This month, our guest is the inimitable author Deborah Levy, whose latest book, Real Estate, is the third instalment in her acclaimed living autobiography trilogy. It's a book about a lot of things - being a writer, being a woman, how we make and remake a life, and what we ultimately leave behind. But it's also about real estate, which got us thinking about the importance of buildings, houses and homes in literature. How can books help us understand where and how we make our homes? Why is the haunted house such an enduring symbol? And how is the value of property different for 'generation rent'? So if you want to check out some hot property, join us for all this plus the usual recommendations. 

Recommendations on the theme, Real Estate:
Octavia: In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Carrie: The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

General Recommendations:
Octavia: Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
Deborah: The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
Carrie: The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas

Find lists of all recommended books at: http://uk.bookshop.org/shop/litfriction, where you can order books online while supporting independent bookshops.

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction

Email us: litfriction@gmail.com
Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction 

This episode is sponsored by Picador: https://www.panmacmillan.com/picador

Literary Friction - Real Estate with Deborah Levy

Can you have freedom without constraint? What role does it play in creativity, and can it be productive as well as limiting? This month our guest is the thinker and writer Maggie Nelson, whose latest book, On Freedom, explores the concept of freedom via four wide-ranging essays about art, sex, drugs and climate. Its subtitle is Four Songs of Care and Constraint, so we thought we’d make this month’s show about the boundaries that are often the counterpoint to freedom. Tune in for Maggie’s thoughts on – to borrow a phrase from Judith Butler – ‘working the trap’, our favourite books about constraint, plus all the usual recommendations. 

Recommendations on the theme, Constraint:
Octavia: The Mad Women’s Ball by Victoria Mas, translated by Frank Wynne
Carrie: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

General Recommendations:
Octavia: Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden-Keefe
Maggie: My Brother by Jamaica Kinkaid
Carrie: Train Dreams by Denis Johnson

Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/october-2021-constraint-with-maggie-nelson 

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction

Email us: litfriction@gmail.com
Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction 
This episode is sponsored by Picador: https://www.panmacmillan.com/picador

Literary Friction - Constraint with Maggie Nelson

This minisode is a sister to our last one about bookshops - this month, we're talking about libraries. We love libraries! Those other places where you can go to get your hands on the books you want, the books you don’t yet know you want, the books that want you, and everything in between. Listen in for stories of the libraries and librarians that shaped us, our favourite libraries around the world, libraries in books and movies (Giles from Buffy gets an honourable mention) plus all the usual cultural recommendations. 

We are also about to launch another sale of our gorgeous, sturdy LF tote bags on Etsy in the next week or so, and there will be a special discount for Patrons. Keep your eyes on our socials for more info!

Minisode Thirty: Libraries

When does fandom tip over into unhealthy obsession? What are the power dynamics of being someone's fan, and how do they get exploited? This month author Sheena Patel joins Carrie to talk about her debut, I'm A Fan, a novel that gets to grips with power and relationships and what it means to be a fan. Octavia came back for the show chat to continue the conversations about fans and fandom - are we living in the age of the stan? What about celebrity memoirs? All this plus all the usual recommendations, we hope you enjoy it, love from your biggest fans at Team LF. 

Recommendations on the theme, Fandom:
Octavia: Bluets by Maggie Nelson
Carrie: Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

General Recommendations:
Sheena: We Move by Gurnaik Johal and An Exciting and Vivid Inner Life by Paul Dalla Rosa
Carrie: Lost & Found by Kathryn Schulz

Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/july-2022-fandom-with-sheena-patel

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction
Email us: litfriction@gmail.com 
Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction

This episode is sponsored by Picador: https://www.panmacmillan.com/picador

Fandom with Sheena Patel

This month we’re delighted to welcome Gabrielle Zevin to Literary Friction. Gabrielle’s latest novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is an engrossing and moving story of a multi-decade creative partnership between two video game designers, so we thought it only appropriate to make our theme today ‘playing games’. Listen in as we explore how games function in books like The Queen’s Gambit or Mansfield Park, the allure of choose your own adventure novels and the unique art of a game.

