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Suri from Time Out joins Jonny to chat about a brand new book - Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman. A workplace satire set in a dystopian alternate reality, it follows the underling employees of an Amazon-type workplace and the daily minutae that dictate the experience of the working class strata.
Suri from Time Out joins Jonny to chat about a brand new book - Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman. A workplace satire set in a dystopian alternate reality, it follows the underling employees of an Amazon-type workplace and the daily minutae that dictate the experience of the working class strata.
Bonjour et bienvenu dans un nouvel épisode !On se retrouve aujourd'hui pour un épisode un peu plus historique ; et aujourd'hui, on va parler de Jane AustenVoici les sources qui m'ont permis d'écrire cet épisode : PONT-HUMBERT, Catherine, CAMAR, Françoise, BERNARD, Christine and LEMER, Delphine, 2020. Jane Austen (1775 - 1817). France Culture [en ligne]. 16 April 2020. [Consulté le 5 July 2024]. Disponible à l'adresse : https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/toute-une-vie/jane-austen-1775-1817-4083681 Adelle Waldman, 2014. J'ai lu toute l'œuvre de Jane Austen, plusieurs fois. Slate.fr [en ligne]. 2 February 2014. [Consulté le 5 July 2024]. Disponible à l'adresse : https://www.slate.fr/story/82833/jane-austen-completiste [Auteur ?], [Sans date]. Jane Austen France. jane-austen [en ligne]. [Consulté le 5 July 2024]. Disponible à l'adresse : https://www.janeausten.fr/ ÉDITIONS LE MAITRE, 2AD. Jane Austen - Biographie de l'auteur. lePetitLitteraire.fr [en ligne]. 2AD. [Consulté le 5 July 2024]. Disponible à l'adresse : https://www.lepetitlitteraire.fr/auteurs/jane-austen ___________________N'hésitez pas à me rejoindre sur Wattpad : @justemevena et sur instagram : @podcast_le_monde_du_livre Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 31, 2024 is: foist FOIST verb Foist, which is almost always used with on or upon, is used when someone forces another person to accept something, usually something that is not good or is not wanted. Foist can also mean “to pass off as genuine or worthy.” // I don't want to foist anything on you, but if you like this old quilt you're welcome to have it. // Faulty parts have been foisted on unwitting car owners. See the entry > Examples: “Since the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act during the New Deal era, employers have had to pay most of their workers for 40 hours of work even when business was slow. That was just the cost of doing business, a risk capitalists bore in exchange for the upside potential of profit. Now, however, employers foist that risk onto their lowest-paid workers: Part-time employees, not shareholders, have to pay the price when sale volumes fluctuate.” — Adelle Waldman, The New York Times, 19 Feb. 2024 Did you know? That the word foist is commonly used today to mean “to force another to accept by stealth or deceit” makes sense given its original—now obsolete—use in talking about a bit of literal sleight of hand. When it first rolled into English in the mid-1500s, foist was all about dice, dice, baby, referring to palming—that is, concealing in one's hand a phony die so as to secretly introduce it into a game at a convenient time. The action involved in this cheating tactic reflects the etymology of foist: the word is believed to have come from the obsolete Dutch verb vuisten, meaning “to take into one's hand.” Vuisten in turn comes from vuyst, the Middle Dutch word for “fist,” which itself is distantly related to the Old English ancestor of fist. By the late 16th century, foist was being used in English to mean “to insert surreptitiously,” and it quickly acquired the “force to accept” meaning that is most familiar today.
Adelle Waldman is the author of the novels, Help Wanted and The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., which was published in 2013 and was named one of that year's best books by The New Yorker, The Economist, The New Republic, NPR, Slate, Bookforum, The Guardian and others. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and daughter. We talked about Adelle's job working at a big box store, the societal problems of low wage jobs, creating omniscient point of view, Jane Austin, George Eliot, Middlemarch, creating a common enemy in a story, and showing her novel to her former co-workers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Can novelists make a difference in the world? Of course we know they can - we've seen plenty of examples. But how does it happen? And what are the challenges might a twenty-first century novelist hoping to bring about social change face? In this episode, Jacke talks about the example of Upton Sinclair, whose famous novel The Jungle shone a spotlight on the immigrants working at Chicago's meatpacking plants and led to key social reforms. Then Jacke talks to Adelle Waldman (The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.), whose new novel Help Wanted is set in the world of workers at a big box store. And finally, Professor Edward Chamberlin (Storylines: How Words Shape Our World) returns to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We kick off our new, 8-episode season on "the marriage plot" in literature with guest Adelle Waldman (The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., Help Wanted) talking to us about one of her favorite authors, Jane Austen. You can learn more about Adelle and her books at her website: https://adellewaldman.com/ If you like the podcast, and want more of it in your life, join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight Thanks for listening!
