That Book

Hannah owns Michael so hard he writes this from beyond the grave. Plus, catching up with old friends and old enemies.

Resources:

• NYT Profile, Robert Caro
• The Goldfinch tanks
• Susan Orlean on The Real Real
• Jia Tolentino on Outdoor Voices and The New Me by Hallie Butler
• Charlotte Higgins in the Guardian on Jack Reacher

Books mentioned:

• Robert (and Ina!) Caro, The Power Broker; The Years of Lyndon Johnson
• Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch
• Jia Tolentino, Trick Mirror
• Madeline Miller, Circe; The Song of Achilles
• Anita Diamant, The Red Tent
• Homer, The Odyssey (Emily Wilson translation)
• Dan Simmons, Ilium
• Hallie Butler, The New Me
• Sheila Heti, How Should a Person Be? A Novel From Life; Motherhood
• Ben Lerner, The Topeka School
• Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year of Rest and Relaxation
• Alexander Chee, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

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A TBC stuffed full of treats: NYT Bestseller List grifting, a "book curator" to the rich and Goopy, and a roundup of our epic Meryl Season™ including a shocking confession from Hannah.

Resources:

• NYT on Dave Pelzer
• Thatcher Wine, book curator to the *stahs*
• Meryl as star signs.

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In our final full ep of the Meryl Season™ we follow Our Lady of the Pod to Monterey, CA, where she's doing the most on Big Little Lies. But before we get there we discuss "Chick Lit" (or should we say "beach reads"?) and do a quick stopover in Australia to visit the works and (extremely boring) life of Liane Moriarty.

Books mentioned:

Liane Moriarty: Nine Perfect Strangers, Truly Madly Guilty, Big Little Lies; Judith Krantz, Scruples; Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones's Diary; Catherine Alliott, The Old Girl Network.

Resources:

• Judith Krantz obituary
• Jennifer Weiner profile in the New Yorker.
• James Wood's takedown of The Goldfinch
• Liane Moriarty interview here
• Indiewire on Season two of BLL
• An example of one of Meryl's wild choices in BLL2

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Michael and Hannah take on Hollywood's cash cow: kid lit! Plus, they take a look at what to do with problematic faves and a deep dive on "boarding" Hollywood stars into movies.

Books Mentioned:

• Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox; Matilda; The Witches; Boy
• Lois Lowry, The Giver; Chasing Blue
• Lemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate Events

Resources:

• On Roald Dahl: New Yorker, BBC.
• On Fantastic Mr Fox
• On The Giver: Lowis Lowry 1, Lois Lowry 2, on T Swift.
• On boarding.

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This week we take a ride through the glorious brain of Carrie Fisher: princess of Hollywood, funny person, crank. Meryl played a Carrie-ish person an adaptation of her novel, Postcards from the Edge.

Resources for this episode:

• Carrie's interviews: on Good Morning America, Fresh Air.
• Carrie's house.
• Clip of Meryl being a genius.
• Postcard From the Edge trailer.

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Into the swamp with Meryl we go to discuss Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief and its wild adaptation, um, Adaptation. We talk Florida Lit, Florida Men, and authors with money.

Books/Authors Mentioned: Susan Orlean, The Orchid Thief; Rin Tin Tin, The Library Book; Carl Hiassen; Karen Russell, Swamplandia; Jeff Van Der Meer, Area X Trilogy

Movies: Charlie Kaufmann/Spike Jonze: Adaptation

Resources: Susan Orlean's Website | Marriage | Hudson Valley Home | LA Home 1 | LA Home 2 | NY Times Interview | Original New Yorker profile of John Laroche | Susan's reaction to Adaptation

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Inspired by the 1998 Meryl Streep weepie, One True Thing, Hannah and Michael cough gently into their handkerchiefs and discuss the "Sick Lit" phenomenon, spearheaded by Lurlene McDaniel and her 70+ books about children dying.

Books mentioned: Lurlene McDaniel, Six Months to Live, Don't Die, My Love, Somewhere Between Life and Death; Dave Pelzer, A Child Called It; John Green, The Fault in Our Stars; Jodi Picoult (Judy Picaloo), My Sister's Keeper.

Resources:

• Lurlene Youtube Channel, inc. the iconic Apple video.
• Lurlene answers Q's on Goodreads
• TV movie Shattered Hearts
• Making of One True Thing
• Articles on Sick Lit here and here.

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Hannah and Michael talk about the UK's answer to Thomas Kinkade, moving with books, and hot takes on literature.

Resources:

• Jack Vettriano Profile in the Independent (2010)
• NYPL List of New York Books
• Hot Takes Thread

Books mentioned:

• Robert Caro, The Power Broker
• Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch
• Ben Lerner, 10:04
• Jennifer Egan, Manhattan Beach
• Edith Wharton, House of Mirth; Age of Innocence; Custom of the Country
• John Steinbeck, East of Eden
• Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose
• Shakespeare, Richard II
• Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow
• Casey Cep, Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee

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Michael and Hannah hang with Meryl in Lyme Regis in the 1981 adaptation of John Fowles's 1969 The French Lieutenant's Woman. We are remarkable people!

Books mentioned: John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Collector, The Maggot; Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea; A.S. Byatt, Possession; Michael Faber, The Crimson Petal and the White

Resources:

• NYT John Fowles obit
• Months of Meryl.
• Roger Ebert's rave.
• Meryl on her performance.

Michael and Hannah dive into Nora Ephron's Heartburn and learn that Nora knows what to do. Also: Lillian Hellman remains the worst, Mandy Patinkin gets screwed, and Carly Simon goes wild.

• Nora on her apartment and her cookbook crushes.
• Heartburn Clips here and here.
• The cover of Michael's copy of Heartburn.

Books mentioned: Heartburn, I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections, Nora Ephron; How to be a Jewish Mother, Dan Greenburg.

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