Book Club: 'My Brilliant Friend,' by Elena Ferrante
23 August 2024 - 50 minsThis July, The New York Times Book Review published a list of The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. The top choice was “My Brilliant Friend,” by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein.
The book is the first novel in Ferrante’s so-called Neapolitan quartet, which tracks the lifelong friendship between Lenù and Lila, two women from a rough neighborhood in Naples, Italy, even as family, relationships and work pull their lives in different directions.
In this week’s episode, MJ Franklin discusses the book with fellow editors Joumana Khatib, Emily Eakin and Gregory Cowles.
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Series Episodes
The Best Books of the 21st Century: Ryan Holiday on ‘The Road’
The best-selling author joined the “Book Review” podcast to discuss how his relationship to Cormac McCarthy’s novel changed after becoming a father.
36 mins
12 June Finished
A Summer Book Recommendation Bonanza
From doppelgängers to dark academia, the Book Review editors share some of their most-anticipated titles.
43 mins
5 June Finished
Book Club: Let's Talk About 'Transcription,' by Ben Lerner
Ben Lerner’s slender new novel, “Transcription,” is just 130 pages long, yet it cracks open some of our most colossal and enduring philosophical questions. On this episode, MJ Franklin discusses “Transcription” with fellow Book Review editors Gregory Cowles and Alexandra Jacobs.
47 mins
30 May Finished
The Ezra Klein Show: Michael Pollan’s Journey to the Borderlands of Consciousness
Today we are delighted to share an episode from our colleagues on “The Ezra Klein Show,” originally published on March 31. Ezra interviewed author Michael Pollan, whose best-selling books include “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” “In Defense of Food,” and “How to Change Your Mind.” Pollan’s latest book, “A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness,” came out earlier this year. It’s an exploration of what consciousness is, and the book is — as our review put it — “highly pleasurable to read.”
1 hour 28 mins
22 May Finished
Matt Haig on ‘The Midnight Library,’ Mental Illness and Winnie-the-Pooh
The best-selling author joins the “Book Review” podcast to discuss his new novel, “The Midnight Train.”
42 mins
15 May Finished
Patricia Cornwell on Her Dark Childhood and Best-Selling Novels
The crime novelist discusses her new memoir “True Crime.” Also, Daniel Kraus, winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize for fiction, talks about his novel “Angel Down.”
59 mins
8 May Finished