A bestselling novelist took a job at a big box store, was shocked by what she found, and decided to write a novel about it. We talk with Adelle Waldman about her new novel, Help Wanted. It's about what happens when a group of workers at a big box store scheme to get their overbearing … Continue reading Adelle Waldman, HELP WANTED & Remembering Paul Auster →
On this edition of The Weekly Reader we review two new books that take us behind the scenes of two very different and oddly intriguing work environments: Help Wanted, by Adelle Waldman, and Burn Book: A Tech Love Story, by Kara Swisher.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Author and New York Magazine writer Emily Gould joins Sarah and Miranda to discuss her controversial personal essay, The Lure of Divorce, published in The Cut last month. We tackle the current divorce discourse, the work it takes to support our own mental health, what it's like to write so intimately and so publicly at the same time, and whether it's “basic” to be married right now. LINKS: Emily's piece The Lure of Divorce in the Cut Excerpt from Leslie Jamison's Splinters in the New Yorker Emily's profile of Adelle Waldman's “Help Wanted” All Fours by Miranda July Join the Patreon!
Adelle Waldman is the author of the novel Help Wanted, available from W.W. Norton & Co. Waldman is the best-selling author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., which was named a best book of the year by The New Yorker, Economist, NPR, Elle, and many others. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal, among other publications. She lives in New York State. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch Twitter Instagram TikTok Bluesky Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Schitt's Creek star Eugene Levy visits distant lands and tastes exotic foods as the host of the Apple TV+ series The Reluctant Traveler. Levy describes it as a show about "a guy traveling who doesn't love to travel."Also, book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Adelle Waldman's new novel, Help Wanted, and David Bianculli reviews a TV show about the Lincoln assassination called Manhunt.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Schitt's Creek star Eugene Levy visits distant lands and tastes exotic foods as the host of the Apple TV+ series The Reluctant Traveler. Levy describes it as a show about "a guy traveling who doesn't love to travel."Also, book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Adelle Waldman's new novel, Help Wanted, and David Bianculli reviews a TV show about the Lincoln assassination called Manhunt.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
The office has long been a fixture in pop culture—but, in 2024, amid the rise of remote work and the resurgence of organized labor, the way we relate to our jobs is in flux. The stories we tell about them are changing, too. On this episode of Critics at Large, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss Adelle Waldman's new novel “Help Wanted,” which delves into the lives of retail workers at a big-box store in upstate New York. They're joined by The New Yorker's Katy Waldman, who lays out the trajectory of the office novel, from tales of postwar alienation to Gen X meditations on selling out and millennial accounts of the gig economy. Then, the hosts consider how this shift is showing up across other mediums. Though some white-collar employees can now comfortably work from home, the office remains an object of fascination. “The workplace is within us,” says Fry. “There will always be shit-talking about co-workers, about bosses—the materials for narrative will always be there.”Read, watch, and listen with the critics:“Working Girl” (1988)“Office Space” (1999)“The West Wing” (1999-2006)“Help Wanted,” by Adelle Waldman“The Pale King,” by David Foster Wallace“Personal Days,” by Ed Park“Then We Came to the End,” by Joshua Ferris“The New Me,” by Halle Butler“The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.,” by Adelle Waldman“The Jungle,” by Upton Sinclair“Severance,” by Ling Ma“Temporary,” by Hilary Leichter“Severance” (2022—)“The Vanity Fair Diaries” (2017)“Doubt: A Parable,” by John Patrick ShanleyDolly Parton's “9 to 5”“Mad Men” (2007-15)“Industry” (2020—)“Norma Rae” (1979)“30 Rock” (2006-13)New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.
The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience
Bestselling author, Adelle Waldman, spoke with me about her former life as a journalist, writerly wish fulfillment, and going undercover for her latest workplace novel, Help Wanted. Adelle Waldman is a journalist and the bestselling author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., which was named a best book of the year by The New Yorker, Economist, NPR, The New Republic, Slate, Bookforum, The Guardian and many others. Her latest novel, Help Wanted, is from W.W. Norton in March of 2024, and described as a “funny, eye-opening tale of work in contemporary America.” It has been named one of New York Magazine's "23 Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2024," VOGUE's Best Books of the Year So Far, ELLE's Best (and Most Anticipated) Fiction of 2024, Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2024, and one of Kirkus's Most Anticipated Books of 2024. A starred Kirkus Review called the book, "The workplace dramedy of the year." Publishers Weekly said of the book, "A bracing and worthwhile glimpse of the high stakes faced by low-wage workers." Adelle attended Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal, among others. [Discover The Writer Files Extra: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm] [If you're a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file Adelle Waldman and I discussed: Why she turned to journalism as a day job Writing a hard-to-like protagonist The breakout success of her first novel How co-workers and friends at a Big Box store inspired her latest Found comedy, unfortunate nerds, unrealistic dreams And a lot more! Show Notes: adellewaldman.com Help Wanted: A Novel by Adelle Waldman (Amazon) Adelle Waldman Amazon Author Page Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
CW: Emotional abuse, Explicit sexual language, Antisemitism, Racism We've had multiple requests to do this book, and I was so excited Kerri Kearse (@_iamlivingcolor) offered to cover it with us! The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. is a 2013 novel by Adelle Waldman that covers the dating life of Nathaniel Piven in earl 2000s New York City. TL; DL: he's awful! SUMMARY Nate attends a party at his ex-girlfriend Elisa's apartment and meets Hannah. He and Hannah date and delve into a relationship of envy, false expectations, and status rivalries. Also, he's a sexist jerk.
