Bossy Books

Episode 10

Episode 9

"The Vegetarian" is a novel in three parts by Korean author Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith. Winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize, it tells the story of a young Korean woman from three different perspectives, none of which are her own. Yeong-Hye, the titular vegetarian, is a fascinating character who evokes questions of violence, sexuality, anger, sanity/insanity, and a woman's autonomy over her own body. Deborah Smith has truly delivered a gift to the English-speaking world through this rare and arresting story of an ordinary woman who one morning wakes up to a strange yet all-consuming desire.

This month's Bossy Book is "Your Republic Is Calling You" by Young-Ha Kim, a Korean novel translated into English by Chi-Young Kim. The book chronicles 24 hours in the life of Ki-Yong, South Korean man who has been living the last ten years as an ordinary, middle-class husband to wife Ma-Ri and father to teenager Hyon-mi. His identity as a North Korean spy is unknown to his family and practically forgotten by Ki-yong himself--that is until he receives an encrypted email that delivers the order to liquidate all his belongings and return to the North. Not quite the spy thriller you might expect, "Your Republic Is Calling You" is really a study of modern life in South Korea, seen through the eyes of a man who floats between detachment and affection for his second Korean home.

Episode 6 This month’s Bossy Book is Helen Oyeyemi’s brand new selection of short stories, “What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours.” Like the fairy tales that inspire much of her writing, Oyeyemi’s stories are a little bit history, a little bit reality, a little bit fantasy, a little bit morality, and a little bit nonsense. She...Continue reading »

Our first non-fiction Bossy Book is "Irritable Hearts: a PTSD Love Story" by journalist Mac McClelland. This is raw, no-holds-barred account of McClellands battle with PTSD; a debilitating condition that takes her completely by surprise. It is a healing journey, a love story, and an exercise in empathy for readers who are given a rare insight into the havoc that PTSD can wreak in a person's body and mind.

In our first Bossy Books episode for 2016, we discuss Lauren Groff's epic tale of one marriage and all the love, hate, lust, sex, failures, successes, secrets, and lies that can exist between two people who tie themselves together in holy matrimony. In this book, Groff offers an antidote to all the haters who think marriage is a dull, domestic subject matter.

Minju Poehler and Heather Fey host the annual Bossy Books Golden Globes! As an early Christmas present to our dear listeners, we take you through our reading year in review, discussing the books we loved and hated in 2015. We also announce the first Bossy Book of 2016 so make sure you listen right until the end!

This month, we discuss "The Hundred-Year Flood" the debut novel of Korean-American author Matthew Salesses. It is a story that moves between past and present, myth and reality, to explore how the things we leave buried and unsaid can reveal themselves in art, in ghosts, in love, and in floodwaters.