it
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Skylark
Skylark is a poignant novel by Hungarian author Dezső Kosztolányi about an aging provincial couple whose dull, restricted lives are briefly transformed when their plain daughter leaves home for a week-long vacation.
Recommended“um so the book that I'm reading right now is a book by a Hungarian author named deer kolani very nice and thank you and uh the title is Skylark”
Where to get it
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The Argonauts
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson is a genre-bending work of autotheory that intertwines memoir, queer theory, and cultural criticism to explore pregnancy, love, identity, and gender transition.
Recommended“so the book that I was hoping would be on the list was the Argonauts by Maggie Nelson which I thought reviewed which I did review”
Where to get it
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The door
The door by Magda Szabó is a powerful psychological novel translated from Hungarian that delves into the intense and complex relationship between a writer and her enigmatic housekeeper, Emerence.
Discussed“that structure also occurs in Magda sabo's the door do you want to talk a little bit about how that book is”
Where to get it
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The Orchid Thief
The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean is a true-life narrative exploring the eccentric world of orchid poachers and plant obsession in the Florida Everglades.
Recommended“it's based on a screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and it's essentially about his attempt to write a screenplay of Susan orene's book The Orchid Thief which is the book that I'm reading right now and so after seeing that I I realized that you know I had never read the Orchid thief”
Where to get it
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Americanah
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a critically acclaimed contemporary novel that follows the journeys of young African characters navigating identity, race, and culture between their home countries and the United States.
Discussed“okay so the first eight listed alphabetically by author I think Americana by chimamanda and gozi adichi”
Where to get it
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Antisocial
Andrew Marantz's Antisocial is a journalistic examination of internet culture, online trolling, and the rise of the alt-right movement in American politics.
Discussed“and about antisocial so it's antisocial by Andrew morance who's a staff writer for the New Yorker and and before Trump was elected president in 2016 morance had already started reporting on members of the alt-right”
Where to get it
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Asymmetry
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday is a structurally innovative and critically acclaimed novel exploring power dynamics, ambition, and global politics through two seemingly distinct narratives that ultimately interconnect.
Discussed“a symmetry by Lisa Halliday”
Where to get it
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Catch and Kill
Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow is an investigative non-fiction book detailing the efforts to expose systemic sexual abuse allegations in Hollywood and the media industry.
Discussed“the most recent one and the one that I guess you know the book that a lot of people are talking about right now is Catch and kill by Ron and pharaoh and Ronan Pharaoh as I'm sure a number of listeners know is the journalist who wrote about Harvey Weinstein”
Where to get it
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Enemies
Enemies by Tim Weiner is a comprehensive historical examination of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and its complex institutional past.
Discussed“the other book that I'm reading is and I've just started this one is Tim Weiner's enemies which is a hisory of the FBI”
Where to get it
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Enlightenment Now
Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker is a non-fiction book that argues for the ongoing progress of humanity through reason, science, and humanism.
Discussed“uh so this week I read Stephen pinker's new book Enlightenment now maybe he did too yeah I mean there's a lot of exclamation points actually in the book”
Where to get it
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Fear
Fear by Bob Woodward is a journalistic account of the Trump administration that explores internal decision-making processes and West Wing dynamics.
Discussed“it started with fear which I very foolishly read on a beach in Greece”
Where to get it
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Fun
Fun Home is a critically acclaimed graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel that explores the author's complex relationship with her closeted father, her own coming out, and the literary allusions that shaped her upbringing.
Discussed“the essential dyes to watch out for by Allison beell”
Where to get it
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Heavy
Heavy by Kiese Laymon is a powerful coming-of-age memoir that confronts generational trauma, systemic racism, weight, and the complexities of growing up Black in the American South.
Discussed“yes so this week I reviewed a memoir by a writer named K Layman and the title is called heavy”
Where to get it
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How should a person be?
How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti is a semi-autobiographical novel that blends fiction, memoir, and philosophical inquiry as its protagonist navigates art, friendship, ambition, and the messy pursuit of an authentic life.
