Audio Book Club

Slate critics Laura Bennett, Andrew Kahn, Dan Kois, and Katy Waldman discuss Hanya Yanagihara's misery-soaked epic.

Slate critics Dan Kois, Laura Miller, and Katy Waldman discuss Andy Weir's tense space procedural.

Slate critics Jamelle Bouie, Meghan O'Rourke, and Katy Waldman discuss Ta-Nehisi Coates' searing book about being black in America.

Slate critics Dan Kois, Meghan O'Rourke, and Katy Waldman discuss Harper Lee's newly published sequel to "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Slate critics Jamelle Bouie, Hanna Rosin, and Katy Waldman discuss Emily St. John Mandel's award-winning novel.

Slate critics Emily Bazelon, Hanna Rosin, and Katy Waldman discuss Anthony Doerr's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

Slate critics Katy Waldman, Julia Turner, and Meghan O'Rourke discuss Helen MacDonald's shapeshifting memoir.

Slate critics Emily Bazelon, Hanna Rosin, and Katy Waldman discuss Ali Smith's novel about a prickly, grief-torn teenager and her Renaissance painter counterpart.

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

David Carr, former New York Times critic and media columnist, died on Thursday. He was 58. In honor of Carr, we are re-posting our Audio Book Club about his 2008 memoir, The Night of the Gun.  The story of Carr's descent into alcoholism and drug dependency is, on the one hand, a typical addiction-and-recovery memoir. But Carr tries to add a new twist to the old genre by relying on his reporting skills, rather than just his memory, to reconstruct a more accurate personal history. Carr interviews his friends, family, and ex-girlfriends, and digs through his old medical records in search of objective truth. Does Carr succeed at leaving convention behind? The 45-minute conversation explores this question and many others. Listen to more installments of Slate’s Audio Book Club.

With the release of the Fifty Shades of Grey movie in theaters this week, wandering minds are drifting back towards the world of E.L. James’ blockbuster erotic novel. In this episode of the Audio Book Club, previously published around the height of Fifty Shades mania, Slate culture editor Dan Kois, Slate culture critic Meghan O’Rourke, and Slate DoubleX founder Hanna Rosin debate the merits of the book. O’Rourke describes it as maybe the worst book she’s read in her life, but still has quite a bit to say about the book’s issues of class. Rosin expanded on her ideas from her March 2012 piece about the book’s sexual politics and admitted that a second read had led her to better understand why every woman she knew was reading and loving the book. Kois attempted to perform Christian Grey’s “gray gaze” on the radio. Hear their two-year-old predictions of what the film, now in theaters, might look like.  Note: This episode contains spoilers. 

Slate critics Dan Kois, Meghan O'Rourke, and Hanna Rosin discuss Phil Klay's National Book Award-winning debut collection of stories about the Iraq war. Complete Slate's podcast listener survey! Tell us about yourself and your favorite podcasts so Slate can serve you better. We'd appreciate two minutes of your time. Go to http://slate.com/survey …

Slate critics Katy Waldman, David Haglund, and Parul Sehgal discuss the first in Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan trilogy.

Slate critics Dan Kois, Hanna Rosin, and Emily Bazelon discuss Karen Joy Fowler's novel about an all-too-human family.

Slate critics Dan Kois, Choire Sicha, and Miriam Krule discuss Lev Grossman's fantasy trilogy.