Adelle Waldman reads an excerpt from her novel "The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.," with sound design and music composition from Haley Johnsen and Tim Karplus. This episode is brought to you by Powell's Books, the world's largest family owned independent bookstore, with over 2 million new and used volumes across five Portland area stores and their website Powells.com. Visit Powells.com and use coupon code "STORYBOUND" for 20% off your purchase of $25 or more. Storybound is hosted by Jude Brewer and brought to you by The Podglomerate and Lit Hub Radio. Let us know what you think of the show on Instagram and Twitter @storyboundpod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Two years ago, the country was gripped by, of all things, a New Yorker short story called "Cat Person" by Kristen Roupenian, which dealt with the murky boundaries of sexual consent in modern dating. Recently, in n+1, Tony Tulathimutte published a short story, "The Feminist," about the dangerous rage of a male feminist whose good deeds go sexually unrewarded. Diana, Millie, and Oxford talk about both stories (as well as other books like "The Beauty Myth" by Naomi Wolf, "Loner" by Teddy Wayne, and "The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P." by Adelle Waldman) and the heightened emphasis our society places on dating. Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Diana (@discoveryduck) Millie (@onemillicentcho) Oxford (@JesuInToast) REFERENCED RESOURCES: The Feminist by Tony Tulathimutte: https://nplusonemag.com/issue-35/fiction-drama/the-feminist/ Cat Person by Kristen Roupenian: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-person Vox article on The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/6/20995542/love-affairs-of-nathaniel-p-adelle-waldman The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf: https://www.strandbooks.com/fiction/the-beauty-myth-0099595745/_/searchString/beauty%20myth Loner by Teddy Wayne: https://www.strandbooks.com/fiction/loner-a-novel/_/searchString/loner The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.: https://www.strandbooks.com/fiction/the-love-affairs-of-nathaniel-p SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)
Introducing the next evolution: Storybound, a new radio theater program designed for the podcast age. Hosted by Jude Brewer and with original music composed for each episode, the podcast features the voices of today’s top literary icons reading their essays, poems, and fiction.In each episode of Storybound, listeners will be treated to their favorite authors and writers reading some of their most impactful stories, designed with powerful and immersive sound environments.Season one stories will include:–Mitch Albom reads an excerpt from his forthcoming memoir Finding Chika, with sound design and music composition from Maiah Wynne.–Lidia Yuknavitch reads her powerful short story “Street Walker” from her upcoming collection Verge, with sound design and music composition from Whiston & Warmack.–Matt Gallagher reads his short story “Know Your Enemy,” previously published in Wired magazine’s fiction issue, with sound design and music composition from Colin Hogan.–Kim Barnes reads from Hungry for the World, with sound design and music composition from Pretty Gritty.–Jack Rhysider, host of the Darknet Diaries podcast, reads an original essay, with sound design and music composition from Shane Brown.–Adelle Waldman reads from The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., with sound design and music composition from Haley Johnsen.–Diksha Basu reads from The Windfall, with sound design and music composition from Katelyn Convery.–Nathan Hill reads from The Nix, with sound design and music composition from Timothy Karplus.–Caitlin Doughty reads from Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs, with sound design and music composition from Stephanie Strange.The show is a collaboration between The Podglomerate podcast network and Lit Hub Radio.Subscribe, listen, and enjoy the engaging stories of literary icons from across the world as we bring you into Storybound. Episodes will begin running weekly on December 3, 2019 and will be available for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Podcasts, PocketCasts, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Castbox, orSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/sttspod)
