Poured Over

Julian Barnes, an acclaimed novelist renowned for works like Elizabeth Finch and Flaubert's Parrot, delves into the complexities of storytelling. He discusses the differences between journalism and fiction, reflecting on how literature captures nuanced truths. Barnes reveals insights into his character Elizabeth Finch, an unconventional teacher, and shares how friendships with Booker Prize-winners influenced his writing. He explores themes of unreliable narration, the intersection of memory and history, and his preference for conciseness in prose, making for a captivating literary conversation.

“To me, the thing as a writer that you should always be working towards is like, how can I make this just be delicious for the reader?” Jana Casale has perfected the art of writing about the ordinary lives of women in such a way that fans of Elena Ferrante and Sally Rooney will flock to, and her latest story following the lives of three young women as they navigate love, How to Fall Out of Love Madly, is just out. Jana joins us on the show to talk about the lives and relationships of Millennial women, body image issues, self-love, loneliness, the influence one teacher had on her decision to be a writer, and much more with guest host, Elani Wilson. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.   Featured Books (episode) How to Fall Out of Love Madly by Jana Casale Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Hello, Molly! by Molly Shannon   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Next Year, for Sure by Zoey Leigh Peterson Real Life by Brandon Taylor   This episode of Poured Over is produced and hosted by Elani Wilson and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).   A full transcript of this episode is available here.

“All three of the books that I have written during the pandemic have really been my way of going into another world and finding a place where none of this was happening. And that I could just relax and have fun. And so, I hope that my books are that kind of fun, joyous of maybe slightly salacious time for readers, too, because that's what I enjoyed as I was writing them.” Jasmine Guillory is one of our favorite rom-com authors, with her seventh and eighth books (By the Book and Drunk on Love) releasing this year. Jasmine joins us on the show to talk about writing Black leads in romance, her literary influences, releasing three books during the pandemic and connecting with readers in person again, her love for the Bay Area, the elements that make up a signature Jasmine Guillory novel, and much more with guest host, Elani Wilson. And we end this episode with a TBR Topoff with Marc and Rhys riffing on their favorite Jasmine Guillory novels   Featured Books (episode) Drunk on Love by Jasmine Guillory While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory By the Book by Jasmine Guillory Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen   This episode of Poured Over is produced and hosted by Elani Wilson and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).   A full transcript of this episode is available here.

“To write a young woman who refuses to define herself by anything other than her activism, her mind, her curiosity, that was just a delight, and she wasn't the most predictable character, but she was the one who told me what to do on every page.” How to describe Tess Gunty’s dynamic debut, The Rabbit Hutch? Think Jennifer Egan + Denis Johnson. Think polyphonic novel about climate change and gentrification and coming-of-age in a dying American Dream with an unforgettable 18-year-old as its heart. Tess joins us on the show to talk about loneliness and connection, South Bend and Studebaker automobiles, needing to leave home in order to write about it, how an anxious kid became a writer, mysticism, revision, the poets and writers who inspire her and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.   Featured Books (episode) The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan NW by Zadie Smith Great House by Nicole Krauss Middlemarch by George Eliot   Featured Books (TBR Topoff) Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays, with occasional Saturdays.   A full transcript of this episode is available here.

“But when I write, that's when I feel I can take part in society, I can contribute to ideas, and to teach and to share, and to say, I love you to society—to maybe talk about some of the difficult things in life, but to affirm that these experiences only serve to make life what it is.” From space aliens and cursed violins to a Queen of Hell with a heart, to found family, coming-of-age and living in your truest self, Ryka Aoki’s Light from Uncommon Stars is our latest Speculative Fiction Monthly Pick and it’s an absolute blast to read. Ryka joins us on the show to talk about world-building, the San Gabriel Valley, writing love stories, the evolution of science fiction, her literary inspirations, donuts and more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.   Featured Book (episode) Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki   Featured Books (TBR Topoff) Blackwater Sister by Zen Cho The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays. A full transcript of this episode is available here.

