Like a lot of people, lockdown has made us think about intimacy. As separation from our loved ones drags on, we're all having to find different ways to connect, and in this socially distant reality, intimacy feels more necessary than ever - however we can get it (hot tip: books are good!). Writing and reading can be intimate acts, so for this episode we'll be discussing what intimacy means in literature, which writers - from Henry James to Sally Rooney to Maggie Nelson - have been able to capture it, and what it means to write in an intimate way. Our guest this month is Garth Greenwell, a writer whose work chronicles and explores intimacy in many forms, so he couldn't be a better person to talk to. His second book, Cleanness, follows an American teacher living in Sofia, Bulgaria as he navigates relationships with his students, love and sex. Listen in for our interview with Garth, our thoughts about intimacy in literature, and all the usual recommendations. Come closer, let us put our arms around you, and get enveloped for the next hour by Literary Friction. 

Recommendations on the theme, Intimacy: 
Octavia: The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/argonauts
Carrie: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/573/57368/giovanni-s-room/9780141186351.html

General Recommendations:
Octavia: This Brutal House by Niven Govinden https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/niven-govinden/this-brutal-house/9780349700687/
Garth: Where Reasons End by Yiyun Li https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/594959/where-reasons-end-by-yiyun-li/
Carrie: The Years by Annie Ernaux https://fitzcarraldoeditions.com/books/the-years

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 - Intimacy With Garth Greenwell

When did America give up on fairness?&#160;The&#160;New York Times&#160;bestselling author of&#160;Fantasyland&#160;tells the epic history of&#160;how America decided that big business gets whatever it wants, only the rich get richer, and nothing should ever&#160;change&mdash;and charts a way back to the future. &#160; &ldquo;The one book everyone must read as we figure out how to rebuild our country.&rdquo;&mdash;Walter Isaacson, author of&#160;Steve Jobs&#160;and&#160;Leonardo da Vinci During the twentieth century, America managed to make its economic and social systems both more and more fair and more and more prosperous. A huge, secure, and contented middle class emerged. All boats rose together. But then the New Deal gave way to the Raw Deal. Beginning in the early 1970s, by means of a long war conceived of and executed by a confederacy of big business CEOs, the superrich, and right-wing zealots, the rules and norms that made the American middle class possible were undermined and dismantled. The clock was turned back on a century of economic progress, making greed good, workers powerless, and the market all-powerful while weaponizing nostalgia, lifting up an oligarchy that served only its own interests, and leaving the huge majority of Americans with dwindling economic prospects and hope. Why and how did America take such a wrong turn? In this deeply researched and brilliantly woven cultural, economic, and political chronicle, Kurt Andersen&#160;offers a fresh, provocative, and eye-opening history of America&rsquo;s undoing, naming names, showing receipts, and unsparingly assigning blame&mdash;to the radical right in economics and the law, the high priests of high finance, a complacent and complicit Establishment, and liberal &ldquo;useful idiots,&rdquo; among whom he includes himself. Only a writer with Andersen&rsquo;s crackling energy, deep insight, and ability to connect disparate dots and see complex systems with clarity could make such a book both intellectually formidable and vastly entertaining. And only a writer of Andersen&rsquo;s vision could reckon with our current high-stakes inflection point, and show the way out of this man-made disaster.

Evil Geniuses by Kurt Andersen, read by Kurt Andersen

An upbeat, empowering, important picture book from the team that created the award-winning Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut I am a nonstop ball of energy. Powerful and full of light. I am a go-getter. A difference maker. A leader. The confident Black narrator of this book is proud of everything that makes him who he is. He's got big plans, and no doubt he'll see them through--as he's creative, adventurous, smart, funny, and a good friend. Sometimes he falls, but he always gets back up. And other times he's afraid, because he's so often misunderstood and called what he is not. So slow down and really look and listen, when somebody tells you--and shows you--who they are. There are superheroes in our midst! Available for purchase at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525518770?tag=randohouseinc7911-20">Amazon</a><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9780525518778">Barnes & Noble</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-10747236?SID=PRHD39095A662--9780525518778&url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780525518778">Books A Million</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/2186/9780525518778?prhc=PRHD39095A662">Bookshop.org</a><a href="http://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/book/9780525518778?utm_source=prh&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=301&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780525518778&utm_campaign=9780525518778">Hudson Booksellers</a><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525518778?aff=penguinrandom">IndieBound</a><a href="http://www.powells.com/book/-9780525518778?utm_source=randomhouse&utm_campaign=randomhouse&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780525518778">Powell's</a><a href="http://goto.target.com/c/128773/81938/2092?subId1=PRHD39095A662--9780525518778&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fs%3FsearchTerm%3D9780525518778">Target</a><a href="http://linksynergy.walmart.com/fs-bin/click?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&subid=0&offerid=183959.1&type=10&tmpid=273&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780525518778&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-ng.do%3F&RD_PARM2=search_query%3D9780525518778%2526ic%3D16_0%2526Find%3DFind%2526search_constraint%3D3920">Walmart</a><a href="https://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=I+Am+Every+Good+Thing+Derrick+Barnes&source_code=COMA0213WS031709&SID=randohouseinc7911-20--9780593294413">Audible - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a><a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-8373827-11099382?SID=PRHD39095A662--9780593294413&url=http://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/9780593294413">audiobooks.com - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a><a href="https://google.prf.hn/click/camref:1011ld4r/pubref:PRHD39095A662--9780593294413/destination:https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780593294413&c=books">Google Play Store - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/link?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&offerid=258185.12829781935712206&type=2&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780593294413}&murl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fsearch%3FQuery%3D9780593294413">Kobo - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a>