It took Amanda Goldblatt eight years to write her debut novel, HARD MOUTH. The result is a brilliantly inventive work combining style with emotional impact and classic storytelling. She and James talk about their long friendship, cutting the apocalypse, summoning (or not) imaginary beings, making rules for novels, and remembering the books they read as kids. Plus, Amanda's agent from Frances Goldin Literary Agency, Caroline Eisenmann. - Amanda Goldblatt: https://amandagoldblatt.com/ Buy HARD MOUTH: Buy HARD MOUTH from your local indie bookstore! Amanda and James discuss: Washington University THE CUPBOARD Eugene Pallette Caroline Eisenmann Turner Classic Movies POND by Claire-Louise Bennett MY MAN GODFREY HATCHET by Gary Paulsen THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON by Johann David Wyss Harry Potter THE HUNGER GAMES E.T. J Dilla VOX Notorious B.I.G. Andre 3000 MF Doom Talib Kweli Kerri Webster Gordon Lish Gary Lutz Amy Hempel Sam Lipsyte Christine Schutt "The Sentence is a Lonely Place" by Gary Lutz Jim Shepard Mary Ruefle Tim O'Brien Marilynne Robinson Denis Johnson Cormac McCarthy - Caroline Eisenmann: https://goldinlit.com/agents/ Caroline and James discuss: NOON James Salyer Mary Gaitskill Annie Proulx Ottessa Moshfegh Halle Butler Claire Messud Nell Zink Garth Greenwell Jack Kerouac Ernest Hemingway I KNOW YOU KNOW WHO I AM by Peter Kispert ICM GOING DUTCH by James Gregor Simon & Schuster THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF NATHANIEL P by Adelle Waldman THE LONGING FOR LESS: LIVING WITH MINIMALILSM by Kyle Chayka - http://tkpod.com / tkwithjs@gmail.com / Twitter: @JamesScottTK Instagram: tkwithjs / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/
It's a young man's pod today, as we delve into the often unpleasant psyche of Nathaniel P, the protagonist of Adelle Waldman's debut novel The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. We perform a full asshole autopsy on Nate to see if he's got any redeemable qualities. On the basketball side, we wax effusive on the surprisingly high level of basketball in this year's NCAA tournament and look ahead to the Final Four matchups. Join us in two weeks to talk about Karl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle in conjunction with the start of the NBA Playoffs.
Loner (Simon & Schuster) From the award-winning author of The Love Song of Jonny Valentine, a propulsive novel about a meek Harvard freshman who becomes dangerously infatuated with a classmate. David Federman has never felt appreciated. An academically gifted yet painfully forgettable member of his New Jersey high school class, the withdrawn, mild-mannered freshman arrives at Harvard fully expecting to be embraced by a new tribe of high-achieving peers. But, initially, his social prospects seem unlikely to change, sentencing him to a lifetime of anonymity. Then he meets Veronica Morgan Wells. Struck by her beauty, wit, and sophisticated Manhattan upbringing, David falls feverishly in love. Determined to win her attention and an invite into her glamorous world, he begins compromising his moral standards for this one, great shot at happiness. But both Veronica and David, it turns out, are not exactly as they seem. Loner turns the traditional campus novel on its head as it explores gender politics and class. It is a stunning and timely literary achievement from one of the rising stars of American fiction. Praise for Loner “Like a novel of manners distorted by a twisted funhouse mirror, Teddy Wayne’s Loner moves with wit and stealth and merciless deliberation towards increasingly brutal psychic terrain. Reading it, I found myself amused and then—with creeping force—afraid, repulsed, and ultimately unwilling to put it down." —Leslie Jamison, New York Times bestselling author of The Empathy Exams and The Gin Closet “Teddy Wayne perfectly conjures the mind of a keenly observant, socially ambitious, and utterly heartless college student. Yet no matter what outlandish things David does, I couldn't help but root for him--until the book's gut-punch ending." —Adelle Waldman, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P Teddy Wayne is the author of the novels The Love Song of Jonny Valentine and Kapitoil. A regular contributor to The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and McSweeney's, he is the recipient of a Whiting Writers' Award and an NEA Creative Writing Fellowship. He has taught at Columbia University, Washington University in St. Louis, and the Yale Writers' Conference. He lives in New York.
