Maybe about ten years ago, there was a sort of feminist reconsideration of Tracy.

And people say, well, why does everyone hate this character?

Tom Perotta joins us to discuss the return of a famous protagonist in his new novel, Tracy

Flick Can't Win.

Eugenics is basically social Darwinism.

The idea was to have people who are healthy and smart and especially white have more children.

Anne Leary talks about her new novel to Foundling and the riveting real-life stories that inspired

it.

Plus, Alexandra Alter has news from the literary world.

And my colleagues Greg Coles and Liz Harris talk about what they've been reading.

This is the Book Review Podcast.

It's June 10th.

I'm John Williams.

Tom Perotta is here.

You know his work from page end screen.

He's the author of many acclaimed novels, including Little Children, which he adapted into

an Oscar-nominated screenplay, The Leftovers, which later became a series for HBO, and

Election, which was turned into a movie starring a very memorable Reese Witherspoon as its

lead character, Tracy Flick.

Tracy is back now in Perotta's new novel, Tracy Flick Can't Win.

And he joins me now to talk about it.

Hi Tom, thanks for being here.

...