Recommendations on the theme, Playing Games:
Octavia: The King Must Die by Mary Renault
Carrie: Roger Federer as Religious Experience by David Foster Wallace

General Recommendations:
Octavia: Yoga by Emmanuel Carrère
Gabrielle: Trust by Hernan Diaz
Carrie: Alison by Lizzie Stewart

Ezra Klein interview with C Thi Nguyen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-philosophy-of-games-that-is-really-a-philosophy-of-life/id1548604447?i=1000552204773

Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/october-2022-playing-games-with-gabrielle-zevin 

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction

Email us: litfriction@gmail.com 
Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction
This episode is sponsored by Picador: https://www.panmacmillan.com/picador

Literary Friction - Playing Games with Gabrielle Zevin

In this show we're getting to grips with graphic novels. What's the history of this kind of storytelling? What narrative possibilities does the form open up? We first explored this theme with the artist Nick Hayes all the way back in 2014 before this show was even a podcast, and we're returning to it now because our guest this month is the writer and artist Lizzy Stewart, whose debut graphic novel Alison was published this year. Alison is a subtle and beautiful story of a young woman who leaves her marriage and her rural life in Dorset for a much older, more sophisticated and famous painter in 1970s London. There she learns to find her own artistic voice, and reflects on a life lived in art. Listen in for a discussion of the graphic novels we love, the joys of the form, and all the usual reading recommendations.


Recommendations on the theme, Graphic Novels:
Octavia: The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel
Carrie: Sabrina by Nick Drnaso


General recommendations:
Octavia: The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall
Lizzy: Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan
Carrie: Trespasses by Louise Kennedy


Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/october-2022-graphic-novels-with-lizzy-stewart 


Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction


Email us: litfriction@gmail.com 


Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction


This episode is sponsored by Picador: https://www.panmacmillan.com/picador

Literary Friction - Graphic Novels with Lizzy Stewart

When it comes to fiction, why are people so obsessed with authenticity and so appalled by literary deception? Does it matter who tells a story? And what do novels that confront these ideas have to tell us? Our guest this month is the writer Yiyun Li, whose latest novel The Book of Goose is about an intense friendship between two girls in rural postwar France. When Agnes and Fabienne write a book of stories together, a simple lie about the book’s authorship sends Agnes’ life in an unexpected direction. So in honour of their act of literary creation - and obfuscation - we wanted to devote our show to the idea of literary deception. Listen in for thoughts on authenticity, literary hoaxes, unreliable narrators and all the usual recommendations.


Recommendations on the theme, Deception:
Octavia: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee
Carrie: The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante 


General recommendations: 
Octavia: Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez 
Yiyun: The Hero of This Book by Elizabeth McCracken
Carrie: The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller


Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/november-2022-deception-with-yiyun-li


Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction


Email us: litfriction@gmail.com 


Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction


This episode is sponsored by Picador: https://www.panmacmillan.com/picador

Literary Friction - Deception with Yiyun Li

Somehow it's already our last Literary Friction of 2022, which means as usual it's time for our year in review show, packed full of recommendations just in time for your holiday shopping. We've got you - and your Uncle Joe - covered, so listen in for some of our favourite reads from the last year, the usual gentle check in on how our reading revolutions from 2021 went (clue: still patchy), plus books we're looking forward to in 2023. We've posted a list of all the recommendations from this year on our page at Bookshop.org so click the link below to see everything lined up, and please remember to support your local independent bookshop by buying in store! 


Happy holidays everyone, catch you on the flipside with our extremely hot programme for 2023.


List of books recommended in this episode: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/december-2022-year-in-review 


Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction


Email us: litfriction@gmail.com
Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction 


This episode is sponsored by Picador https://www.panmacmillan.com/picador

Literary Friction - Year in Review 2022

Our January theme is heavily influenced by this time of year. Because the winter months are full of different feast days and celebrations, and because generally in the northern hemisphere it's a time where you just want to cocoon inside and feel warm, cosy and nurtured, we thought we’d talk about food and feasting in all kinds of literature. Whether in fiction or non-fiction, does reading about food make your mouth water? What can good food writing open up for a reader? And what about the politics of what kinds of food gets written about? Listen in for all this and more, plus our usual cultural recommendations.

Minisode Thirty-Five: Food and Feasting

Portraits of real people abound in books. There are novels that use transcribed conversations, like Sheila Heti’s How Should A Person Be, or fiction based on historical or even living people, like Curtis Sittenfield’s Rodham. Our guest this month is the writer Kathryn Scanlan who joined us from the States to talk about her riveting new novel, Kick the Latch, which is based upon a series of conversations that Kathryn had with a woman named Sonia about her joyful and brutal life as a trainer for racehorses. Lydia Davis called Kick the Latch a “magical act of empathic ventriloquy”, and this show is about literature that engages in similar ways with the lives of others. We’ll be getting into things like the ethics of writing from another life in fiction, the art of biography, and our favourite literary portraits, plus all our usual reading recommendations.
 

