EP52: Two Trips to Vietnam, Murder, and Romance

Live from the Book Shop: John Updike's Ghost

After embarrassing himself by trying and failing to give Mark Zuckerberg money, Sam describes his first experience with reading Kristin Hannah, in particular her upcoming "The Women," which is about nurses in Vietnam, and shares some qualities with "A Little Life," for good and ill. If you don't have a great feel for post-Vietnam U.S. culture, this is a solid read. And guess what? Hannah's reading the new Alice McDermott book, "Absolution," which is ALSO set in Vietnam. And is maybe a little more literary. Are there truly any selfless acts? Maybe see what Kurt Vonnegut thinks; the graphic-novel adaptation of "Slaughterhouse Five" is a triumph. It's hard not to think it was written yesterday, sometimes, particularly in the context of what's happening now in Israel-Palestine. For lighter fare, Hannah has read "West Heart Kill," a murder mystery set at a hunt club, with some fourth-wall interludes that's a bit mansplainy. Finally, Sam reads an actual romance for the first time, a first adult romance from the young-adult National Book Award-winning Kacen Callender, who has written what is very much not a YA book. Sam is largely charmed, even if he's outside his comfort zone.