The Foxed Page

Watch me conjure John Steinbeck from the dead!

NO ACTUAL READING OF THE NOVEL REQUIRED!

If you love the TV series, listen now to get A LOT more out of it. I'll tell you, this 1952 classic surprised me! Its sense of place, lessons in history, denigration/elevation of women, biblical underpinnings...the list of strengths could go on and on.

Whether its your favorite novel of all time, or you've only seen the show, or you have just the haziest ninth-grade memories of Lenny squeezing that bunny in OF MICE AND MEN--tune in to hear why Steinbeck deserved that Nobel Prize.

To be completely honest, I picked this up because I thought I saw it on the Booker long list. I was mistaken (!!) but WOW am I glad I read it. How is this his first novel???

Also, best title ever.

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https://blog.loa.org/2014/10/an-interview-with-jed-perl-how-lives-of.html

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dialogues-the-david-zwirner-podcast/id1400997563?i=1000554152182

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jed-perl/we-never-called-it-frisco/

This book is SO smart. Listen in to appreciate its richness, depth and complexity. ALSO, an hour from now you'll know the crucial difference between extraction skimming and reading as a means of real understanding.

Goodman is sooooo smart. HELEN is inventive, heady, strange and HILARIOUS. Listen in to see what all those Booker judges might have identified when they longlisted this gem of a novella.

Resources consulted and/or cited:

https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/makenna-goodman-interview

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/feb/06/helen-of-nowhere-by-makenna-goodman-review-a-perfect-fairytale-for-our-times

https://www.guernicamag.com/makenna-goodman-motherhood-and-isolation/

https://www.sevendaysvt.com/arts-culture/books-arts-culture/inside-the-mind-of-booker-prize-nominee-makenna-goodman/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbRJv5dyq3M

Luiselli is TOO GOOD. This readable, complex, multi-faceted text proves yet again that she's a voice we need to hear. Listen in for a better appreciation of the structure, the polyphonic nature, its autofiction elements and the crucial use of echo. Plus what I think is REALLY GOING ON HERE.