Burned By Books

Andrew Ridker, "Hope" (Viking, 2023)


Listen Later

The year is 2013 and the Greenspans are the envy of Brookline, Massachusetts, an idyllic (and idealistic) suburb west of Boston. Scott Greenspan is a successful physician with his own cardiology practice. His wife, Deb, is a pillar of the community who spends her free time helping resettle refugees. Their daughter, Maya, works at a distinguished New York publishing house and their son, Gideon, is preparing to follow in his father's footsteps. They are an exceptional family from an exceptional place, living in exceptional times.

But when Scott is caught falsifying blood samples at work, he sets in motion a series of scandals that threatens to shatter his family. Deb leaves him for a female power broker; Maya rekindles a hazardous affair from her youth; and Gideon drops out of college to go on a dangerous journey that will put his principles to the test.

From Brookline to Berlin to the battlefields of Syria, Hope follows the Greenspans over the course of one tumultuous year as they question, and compromise, the values that have shaped their lives. But in the midst of their disillusionment, they'll discover their own capacity for resilience, connection, and, ultimately, hope.

Andrew’s debut novel, The Altruists, was published by Viking in the United States and in seventeen other countries. The Altruists was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a Paris Review staff pick, an Amazon Editors’ Pick, and the People Book of the Week.

Andrew is the editor of Privacy Policy: The Anthology of Surveillance Poetics and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, Le Monde, Bookforum, The Paris Review Daily, Guernica, Boston Review, and elsewhere. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Andrew lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Recommendations:

  • Helen Garner, The Children’s Bach
  • Joyce Carol Oates, Wonderland
  • Leonard Michaels, The Men’s Club

  • Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro as World Literature, is under contract with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    Burned By BooksBy New Books Network

    • 5
    • 5
    • 5
    • 5
    • 5

    5

    50 ratings


    More shows like Burned By Books

    View all
    The Book Review by The New York Times

    The Book Review

    3,857 Listeners

    On Being with Krista Tippett by On Being Studios

    On Being with Krista Tippett

    10,416 Listeners

    Fresh Air by NPR

    Fresh Air

    38,189 Listeners

    The New Yorker: Fiction by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

    The New Yorker: Fiction

    3,326 Listeners

    Otherppl with Brad Listi by Brad Listi

    Otherppl with Brad Listi

    520 Listeners

    The Bookshelf by ABC listen

    The Bookshelf

    40 Listeners

    Book Riot - The Podcast by Book Riot

    Book Riot - The Podcast

    949 Listeners

    The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

    The New Yorker Radio Hour

    6,696 Listeners

    The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

    The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

    2,115 Listeners

    Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso by Lemonada Media

    Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

    1,241 Listeners

    Poured Over by Barnes & Noble

    Poured Over

    292 Listeners

    NPR's Book of the Day by NPR

    NPR's Book of the Day

    606 Listeners

    The Book Case by ABC News | Charlie Gibson, Kate Gibson

    The Book Case

    896 Listeners

    Writers on Writing by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone

    Writers on Writing

    77 Listeners

    Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

    Critics at Large | The New Yorker

    605 Listeners