Rumaan Alam zooms into the online void paradox that is the Damn Library to talk about his new novel, Leave the World Behind. Grocery shopping, writing a glue trap, personal detail, hypertext, and careful language choices all populate a very far-ranging conversation that veers from teeth to Airbnb foibles. Plus, Rumaan brought along Want by Lynn Steger Strong and we talk about why it’s like a ripe fruit, which opens up even further avenues, like literary friendships and books as dreams.

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What’d you buy?

Rumaan: Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar // Memorial by Bryan Washington // Self-Portrait by Celia Paul

Christopher: The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman // Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann (audiobook)

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Drew: Know My Name by Chanel Miller

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This Episode’s Recommendations:

Rumaan: The Music of Leave the World Behind, including:

* Designer by Aldous Harding
* the music of Marlon Williams
* Reward by Cate Le Bon
* Bottle It In by Kurt Vile
* Lust for Life by Lana Del Rey
* “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” by Bob Dylan
* Truth is a Beautiful Thing by London Grammar
* Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest by Bill Callahan
* Jessye Norman singing “Four Last Songs” by Richard Strauss
* Push the Sky Away by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (particularly “Higgs Boson Blues”)

Drew: A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet // The Sundial by Shirley Jackson // The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

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Christopher: The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

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This week’s themed cocktail:

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So Many Damn Books

So Many Damn Books

A blessing, a curse, a podcast. est. 2014. Christopher (@cdhermelin) invites folks to the Damn Library to talk about reading, literature, publishing, and trying to make it through their never-dwindling stack of things to read. All with a themed drink in hand. Recorded at the Damn Library in Brooklyn, NY.