This week on StoryWeb: Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. For my mother, Bonnie Burrows, in honor of her birthday “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” There are few opening lines to novels as famous as this one. The novel in question is, of course, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Published in 1813, the novel spins out from this opening line. Indeed, Pride and Prejudice is a classic – maybe the classic – example of a “marriage plot” novel. This type of novel drives forward to marriage, a wedding (or two!) by novel’s end. It will seem in a marriage plot novel (or marriage plot film) that the star-crossed lovers will never find, meet, and/or reconcile with each other – but inevitably they do, and by definition, they marry. (For a thoughtful take on the marriage plot, see Adelle Waldman’s New Yorker article, “Why the Marriage Plot Need Never Get Old.”) While Austen didn’t invent the marriage plot, she is perhaps the greatest creator of novels in this genre. The fun of Jane Austen is in seeing the challenges she subjects her characters to, what twists and turns they’ll confront as they make their way to the altar. In this case, will Elizabeth marry Collins, or will she fall for that haughty, opinionated Darcy? And if you cast your vote for Darcy, how on earth will Austen ever get these two headstrong characters together at the same time? Though Austen’s novels were first published anonymously and though they did not bring her fame in her lifetime, she is practically a cottage industry now. More than a cottage industry – more like an industry giant. She is an institution, and a money-making one at that. One of the most beloved novels in the English language, Pride and Prejudice has sold over 20 million copies, and Austen’s five other major novels are still read and enjoyed by many as well. There have been too many film and television adaptations to count (though Colin Firth’s portrayal of Darcy is so good that we may as well stop, don’t you think?). There have been inventive rewrites, such as Helen Fielding’s 1996 novel, Bridget Jones’s Diary (my favorite of the modern takes on Pride and Prejudice), and even the 2009 parody, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. What are your favorite scenes from Pride and Prejudice? What moments stand out to you? Of course, the scene where Elizabeth reads Darcy’s letter is at the heart of the novel, as Elizabeth realizes she must confront both her pride and her prejudice. At the end of this podcast, I’ll read one of my other favorite moments, this one near the novel’s opening as Elizabeth races across fields that are wet and dirty after a downpour, determined to tend to her ailing sister. It is the perfect introduction to this delightfully spirited heroine. She’s been with us for over two hundred years, but she still leaps off the page and seems every bit as bold, new, and fresh as she must have seemed when Austen created her. Ready to meet or reacquaint yourself with Elizabeth Bennet? You can read the novel for free online – but of course, this is one book you’ll just want to curl up with in hard copy with a cup of tea at your side. If you need help keeping track of the novel’s many characters and their intricate relationships with each other, you might consult a diagram of their relationships or a family tree. If you want to delve a little deeper into all things Austen, visit Jane Austen’s House Museum, which bills itself as the “heart of Hampshire,” or the Jane Austen Centre in Bath. And if you’re really a devoted fan, you might want to travel to Bath for the annual ten-day Jane Austen Festival held each September. The festival features Regency reenactors, “theatre, music, food, a ball, workshops, readings, dances and the famous Regency Promenade.” You’ll also find Austen resources at the Jane Austen Society of North America and the Jane Austen Society of the United Kingdom. For links to all these resources, visit thestoryweb.com/austen. Listen now as I read Chapter Seven from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Bennet's property consisted almost entirely in an estate of two thousand a year, which, unfortunately for his daughters, was entailed, in default of heirs male, on a distant relation; and their mother's fortune, though ample for her situation in life, could but ill supply the deficiency of his. Her father had been an attorney in Meryton, and had left her four thousand pounds. She had a sister married to a Mr. Phillips, who had been a clerk to their father and succeeded him in the business, and a brother settled in London in a respectable line of trade. The village of Longbourn was only one mile from Meryton; a most convenient distance for the young ladies, who were usually tempted thither three or four times a week, to pay their duty to their aunt and to a milliner's shop just over the way. The two youngest of the family, Catherine and Lydia, were particularly frequent in these attentions; their minds were more vacant than their sisters', and when nothing better offered, a walk to Meryton was necessary to amuse their morning hours and furnish conversation for the evening; and however bare of news the country in general might be, they always contrived to learn some from their aunt. At present, indeed, they were well supplied both with news and happiness by the recent arrival of a militia regiment in the neighbourhood; it was to remain the whole winter, and Meryton was the headquarters. Their visits to Mrs. Phillips were now productive of the most interesting intelligence. Every day added something to their knowledge of the officers' names and connections. Their lodgings were not long a secret, and at length they began to know the officers themselves. Mr. Phillips visited them all, and this opened to his nieces a store of felicity unknown before. They could talk of nothing but officers; and Mr. Bingley's large fortune, the mention of which gave animation to their mother, was worthless in their eyes when opposed to the regimentals of an ensign. After listening one morning to their effusions on this subject, Mr. Bennet coolly observed: "From all that I can collect by your manner of talking, you must be two of the silliest girls in the country. I have suspected it some time, but I am now convinced." Catherine was disconcerted, and made no answer; but Lydia, with perfect indifference, continued to express her admiration of Captain Carter, and her hope of seeing him in the course of the day, as he was going the next morning to London. "I am astonished, my dear," said Mrs. Bennet, "that you should be so ready to think your own children silly. If I wished to think slightingly of anybody's children, it should not be of my own, however." "If my children are silly, I must hope to be always sensible of it." "Yes—but as it happens, they are all of them very clever." "This is the only point, I flatter myself, on which we do not agree. I had hoped that our sentiments coincided in every particular, but I must so far differ from you as to think our two youngest daughters uncommonly foolish." "My dear Mr. Bennet, you must not expect such girls to have the sense of their father and mother. When they get to our age, I dare say they will not think about officers any more than we do. I remember the time when I liked a red coat myself very well—and, indeed, so I do still at my heart; and if a smart young colonel, with five or six thousand a year, should want one of my girls I shall not say nay to him; and I thought Colonel Forster looked very becoming the other night at Sir William's in his regimentals." "Mamma," cried Lydia, "my aunt says that Colonel Forster and Captain Carter do not go so often to Miss Watson's as they did when they first came; she sees them now very often standing in Clarke's library." Mrs. Bennet was prevented replying by the entrance of the footman with a note for Miss Bennet; it came from Netherfield, and the servant waited for an answer. Mrs. Bennet's eyes sparkled with pleasure, and she was eagerly calling out, while her daughter read, "Well, Jane, who is it from? What is it about? What does he say? Well, Jane, make haste and tell us; make haste, my love." "It is from Miss Bingley," said Jane, and then read it aloud. "MY DEAR FRIEND,— "If you are not so compassionate as to dine to-day with Louisa and me, we shall be in danger of hating each other for the rest of our lives, for a whole day's tete-a-tete between two women can never end without a quarrel. Come as soon as you can on receipt of this. My brother and the gentlemen are to dine with the officers.