The New Yorker: Fiction

Jonathan Lethem Reads V. S. Pritchett


Listen Later

On this month's fiction podcast, Jonathan Lethem reads "The Rescue," by V. S. Pritchett, which was first published in The New Yorker in 1973 and can be found in Pritchett's "Complete Collected Stories." (Lethem's most recent fiction in the magazine, "The Gray Goose," was excerpted from his new novel, "Dissident Gardens.") In his discussion with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman, Lethem says that Pritchett is a "total sorcerer," a writer who lets readers into a world that seems stable and then "pulls the rug out from under" them, changing where the story is going and what they think of the characters. "The Rescue," which is narrated by a sixteen-year-old girl whose mother brings home an awkward boy named Ellis to help her plan the town's annual pageant, is, according to Lethem, a perfect model for the way Pritchett tends to "overturn expectations."

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The New Yorker: FictionBy The New Yorker

  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4

4.4

3,231 ratings


More shows like The New Yorker: Fiction

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

91,225 Listeners

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

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,955 Listeners

The Book Review by The New York Times

The Book Review

3,944 Listeners

The New Yorker: Poetry by The New Yorker

The New Yorker: Poetry

518 Listeners

Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry by David Naimon, Milkweed Editions

Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry

469 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

318 Listeners

Selected Shorts by Symphony Space

Selected Shorts

2,887 Listeners

The Political Scene | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

4,120 Listeners

World Book Club by BBC World Service

World Book Club

369 Listeners

Backlisted by Backlisted

Backlisted

585 Listeners

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

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

2,124 Listeners

London Review Bookshop Podcast by London Review Bookshop

London Review Bookshop Podcast

131 Listeners

In The Dark by The New Yorker

In The Dark

28,180 Listeners

Bookclub by BBC Radio 4

Bookclub

243 Listeners

The Interview by The New York Times

The Interview

1,609 Listeners

Close Readings by London Review of Books

Close Readings

91 Listeners

Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

Critics at Large | The New Yorker

666 Listeners