Live from the Book Shop: John Updike's Ghost Hannah Harlow and Sam Pfeifle

It's a special edition of "John Updike's Ghost," recorded live from the Newburyport Literary Festival, with special guests Jami Attenberg and Steve Almond, veteran authors who have both penned great new books about writing. Steve's "Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow," is an instruction manual that allows for failure along the way; Jami's "1000 Words," an outgrowth of the writing community Jami has built largely on Twitter, offers encouragement and advice on moving forward. But how does being in the writing community affect how you read? Jami and Steve both have great thoughts about how that works and tons of titles to discuss. If you're looking for a big discussion of cultural mores, deconstructionism, separating the art from the artist, hate-reading, working with young writers, the joy of children's books, capitalism getting into the ears of writers, and so much more. If you're looking for a wide-ranging and heady literary discussion, this is it!

Hannah has absconded to New York City, but no one will go to the Beatrix Potter exhibit with her. Such a shame. No matter! We're fired up about the Newburyport Literary Festival, and ready to talk books, starting with a recap of Leigh Bardugo's brand-new "The Familiar," which Sam has decided he likes quite a bit. Maybe not quite as much as both of us like "The Secret Commonwealth," but not everyone can be Philip Pullman. Dude is just unparalleled in his ability to ask giant questions (religion! fascism!) with effortless storytelling. 

Not sure Sam would say the same about Christine Ma-Kellams, whose debut novel, "The Band," is among the strangest books he's ever read and he's not quite sure what to make of it. If you at least know what we mean when we say "K-Pop," you might be into it. But Hannah is super into "I Cheerfully Refuse," the latest from Leif Enger and a novel that offers a bit of hope-punk future along with multiple sentence that just hit you right in the chest. Finally, we wrap with a look at John Le Carre's "Call for the Dead," which is a George Smiley novel, and Sam now knows that Smiley is, indeed, his greatest recurring character. If you haven't read a book from 1961 in a while, give it a shot. It's a good way to get influencer culture off the palate. 

Just off a big night out on the town in Beverly, Hannah and Sam are focused on brand-new releases, of a wide variety, plus an older book that is very much NOT related to the website it shares a name with. That book is "Storm Front," the first in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, an older book (2000) recommended to Hannah by a customer, which has a great combination of noir and magic, but also some tawdry sex, which is mildly offputting. Orgies! Which provides a transition to "A Short Walk Through a Wide World," the debut novel from librarian Douglas Westerbeke, which has some odd sex scenes and lots of bloodiness, but not a lot of plot. That leads to "Rainbow Black," by Maggie Thrash, a Satanic Panic story where our main character finds her parents in the clink for Satanism. It's a little witch-hunty. 

That leads us back in time to "Clear," a story where you learn all about Scottish history and how the landed gentry were evil bastards, but Sam is highly skeptical of the way it all wraps up. It reminds Hannah of "The Colony." But also of "The Safekeep," which Hannah dubs, "fantastic." It comes out in late May. Look for the big twist! Finally, Sam wraps up with some thoughts on the new Leigh Bardugo adult novel, "The Familiar." He enjoys it so far and isn't clear on why Hannah was down on it. Better than "Ninth House" and "Hell Bent," anyway. 

It's a late-night edition of John Updike's Ghost and Hannah and Sam are ready to rock and roll. First up is Tana French's new thriller, "The Hunter," a follow up to "The Searcher," which Hannah hasn't read, but she wasn't bothered by this. Brilliant audiobook experience. Sticking with violent acts, Sam talks about how seeing the new Bob Marley movie (awesome) got him reading Marlon James' "A Brief History of Seven Killings" (also awesome), and how they make an amazing one-two punch. Also involving people getting shot and not dying, but a little closer to home, Hannah has read "All Souls," by Michal Patrick MacDonald, a story of growing up in Southie in the late 1970s (busing! racists!), which was a great community, but ultimately really not great (though does trigger Sam doing his Southie accent). And speaking of bad communities that probably felt good at the time, Sam has read the new Pete Rose book, "Charlie Hustle," by Keith O'Brien ("Fly Girls," "Paradise Falls"), and is excited to talk about it with Keith and Chad Finn at the Newburyport Literary Festival. Do you like Pete Rose? Read this book and see if that's still true (also, Sam mentions "Big Red Machine," but the book is actually just called "The Machine"). 

