The Fortress of Solitude saw it all coming

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, News, Politics, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.6 • 10.8K Ratings

🗓️ 30 June 2022

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Vox's Constance Grady talks with writer Jonathan Lethem about his 2003 work The Fortress of Solitude in this recording from a live Vox Book Club event. They discuss the prescient and still-relevant themes of the novel — like the issues of appropriation in art, gentrification, and superheroes, how Lethem approaches "realism" in his writing, and the role of music and comics in both his own life and the lives of his characters. Vox Conversations will be on summer break the week of July 4th, and will return on Monday, July 11th. Host: Constance Grady (@constancegrady), staff writer, Vox Guests: Jonathan Lethem, author References: The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem (Vintage; 2003) "The Fortress of Solitude is a fraught and uneasy love letter to a vanished Brooklyn" by Constance Grady (Vox; May 20) "The Author Looks Inward: A Conversation with Jonathan Lethem" by Brian Gresko (LARB; Sept. 8, 2013) Another Country by James Baldwin (1962) Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann (1901) Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (1977) Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Patrick Boyd Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for today's show comes from Slack.
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0:10.3	Slack helps companies stay flexible, accelerate projects and keep teams aligned.
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0:34.6	Get started at slack.com slash DHQ.
0:38.3	Slack, where the future works.
0:46.0	Help your team get ahead of the work week with laptops from Intel V Pro and Intel EVO
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1:01.0	Results may vary.
1:07.0	Can a 20-year-old novel help us navigate cultural debates today?
1:14.0	I'm Constance Grady and I write about culture for Vox and today I'm your host for Vox Conversations.
1:29.9	One of my favourite books from the past 20 years is Jonathan Latham's Portraits of Solitude.
1:36.6	It's a beautiful heartbroken novel with sentences like little jewels.
	...

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