Twas the night before Christmas when all through our home, friends were waiting for drinks at the party we'd thrown.

With an espresso martini mixer from Fever Tree, all you need to add is the vodka, you see.

Five espresso martinis ready in a second. A Christmas miracle, everybody reckoned.

So this holiday season mix with the best,

with fever tree cocktails for you and your guests. Please enjoy responsibly.

Charlie Gibson here. We welcome you back to the bookcase. We hope we welcome you back that you've had a chance

to listen to some of our earlier podcast with writers who we admire. And of course, my partner, as

always, is Kate Gibson. Last episode, he said he was proud of me. So I suppose I should

reciprocate and say, I'm proud of him too, most of the time. Yeah, but you sort of slipped in proud

of me sometimes, you said.

It's all the time, kiddo.

Anyway, this week we have an author who is so accomplished in what she attempts to do, at least in my opinion.

And I think people who are students, not students, that's not fair, because that makes it sound academic,

who are in love with interesting attempts at literature, will like this book.

And I don't mean that in any way negatively.

It is an author who has an incredible breadth to her abilities. The book is The Candy

House. It has been out now since April. Jennifer Egan is the author. She won 12 years ago,

a Pulitzer Prize with a book called A Visit from the Goon Squad. And this book, The Candy House,

is something of a continuation

of that. But what it is is a continuation in style. The style of this book and what she is able

to do is extraordinary. She is, I think, a Renaissance writer. And I think she's a Renaissance

writer in a couple of different ways.

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