Meg wolitzer is an american novelist, known for the wife, the tenyear nap, the uncoupling, the interestings, and the female persuasion. The kind of creativity that is rewarded at age fifteen is not always enough to propel someone through life at age thirty. Meg wolitzer writes fluently about the american dream and whether you should surrender your goals to reality in this wonderful novel, stylist i love meg wolitzers the interestings because its sprawling and beautifully written and it opens at a summer camp. Apr 05, 20 how meg wolitzer made sure the interestings would be a big book. Wolitzer takes such care to develop these characters that they will take up residency in your brain for a very long time. May 09, 20 lets just go ahead and call meg wolitzers fantastic the interestings the book of the moment, the novel you should really read, if you havent already.
The interestings meg wolitzer, 20 penguin group usa 480 pp. Thats the question that comes to preoccupy jules jacobson, the ambitious protagonist of meg wolitzers remarkable ninth novel, the interestings, whose inclusive vision and generous. Aug 24, 20 there is no doubt that meg wolitzers ninth novel, the interestings, is the beneficiary of this new transgender fictional exchange. The central character is jules, who is jealous of her friends lives. She is also the author of the young adult novel, belzhar. In the interestings, wolitzer follows these characters from the height of youth through middle age, as their talents, fortunes, and degrees of satisfaction diverge. Meg wolitzer s ninth novel, the interestings, is the story of a group of friends who met as teenagers and traces their lives into adulthood. Shes every bit as literary as franzen or eugenides. Lets just go ahead and call meg wolitzer s fantastic the interestings the book of the moment, the novel you should really read, if you havent already. The interestings is what americans call a breakout book. Written by meg wolitzer, audiobook narrated by jen tullock. You can get a headache trying to think about the interestings on a straight timeline, so let us break it down for you first, we get a glimpse of our main cast as teenagers at spiritin the woods, the summer camp that ends up being the formative moment for a lot of what happens later. This knowing, generous and slyly sly new novel follows a group of teenagers who meet at a summer camp for artsy teens. Buy a cheap copy of the interestings book by meg wolitzer.
Thats the story of jules jacobson, the heroine of meg wolitzers newest novel. Entertainment weekly a the new york times bestselling novel by meg wolitzer. The narrative of the film jumps back and forth between the time jules jacobson spent at an arts camp meeting new friends and her current life in middle age with relationships that have transformed in the meantime. Aug 10, 20 the interestings, wolitzer s ninth novel, is more ambitious than any she has written so far, tracking a group of friends from the moment they meet, at summer camp, up through the decades of their. A local bookstore featured this book on their suggested shelf and had written something to the extent of, what franzen tries to do in freedom, wolitzer does in the interestings.
The interestings, by meg wolitzer six teens at a summer arts camp dub themselves, only somewhat ironically, the interestings in meg wolitzers novel of the same name. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. A novel by meg wolitzer and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Meg wolitzers ability to take a moment, whether it be a campfire surrounded by 15yearold girls or a first kiss, and spin it out into a dozen different directions across multiple lives is the true genius of the book. The interestings is a 2016 american television pilot directed by mike newell based on the novel of the same name by meg wolitzer. The sweep of the book is vast going from nixons final days to the plutocratic opulence of the twentyfirst century. The third book by new york times bestselling author meg wolitzer originally published as this is your life, a smart, witty and perceptive novel about the daughters of a female standup comic who watch as their mother struggles to.
The book exemplifies the wide spectrum of emotions that form the basis of human relationships and the changes friendships go. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the interestings. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. Meg wolitzers fat, talky new novel begins in 1974 at an arts camp in the berkshires where six teenagers sit around in a teepee smoking pot and discussing gunter grass. Having met at summer camp the episode takes you from the present to the past continually.
