Is Bob Dylan Still a ‘Complete Unknown’?
11 February - 22 minsElijah Wald’s 2015 book, “Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan and the Night That Split the Sixties,” traces the events that led up to Bob Dylan’s memorable performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The book is about Dylan, but also about the folk movement, youth culture, politics and the record business. For the writer and director James Mangold, Wald’s work provided an opportunity to tell an unusual story about the musician.
“You could structure a screenplay along the lines of what Peter Shaffer did with “Amadeus,’” Mangold told the Book Review editor Gilbert Cruz. “I don’t really know what I learned about Mozart watching “Amadeus.” But I do know that I learned a lot about how...
Series Episodes
Book Club: Let's Talk About "Orbital," by Samantha Harvey
In "Orbital," by Samantha Harvey, a group of astronauts in the International Space Station orbit the Earth 16 times over 24 hours. This simple and beautiful novel won the 2024 Booker Prize. On this week's episode, MJ Franklin discusses Harvey's slim book with fellow Book Review editors Joumana Khatib and Jennifer Harlan.
41 mins
28 February Finished
Celebrating 100 Years of Edward Gorey
You’re familiar with Edward Gorey, whether you know it or not. The prolific author and illustrator, who was born 100 years ago this week, was ubiquitous for a time in the 1970s and 1980s, and his elaborate black-and-white line drawings graced everything from book jackets to the opening credits of the PBS show “Mystery!” to his own eccentric storybooks. On this week’s episode, the Book Review’s Sadie Stein joins Gilbert Cruz for a celebration of all things Gorey.
35 mins
21 February Finished
Inside the Making of ‘Wicked’
Meet the writer who helped turn a book into a cultural phenomenon.
26 mins
19 February Finished
Adapting the Twists and Turns of ‘Conclave’
How the novel became an Oscar-nominated film.
23 mins
14 February Finished
How ‘Nickel Boys’ Became One of the Year’s Most Visually Striking Films
The director RaMell Ross on adapting Colson Whitehead’s prize-winning novel.
22 mins
7 February Finished
