Megan Nolan on Acts of Desperation

Intelligence Squared

News, Society & Culture, Arts, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2022

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Megan Nolan’s debut novel, Acts of Desperation, was hailed as a masterpiece by the literary world when it was published in 2021. Searingly honest and darkly amusing, it tells the story of an obsessive relationship. Written in glimmering prose, it charts a young woman’s elation as she falls in love and the obsession, anxiety and self-doubt that ensue. Nolan is also an acclaimed journalist and essayist whose writing appears in The New Statesman, The Guardian and The New York Times. She's joined by fellow journalist and author of the dark satire, How To Kill Your Family, Bella Mackie, to discuss her work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Want to die live up a notch?
0:02.5	Well, and the Maldives things are dialed way up.
0:06.9	Relaxation is elevated to a national sport.
0:10.0	The sea is not just clear.
0:12.0	It's ultra HD crystal clear,
0:15.0	and the colors so vivid,
0:17.0	no one's gonna believe your photos.
0:20.0	But this, my friends, is reality,
0:23.0	just on another level.
0:25.0	Visit the Maldives with Virgin Atlantic Holidays,
0:29.0	look now.
0:30.0	It's happening. They've all overheard.
0:32.0	All I wanted was a little low-key mook delivery,
0:34.0	me and my brother.
0:35.0	But Mum's piped in with her.
0:36.0	Oh, I'm in.
0:37.0	Failure fish in a Diet Coke, no ice.
0:39.0	And Dad's muscled in with his.
0:40.0	Yes, I'm in.
0:41.0	Big Mac with fries and strawberry milkshake, please.
0:43.0	So I give my brother a little eye roll.
0:45.0	Oh well, family dinner it is.
	...

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