Short Story Club: Curtis Sittenfeld's "The Prairie Wife"
Hey, listeners!
Our seasonal short story episodes are always a nice change of pace for us. They’re a great way to get really nerdy and allow us to dig deeper into a story than we often can with a novel. Today we’re discussing a very modern short story by contemporary writer Curtis Sittenfeld. We’ve talked about Sittenfeld on the podcast before. Sara loves her novels Prep and American Wife, and Sittenfeld also wrote the Pride & Prejudice retelling Eligible (there are a lot of mixed opinions on that one!). Today’s story, “The Prairie Wife”, is a story about influencers, summer nostalgia, and lives that don’t turn out as expected. We discuss the entire story, including the ending, so we recommend reading it before you listen, unless you don’t mind spoilers—you can also listen to Sittenfeld read the story through this link. There are a few content warnings for this one, mainly for homophobia and blunt depictions of sex.
Listen to the episode in your favorite podcast app (don’t forget to rate and subscribe!).
More on Curtis Sittenfeld:
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Coming up:
Next week Chelsey and Sara are discussing Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth. This episode is a little nerdy and a ton of fun with conversation about Wharton’s views on class and gender, the glitzy world of the Gilded Age, and why this is a perfect classic for summer reading. The following week, we’re sharing our favorite books of the year so far. We love reflecting back on our reading lives and we can’t wait to share some excellent reads with you!
We also have a class coming up this week for our Literature Scholars on Patreon. If you can’t get enough classic lit, we’d love to have you join us Wednesday, July 14th at 7pm ET for a class on Edith Wharton and Gilded Age Literature. All classes are available to Patreon subscribers at the Literature Scholar level and can be attended live or watched at a later date. Follow this link to learn more about our thriving Patreon community.
In case you missed it, we shared our summer selections on IGTV and in an Instagram post.
Currently reading:
Chelsey is reading The Husband Hunters in preparation for our Gilded Age class. Sara is still reading History of the Rain by Niall Wilson and recently started Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie on audio*.
*You can support your favorite independent bookstores and get two Libro.fm audiobooks for the price of one by signing up with our link, or entering code NOVELPAIRINGS at checkout!
Where to find us:
Download episodes of Novel Pairings wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Check out our blog for bonus pairings, reading tips, and book recommendations. Find Chelsey at @chelseyreads or @hereadsheread. Find Sara at @fictionmatters and her newsletter. We love hearing what you’re reading, so tag us in your #bookstagram posts!
We declare after all, there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book!
-Sara and Chelsey