“There's just so much rich material in Hollywood during the 1940s—which is where much of the book is set—there is just sort of an endless rabbit hole you can go down. And of course, one of the problems with writing a book about the movie industry is that sitting around watching movies technically counts as research.” We still think about Anthony Marra’s incredible debut, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, years after first reading. His newest novel, Mercury Pictures Presents, is an epic story of family secrets, love and war, loyalty and reinvention that cuts between Hollywood and Mussolini’s Italy in the 1930s and 40s—and it’s the August B&N Book Club pick. Anthony joins us on the show to talk about mapping stories, the landscape of exile and imprisonment, the importance of humor, research and rewrites and snappy dialogue, his literary inspirations (including Zadie Smith and David Mitchell), and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book reviews from Marc and Becky.   Featured Books (episode): Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra Los Angeles in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to the City of Angels by Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration Rules of Civility by Amor Towles   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): West of Sunset by Stewart O’Nan A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).   A full transcript of this episode is available here.

“I just had so many questions about adoption and motherhood. And you know, you've read my books, you know that I'm very interested in what makes a family and how does our family influence us. And that's all part of this book, too.” From her sparkling debut, The Weird Sisters, to her latest, Any Other Family, Eleanor Brown writes big-hearted novels with hopeful endings about family and finding ourselves. She joins us on the show to talk about the story behind her latest novel, how questions and character drive her novels, capturing children’s voices on the page, how she approaches the writing process, what she’s been reading and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.   Featured Titles (episode) Any Other Family by Eleanor Brown The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown The Light in Paris by Eleanor Brown All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian The Foundling by Ann Leary Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley On Writing by Stephen King   Featured Titles (TBR Topoff) Run by Ann Patchett The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).   A full transcript of this episode is available here.

“What's really interesting about taste memory is it's not that you're trying to necessarily replicate the dish exactly as it was, I think you're actually just trying to replicate your memory of it, because your memory is always going to be the platonic ideal of it.” Eric Kim has a delightful approach to food, and his debut cookbook is a charming exploration of the Korean American table. He joins us on the show to talk about home cooking and how our family stories connect to food, representation (and how his parents landed in Atlanta), the politics of spam, his pantry must-haves, making kimchi, finding joy in a creative space, testing recipes with his mom, and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.   Featured Books (episode) Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home by Eric Kim   Featured Books (TBR Topoff) Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee Crying in H-Mart by Michelle Zauner   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).   A full transcript of this episode is available here.

“One thing I really have learned—or at least for myself about writing—is never to explain why a person is the way they are, just to make a dramatic case for why they are the way they are. So, the moments I have that are backstory, or that go back and forth in time, it's because that backstory or that moment of slippage of time is dramatically relevant to the present moment of the story.” Alice Elliott Dark (In the Gloaming) returns with Fellowship Point, a spectacular novel of friendship and family, love and loss, loyalty and legacy. She joins us on the show to talk about her modern 19th-century novel, where she’s been for the last few years, what we often take for granted when it comes to women’s lives, the craft of writing, her literary influences, what’s next for her and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer, live from our flagship store at Union Square in New York City. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.   Featured Books (episode): Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark In the Gloaming by Alice Elliott Dark The Hours by Michael Cunningham Middlemarch by George Eliott Matrix by Lauren Groff Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Nightwoods by Charles Frazier Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).   A full transcript of this episode is available here.

“I wish I could tell you that I went to a cabin and wrote it perfectly and got it in on time, and it just flowed out of me. But really, the truth of the matter is, it came in fits and starts. And it was written on notepads and half-filled notebooks and phone apps and bar napkins….I grew up in a time of a lot of white men writing, Oh, my sad childhood stories. And so, my whole thing was I'm not going to do that, I'm not going to do that.” Isaac Fitzgerald walks through the world with an open heart, and luckily for readers, he takes notes. Dirtbag, Massachusetts is his memoir-in-essays, and it covers plenty of ground, from his unconventional childhood and the librarians who helped change the trajectory of his life, to issues of class and code switching and complicated family dynamics, to the craft of writing and his literary inspirations. He joins us on the show to talk about all that and more, including a few things that didn’t make the book’s final draft, with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.   Featured Books (episode) Dirtbag, Massachusetts by Isaac Fitzgerald Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay The White Boy Shuffle by Paul Beatty The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake  by Andre Dubus III, Breece D'J Pancake   Featured Books (TBR Topoff) Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).   A full transcript of this episode is available here.