The Audio Book Club on Capital
Our critics take on John Lanchester’s big London novel.
Posted Friday, Aug. 3, 2012, at 4:15 PM ET
Illustration by Robert Neubecker.
To listen to the Audio Book Club discussion of Capital, click the arrow on the player below.
Just in time for the Olympics, Slate Book Review editor Dan Kois, Slate editor Emily Bazelon, and Slate Brow Beat editor David Haglund discuss John Lanchester’s novel of contemporary London, Capital. Expanding on his review in the SBR, Kois defends the novel as a lively, thoughtful read that entertainingly portrays a cross-section of British society. Bazelon and Haglund, on the other hand, think the novel’s overpraised, overwrought, and not nearly as fun as Kois claims it is.
Next month’s Audio Book Club selection is Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn’s literary thriller about a modern marriage gone (murderously?) wrong. Take a copy of Gone Girl on vacation, stay up until 2 a.m. reading it like everyone else, and join Kois, Bazelon, and Slate critic Meghan O’Rourke for our discussion on Sept. 7.
Visit our Audio Book Club archive page for a complete list of the more than 50 books we’ve discussed over the years. Or you can listen to any of our previous club meetings through our iTunes feed or through the player below.
See all the pieces in this month’s Slate Book Review.
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Emily Bazelon is a Slate senior editor and writes about law, family, and kids. Her forthcoming book, Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Empathy and Character, will be published in February. Find her at emilybazelon@gmail.com or on Facebook or Twitter.
David Haglund is the editor of Brow Beat, Slate's culture blog. Follow him on Twitter.
Dan Kois is a senior editor at Slate and a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine.