Hey, it's NPR's book of the day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. I think it's hard to wrap your head

around what a billion dollars feels like. It's not as if the super wealthy keep it in cash

and swim around in it like Scrooge McDuck. It's an amount that's intangible, more of an idea

than it is a dollar figure. Of course, this is not something I, or you probably, will ever have to worry about.

But the main character of today's book does get to step into this world from the outside.

It's a novel titled Enlightenment by author Ruman Alam.

And in this interview with NPR Scott Simon, he talks about the things even the mega

rich can't buy. In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sources and methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

The mega-rich character in Ruman Alam's new novel declares,

wreak havoc on the environment and refuse to pay fair taxes.

Then they get to decide what's a worthy cause, bless the rest of us, with some of their leftover money.

Entitlement centers on Brooke, a former teacher who goes to work for an 83-year-old billionaire to help him decide how to give away his fortune.

Brooke begins to try to create her own position in a world she travels without always feeling a part of it.

Ruman Alam, whose leave the world behind was a 2020 National Book Award finalist,

joins us now from our studios in New York. Thanks so much for being

with us. Thank you for having me. Please tell us about Brooke and where she is in her life when she

takes this job with the billionaire Asher Jaffe. Brooke is a 33-year-old woman in the modern world.

That sort of counts as young. She's on the precipice

...