Recommendations on the theme, The Lives of Others:
Octavia: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Carrie: Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
 

General recommendations:
Octavia: Avalon by Nell Zink 
Kathryn: Guston in Time: Remembering Philip Guston by Ross Feld
Carrie: Foster by Claire Keegan
 

Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/jan-2023-the-lives-of-others-with-kathryn-scanlan
 

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction
 

Email us: litfriction@gmail.com
 

Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction

Literary Friction - The Lives of Others with Kathryn Scanlan

Money makes the world go round: it's an inescapable presence in our lives, and yet in a lot of cultures it's still a pretty big conversational taboo. Here in the UK right now there’s a serious cost of living crisis after years of terrible Conservative rule, the newspapers are full of often extremely patronising articles about how to ‘tighten your belt’, and it feels like everyone is talking about money without necessarily really talking about money. Are all books to some extent about money? Does the novel offer a useful way into thinking and talking about it? And where does the myth of The Writer who can afford to live off their writing alone come into it? Listen in as we dig into this, plus all the usual recommendations. Enjoy!

Minisode Thirty-six: Money

Our theme this month was inspired by a recent story in New York magazine about, as they described it, “How to text, tip, ghost, host, and generally exist in polite society today.” The idea behind this list of 140 rules is that the last three years have completely changed the way that we live and work, and also that everyone seems to have forgotten how to be in society, so we need a new code of conduct. This got us thinking about etiquette, advice more generally, and how it relates to literature. So, we’ll be getting into our thoughts on etiquette lists and advice columns(including our favourite agony aunts), what the novel has to say about manners, plus all the usual recommendations.

Minisode Thirty-Seven: Etiquette

Today our theme is… kinda judgy! Everyone says you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but we all know everyone does. So, this month we thought we'd get into it - we partly covered (lol) this topic in our Rediscovery episode for Picador with Jamaica Kincaid and cover designer Stu Wilson, but we wanted to come back to it because there was so much more to say. What makes a book cover good or bad? Have you ever been totally put off reading a book by its cover? What are your major turn-offs, and what about any enduring faves? Listen in for all this and more, plus the usual cultural recommendations. 


Also, very excitingly, O's memoir This Ragged Grace has been selected as the Bookshop.org book of the month for June! So, if you'd like to read it, they're offering all wonderful Literary Friction listeners free shipping and 10% off if you pre-order it from them at the following link, using the code Ragged10: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/this-ragged-grace-a-memoir-of-recovery-and-renewal-octavia-bright/7400323?ean=9781838857462

Minisode Thirty-Eight: Book covers

What's the relationship between feminist writing and feminist activism? What does it mean to be a feminist killjoy, and what can we learn from her? This month, we're joined by scholar and writer Sara Ahmed to answer these questions and more, as we talk about her brilliant latest book, The Feminist Killjoy Handbook. In it, Sara shows how although the label ‘killjoy’ has often been used to dismiss feminism by claiming that it causes unhappiness, in fact, assuming the identity of the feminist killjoy is a path of liberation and change. We’ll also be talking more generally about the intersections of feminism and literature, the feminist writers who have inspired us, and thinking through what books can do when it comes to the continued struggle for gender equality. 

Also, very excitingly, O's memoir This Ragged Grace has been selected as the Bookshop.org book of the month for June! So, if you'd like to read it, they're offering all wonderful Literary Friction listeners free shipping and 10% off if you pre-order it from them at the following link, using the code Ragged10: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/this-ragged-grace-a-memoir-of-recovery-and-renewal-octavia-bright/7400323?ean=9781838857462

Recommendations on the theme, Feminism:
Octavia: The Penguin Book of Feminist Writing, edited by Hannah Dawson
Carrie: Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde

General Recommendations:
Octavia: One Small Voice by Santanu Battacharya 
Sara: Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata Aidoo
Carrie: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/april-2023-feminism-with-sara-ahmed 

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction

Email us: litfriction@gmail.com

Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction

Literary Friction - Feminism with Sara Ahmed

How do you feel about cities? Do you love the thrust and thrum of them, or are you more interested in escaping it? Do you like to read urban histories, or stories set in the heady metropolis? Our theme this month was suggested by our patron Alycia, who asked us to talk about cities in literature, so listen in for our favourite literary cities, captivating cities we've only encountered in the pages of a book, plus all the usual recommendations. 

