Sep 13

BOTNS Episode #146: In honor of Grandparents’ Week

By Ann Kingman Podcasts Add comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:24 — 24.3MB)

 In this episode: A listener’s plea for help, Man Booker shortlist 2012, Literary late bloomers, and 2 great books we can’t wait for you to read.

 

 

 

 

 

We received an email from a listener who needs help: she’s looking for the title of a science fiction book she read years ago, possibly published in the 1980s. An elderly, wealthy business man was dying, and his assistant agreed to an operation where her brain would be transferred to his body.  Can you help our listener identify this book?

It’s Man Booker Time Again

Sense of an Ending  Jamrach's Menagerie  The Sisters Brothers

The shortlist for the 2011 Man Booker Prize was announced this week. It’s a great list of titles, several of which I’ve read.  The winner will be announced on October 18th.

Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending (will be published in the US in October)
Carol Birch, Jamrach’s Menagerie
Patrick DeWitt, The Sisters Brothers
Esi Edugyan, Half Blood Blues
Steven Kelman, Pigeon English 
A.D. Miller, Snowdrops 

Half Blood Blues  Pigeon English Snowdrops

Does the Booker shortlist make a difference for you? Do they make you more interested in the books than before (if you knew about them previously)? And for our international listeners, does the Man Booker prize mean anything outside of the UK?

 Grandparents’ Week

Victoria called in to talk about Grandparents’ Day, which is September 11th. We’re going to expand this into Grandparents’ Week, since we couldn’t get the episode out in time for Sunday. Victoria wanted recommendations for books by authors who were literary late bloomers, or books that featured main characters who were over 50. Here’s what we came up with:

Some of the “late bloomer” authors we came up with:
David Abbott, author of The Upright Piano Player
Alan Bradley, author of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Harry Bernstein published his memoir, The Invisible Wall, at the age of 91.
Frank McCoourt, author of Angela’s Ashes, which was published when McCourt was 66.
And novelist Donald Ray Pollock, who recently published The Devil All the Time.
There are a few more literary late bloomers listed in an article over at The Huffington Post.

Books featuring grandparents as protagonists:
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
Above the Thunder by Renee Manfredi

Listeners, what novels featuring grandparents do you recommend?

2 books we can’t wait for you to read

Domestic Violets

I recently fell in love with The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt. It’s a western, and though I’m not terribly well-versed in the western genre, I think it’s a unique take. It’s the story of Charlie and Eli Sisters, who are hired guns for a wealthy man. It’s quietly violent, but also funny and warm.

Michael loved Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman. Tom Violet is in his mid-thirties, and he’s not living the happy, successful life that he thought he would be. He has a conflicted relationship with his successful-novelist father, and he doesn’t know what to do. It’s funny and heartbreaking, and features a great main character.

 

[image: Some rights reserved by caspis, via flickr]

 

 

  • Carol Kubala

    Sci-Fi book reader looking for book – time line is not exact, this one written in the 70′s by Robert Heinlein – I Will Fear No Evil

    descrition at Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/I-Will-Fear-No-Evil/dp/0441359175

  • http://www.booksonthenightstand.com AnnKingman

    Carol, you are a marvel. Thank you! I bet that’s it!

  • Carol Kubala

    If it’s not I’m certain some other listener will nail it!

  • Stan Hynds

    Best late bloomer author ever: Harriet Doerr. She won the National Book Award for her first novel, Stones for Ibarra (1984). She was 74 years old. (Oops, you just mentioned her.)

    Re: Grandparents’ Week. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly, is a brilliant novel about a relationship between an 11 year old girl and her grandfather in 1900 Texas. She loves nature, he knew Darwin, they become partners in a natural historical discovery. This is a borderline middle reader/YA novel but I recommend it to everyone. It’s extraordinary.

