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Peachy's avatar

Happy Friday! Neat spreadsheet 😁

Can’t wait to read your review of Demon Copperhead and of The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Both are on my TBR! I just recently reread Thornton Wilder’s Our Town before I read Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake (written as a tribute to Wilder’s works, specifically Our Town).

I saw you read this back in 2020, but what did you think of Powers’ The Overstory? Super curious because his upcoming novel set to publish this September was already longlisted for this year’s Pulitzer - Playground.

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Jeremy Anderberg's avatar

Ah, The Overstory! I read that in the foggy, early days of COVID so I don't actually remember it much. I plan on re-reading it.

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Maggie O'Connor's avatar

Thank you so much for this review! The Able McLaughlins has been on my list for years and I am now going to remove it. You read it so that I wouldn't have to.

Have a great weekend!

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Jeremy Anderberg's avatar

Glad to help! :)

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Mr. Troy Ford's avatar

Really must read more Kingsolver - loved The Poisonwood Bible - Demon Copperhead sounds like a good place to restart, looking forward to your review Jeremy. :)

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Jeremy Anderberg's avatar

Yes! All of her books are just fantastic.

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John Gardner's avatar

Nice job on the updated spreadsheet - looks good!

I appreciate your assessment of both The Able McLaughlins and Arrowsmith - definitely readable but unsure I'd recommend. I don't know if it is a generational gap, or difference in prose / diction / style, but these earlier Pulitzer fiction (from 1910s through 1920s) were a bit more miss for me. It wasn't until Thorton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey that I found one I would recommend.

Arrowsmith did recently feature in one of the Pulitzers I just finished and recommend: Polio: An American Story by David Oshinsky (Pulitzer History 2006), having inspired a couple of the key virologists to get into the field of medicine. Also, speaking of history and medicine, the definitive read on this is The Social Transformation of American Medicine by Paul Starr (Pulitzer - Nonfiction 1983), but be sure to get the one with the 2017 epilogue by Starr, which covers the history of US health care from 1982-2016.

Finally, seconding Demon Copperhead. Many here have lauded the audible version, narrated by Charlie Thurston and it's hard to disagree.

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