Nicole and Mary begin their four-part conversation about Kathryn Schulz's memoir, Lost & Found, by asking: What makes this book a memoir? And how might Schulz's unusual approach to personal narrative help us tell our own stories?

Both Mary and Nicole were slapped by the last line of Jonas's novel. In this final discussion of Vladimir, they unpack the significance of that final line, and why it packs such a punch. What can we learn about how to end our own stories?

Catch up on the next book: Lost & Found by Kathryn Schulz!

CW: This episode discusses child abuse present in the book Lolita. If this is a subject you're sensitive to, you might consider skipping this episode.

The book is called Vladimir and is about an obsession with a younger man that leads to a kidnapping. But the similarities to Nabokov's Lolita don't end there. Mary and Nicole talk about how Vladimir echoes Lolita, and what it means to write a book in conversation with another book.

Not name the main character? Write philosophical debate inside a story? In part 2 of the Vladimir discussion, Mary and Nicole discuss the choices author Jonas makes that seem to subvert fiction conventions...to great effect, inspiring us as writers.

In the premier episode of the Craft Talk Book Club podcast, Mary & Nicole kick off our four-part discussion of Julia May Jonas's debut novel Vladimir, which both hosts were obsessed with after reading. Specifically, they talk about how Jonas subverts tropes, which we all want to do as writers.

Craft Talk Book Club is a podcast for writers who want to improve their craft by reading great books. Each month, Nicole Breit (Spark Your Story Lab creator and Best American Essays notable essayist) and Mary Adkins (The Book Incubator founder and HarperCollins novelist) choose a recently published novel or memoir to unpack the craft choices made by the author—which they discuss over four weekly episodes. Together, we'll read and learn from some of the best writers publishing today.