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Podcast: Behind the Mic With Kirkus Reviews
Episode: Three Literary Heavyweights: Smith, Banville, and Pynchon
Description: Host Jo Reed and contributor Alan Minskoff dive into three remarkable audiobooks: Zadie Smith’s Dead and Alive, John Banville’s Venetian Vespers, and Thomas Pynchon’s long-awaited Shadow Ticket. They explore Smith’s incisive essays, read by the author with clarity and authority; Venetian Vespers, with Luke Thompson navigating Banville’s long, sinuous sentences; and Pynchon’s noir caper, handled with virtuosic range by Edoardo Ballerini. It’s a conversation filled with sharp insights into writing, narration, and what makes these audiobooks such compelling listens.
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Audiobooks Discussed:Â
Dead and Alive, written and read by Zadie Sm...