—Yours ever, "CAROLINE BINGLEY" "With the officers!" cried Lydia. "I wonder my aunt did not tell us of that." "Dining out," said Mrs. Bennet, "that is very unlucky." "Can I have the carriage?" said Jane. "No, my dear, you had better go on horseback, because it seems likely to rain; and then you must stay all night." "That would be a good scheme," said Elizabeth, "if you were sure that they would not offer to send her home." "Oh! but the gentlemen will have Mr. Bingley's chaise to go to Meryton, and the Hursts have no horses to theirs." "I had much rather go in the coach." "But, my dear, your father cannot spare the horses, I am sure. They are wanted in the farm, Mr. Bennet, are they not?" "They are wanted in the farm much oftener than I can get them." "But if you have got them to-day," said Elizabeth, "my mother's purpose will be answered." She did at last extort from her father an acknowledgment that the horses were engaged. Jane was therefore obliged to go on horseback, and her mother attended her to the door with many cheerful prognostics of a bad day. Her hopes were answered; Jane had not been gone long before it rained hard. Her sisters were uneasy for her, but her mother was delighted. The rain continued the whole evening without intermission; Jane certainly could not come back. "This was a lucky idea of mine, indeed!" said Mrs. Bennet more than once, as if the credit of making it rain were all her own. Till the next morning, however, she was not aware of all the felicity of her contrivance. Breakfast was scarcely over when a servant from Netherfield brought the following note for Elizabeth: "MY DEAREST LIZZY,— "I find myself very unwell this morning, which, I suppose, is to be imputed to my getting wet through yesterday. My kind friends will not hear of my returning till I am better. They insist also on my seeing Mr. Jones—therefore do not be alarmed if you should hear of his having been to me—and, excepting a sore throat and headache, there is not much the matter with me.—Yours, etc." "Well, my dear," said Mr. Bennet, when Elizabeth had read the note aloud, "if your daughter should have a dangerous fit of illness—if she should die, it would be a comfort to know that it was all in pursuit of Mr. Bingley, and under your orders." "Oh! I am not afraid of her dying. People do not die of little trifling colds. She will be taken good care of. As long as she stays there, it is all very well. I would go and see her if I could have the carriage." Elizabeth, feeling really anxious, was determined to go to her, though the carriage was not to be had; and as she was no horsewoman, walking was her only alternative. She declared her resolution. "How can you be so silly," cried her mother, "as to think of such a thing, in all this dirt! You will not be fit to be seen when you get there." "I shall be very fit to see Jane—which is all I want." "Is this a hint to me, Lizzy," said her father, "to send for the horses?" "No, indeed, I do not wish to avoid the walk. The distance is nothing when one has a motive; only three miles. I shall be back by dinner." "I admire the activity of your benevolence," observed Mary, "but every impulse of feeling should be guided by reason; and, in my opinion, exertion should always be in proportion to what is required." "We will go as far as Meryton with you," said Catherine and Lydia. Elizabeth accepted their company, and the three young ladies set off together. "If we make haste," said Lydia, as they walked along, "perhaps we may see something of Captain Carter before he goes." In Meryton they parted; the two youngest repaired to the lodgings of one of the officers' wives, and Elizabeth continued her walk alone, crossing field after field at a quick pace, jumping over stiles and springing over puddles with impatient activity, and finding herself at last within view of the house, with weary ankles, dirty stockings, and a face glowing with the warmth of exercise. She was shown into the breakfast-parlour, where all but Jane were assembled, and where her appearance created a great deal of surprise. That she should have walked three miles so early in the day, in such dirty weather, and by herself, was almost incredible to Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley; and Elizabeth was convinced that they held her in contempt for it. She was received, however, very politely by them; and in their brother's manners there was something better than politeness; there was good humour and kindness. Mr. Darcy said very little, and Mr. Hurst nothing at all. The former was divided between admiration of the brilliancy which exercise had given to her complexion, and doubt as to the occasion's justifying her coming so far alone. The latter was thinking only of his breakfast. Her inquiries after her sister were not very favourably answered. Miss Bennet had slept ill, and though up, was very feverish, and not well enough to leave her room. Elizabeth was glad to be taken to her immediately; and Jane, who had only been withheld by the fear of giving alarm or inconvenience from expressing in her note how much she longed for such a visit, was delighted at her entrance. She was not equal, however, to much conversation, and when Miss Bingley left them together, could attempt little besides expressions of gratitude for the extraordinary kindness she was treated with. Elizabeth silently attended her. When breakfast was over they were joined by the sisters; and Elizabeth began to like them herself, when she saw how much affection and solicitude they showed for Jane. The apothecary came, and having examined his patient, said, as might be supposed, that she had caught a violent cold, and that they must endeavour to get the better of it; advised her to return to bed, and promised her some draughts. The advice was followed readily, for the feverish symptoms increased, and her head ached acutely. Elizabeth did not quit her room for a moment; nor were the other ladies often absent; the gentlemen being out, they had, in fact, nothing to do elsewhere. When the clock struck three, Elizabeth felt that she must go, and very unwillingly said so. Miss Bingley offered her the carriage, and she only wanted a little pressing to accept it, when Jane testified such concern in parting with her, that Miss Bingley was obliged to convert the offer of the chaise to an invitation to remain at Netherfield for the present. Elizabeth most thankfully consented, and a servant was dispatched to Longbourn to acquaint the family with her stay and bring back a supply of clothes.