Finally, Hannah LOVES "James," the new re-telling of Huckleberry Finn, from Percival Everett. You need to read it now, whether you've read the Mark Twain recently, or not at all. Are you one of those readers who thinks Finn is too sacred retell? Don't be. Oh, and there's a coda for "Holly," where Sam explains why it's not as bad as he thought (the "other book" is "If It Bleeds," short stories).

Is March Fourth a "declarative sentence"? No, Sam, it's an imperative sentence. But it's Hannah's birthday and at least he remembered that, if not his grammar lessons. Not to worry, though, this episode is chock full of weighty discussion, starting with "Women and Children First," the biography of the pioneering Dr. Susan Dimock (with a side bar on the enshittification of Google), and the subject of our first Sunday Salon on March 10 in Beverly Farms. From there, we head into discussion of a cool little collection of Jonathan Lethem essays, interviews, and short stories from PM Press, which got Sam buzzing, and not just because Lethem is living in Maine right now. This leads to a solid discussion of what makes for a good interview (or a bad one) — and that dovetails perfectly into Hannah's read of "Supercommunicators," by Charles Duhigg, which leads into a discussion of ski instructors who could really use the book and communication techniques that may seem obvious, but also work. 

Someone who doesn't need much advice about communication is Philip Pullman, whose "The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ" is a triumph and has Sam very excited, despite the fact it was released 13 years ago. He's not sure how he missed it. If you're interested in mythmaking and Christianity's core stories, you have to read it. And, speaking of mythmaking, Hannah has read the new Katherine Arden, "The Warm Hands of Ghosts," and it does seem to deliver on all of her promise from the "Bear and the Nightingale" trilogy, which makes Sam hyperbolic. It's dark and makes clear that war is, indeed, very bad. The new Stephen King, though? Yeah, it's also pretty bad. Sam's going to finish "Holly," but he's not sure why. The phrase "social commentary for three-year-olds" may have been uttered. However, it does trigger a pretty good discussion about whether you can write a good book that's only for a certain subset of people or if truly good books are "for everyone."

Like Paul Lynch's "Prophet Song," which everyone really needs to read. As a reminder. 

Hannah is back from Winter Institute and she has all sorts of thoughts on the state of the bookselling industry (900 booksellers in the same place is NOT illegal, it turns out). She's not sure she's a hero, exactly, but not every bookseller is in tony Beverly Farms. Also, it turns out she didn't learn all that much about what's coming down the pipeline, but she did get a little jazzed about "Our Hidden Conversations," by Michele Norris, and she's really jazzed about "The Other Valley," the debut novel from Scott Alexander Howard (it's "speculative," which is apparently "all the genres that depart from realism"), who studied philosophy at the University of Toronto. Depending on your view of the current state of the world, you might find Paul Lynch's "Prophet Song" either speculative or all-too-realistic — Sam loves it. A look at the domestic side of fascism's rise that forces you to consider what happens when it comes to your front door. 

Even more dystopian is "Earth Abides," George R. Stewart's classic from 1949, which is back in print and in development for an Amazon series. You may feel like you've read it before, but that's because it spawned a ton of imitators. Thanks to Cincinnati's Downbound Books for the find! Finally, Sam can't figure out why Colson Whitehead's "Crook Manifesto" didn't hit the way "Harlem Shuffle" did. It's great, a continuation of Whitehead's exploration of the mid-century Harlem underground with his trademark sentence-level excellence and expert ability to show, not tell.