Episode 70 — Emily St. John Mandel

Summary: Emily St. John Mandel is the guest. Her latest novel is called THE LOLA QUARTET, and it is available now from Unbridled Books. Library Journal, in a starred review, raves: "In this transcendent third novel, Emily St. John Mandel combines her most compelling characters with a breath-taking, tension-filled story as she examines again questions of identity, the surprising pull of family, the difficulties of being the person one wants to be, guilt, and the unforeseen ways in which a small and innocent action can have disastrous consequences. THE LOLA QUARTET is a work that pays homage to literary noir and jazz, Django Reinhardt, economic collapse, love and loss, Florida’s exotic wildlife problem, crushing tropical heat, the leavening of the contemporary world, compulsive gambling, and the unreliability of memory." Topics of conversation include: British Columbia, citizenship, dual citizenship, Canada, Brooklyn, modern dance, Toronto, home schooling, Vancouver Island, Black Swan, steroids, Montreal, break-ups, auditions, octogenarian agents, New York City, Emily Jacobson, Curtis Brown, past lives, vintage fashion, fedoras, good manners, population density, formality, editing, publishing, perfectionism, discipline, part-time jobs, readings, self-promotion, gypsy jazz, Django Reinhardt, Florida, reptiles, Zone One, Colson Whitehead, The Sisters Brothers, Patrick DeWitt, and Last Night in Montreal. Monologue topics: airports, hunger, bad food, travel, fatigue.