Speak (Ecco Press) A thoughtful, poignant novel that explores the creation of Artificial Intelligence--illuminating the very human need for communication, connection, and understanding. In a narrative that spans geography and time, from the Atlantic Ocean in the seventeenth century, to a correctional institute in Texas in the near future, and told from the perspectives of five very different characters, Speak considers what it means to be human, and what it means to be less than fully alive. A young Puritan woman travels to the New World with her unwanted new husband. Alan Turing, the renowned mathematician and code breaker, writes letters to his best friend's mother. A Jewish refugee and professor of computer science struggles to reconnect with his increasingly detached wife. An isolated and traumatized young girl exchanges messages with an intelligent software program. A former Silicon Valley Wunderkind is imprisoned for creating illegal lifelike dolls. Each of these characters is attempting to communicate across gaps--to estranged spouses, lost friends, future readers, or a computer program that may or may not understand them. In dazzling and electrifying prose, Louisa Hallexplores how the chasm between computer and human--shrinking rapidly with today's technological advances--echoes the gaps that exist between ordinary people. Though each speaks from a distinct place and moment in time, all five characters share the need to express themselves while simultaneously wondering if they will ever be heard, or understood. Praise for Speak "Speak reads like a hybrid of David Mitchell and Margaret Atwood; a literary page turner that spans four centuries and examines the idea of who and what we define as human. Louisa Hall has written a brilliant novel."—Philipp Meyer, author of New York Times bestseller The Son "Speak is that rarest of finds: a novel that doesn't remind me of any other book I've ever read. A complex, nuanced, and beautifully written meditation on language, immortality, the nature of memory, the ethical problems of artificial intelligence, and what it means to be human."—Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven “Louisa Hall's Speak is a deeply original and intelligent novel. It's also riveting. I wouldn't have thought artificial intelligence, as a subject, would make for such a warm and human and psychologically astute novel. I'll be thinking about Babybots and Hall's quietly chilling and all-too-plausible vision of the near-future for a long time to come.”—Adelle Waldman, author ofThe Love Affairs of Nathaniel P “Speak is a triumph. With a poet's voice, Louisa Hall reaches into the past and imagines the future to weave a beautifully complex novel about our human need to communicate. The result is a transcendent story about artificial intelligence that heartbreaking and very, very real.”—Ivy Pochoda, author of Visitation Street Louisa Hall grew up in Philadelphia. After graduating from Harvard, she played squash professionally while finishing her pre-medical coursework and working in a research lab at the Albert Einstein Hospital. She holds a Ph.D. in literature from the University of Texas at Austin, where she currently teaches literature and creative writing, and supervises a poetry workshop at the Austin State Psychiatric Hospital. She is the author of the novel The Carriage House, and her poems have been published in The New Republic, Southwest Review, Ellipsis, and other journals. Ivy Pochoda is the author of Visitation Street and The Art of Disappearing and has a BA from Harvard University in English and Classical Greek with a focus on dramatic literature and a MFA from Bennington College in fiction. She is a former professional squash player and now lives in Los Angeles with her husband.
Martha Frankel’s guests this week are Jamie Rose, Anne Enright, Patricia Morrisroe and Adelle Waldman.
This week, Adelle Waldman discusses Clancy Martin’s “Love and Lies”; Alexandra Alter has news from the publishing world; Dana Goldstein talks about Anya Kamenetz’s “The Test”; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Pamela Paul is the host.
