Bookmarks

Latest Episodes:

Susan Orlean on 'The Sound and the Fury' Mar 20, 2020

Show notes

For as long as she can remember, Susan Orlean has had a favorite book, "The Sound and the
Fury," by William Faulkner. A southern gothic novel set over a period of three decades, the book explores the lives of the members of one family, the Compsons. Told from multiple perspectives and set in several time periods, it’s not a chronological or easy read.

—This author recommends—

The Sound and the Fury (Third Edition) (Norton Critical Editions)

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Interview: The Book Burning That Brought All Of Los Angeles Together

Philip Pullman on 'The Pocket Atlas of the World' Mar 13, 2020

Show notes

Philip Pullman — author of the fantasy classic "His Dark Materials" — is clearly attuned to the imaginative world of children. In fact, he was a middle school English teacher before he became a best-selling novelist. So maybe it’s not surprising that the book that exerted such a pull on his own imagination was "The Pocket Atlas of the World," which he first encountered at the age of nine.

—This author recommends—

Pocket World Atlas

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Interview: Why Philip Pullman Is Obsessed With Panpsychism—Interview: 'His Dark Materials' Author Philip Pullman On The Consciousness Of All Things

What Books Have Left A Mark On You? Feb 28, 2020

Show notes

Why does Philip Pullman love maps? How does Petina Gappah see Jane Austen as African? What science fiction stories did a young Karl Ove Knausgaard read before bed?

Bookmarks, season 2. Coming March 13.

Learn more at ttbook.org/bookmarks

Your Life, Told Through Books Feb 21, 2020

Show notes

The next season of Bookmarks starts on March 13. In the meantime, we wanted to share a few stories we've heard from listeners about the books that have shaped them.

Have your own story to share? Email us at listen@ttbook.org or leave a voicemail at the bottom of the page at ttbook.org/bookmarks.

Eula Biss on 'The Argonauts' Jan 31, 2020

Show notes

"On Immunity: An Inoculation" author Eula Biss recommends a memoir in which author Maggie Nelson asks questions that bend conventions about gender, sexuality, motherhood, family and identity itself.

—This author recommends—

The Argonauts

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Interview: The Ethics of Vaccines

Paul Beatty on 'The Nazi and the Barber' Jan 24, 2020

Show notes

Paul Beatty, the Booker Prize Winning Author of "The Sellout" recommends "The Nazi and the
Barber," a novel by Holocaust survivor Edgar Hilsenrath.

—This author recommends—

The Nazi and the Barber

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Interview: Daring to Offend: Paul Beatty's Brilliant Satire

Yuval Noah Harari on 'Chimpanzee Politics' Jan 17, 2020

Show notes

Sometimes you stumble upon a book that sets you on a whole new path. For Israeli historian and philosopher Yuval Norah Harari — author of "Sapiens," "Homo Deus," and "21 Lessons for the 21st Century" — it wasn’t a novel, a memoir, or even a history book that changed his world. It was a book about chimpanzees.

—This author recommends—

Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex among Apes

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Interview: What Comes After Homo Sapiens?—Interview: Control The Data, Control The World

Lidia Yuknavitch on 'Borne' Jan 10, 2020

Show notes

The main character in Jeff
VanderMeer’s other-worldly tale is a polymorphous bear who moves in
magical and unexpected ways, and keeps secrets in his fur. It’s both a
futuristic story and one with deep history, the kind of dystopian
fiction that drew Yuknavitch in, again, and again.

—This author recommends—

Borne: A Novel

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Interview: Lidia Yuknavitch’s Dream World: How Dreams Shaped Her Dazzling Speculative Novel

George Saunders on 'I Will Bear Witness' Jan 03, 2020

Show notes

The author of "Lincoln in the Bardo" recommends Victor Klemperer's two-volume diary that reads as
a slow-motion picture of what the Holocaust looked like before it was
known Holocaust.

—This author recommends—

I Will Bear Witness, Volume 1: A Diary of the Nazi Years: 1933-1941

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Interview: A Haunting Story of Lincoln's Love and Loss

Anne Lamott on 'Pippi Longstocking' Dec 27, 2019

Show notes

Writer Anne Lamott says that the children’s classic made her feel like there was room in the world for imaginative, adventurous girls who just might wear mismatched knee socks.

—This author recommends—

Pippi Longstocking

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Interview: Hope Is Faith In Life Itself