Also, very excitingly, O's memoir This Ragged Grace has been selected as the Bookshop.org book of the month for June! So, if you'd like to read it, they're offering all wonderful Literary Friction listeners free shipping and 10% off if you pre-order it from them at the following link, using the code Ragged10: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/this-ragged-grace-a-memoir-of-recovery-and-renewal-octavia-bright/7400323?ean=9781838857462

Minisode Thirty-nine: Cities

Do you like reading about writers? What does good writing about the act of writing do? And what happens when you write a real writer into a novel? Our guest this month is Tan Twan Eng, who joined us to talk about his third novel The House of Doors. Based around the writer W. Somerset Maugham’s stay on the Island of Penang, in what was then Malaya, in 1921, it's also about the stories he learns from the couple he stays with there, and the interplay between their fact and his fiction. We’ll be talking about the real and imagined writers that we’ve loved in fiction, the art of writing about writing, and the authors we’d most love to read a novel about - enjoy! 

Recommendations on the theme, Writing About Writers:
Octavia: Aliens & Anorexia by Chris Kraus
Carrie: Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday

General Recommendations:
Octavia: Greek Lessons by Han Kang
Twan: Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
Carrie: Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez 

Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/may-2023-writing-about-writers-with-tan-twang-eng 
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction
Email us: litfriction@gmail.com
Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction 

Also, very excitingly, O's memoir This Ragged Grace has been selected as the Bookshop.org book of the month for June! So, if you'd like to read it, they're offering all wonderful Literary Friction listeners free shipping and 10% off if you pre-order it from them at the following link, using the code Ragged10: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/this-ragged-grace-a-memoir-of-recovery-and-renewal-octavia-bright/7400323?ean=9781838857462

Literary Friction - Writing about Writers with Tan Twan Eng

Today’s show is an author special, and in the hot seat is our very own Octavia Bright. You probably know by now that Octavia’s first book This Ragged Grace is coming out - and is published today in fact! So Carrie couldn’t resist the chance to grill her about it. This Ragged Grace tells the story of Octavia's journey through recovery from alcohol addiction, and the parallel story of her father's descent into Alzheimer's. Looking back over this time, each of the seven chapters explores the feelings and experiences of the corresponding year of her recovery, tracing the shift in emotion and understanding that comes with the deepening connection to this new way of life. But it’s about so much more than that, and in the interview we’ll be getting into things like the form of the memoir, structure, the writing process, voice, and writing about life. We hope you enjoy listening!

Minisode Forty: Author Special with Octavia Bright

From Pride and Prejudice to Detransition, Baby, the romcom can be an enduring source of great pleasure, fun and comfort. This month we’re thrilled to welcome the American writer Curtis Sittenfeld to talk about her latest novel Romantic Comedy, a smart and funny story about how love can upend all kinds of preconceptions and expectations. It also gave us the perfect opportunity to think about the possibilities of the genre more generally, and whether it can ever escape the imprint of the patriarchal and heteronormative structures that underpin so many classic love stories. 

Recommendations on the theme, Romantic Comedy:
Octavia: A Room With A View by E.M. Forster
Carrie: Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

General Recommendations:
Octavia: August Blue by Deborah Levy
Curtis: Everything's Fine by Cecilia Rabess
Carrie: Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton 

Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/june-2023-romantic-comedy-with-curtis-sittenfeld   

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction

Email us: litfriction@gmail.com

Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction

Literary Friction - Romantic Comedy with Curtis Sittenfeld

Octavia has been away on her book tour, so today we’re bringing you a re-run of one of our earliest minisodes from April 2019. It was a fun one, inspired by a viral tweet about literary red flags, in which we got into books as cultural capital, literary snobbery, and whether it’s ever ok to judge a person by there reading habits. Plus, the usual cultural recommendations, which are all still accessible to you in some fom even though it's four years later. Enjoy, and we'll be back soon with a brand new full show!

RE-RUN - Minisode Three: Red Flags

Dark humour - do you love it or hate it? Do you find it cathartic or macho? Can humour ever be too dark, and is it a useful political tool? This month our guest is the one and only Lorrie Moore, who joined us to talk about her latest novel, I Am Homeless if This is Not My Home, a story about grief and ghosts and history that is equally funny as it is philosophical. It follows Finn, who in 2016 is visiting his dying brother in a hospice in New York. Finn's stay is interrupted by the news that his ex-girlfriend Lily, who worked as a therapy clown, has killed herself, which sets off a road trip with her talking corpse. All this is punctuated by letters from a boarding house proprietor in the post-Civil War American South, about a mysterious lodger that has come to stay… Tune in for all of this, plus the usual recommendations.


