From W.B. E. Z. Chicago, I'm Greta Johnson, and this is the Nerd at Book Club.

It's just like a regular book club, except you don't have to share your snacks. This month's book is Kave Akbar's debut novel,

Martyr, Exclamation Point. It is about Cyrus, who was born in Iran and moved to the Midwest

when he was really young after his mom died in a real life historical

event where the United States Navy reportedly accidentally shot an Iranian passenger plane

out of the sky. The book picks up when Cyrus is in his 20s he's in Indiana and his dad has

died recently and he is struggling in more ways than one he finds himself thinking

a lot about the idea of martyrdom and what makes life truly worth living.

And when he learns of an artist in New York who's exploring similar topics, he has to meet her.

That is all I'm going to say for now, but this is going to be a

spoilary conversation. So if you haven't read the book and you don't want to know what

happens, go listen to my interview with Kave in the feed. If you have read the book

or you are game for spoilers either way, welcome. I am very

excited to introduce you to this month's guests. We're getting the band back

together with us. We have an editor at the New York Times book review, MJ Franklin.

M.J. Hello, hello.

Thank you for having me back.

The band is back together.

I'm so excited for this conversation

and specifically with these panelists.

Exactly, because also here is the host of the Stax

podcast Tracy Thomas Tracy. Hello I'm so excited and you know what makes me even

...