This week features Dwight Garner, a seasoned book critic from The New York Times, and Becca Rothfeld from The Washington Post, both passionate about literature. They discuss the merits and pitfalls of bestsellers, dive into the joy of physical books amid digital trends, and contemplate rising book censorship. With a critical eye, they explore how modern literature reflects generational divides and personal narratives. Their insights promise new favorites and thoughtful critiques on what might become the timeless classics of 2024.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Dwight Garner's Reading Habits
Dwight Garner annotates print books, highlighting key passages and making notes.
He later transfers these notes to a commonplace book.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Becca Rothfeld's Reading Habits
Becca Rothfeld avoids screens for focused reading, even carrying books while hiking.
Screen's potential for interruption makes focused reading challenging for her.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Shared Reading
Becca Rothfeld and her husband plan to read Paradise Lost aloud together.
They've done this with other works like Plato's dialogues and Shakespeare.
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Which subpar books actually warrant writing a bad review? Do best sellers usually live up to the hype? And how does our relationship with technology affect the publishing industry? Kara sits down with two of her favorite book critics, Dwight Garner of The New York Times and Becca Rothfeld of The Washington Post, to discuss the best and worst books of 2024.
The trio debates standout books and notable disappointments, the craft of book reviewing, and the best way to experience a great book. They also explore the importance of best-seller lists, how concerned we should be over the rising tide of book censorship, and which books from 2024 could end up becoming forever classics.
Books mentioned includes (listed alphabetically):
What Are Children For? On Ambivalence and Choice, Anastasia Berg & Rachel Wiseman
Boswell’s London Journal 1762-1763
Believe Nothing Until it is Officially Denied: Claud Cockburn and the Invention of Guerrilla Journalism, Patrick Cockburn
D'Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths
Carson McCullers: A Life, Mary V. Dearborn
You Dreamed of Empires, Álvaro Enrigue
James, Percival Everett
When the Clock Broke, John Ganz
The Upstairs Delicatessen, Dwight Garner
Small Rain, Garth Greenwell
Lesser Ruins, Mark Haber
Alphabetical Diaries, Sheila Heti
A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman, Robert Hilburn
Splinters, Leslie Jamison
Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
Creation Lake, Rachel Kushner
Liars, Sarah Manguso
We Who Wrestle With God, Jordan B. Peterson
Intermezzo, Sally Rooney
The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World, Christine Rosen
Things Are Too Small, Essays in Praise of Excess, Becca Rothfeld
Knife, Salman Rushdie
I Heard Her Call My Name, Lucy Sante
The Rebel’s Clinic, Adam Schatz
The Politics of Cultural Despair, Fritz Stern
Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram and TikTok @onwithkaraswisher
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