Barbara Kingsolver Grapples with American Poverty

The book is Demon Copperhead , the author is Barbara Kingsolver. That should be enough said. If you read it and don’t come away thinking it is the best book you’ve read this year, it will be among the best. Her book is a prodigious feat on many levels. It is beautifully written. It gives you a sense of a part of America often ignored. It has wonderful characters. It is funny, and she writes it as a parallel to David Copperfield , Charles Dickens' most personal novel. She’s a great writer and a great talker. Give a listen.

Our bookstore this week is Rainy Day Books in Kansas City, where the state line runs right through the center of town.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

King Lear by Shakespeare

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

Love & Saffron by Kim Fay

84 Chairing Cross by Road Helene Hanff

Double Agent by Tom Bradby

A Single Spy by William Christie

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

The River of Gods by John Speke

River of Doubt Candice Millard

Radical Kindness: The Life-Changing Power of Giving and Recieving by Angela Santomero

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices