Author Kiley Reid on why we read novels

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, News, Politics, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.6 • 10.8K Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2022

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Vox's Constance Grady talks with Kiley Reid, author of the critically-acclaimed novel Such a Fun Age. In this episode, which is a recording of a live Vox Book Club event, they discuss what novels are really for, the ways that we all craft stories in our relationships and personal lives, and the nuanced ways in which Reid takes on race, class, and friendship in her engaging, fast-paced literary debut. Host: Constance Grady (@constancegrady), staff writer, Vox Guests: Kiley Reid (@kileyreid), author References: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (G.P. Putnam's Sons; 2019) "The smart political argument behind the satire Such a Fun Age" by Constance Grady (Vox; Nov. 19, 2021) Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:00.6	What is a novel for? I'm Constance Grady and I write about culture for Vox. And this week
1:10.7	I'm your host for Vox Conversations. Every time that there's something awful and
1:25.6	violent and racist in the news, and this is America, so that's kind of a lot, there's
1:32.4	this thing that happens. Someone will come to me and ask me to write them a list of novels
1:39.3	to read to understand what's just happened. And every time they ask me that, I think,
1:45.9	is that really what novels are good for? To show you what I mean, let me talk to you
1:52.1	about a novel that I think is really good, and that deals with a lot of awful racist
1:57.1	stuff. It's called Such a Fun Age, and it's a debut novel by Kyliery. The book starts
2:03.7	with the kind of story you can imagine showing up on your social media feeds tomorrow.
2:08.7	A young black woman named Amira is babysitting a white three year old. They go into a
2:13.5	grocery store to kill some time. Then the store's security guard accuses Amira of kidnapping
	...

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