Tell Me What You’re Reading #3: Jim Finnegan on a literary tour de force, from Haruki Murakami to Joe Ide, Jennifer Egan, Stephen King and many others
Jim provides an impressive tour of novels, short stories, histories, detective and spy tales, magical realism, library books and the travail of audio books, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, “By the Book” from The New York Times Book Review, and Symphony Space on the upper west side of Manhattan. Hard as it may be to believe, there is a bit of a connection between and among the 30+ books and other materials we discuss.
My old friend Jim Finnegan is a voracious and a critical reader, a student of history and of the novel, a fan of Thomas McGuane, Olen Steinhauer, Jennifer Egan, Pete Dexter, Joe Ide, Stephen King, Robert Caro. and many others, but perhaps especially of Haruki Murakami, who Jim is certain will be a Nobel Prize recipient.
Jim is from the Bronx (my place of birth as well) and retains the enthusiasm, intellectual curiosity and healthy scepticism of his youth. We touch on over 30 books in our discussion. Links and reviews to most are below.
This is our first podcast from the Anchor Podcast Lab.
What Jim is reading* . . . [*or has read and is referred to in our discussion]
Men Without Women, by Haruki Murakami
Buy on Amazon
Review The New York Times | Los Angeles Times
A Wild Sheep Chase, by Haruki Murakami
Buy on Amazon Reviews The New York Times | The New Yorker
Cloudbursts, by Thomas McGuane
Buy on Amazon
Reviews The New York Times - Stories Filled With Strivers, Schemers and Adventurers Los Angeles Times
92 in the Shade, Thomas McGuane
Review New York Times
The Overstory, by Richard Powers
Buy on Amazon
Reviews The New York Times The Heroes of This Novel Are Centuries Old and 300 Feet Tall|The Washington Post The most exciting novel about trees you’ll ever read | The Los Angeles Times - Humanity is waging an inexplicable war on trees. It's not going to work out for either side
Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien
Review The New Yorker
All the Old Knives, Olen Steinhauer
Buy on Amazon
Review The New York Times
The Tourist, Olen Steinhauer
Buy on Amazon
Review The New York Times
The Middleman, Olen Steinhauer
Buy on Amazon
Review The Washington Post
Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose
Buy on Amazon
Reviews The New York Times | The Washington Post | The Los Angeles Times
IQ, by Joe Ide
Buy on Amazon
Reviews The New York Times | The Washington Post | The Los Angeles Times | NPR
Righteous, by Joe Ide
Buy on Amazon
Reviews The New York Times | NPR | The Washington Post
Paris Trout, by Pete Dexter
Buy on Amazon
Reviews New York Times | The New York Times | The New York Times From Memory to Page, Or How Pete Dexter Wrote a Prize Winner
God’s Pocket, by Pete Dexter
Buy on Amazon
Review The New Yorker
Manhattan Beach, by Jennifer Egan
Buy on Amazon
Reviews The New York Times | The Atlantic | The New Yorker
A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan
Buy on Amazon
Reviews The New York Times | The Washington Post | The Paris Review | The New Yorker
11/22/63, by Stephen King
Buy on Amazon
Reviews The New York Times | The Los Angeles Times http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/20/entertainment/la-ca-stephen-king-20111120
NPR https://www.npr.org/2011/11/13/142181938/stephen-king-plots-to-save-jfk-in-11-22-63
Mr. Mercedes, by Stephen King
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2LJ20se
The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/books/review/stephen-kings-mr-mercedes.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/22/books/review/outsider-stephen-king.html
The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/
The Los Angeles times http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-stephenking-20140601-story.html
Finders Keepers, by Stephen King
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2PhAi8j
The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/books/review/stephen-kings-finders-keepers.html
The Washington Post https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/books/review/stephen-kings-finders-keepers.html
NPR https://www.npr.org/2015/06/04/411256140/finders-keepers-is-a-simple-book-about-complicated-ideas
End of Watch, by Stephen King
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2N3QNHu
The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/books/review/stephen-kings-end-of-watch.html
NPR - Stephen King: 'My Imagination Was Very Active — Even At A Young Age' https://www.npr.org/2018/07/27/633002291/stephen-king-my-imagination-was-very-active-even-at-a-young-age
The Green Mile, by Stephen King
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2PiDtwk
Huffington Post https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-green-mile-stephen-king-set-out-a-path-to-mull_us_5a248051e4b05072e8b56a5f
Memoir from Antproof Case, by Mark Helprin
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2NxRq9f
The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/20/books/books-of-the-times-beware-the-first-sip-of-ol-demon-coffee.html
