ABC: The Girl on the Train

Slate critics Dan Kois, Katy Waldman, and Laura Bennett discuss Paula Hawkins' bestselling thriller.

The Audio Book Club on Arcadia

This month, Slate Book Review editor Dan Kois, DoubleX editor Hanna Rosin, and Brow Beat editor David Haglund discuss Lauren Groff’s novel Arcadia, which follows the residents of a 1970s utopian hippie commune into the present day and beyond. The novel’s opening third tells the story of the commune’s heyday and the way it inevitably falls apart, while its ending suggests that in a rapidly degrading future, the ideals that built places like Arcadia might once again make them a refuge.

 

*** all of our episodes are available on itunes...

The Audio Book Club on Cloud Atlas

Our critics discuss David Mitchell’s 500-year puzzle epic. By Emily Bazelon, Dan Kois, and Meghan O'Rourke

*** all of our episodes are available on itunes...

The Audio Book Club on How Should a Person Be?

How should a novel be? Slate Book Review editor Dan Kois, Slate culture critic Meghan O’Rourke, and Slate Brow Beat editor David Haglund discuss Sheila Heti’s “novel from life,” How Should a Person Be? Deliberately messy and featuring unveiled versions of the author’s friends, the novel sharply divided the Audio Book Club. David Haglund defended the book’s innovation and verve; Meghan O’Rourke thought the book was valuable and important despite some problems; and Dan Kois worried he was just another clueless dude who couldn’t get it.

*** all of our episodes are available on itunes...