I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes, read by Joshua David Scarlett

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light comes a riveting novel about the choices that alter the course of our lives. Everything changes in a single moment for Dawn Edelstein. She&rsquo;s on a plane when the flight attendant makes an announcement: Prepare for a crash landing. She braces herself as thoughts flash through her mind. The shocking thing is, the thoughts are not of her husband but of a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong. Dawn, miraculously, survives the crash, but so do all the doubts that have suddenly been raised. She has led a good life. Back in Boston, there is her husband, Brian, their beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula, in which she helps ease the transition between life and death for her clients. But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a career Dawn once studied for but was forced to abandon when life suddenly intervened. And now, when it seems that fate is offering her second chances, she is not as sure of the choice she once made. After the crash landing, the airline ensures that the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers transportation to wherever they want to go. The obvious&#160;destination is to fly home,&#160;but she could take another path:&#160;return to the archaeological site she left years before, reconnect with Wyatt and their unresolved history, and maybe even complete her research on The Book of Two Ways&mdash;the first known map of the afterlife. As the story unfolds, Dawn&rsquo;s two possible futures unspool side by side, as do the secrets and doubts long buried with them. Dawn must confront the questions she&rsquo;s never truly asked: What does a life well lived look like? When we leave this earth, what do we leave behind? Do we make choices . . . or do our choices make us? And who would you be if you hadn&rsquo;t turned out to be the person you are right now?

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult, read by Patti Murin

Listen to Rob Bell's EVERYTHING IS SPIRITUAL audiobook excerpt, read by the author.

This program is read by the author.

From Rob Bell, the New York Times bestselling author of Love Wins

This audiobook is an invitation to see your life in a new way.

Because we each have a story we're telling-
about who and where we come from,
what we've been through,
and what it all means-or doesn't mean.

These stories we tell can easily feel disjointed and fragmented,
like an endless series of events are happening to us without 
any particular coherence or point.

Just, you know, life.

But for thousands of years there's been another way of understanding
this experience we're all having here,
one that goes directly to the heart of those age-old questions
Who are we? And
What are we doing here?
And what does it all mean?

In this compelling and surprisingly subversive memoir,
Rob shows us this ancient wisdom, taking us through his history
and the history of the universe to show us something about each
our histories-
how all of it matters,
how everything we've been through forms a connected whole,
and how it's all been headed somewhere the whole time.

From the farthest reaches of the universe to the smallest cells in our bodies, Rob invites
us to see that there's something more going on here, something bringing us together
and guiding us into greater and greater wonder and awe at our own existence, showing
us how this world we call home is way more dynamic and mysterious and meaningful than we ever realized.

If you've every found yourself thinking
There's got to be me more than this.
this audiobook is for you.

Can your life get more fascinating,
more meaningful,
filled with more and more possibilities
surprising you year after year after year?
This book says yes.
Because everything is spiritual. 

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Essentials

Buy the audiobook

Everything Is Spiritual by Rob Bell, audiobook excerpt

From the charming and wickedly funny co-creator and star of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, a collection of hilarious personal essays, poems and even amusement park maps on the subjects of insecurity, fame, anxiety, and much more.

Rachel Bloom has felt abnormal and out of place her whole life. In this exploration of what she thinks makes her "different," she's come to realize that a lot of people also feel this way; even people who she otherwise thought were "normal."