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/09/books/pursued-by-a-bean.html
The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1995/03/26/his-secret-life/56d962e1-0a21-4496-82f1-9990407f2a41/?utm_term=.a99e1f0f8e5f
The Los Angeles Times http://articles.latimes.com/1995-05-14/books/bk-263_1_antproof-case
2666, by Roberto Bolaño
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2MZKZik
The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/books/review/Lethem-t.html
The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112002962.html
Catch 22, by Joseph Heller
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2PnjGvX
The New York Times - “Wildly original, brilliantly comic, brutally gruesome, it is a dazzling performance that will probably outrage nearly as many readers as it delights.” https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/02/15/home/heller-catch.html?mcubz=3
The Power Broker, by Robert Caro
Amazon https://amzn.to/2NvLBct
The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/magazine/robert-caros-big-dig.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/books/review/the-power-broker-40-years-later.html
The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1974/07/22/the-power-broker-i-the-best-bill-drafter-in-albany
The Path to Power, by Robert Caro
Amazon https://amzn.to/2PQGPaU
The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/21/books/up-from-texas.html
The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1982/12/06/the-path-to-pretension/28fe3723-fd88-48b7-899b-284948d47917/?utm_term=.49801ce994a6
Means of Ascent, by Robert Caro
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2PQMC0f
The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/11/books/the-long-shadow-of-ambition.html
The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/03/21/lbj-the-historians-scalpel/f5ef0597-a7c9-4ed2-83e5-e80c8915bda4/?utm_term=.5dc153c3573e
The Los Angeles Times http://articles.latimes.com/1990-03-13/news/vw-254_1_lyndon-johnson
Master of the Senate, by Robert Caro
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2LHrAxQ
The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/28/books/friendly-persuasion.html
The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2002/04/21/wheeling-and-dealing/bd09b1fe-1f87-4ab1-81fe-751009f3de64/
The Los Angeles Times http://articles.latimes.com/2002/apr/28/books/bk-gould28
The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/back-issues-the-compassion-of-lyndon-johnson
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/back-issues-the-compassion-of-lyndon-johnson, Robert Caro
The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Vol. IV, by Robert Caro
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2Ph0yzE
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2MCnFrs
The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/books/review/the-passage-of-power-robert-caros-new-lbj-book.html
The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-robert-a-caros-the-passage-of-power-the-years-of-lyndon-johnson/2012/05/01/gIQASh16uT_story.html
The Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-robert-caro-20120506-story.html
NPR https://www.npr.org/books/authors/151439873/robert-a-caro
The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/04/02/the-transition
and more . . .
The Derry Connection by Maya Prohovnik
https://anchor.fm/derry-connection/episodes/d5db44
https://mobile.twitter.com/derryconnection?lang=en
Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2PeRon2
The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/books/review/killers-of-the-flower-moon-david-grann.html
The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-marked-woman
Shoe Dog: by A Memoir by the Creator of Nike, by Phil Knight
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2BY0aEc
Born to Run, by Bruce Springsteen
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2POXvQh
The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/books/review/bruce-springsteen-born-to-run-richard-ford.html
Vanity Fair https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/09/bruce-springsteen-cover-story
The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/11/no-surrender/501110/
Sinatra, the Chairman, by James Kaplan
Buy on Amazon https://amzn.to/2POTnzL
The New Yorker - Frank Sinatra and the Scandalous but Scholarly Biography
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/frank-sinatra-and-the-scandalous-but-scholarly-biography
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
Amazon https://amzn.to/2PROrdh
The New York Times - Huckleberry Finn, Alive at 100, by Norman Mailer
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/09/books/huckleberry-finn-alive-at-100.html
Bunch of Grapes, Vineyard Haven, Martha’s Vineyard
Welcome to Bunch of Grapes -We’re your independent, locally owned bookstore located in the heart of Vineyard Haven, on Martha's Vineyard. We’re a community of writers and readers, featuring a carefully curated selection of the finest books and sidelines, and hosting author events year-round. https://www.bunchofgrapes.com