  • http://twitter.com/Age30Books Heather Johnson

    Michael – I’ve been hearing great things about DOMESTIC VIOLETS so I’m glad to see you loved it. I’m definitely looking forward to reading it myself! For some reason it reminds me of SOMETHING MISSING by Matthew Dicks. Is it in any way similar to the feel of that book, or am I just imagining it?

  • http://twitter.com/lisaboban Lisa Boban

    Carol has it right, I Will Fear No Evil by Robert Heinlein.  Not his best work – but still interesting.

  • Anonymous

    I know in Canada its a big deal when the long and short lists when Canadian writers get on the list.  The Booker prize is for writers that either reside or are citizens of a Commonwealth nation (yes, the sun has really not set on what was the British empire)

  • Estuckey-french

    Wonderful novel featuring a grandmother–and interesting woman in her own right–is Emily Alone by Stuart O’Nan.   Poignant, funny, so smart.  Highly recommend!

  • Harmonicpies

    For late-bloomers, how about Cold Sassy Tree, published when Olive Ann Burns was 60? I think my favorite novel featuring a character over 50 would be Insomnia by Stephen King.

  • Carol Kubala

    I’ll second E-Stuckey French on Emily Alone by Stewart O’Nan!.

  • BOTNS Fan

    A Widowers Tale is a great book featuring a grandpa

  • khb

    Just finished this book a few weeks ago and loved it.  Perfect recommendation for BOTNS listeners!

  • Lisa

    If you type book about a man who transplants his brain into his secretary’s body into Google I Will Fear No Evil was the second result.  There’s a listing on Good Reads as well.  How was this hard to find?
      

  • http://www.carolinegreen.net/ Caroline Green

    Hi there,
    Over here in the UK the most commonly mentioned example of a ‘late bloomer’ is the writer Mary Wesley, who wrote The Camomile Lawn and others, starting, I think in her 70s…

    Loved the latest show and wanted to say that I like the way you both talk!!  :) I thought maybe going up-at-the-end-of-the-sentences  was a New England thing! I like it anyway and as Billy Joel and a bunch of others once sang, ‘Don;t go changin…’ :) :)

  • http://www.carolinegreen.net/ Caroline Green

    Oh and PS, the Booker is a fairly big deal here and does tend to cause a spike in sales when the titles are announced. I used to read them religiously…but tended to find a bias towards a certain kind of writing [and writer...often male]. For me, the Orange prize is more exciting..

  • http://twitter.com/bibliosue Suzanne Weiner

     I’m interested in the Booker list but only as a means to add to my TBR pile (like I need help with that).  That said, I did find Snowdrops at my library and read it last weekend — it’s ok but prize-worthy? — not sure. 
     I do pay more attention to Canada’s Giller Prize — I’m still Canadian at heart and like to keep up with the literature of my home and native land.

     A wonderful novel with a grandparent storyline is THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN by Kate Morton. 

  • Michele

    In terms of books with grandparents as lead characters, I have enjoyed books by Sharon Creech.  Her books are written for youth, but the stories are extremely well written and compelling.

  • Quenblack

    One of my favorite books with a grandparent as a main character is The Widower’s Tale by Julia Glass.

  • mikeyopotter@yahoo.com

     Eragon  411 book                [811

  • Louise

    Thanks for another fabulous podcast :)   I would also like to put in a mention for Mary Wesley as one of the above commenters has done – she is definitely one of my favourite authors. 

    My mother used to make a big deal of not using an upward inflection when I spoke, but then she was an English teacher (in Sydney, Australia) so I guess she noticed it more than most people ;) In your case I assumed that it was probably a regional New England thing, in which case I don’t think that you should even give it another thought – regional accents should be treasured! :)

  • Dunja Bonacci

    Female late bloomer author: Anita Brookner (born 1928). Published her first novel in 1981, at the age of 53. In 1984 won Booker prize for Hotel du Lac.
    Books featuring grandparents as protagonists: Baking Cakes in Kingal by Gaile Parkin. Main charater is Angel who is grandmother of 4 or 5 children (not sure the right number)

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