Discussed“how should a person be by Sheila HTI”
Where to get it
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Mindf*ck
Discussed“so the two books one I can't say the whole title but it's called mind and then it's F asterisk CK by Christopher Wy and the other is called targeted by Britney Kaiser”
Where to get it
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Ninth Street women
Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel is a sweeping and acclaimed biography that details the lives and artistic triumphs of five pivotal abstract expressionist painters, including Lee Krasner and Elaine de Kooning.
Discussed“the the book I reviewed this week is by Mary Gabriel and it's called nin Street women”
Where to get it
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Outline
Outline by Rachel Cusk is a critically acclaimed contemporary novel known for its minimalist style and unique narrative structure where the protagonist reveals herself primarily through the stories told to her by others.
Discussed“Outline by Rachel kusk”
Where to get it
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Right and left ; The legend of the holy drinker
Discussed“but at right now the last couple days I've been reading Joseph Roth's novel right and left”
Where to get it
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Simple justice
Discussed“well the book is simple Justice by Richard kuger and it's a book that I think this is the 2004 Edition so it was released because of the 50th anniversary of brown View Board”
Where to get it
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Targeted
Discussed“so the two books one I can't say the whole title but it's called mind and then it's F asterisk CK by Christopher Wy and the other is called targeted by Britney Kaiser”
Where to get it
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The Better Angels of Our Nature
The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker is a comprehensive exploration of the historical decline of violence and the expansion of human progress.
Discussed“you could see this book as a sequel to his 2011 book better the better angels of our nature which argued that the world because of Enlightenment values”
Where to get it
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The history of White people
Discussed“and also while this is going on she's finishing her book the history of white people which is a very big book for her”
Where to get it
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The man without a face
The Man Without a Face by Masha Gessen is a critical biographical work that details Vladimir Putin's rise to power and the authoritarian transformation of modern Russia.
Discussed“yes so I'm actually just at the tail end of finishing up Masha gessen's Man Without a Face which came out few years ago and it's a biography essentially of Putin”
Where to get it
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The Neapolitan Novels
The Neapolitan Novels are a series of interconnected, globally acclaimed books by Elena Ferrante that chronicle the lifelong friendship and complex rivalry of two women growing up in a poor yet vibrant neighborhood in Naples.
Discussed“the Neapolitan novels by Elena fante”
Where to get it
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The Power Law
Critiqued“so i recently reviewed a book called The Power law by Sebastian malaby and it's a book about venture capital and Venture capitalists and you know i have to say this was not a book that i was crazy about”
Where to get it
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The Rachel Papers
The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis is the provocative and darkly comedic debut novel that follows a precocious, self-absorbed young British protagonist as he meticulously plans his romantic and intellectual pursuits.
Discussed“I think the the first book that I I loved was the Rachel papers which is just so misogynous and awful and yet so much fun”
Where to get it
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| From Brooklyn to the Gulag | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 2 |
| 'Just the Funny Parts' | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 7 |
| 'Gorbachev: His Life and Times' | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 1 |
| Jill Abramson on the 2016 Presidential Campaign | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 1 |
| A Marine’s Inventive Memoir | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 2 |
| From Podcast to Book with Marc Maron | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 1 |
| Marlon James Talks About His Epic New Trilogy | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 1 |
| The End of the ‘Struggle’ | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 1 |
| The Latest in Cyberwarfare | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 2 |
| Thomas Chatterton Williams on ‘Unlearning Race’ | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 5 |
| China's World | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 2 |
| Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah on “Friday Black” | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 2 |
| Randall Kennedy on 'Say It Loud!' | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 1 |
| Jennifer Haigh on 'Mercy Street' | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 1 |
| Inside The New York Times Book Review: The 10 Best Books of 2015 | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 3 |
Other mentions (6: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I had read Rebellion a number of years ago”
“and then he goes on to talk about his book that adversary which was about the man who killed his entire family”
“who is a an English Professor who also wrote a book about Charlie Chan”
“so so he was a a longtime journalist and then eventually he started writing books and I read a book I think in the '90s that he wrote about the history of the cigarette industry called ashes to ashes”
“especially the history of white people”
“have you read Annie Murphy Paul's book I took a look at it yeah and he talks about sort of the way that these social or these personality indicators so Annie Murphy Paul who wrote this book The Cult of Personality about 10 years ago”