The New Yorker: Fiction

Elif Batuman joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Truth and Fiction,” by Sylvia Townsend Warner, which was published in The New Yorker in 1961. Batuman is the author of one book of nonfiction, “The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them,” and two novels, “The Idiot” and “Either/Or,” which was published earlier this year. She has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2010.

André Alexis joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Waiting for Death in a Hotel,” by Italo Calvino, translated, from the Italian, by Martin McLaughlin, which was published in The New Yorker in 2006. Alexis’s novels include “Childhood,” “Days by Moonlight,” and “Fifteen Dogs,” which won the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2015. 2022 © Italo Calvino, performed with permission of The Wylie Agency LLC.

Akhil Sharma joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Zombie,” by Joyce Carol Oates, which was published in The New Yorker in 1994. Sharma is the author of the novels “Family Life” and “An Obedient Father,” which will be reissued in a revised version this month.

Rachel Kushner joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Come Into the Drawing Room, Doris,” by Edna O’Brien, which was published in The New Yorker in 1962. Kushner is the author of three novels and most recently the essay collection “The Hard Crowd,” which was published last year.

Camille Bordas joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “A Father-to-Be,” by Saul Bellow, which was published in The New Yorker in 1955. Bordas’s novel “How to Behave in a Crowd,” was published in 2017

Sherman Alexie joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Where I’m Calling From,” by Raymond Carver, which was published in The New Yorker in 1982. Alexie is the author of nineteen books of fiction and poetry, including “Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories” and the novel “Flight.”

Gish Jen joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Friends,” by Grace Paley, which was published in The New Yorker in 1979. Jen is the author of nine books, including the novel “The Resisters” and the story collection “Thank you, Mr. Nixon,” which was published in February.

Alejandro Zambra joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Loneliness,” by Bruno Schulz, translated from the Polish by Celina Wieniewska, which was published in The New Yorker in 1977. Zambra is a Chilean poet, novelist, and story writer whose most recent novel, “Chilean Poet,” will be published in English this month.

Kevin Barry joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “A Family Man,” by V. S. Pritchett, which was published in The New Yorker in 1977. Barry is a winner of the International Dublin Literary Award and the author of six books of fiction, most recently the story collection “That Old Country Music,” which came out in 2020.

Will Mackin joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Falls,” by George Saunders, which was published in The New Yorker in 1996. Mackin’s first book, “Bring Out the Dog,” was published in 2018 and won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection.

Ben Lerner joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “In the Name of Bobby,” by Julio Cortázar, translated from the Spanish by Gregory Rabassa, which was published in The New Yorker in 1979. Lerner is the author of seven books of fiction and poetry, including the novels “10:04” and “The Topeka School,” which was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. 

Donald Antrim joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Balloon,” by Donald Barthelme, which was published in The New Yorker in 1966. Antrim is the author of three novels and the story collection “The Emerald Light in the Air.” His memoir, “One Friday in April: A Story of Suicide and Survival,” will be published this month. “The Balloon” (c) 1966, by Donald Barthelme, performed with permission of the Wylie Agency, LLC.

Rebecca Curtis joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey,” by Haruki Murakami, which was published in The New Yorker in 2020. Curtis is the author of the story collection “Twenty Grand: and Other Tales of Love and Money.”

Ann Patchett joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Proxy Marriage,” by Maile Meloy, which was published in The New Yorker in 2012. Patchett is the author of eight novels, including “Commonwealth” and “The Dutch House,” which was a finalist for last year’s Pulitzer Prize.

Susan Choi joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Found Objects,” by Jennifer Egan, which was published in The New Yorker in 2007. Choi is the author of five novels, including “My Education” and “Trust Exercise,” which won the National Book Award in 2019.

Ben Okri joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Rescue Will Begin in Its Own Time,” four short fiction pieces by Franz Kafka, translated from the German by Michael Hofmann, which were published in The New Yorker in June of 2020. Okri is the author of two dozen books of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, including the novels “The Famished Road,” which won the Booker Prize in 1991, and “The Freedom Artist,” which was published in 2019.

Téa Obreht joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Gallatin Canyon,” by Thomas McGuane, which appeared in a 2003 issue of the magazine. Obreht is the author of two novels, “The Tiger's Wife” and “Inland.”

Weike Wang joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Katania,” by Lara Vapnyar, which appeared in a 2013 issue of the magazine. Wang's first novel, “Chemistry,” won the PEN/Hemingway Award in 2018.

Douglas Stuart joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Fjord of Killary,” by Kevin Barry, which appeared in a 2010 issue of the magazine. Stuart’s first novel, “Shuggie Bain,” won the Booker Prize in 2020.

Hisham Matar joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “One Minus One,” by Colm Tóibín, which appeared in a 2007 issue of the magazine. Matar’s most recent book, the memoir “A Month in Siena,” came out last year.