"For me, part of the fun of coming-of-age novels, both reading and writing, is getting to have that adult perspective on these youthful moments and kind of allow you to make sense of them in a way you couldn't before; it can allow you to forgive yourself for some of the things maybe you did, it can allow you to laugh at some of the things that horrified you, and that can bring peace and joy and resolution." It's been a minute since Alison Espach's debut novel The Adults — she joins us on the show to talk about the inspiration behind her new novel, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, writing love stories, sitting with grief, her obsession with the passage of time in life and in books, Lorrie Moore's Self-Help, and much more with Poured Over's Host, Miwa Messer. And we end the show with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Margie and Marc.

Featured Books:

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach

Self-Help by Lorrie Moore

Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

A full transcript of this episode is available here.