Writer Keith Gessen on Saul Bellow's Humboldt's Gift, Russian literature, and figuring out which stories to tell.
To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out All the Sad Young Literary Menand A Terrible Countryby Keith Gessen, War and Peaceby Leo Tolstoy, Infinite Jestby David Foster Wallace, and Humboldt's Giftby Saul Bellow.
You can find transcripts of this episode and past ones on LitHub.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Keith Gessen

Can one story change the course of your life? Will Schwalbe, bestselling author of The End of Your Life Book Club and Books for Living, invites notable guests to tell stories of the books — and the moments — that changed them.

Personal Journals

Society & Culture

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Memoirist Jennifer Finney Boylan on J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, transitioning, and man’s best friend. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, and Good Boy by Jennifer Finney Boylan. Also consider our staff pick’s: Matilda by Roald Dahl, The Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, We Were Feminists Once by Andi Zeisler, Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn and On Writing by Stephen King. Stay in the know about the latest Macmillan news by reading our free newsletter here.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jennifer Finney Boylan

Writer Emily Gould on Eileen Myles’s Chelsea Girls, riot grrrl culture, and turning her observations inward. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out The Adventures of Tintin graphic novel series created by Hergé, the Babysitter’s Club series by Ann M. Martin, the Goosebumps series by R. L. Stine, and Inferno by Eileen Myles. Be sure to check out Emily Gould’s new book, Perfect Tunes, available now. Stay in the know about the latest Macmillan news by reading our free newsletter here.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emily Gould

National Book Award finalist Min Jin Lee on George Eliot's Middlemarch, imposter syndrome, and her lifelong obsession with wisdom. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin, War and Peace and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Main Street by Sinclair Lewis, Middlemarch by George Eliot, and Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Stay in the know about the latest Macmillan news by reading our free newsletter here.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Revisit: Min Jin Lee

Novelist Rufi Thorpe on Jane Smiley’s Private Life, balancing motherhood with artistry, and a brush with mortality. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out Anne of Green Gables Lucy Maud Montgomery, The Chocolate War and We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier and Private Life by Jane Smiley. Be sure to check out Rufi’s book, The Knockout Queen. Stay in the know about the latest Macmillan news by reading our free newsletter here.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rufi Thorpe

Novelist Melissa Rivero on Elie Wiesel’s Night, questioning God, and growing up undocumented in America. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard, Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia, Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa and the Pigeon series by Mo Willems. Be sure to check out Melissa’s book, The Affairs of the Falcóns. Stay in the know about the latest Macmillan news by reading our free newsletter here. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Keith Gessen

Download our free app to listen on your phone