Bethanne’s October Picks
Dear Wags,
It’s been a busy, bookish autumn. Here’s just a bit of the ground I covered:
October 12 – Tobias Carroll interviewed me for Vol. 1 Brooklyn about the new season of my Podglomerate series Missing Pages. Tobias obviously rocks.
October 18 – In Passau, Germany, I met up with a statue of Emerenz Meier (see above), a feisty early twentieth century writer who emigrated to America. She had a few things to say about female creativity.
October 22 – In Prague, I popped by the Franz Kafka Museum. It left me with a whole new appreciation for the fellow who gave us the overused modifier Kafkaesque. Incidentally, back when I lived in Charlottesville, Virginia, there was a great coffeehouse called Kafkafé. You can’t have too much of that.
October 27 – Had lunch with The Great Alice McDermott and interviewed her for the LA Times about her new novel, Absolution. As always, she served up her delightful mix of lofty talk about writing and personal warmth.
October 31 – Brought my Literary Editing & Publishing students at American University Halloween candy. They deserve it, since much of what I have to teach them about publishing is a bummer. I want them to get out there and change it.
November 3 – Took part in The Writer’s Center, Bethesda, LIVE! Variety Show, alongside Claude Olsen, Thea Brown, Shannon Sanders, and Jamila Minnicks. Thanks to all who took part and attended!
November 9 – Attended back-to-back publishing events and heard Judith Butler discuss the upcoming Who’s Afraid of Gender? It’s the first non-academic title by one of the most talked-about thinkers around, so it’s grab plenty of attention.
November 13 – Recorded what has to be one of my all-time favorite podcast episodes, all about The Bad Art Friend. Even if you’ve gotten this far and missed the contretemps, take a listen when it drops. We have fascinating new insights and interviews about a creative controversy first covered in the New York Times.
Thanksgiving looms, but your BookWag columnist has loads to pack in — author interviews, literary events, and the last boozy, schmoozy publishing luncheons of the year. We’ll bring you the best of it before the holidays mercifully descend.
Yours Ever,
BKP
On the same day (April 5) over three consecutive years (2019-2021), Isabel, her husband Dan, their children Violet and Nathan, and Isabel’s brother Robbie, navigate life tinged by the global pandemic. The characters first appear at the Brooklyn brownstone Isabel and Dan allow Robbie to share, but they soon scatter— upstate, to Iceland, and into the ether. Cunningham devotees will appreciate this elegant portrait of thwarted lives, and the similarities to Mrs Dalloway, by the author’s great influence, Virginia Woolf. By the by, this story reminds readers that no matter how swiftly time flies, it’s no match for how quickly human beings can change their minds.
So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan
Keegan’s spare Irish fiction channels the howls of a million banshees and sheela na gigs—female spirits of rage, mischief and desire. These short stories focus on the volatile relationships between Celtic men and women — sharp, volatile, and shadowed by violence. A man rues a relationship that might have saved him, a seaside town is disrupted by a domineering academic, and a married woman embarks on a risky sexual adventure. Keegan’s acclaimed novels Small Things Like These and Foster portrayed the impact of the infamous Magdalene Laundries on families and communities. Ireland has changed much in the last quarter-century, but her latest work shows how hard a sordid past can be to shake.
The General and Julia by Jon Clinch
Ulysses S. Grant had so many flaws, it’s a wonder his name remains largely untarnished in public memory. That’s a testament to how fiercely America cherished its unity after the Civil War. An alcoholic whose two-dozen-cigars-a-day habit led to terminal throat cancer, Grant lost his fortune in a financial scam. Still, the famed general secured a future for his wife and children by writing his memoirs. Clinch’s novel focuses on Grant’s last days, spent in the Adirondacks writing that life story with his beloved wife Julia at his side. The tale includes some scenes from the president’s early life, but this is really a portrait of a resilient and loving union. The Grants shared an epic marriage, in which a shy young Army officer rose to greatness thanks to his heroically supportive spouse.
The Helsinki Affair by Anna Pitoniak
Pitoniak’s Our American Friend was one of the slyest spy novels I’ve ever read. Her sophomore effort follows Amanda Cole, a CIA operative in Rome whose sudden promotion to station chief is soon followed by a twisty murder investigation. Her father (and fellow agent) Charlie may have something to do with the killing, and all clues lead to the Finnish capital city. There, Amanda finds an ally, a bohemian seventy-something and veteran spy named Kath Frost. From there, the plot heats up faster than a wood-fired sauna. If you’re a fan of Alma Katsu’s Red Widow novels or Lara Prescott’s The Secrets We Kept, don’t miss this female-driven thriller.
The New Naturals by Gabriel Bump
Stricken with grief after their infant daughter dies, Rio and Gibraltar decide to found a utopian community for the “New Naturals,” a place free from American racism. They build their dream collective on a mountainside in western Massachusetts, and are soon joined by other outsiders seeking to shut out the cruelties of the modern world. Naturally, no such refuge can be found. It doesn’t take long before this group of seekers turns on one another. Bump’s second novel (after the lovely 2020’s Everywhere You Don’t Belong) is a sharp satire of troubled times that also has a huge heart.
