Burned By Books

Rufi Thorpe, "Margo's Got Money Troubles" (William Morrow, 2024)


Listen Later

As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet's always known she’d have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can’t imagine how she’ll ever make a living. She’s still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English professor—and while the affair is brief, it isn’t brief enough to keep her from getting pregnant. Despite everyone’s advice, she decides to keep the baby, mostly out of naiveté and a yearning for something bigger.

Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion—fast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she’ll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx’s advice from the world of wrestling. Like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she’s turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo’s problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?

Blisteringly funny and filled with sharp insight, Margo's Got Money Troubles (William Morrow, 2024) is a tender tale starring an endearing young heroine who’s struggling to wrest money and power from a world that has little interest in giving it to her. It’s a playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative, and an empowering portrait of coming into your own, both online and off.

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

52 ratings


More shows like Burned By Books

View all
The Book Review by The New York Times

The Book Review

3,889 Listeners

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

The New Yorker: Fiction

3,348 Listeners

Otherppl with Brad Listi by Brad Listi

Otherppl with Brad Listi

521 Listeners

Longform by Longform

Longform

1,744 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

2,142 Listeners

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso by Lemonada Media

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

1,415 Listeners

Pod Save America by Crooked Media

Pod Save America

87,219 Listeners

The Paris Review by The Paris Review

The Paris Review

807 Listeners

Totally Booked with Zibby by Zibby Owens

Totally Booked with Zibby

624 Listeners

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing by Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

777 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,195 Listeners

Poured Over by Barnes & Noble

Poured Over

300 Listeners

NPR's Book of the Day by NPR

NPR's Book of the Day

636 Listeners

Writers on Writing by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone

Writers on Writing

79 Listeners

Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

Critics at Large | The New Yorker

627 Listeners