ABC: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy

Slate Books

Slate Podcasts

Arts

3.8 • 546 Ratings

🗓️ 30 August 2017

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Katy Waldman, Isaac Chotiner, and Laura Miller discuss The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, the sprawling novel by Arundhati Roy about sectarian violence in India. Next month's book will be Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney. The Audio Book Club is brought to you by Audible. Audible has the best audiobook performances, the largest library and the most exclusive content. You’ll feel something when you listen. Learn more at Audible.com/audiobookclub And by Sun Basket, delivering fresh, organic ingredients and quick, healthy recipes to your door. Choose from Paleo, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian, and Family options. Find out more at Sunbasket.com/ABC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast contains explicit language.
0:07.3	Hello and welcome to Slate's Audio Book Club for the month of August 2017.
0:12.0	I'm Katie Waldman, a staff writer at Slate, and I am joined today from New York by Slate's book critic Laura Miller.
0:17.9	Hey, Laura.
0:18.6	Hi, Katie.
0:19.5	And by Isaac Chattner, the host of the podcast, I Have to Ask. Hey, Isaac. Hi, Katie. And by Isaac Chautner, the host of the podcast I Have to
0:22.5	Ask. Hey, Isaac. Hi, Katie. I'm so glad you both could join us. And before we dive in, I should
0:28.3	mention that September's book will be Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney. Now let's get started.
0:34.6	Today, we'll be discussing Arundadi Roy's second novel, The Ministry of Upmost Happiness.
0:39.5	It's a sprawling work about sectarian violence in India and Kashmir, filtered through the eyes of various misfits and rebels and reluctant witnesses, chief among them, a transgender woman named Anjub and an illustrator named Tilo.
0:52.7	Isaac, I know you interviewed Roy and Laura, you reviewed the book, so you're both experts.
0:59.9	Well...
1:00.5	Do you have to read the book to interview someone?
1:02.5	I didn't know.
1:02.8	I didn't get that.
1:03.4	Yeah, many people don't.
1:05.7	But, Isaac, you're holding the line of integrity in that front.
1:14.2	Yeah. Well, Laura, as the reviewer of this book,
1:19.3	this is kind of an unusual question, but I wanted to ask you what you think the book's defining quality is. Oh, that's interesting, because I feel that there are a couple of sort of strands of Roy's personality,
1:33.7	which has always just been this strong, charismatic aspect of her work that comes through
1:41.0	even when she's writing fiction, that are sort of at work in
1:45.2	this story and they're kind of intention with each other. So, you know, like part part of her,
	...

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