Recommendations on the theme, Dark Comedy:
Octavia: Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
Carrie: My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh


General Recommendations:
Octavia: Open Throat by Henry Hoake
Lorrie: Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck
Carrie: The Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Céspedes


Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/july-dark-comedy-with-lorrie-moore 

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction

Email us: litfriction@gmail.com

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Literary Friction - Dark Comedy with Lorrie Moore

Are you a techno-optimist or a techno-pessimist? Or even a total Luddite? Does Chat GPT excite you or completely freak you out? Our theme this month was suggested by our patron Elisse, who asked us to talk about Chat GPT in particular. We thought this was a great jumping off point for a bigger conversation about the relationship between art and technology, the moral panic that always accompanies developments in Artificial Intelligence, and our relationship to new technologies in general. Listen for this plus our own dream AI innovations, and all the usual recommendations.

Minisode Forty-Two: Artificial Intelligence

We first aired this episode back in July 2019, and it was recorded in the studio when Ocean was on the international tour for his novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. It’s a really rich and beautiful conversation, full of the kind of thoughtful insights Ocean is known for, but also a lightness and optimism that feels right for summer. And we also thought it would coincide nicely with the publication of Ocean’s latest book, a poetry collection called Time is a Mother, which is out now. But we didn't want you to miss out on our summer reading recs, so we've recorded a new intro with lots of inspiration for your holiday reads too. Enjoy!

Favourite recent reads:
Octavia: Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hoffman
Carrie: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt


Looking forward to reading:
Octavia: Intimacies by Katie Kitamura; Death Valley by Melissa Broder
Carrie: The Summer Book by Tove Jansson


Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/august-2023-ocean-vuong-re-run


Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction


Email us: litfriction@gmail.com


Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction

RE-RUN: Author Special with Ocean Vuong

What makes a brilliant short story? Are they better read as part of a collection or as a sharp shot on their own? How do you render fully formed characters in very few words? We're thrilled that this month, Arinze Ifeakandu joined us to talk about his short story collection Gods Children Are Little Broken Things, a beautiful, artful collection of nine short stories about queer lives and love in Nigeria. One of the great pleasures of reading this book is savouring the art of the short story, but also seeing how they can be built into a cohesive collection, so it felt like the perfect opportunity to revisit the form. Tune in for our interview with Arinze, our thoughts on the short story (including some favourites), plus all the usual recommendations. 
 
Recommendations on the theme, Short Stories:
Octavia: Colorín Colorado by Camille Bordas
Carrie: Blue 4Eva by Saba Sams
 
General Recommendations: 
Octavia: Valentino by Natalia Ginzburg
Arinze: The Sorrows of Others by Ada Zhang, and Oppositions by Mary Gaitskill
Carrie: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
 
Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/september-2023-short-stories-with-arinze-ifeakandu
 
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction
 
Email us: litfriction@gmail.com
 
Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction

Literary Friction - Short Stories with Arinze Ifeakandu

Our theme this month was suggested by our patron Mary, who asked us to talk about so-called 'sad girl novels', and it turns out we have some strong opinions! So, listen in as we get to grips with what the term 'sad girl' really means - is it just reductive and misogynistic, or is it getting at something? Was Madame Bovary the original literary sad girl? Is it simply a marketing term or has it become problematic trope in publishing? Have we moved on from book covers with women face down in cakes on them? Plus all the usual recommendations.

Minisode Forty-Three: Sad Girl Novels

What is it about doppelgangers that's so endlessly compelling? Who better to answer this question than the one and only Naomi Klein, who joined us to talk about her latest book, Doppelganger. This riveting and intellectually rigorous journey begins with a mix-up: people kept confusing Naomi Klein with another Naomi, author Naomi Wolf (known for The Beauty Myth), who got lost in the world of right wing conspiracies during the pandemic. Klein uses the trajectory of the other Naomi to examine the reflection of this 'mirror world' on the right, where vaccine passports are tools for control and climate change is a hoax. Tune in to listen to our conversation with Naomi, and to a consideration of our own distorted reflections, dark doubles, and what mirror worlds can tell us about ourselves.