The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. (Picador) Adelle Waldman, whose novel The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. has been on our bestseller list for months, discusses her book with film director Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man). A debut novel by a brilliant young woman about the romantic life of a brilliant young man. Writer Nate Piven's star is rising. After several lean and striving years, he has his pick of both magazine assignments and women: Juliet, the hotshot business reporter; Elisa, his gorgeous ex-girlfriend, now friend; and Hannah, "almost universally regarded as nice and smart, or smart and nice," who holds her own in conversation with his friends. When one relationship grows more serious, Nate is forced to consider what it is he really wants. In Nate's 21st-century literary world, wit and conversation are not at all dead. Is romance? Novelist Adelle Waldman plunges into the psyche of a flawed, sometimes infuriating modern man--one who thinks of himself as beyond superficial judgment, yet constantly struggles with his own status anxiety, who is drawn to women, yet has a habit of letting them down in ways that may just make him an emblem of our times. With tough-minded intelligence and wry good humor The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. is an absorbing tale of one young man's search for happiness--and an inside look at how he really thinks about women, sex and love. Praise for The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.: "Deliciously funny, sharply observed, elegantly told, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. is the best debut I've encountered in years, the best novel about New York, and the best novel about contemporary manhood and the crazy state of gender roles and just "contemporary" life. With a pitch perfect balance of satire and sympathy, reminiscent of Mary McCarthy's The Group, Joshua Ferris' Then We Came to the End, and Jay McInerney'sBrightness Falls, Adelle Waldman's voice is nevertheless entirely--and unabashedly--her own." --Joanna Smith Rakoff, author of the novel A Fortunate Age "Novelist Adelle Waldman does a very tricky thing: she succeeds in crossing the gender line, imagining the world from behind the eyes of a male character both sympathetically and unsentimentally. This former young-literary-man-in-Brooklyn found himself cringing in recognition." --William Deresiewicz, author of A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter "I can't remember the last novel this good about being young and smart and looking for love in the big city. The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. reads as if one of the top tier 19th-century novelists zeroed her social x-ray eyes onto present-moment Brooklyn. Up-and-coming writers and artists everywhere will be squirming with uncomfortable recognition of themselves, their friends, and their psyches; far more readers will be thanking Adelle Waldman for this hilarious, big-hearted, ruthlessly intelligent, and ridiculously well-written novel." --Charles Bock, author of the best-selling novel Beautiful Children ""Bracing and astute. Waldman writes these crisp, smart sentences that are every bit as thoughtful as her characters--people whose relationships founder and flourish in ways that will captivate readers from page one." --Fiona Maazel, author of Last Last Chance and "Woke Up Lonely Adelle Waldman is the author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Slate, The Wall Street Journal and other publications. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband. Filmmaker Marc Webb most recently directed The Amazing Spider-Man 2, after helming the critically acclaimedThe Amazing Spider-Man which grossed over $750 million worldwide. Webb will direct the third installment in the series, The Amazing Spider-Man 3, scheduled for release in 2018. Webb made his feature film debut with the two-time Golden Globe nominated (500) Days of Summer for which he received The National Board of Review's Spotlight Award, recognizing outstanding directorial debuts.
16th Annual Literary Festival
16th Annual Literary Festival
Megan Abbott is the guest. Her latest novel, Dare Me, is due out in paperback from Reagan Arthur / Back Bay Books on August 27, 2013. The New York Times Book Review raves "Megan Abbott has [written]...The Great American Cheerleading Novel, and—stop scowling—it's spectacular.... Subversive stuff... Heathers meets Fight Club good." And Entertainment Weekly calls it "A psychologically astute thriller...Abbott's latest is not only a page-turning mystery—it's also a close look at teen girls' ferocious rivalries and intense bonds." Monologue topics: mail, feminism, Adelle Waldman, Episode 195. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Adelle Waldman is the guest. Her debut novel, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., is now available from Henry Holt. Jess Walter calls it “A smart, engaging 21st-century comedy of manners in which the debut novelist Adelle Waldman crawls convincingly around inside the head of one Nathaniel (Nate) Piven. [She shows] herself to be . . . a savvy observer of human nature . . . . terrific at describing the halting miscommunications of a relationship. Nate’s self-destructive moodiness and reverse-engineered justifications are especially well drawn; his shallow pick-a-fight thoughts may even be painfully familiar.” And Katie Roiphe, writing for Slate, says "We have lately heard ad infinitum the new sensitive literary man’s account of his life and times... what we haven’t yet heard enough of is the smart literary woman’s view of him. With Adelle Waldman’s funny, provocative satire, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., we have a valuable new anthropology of the type. In a debut novel told from his point of view, Waldman deftly skewers the new literary man... with his stylish torment, his self-seriousness, his dangerous admixture of grandiosity and insecurity, and old fashioned condescension toward women gussied up as sensitivity, his maddening irony, his very specific way of treating people badly while worrying about liberal politics.... [An] excellent funny novel." Monologue topics: poem, Michael Earl Craig, Primitive Men. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices