Allegra Goodman, Her Stories, and the Messiness of Family

Bonnie Garmus’ follow up to GMA Book Club Pick Lessons in Chemistry, called Peck & Peck, is a wild and funny foray into the world of poetry. Compulsively readable with unforgettable characters, the novel centers around Batter, a poetry editor who ends up at a world renown poetry publication, called Peck & Peck. What is the world of poets and their editors occupy? What do they have to believe in to do well? We ask the author. Also, we are joined by Periwinkle books, a new store in Bronxville NY. Join us!

When we visited with Ann Patchett a few months ago, she talked almost non stop about Yiyun Li’s newest, MUSIC AGAINST THE NIGHT, which she called “close the perfect novel”. We went right home and read it and booked Yiyun for her earliest availability, because she was right. Yiyun Li, the writer of MUSIC AGSINST THE NIGHT, joins us to talk about her beautifully written new book, and why she felt, at this stage in her career, she felt comfortable tackling a literary trilogy. We also talk to a not for profit, BINC, whose purpose is to financially support independent booksellers for any variety of reasons. Join us!

This week we have to terrific authors in one show. Robert Kolker’s newest, The Vanishing Family, is a look at a family afflicted with an early onset dementia, and how this family could revolutionize the way we think about the aging mind. Chloe Benjamin was GMA’s September Book Club pick, and although we are late to the party, we are proud to get to attend at all. It’s a mind-blowing book about time flowing backwards, and forwards. Join us for a sit down with two great authors and their two great books.

Up until now, there hasn’t really been a complete compendium on the Hindenburg disaster. Catherine Grace Katz gives it us in SHADOW BEFORE THE FLAME, and it is a page turner. Filled with top notch research, Katz drops readers squarely in the 1930’s so that they experience the majesty, mystery and looming fascism that cloaked the Hindenburg’s journey from Germany to the US. Something the size of three football fields was destroyed in 34 seconds. What did the people see on the ground? What did the passengers feel and see as it combusted? Did anyone live? These are all questions asked and answered on this week’s podcast. Join us!

Jennifer McMahon has been called the Shirley Jackson of her generation. Her newest, Stay Buried, is a fascinating look at what can happen to a small town when beset with an almost inhuman pandemic, and how they turn on each other as the diseases claims victim after victim (sound familiar?). Come join us for a great conversation with Jennifer in which we talk abut her ides, her process, and how there is a touch of the scary in so many of the classics we love.