Brandon Taylor on the Sally Rooney phenomenon



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Novelist Brandon Taylor, who has generated his own buzz with his debut novel, “Real Life,” and a collection of stories, “Filthy Animals,” visits the podcast to discuss Sally Rooney’s much-discussed work. Taylor recently reviewed her third novel, “Beautiful World, Where Are You”. In the podcast, he describes Rooney’s writing as an “intense and melancholy tractor beam.”

“She has that really awesome tactile metaphorical sense, but it’s never overworked,” he says. “His style is so clean. This is the word I use most often to describe his style. It’s so clean, so pristine. Like his two previous books, this one is fueled by the setbacks of intimate relationships. “Ultimately, if you’re a Sally Rooney fan, I think you’re going to love this novel,” Taylor says. “And if you’re a Sally Rooney skeptic, I think she’ll recognize your concerns but maybe not fully address them.”

Another Rooney, David Rooney, visits the podcast to discuss his new book, “About Time: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks”.

“There is something about clocks and watches,” he says. “They mean more to a lot of people than other artifacts. I wasn’t sure why. I was trying to discover the face of clocks and watches, to understand not how they work – although it’s fascinating – but what they mean, and what they have always meant, throughout history, across cultures.

Also in this week’s episode, Tina Jordan reflects on the history of book review as she celebrates her 125th birthday; Alexandra Alter has news from the publishing world; and Jennifer Szalai and John Williams talk about books that have been recently reviewed. Pamela Paul is the host.

Here are the books discussed by Times critics this week:

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode and the Book Review podcast in general. You can send them to [email protected].

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