Looking for some pandemic-era writing? We have spooky and we have sweet.

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Arts, Books

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2022

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Our first interview today is about a novel that, believe it or not, was actually written before the coronavirus pandemic even started. The End of October, written by Lawrence Wright, is about...a pandemic. But Wright told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly he wishes he hadn't gotten so much of it right. The second interview is with two friends, Marilyn Hacker and Karthika Nair, who were separated by the pandemic. So to connect with each other, they wrote a book of poetry called A Different Distance. They told former NPR host Noel King that the collaboration actually strengthened their friendship.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's book of the day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Listen, this pandemic, I don't really have
0:09.8	anything insightful or funny or much of, you know, anything at all to add, except for, it's a small, small,
0:18.6	comfort, but at least we have a couple interesting books to keep us company.
0:23.0	In a bit, we'll hear a nice bit of poetry from a couple of friends who have really bonded these past few years.
0:28.5	But first, I wanted to play for you this interview from back in April 2020, you know, the baby days of the pandemic.
0:34.3	It's with author Lawrence Wright about his book, The End of October, which is
0:38.1	about a pandemic. And just to be clear, he wrote this book between 2017 and 2019, before,
0:44.4	you know, all of this. And NPR's Mary Louise Kelly asks him, how did he predict everything
0:50.1	going to hell in a handbasket? In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:57.0	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.
1:01.5	On our new show, Sources and Methods.
1:03.6	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
1:07.3	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:11.1	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:16.6	Let's talk now about a new novel that opens, even before the title page, before chapter one,
1:22.3	opens with a note. Dear Reader, it begins, the events depicted in the end of October were meant to serve as a cautionary tale, but real life doesn't always wait for warnings.
1:33.9	The author who wrote that is Pulitzer Prize winner Lawrence Wright. His novel is about a virus that starts in Asia, sweeps across continents, cripples the health care system, wrecks the economy, and kills scores of people worldwide.
1:48.5	The book is the end of October, and Lawrence Wright joins me now. Hey there.
1:52.8	Thank you. It's good to talk to you again, Mary Louise.
1:55.3	You too. I will underscore this is fiction. You have written a fictional story about a fictional virus called Congoli.
2:05.0	But when you wrote that note to the reader that you pray these events never come to pass,
2:09.5	you must have been imagining a moment where they could.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.