Recommendations on the theme, Mirror Worlds:
Octavia: August Blue by Deborah Levy
Carrie: The Likeness by Tana French


General Recommendations:
Octavia: Alone by Daniel Schreiber 
Naomi and Carrie : Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver


Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/october-2023-mirror-worlds-with-naomi-klein 


Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction

Email us: litfriction@gmail.com

Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction

Literary Friction - Doppelgangers with Naomi Klein

Last year we made a minisode about mothers, and one about fathers, both of which began an ongoing conversation about parenthood and literature that we wanted to pick up this month. Is fiction a good form for exploring the experience of parenthood? And beyond the ubiquitous parenting manuals, what does non-fiction about parenthood have to offer? Adulthood lasts far longer than childhood, so what about books that look at parent-child relationships in later life? Tune in for this and more, plus all the usual recommendations.

Minisode Forty-four: Parenthood

How do the people and things we desire shape our identities? And how do you render the physical intensity of desire on the page? Author K Patrick joins us in thinking about desire this month - we spoke to K about their debut novel Mrs. S, which tells the story of a young Australian who arrives at an elite English all-girls boarding school for a job and ends up having a life-changing affair with the headmaster's wife. It's a sensual portrait of queer desire, and the transformative power of lust and longing, which is why we wanted to revisit the theme of desire in this show. So, listen in for all the usual recommendations, our favourite writing about desire, and why desire is crucial to the act of reading itself. 


Recommendations on the theme, Desire:
Octavia: A Lover's Discourse by Roland Barthes
Carrie: Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux 


General Recommendations:
Octavia: Intimacies by Katie Kitamura
K: Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
Carrie: The Bee Sting by Paul Murray 


Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/november-2023-desire-with-k-patrick 

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction

Email us: litfriction@gmail.com

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Literary Friction - Desire with K Patrick

Our theme this month was suggested by our patron Maral, who asked us to do an episode about our friendship, because she’s interested in how our (very!) different personalities align. We thought it might be a little self-indulgent to spend a whole episode talking about us specifically, so we’re also going to return to the theme of friendship more broadly, and talk about some of our favourite books about friends.

We also make a pretty big announcement on this episode: after ten wonderful years of Literary Friction, our Year in Review show this December will be our last. It feels like the natural end, for reasons we get into, but we are really going to miss you all! And don't worry, there's also a final full show coming between now and our final goodbye.

Minisode Forty-Five: Friendship

What does it mean, to pursue a life of your own? And what is art and literature's role in figuring out what that might look like? This month we're delighted to be talking to writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo, whose latest book Radical: A Life of My Own is both a personal lexicon and a memoir, which thinks deeply about what it would mean to truly forge a life of one’s own. 

As we announced on our last minisode, we’re wrapping up Literary Friction at the end of this year, so this is our last author interview. Xiaolu is a really fitting last guest, because of how she thinks about things like language, translation, freedom and radicality through literature, which are many of the themes we’ve returned to again and again over the last decade of shows. Don’t worry though - this isn’t our final episode! We’ll be bringing you a bumper edition of our year in review in a couple of weeks’ time.

Recommendations on the theme, A Life of One's Own:
Octavia: The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
Carrie: The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright

General Recommendations:
Octavia: Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon
Xiaolu: Art Monsters by Lauren Elkin, and Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewell
Carrie: Trust by Hernan Diaz

Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/december-2023-a-life-of-one-s-own-with-xiaolu-guo  

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction

Email us: litfriction@gmail.com

Literary Friction - A Life of One's Own with Xialou Guo

It's time for our usual Year in Review show, but seeing as this is also our last EVER episode (sob!), we're shaking things up a little to bring you a bit of a decade in review as well, so we can look back over our highlights from ten wonderful years of Literary Friction. 

This show is stuffed full of recommendations, including our favourite reads from this year and books we're looking forward to reading in 2024, but also the books we're happiest to have found through the show. So, if you need inspiration for what to get your friends and loved ones this holiday season then listen closely! You can find a list of all the books mentioned at the link below. 

Thank you to everyone who has helped us make the show over the years, to all the brilliant authors who have chatted with us, and most of all, thank you all so much for listening.

Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/december-2023-year-and-decade-in-review 

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction

Email us: litfriction@gmail.com

Literary Friction - Year (and Decade) in Review 2023

A monthly conversation about books and ideas on NTS Radio hosted by friends Carrie Plitt, a literary agent, and Octavia Bright, a writer and academic. Each show features an author interview, book recommendations, lively discussion and a little music too, all built around a related theme - anything from the novella to race to masculinity. Listen live on NTS Radio www.nts.live

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