Meg wolitzer born may 28, 1959 is an american novelist, known for the wife, the tenyear nap, the uncoupling, the interestings, and the female persuasion. These questions are ready for book clubs to use in their discussions on meg wolitzer s the interestings. After 30 years labouring in the word vineyard, wolitzer is now praised for her ambition and rewarded with the attention and. You can get a headache trying to think about the interestings on a straight timeline, so let us break it down for you first, we get a glimpse of our main cast as teenagers at spiritinthewoods, the summer camp that ends up being the formative moment for a lot of what happens later. The following year, wolitzer came out with her eleventh novel, the interestings, which follows six friends who meet in the seventies at an artsy summer camp in new england called spiritin. Conversation between the interestings writer meg wolitzer and. After trawling through amazons hundreds of pages for some time, trying our best to filter out the tacky romance and fanfiction, we opted for the editors picks. There is an echo of the corrections in the titles definite. The interestings, by meg wolitzer the new york times. The interestings, by meg wolitzer life goes on summer after summer meg wolitzers the interestings follows a group of teens who meet in the 70s at an artsy summer camp and remain.
The interestings is warm, allamerican, and acutely perceptive about the feelings and motivations of its characters, male and female, young and old, gay and straight. The interestings by meg wolitzer discussion questions. She works as an instructor in the mfa program at stony brook southampton. Meg wolitzer rides the feminist waves the new yorker. Named a best book of the year by entertainment weekly, time, and the chicago tribune, and named a. I dont want to insult meg wolitzer by calling her sprawling, engrossing new novel, the interestings, her most ambitious, because throughout her 30year career of turning out wellobserved, often very funny books at a steady pace, i have no doubt she has always been ambitious. This was one of the best interpretations of a written book ive watched in a long time. The friendships endure and even prosper, but also underscore the differences in their fates, in what.
A novel 9781594632341 by wolitzer, meg and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. But the very human moments in her work hit you harder than the big ideas. Meg wolitzer is the new york timesbestselling author of the interestings, the uncoupling, the tenyear nap, the position, the wife, and sleepwalking. In the interestings, meg wolitzers quarry is ambition. These questions are ready for book clubs to use in their discussions on meg wolitzers the interestings. The interestings reminds readers to pause amidst their crowd of dear ones and try to imagine the farflung futures of these.
Apr 18, 20 the interestings, the new novel by meg wolitzer, arrives with an endorsement from the estimable author of the marriage plot and middlesex, stating that, like virginia woolf in. Wolitzer hasnt got the answers, but she does have her characters mannerisms and attitudes down cold. She is also the author of the young adult novel belzhar. The interestings, by meg wolitzer the washington post. Review of the interestings by meg wolitzer, plus backstory and other interesting facts about the book. Signin to download and listen to this audiobook today. The interestings secures wolitzers place among the best novelists of her generation shes every bit as literary as franzen or eugenides.
Intelligent and subtle, it is exquisitely written with enormous warmth and depth of emotion but what makes the interestings exceptional is the precision and elegance of wolitzer s writingthis should be the novel to make wolitzer a household name here too kate mosse, the times wolitzer is a writer of prodigious energy and detail, with the knack for comic. Apr 21, 20 in wolitzers 2008 novel, the tenyear nap, amy lamb, another child of the e. But the interestings is exactly the kind of book that. One of bestselling author meg wolitzers most beloved booksan acerbically funny entertainment weekly and intelligentportrait of deception the. Meg wolitzer is the new york times bestselling author of the interestings, the uncoupling, the tenyear nap, the position, the wife, and sleepwalking. The interestings secures wolitzers place among the best novelists of her generation. Yes, gunter grass, which gives you an idea of the kind of kids wolitzer is writing about. The book is beautiful and inviting, but its also genderneutral, with bold lettering. Thats the question that comes to preoccupy jules jacobson, the ambitious protagonist of meg wolitzers remarkable ninth novel, the interestings, whose inclusive vision and generous sweep place it among the ranks of books like jonathan franzen s freedom and jeffrey eugenidess marriage plot. Meg wolitzers ninth novel, the interestings, is the story of a group of friends who met as teenagers and traces their lives into adulthood. Wed been in a bit of a book drought when we came across meg wolitzer s latest novel the interestings.
Mar 25, 2014 with this book wolitzer has surpassed herself. The interestings is about a group of teens who meet in the 70s at an artsy summer camp called spiritinthewoods. The summer that nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. The interestings summary book club discussion questions.
1501 409 574 234 113 447 1287 922 329 1127 643 1181 1139 739 1075 1383 942 1227 697 173 875 326 613 330 903 394 415 255 1029 690 648 720 886 1156 41 1414 424 1040 741 306 1360