In a collection of laugh-out-loud funny essays, all told in the unique voice (sometimes singing voice) that made her a star; Rachel writes about everything from her love of Disney, OCD and depression, weirdness, and Spanx to the story of how she didn't poop in the toilet until she was four years old; Rachel's pieces are hilarious, smart, and infinitely relatable (except for the pooping thing).

Available November 17, 2020 from Hachette Audio as a digital download, and in Print and Ebook from Grand Central Publishing.

Buy here:
www.downpour.com/i-wanna-be-where…ormal-people-are
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play.google.com/store/audiobooks/…id=AQAAAECc1TuVtM
libro.fm/audiobooks/978147899…he-normal-people-are
www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/i-wan…ople-are/423418
www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/i-…ormal-people-are-4

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I Want To Be Where The Normal People Are (audiobook excerpt - Musical Number) - Rachel Bloom

A tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family, about a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for--and everything she feared Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting, supportive mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had. But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter--Violet rejects her mother, screams uncontrollably, and becomes a disturbing, disruptive presence at her preschool. Or is it all in Blythe's head? Her husband, Fox, says she's imagining things. What he sees is an overwhelmed wife who can't cope with the day-to-day grind. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well. Then their son Sam is born--and with him, Blythe has the natural, blissful connection she'd always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth. Here, we see the making and breaking of a family in crystalline detail, and what it feels like when women are not believed. The Push is a tour de force you will read in a sitting, an utterly immersive pageturner that will challenge everything you think you know about motherhood, about our children, and about what happens behind the doors of even the most perfect-looking families. . . Available for purchase at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087BL9MML?tag=randohouseinc7911-20">Amazon</a><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9781984881670">Barnes & Noble</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-10747236?SID=PRHD39095A662--9781984881670&url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9781984881670">Books A Million</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/2186/9781984881663?prhc=PRHD39095A662">Bookshop.org</a><a href="http://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/book/9781984881663?utm_source=prh&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=301&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9781984881663&utm_campaign=9781984881663">Hudson Booksellers</a><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781984881663?aff=penguinrandom">IndieBound</a><a href="http://www.powells.com/book/-9781984881663?utm_source=randomhouse&utm_campaign=randomhouse&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9781984881663">Powell's</a><a href="http://goto.target.com/c/128773/81938/2092?subId1=PRHD39095A662--9781984881663&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fs%3FsearchTerm%3D9781984881663">Target</a><a href="https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=9781984881663">Walmart</a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1508884455?at=11l3IH&ct=PRHD39095A662--9781984881670">Apple Books</a><a href="https://google.prf.hn/click/camref:1011ld4r/pubref:PRHD39095A662--9781984881670/destination:https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9781984881670&c=books">Google Play Store</a><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/link?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&offerid=258185.12829781935712206&type=2&u1=PRHD39095A662--9781984881670}&murl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fsearch%3FQuery%3D9781984881670">Kobo</a>

The Push by Ashley Audrain, read by Marin Ireland

Listen to an excerpt from STAR TREK: PICARD: THE DARK VEIL by James Swallow, read by Robert Petkoff.

STAR TREK: PICARD: THE DARK VEIL Audiobook Excerpt

Penguin Audiobooks presents Roald Dahl's The BFG, read by actor, writer, and Britain's Got Talent judge David Walliams. This audiobook features original music and sound design by Pinewood film studios.

The BFG is a nice and jumbly giant. In fact, he is the only big friendly giant in Giant Country.

All the other giants are big bonecrunching brutes, and now the BFG and his friend Sophie must stop them guzzling up little human beans - with some help from Her Majester, the Queen.

David Walliams is a multi-award winning British comedian, actor and writer, best known for the comedy series Little Britain; but his acting work includes plays, dramas and films. He is also the author of five hugely successful children's books, including two illustrated by Quentin Blake - Roald Dahl's favourite illustrator.

Roald Dahl: The BFG (Audiobook Extract) read by David Walliams

Listen to an excerpt from KEEP SHARP by Sanjay Gupta and read by Sanjay Gupta

KEEP SHARP Audiobook Excerpt

Listen to an excerpt from THE LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND by Julia Kelly and read by Shiromi Arserio, Marisa Calin, Danielle Cohen, Katherine Littrell and Siobhan Waring

THE LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND Audiobook Excerpt

Penguin Random House Audio is the market leader for adult and children's audiobook publishing. Follow us on Twitter @PRHAudio.

The Push by Ashley Audrain, read by Marin Ireland

PRH Audio

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