Rachel Barenbaum

Dec 7, 2024 | nhpr.org | Rachel Barenbaum

Discover a new author with Check This Out. This series features host and author Rachel Barenbaum in conversation with emerging and diverse writers about their latest work. The debut novel "Love Can't Feed You" has a straightforward plot about a family that moves from the Philippines to the U.S. However, the relationships within the family are complicated.

Nov 30, 2024 | nhpr.org | Rachel Barenbaum

On the surface, "Glorious Exploits" is goofy and quixotic. The plot is simple. Set in 412 BC, it tells the story of two men who offer Athenian prisoners of war food and freedom for performing plays by their favorite Athenian playwright. As one reviewer wrote, a modern equivalent would be telling a story about the Viet Cong saving and releasing American POWs for singing Elvis. "Glorious Exploits" makes this ancient story very readable and relatable. There is lots of comic relief and ridiculousness.

Nov 23, 2024 | nhpr.org | Rachel Barenbaum

The Bullet Swallower follows two generations of one family. One story line, set in 1895, follows a Mexican bandit who sets off for Texas to rob a train. Along the way he encounters a mysterious figure who has come to, finally, collect a cosmic debt generations in the making. The second story line is set in Mexico City in 1964. The bandido's grandson is a movie star and producer who also encounters this same mysterious figure, still bent on collecting that cosmic debt.

Nov 16, 2024 | nhpr.org | Rachel Barenbaum

We are delving into a fantasy, traveling on a grand express train from Beijing to Moscow by taking the shortest route possible - a route that runs through the magical Wastelands in Sarah Brook’s debut novel "The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands." You basically sign your life away to get on board this train and the journey could drive you mad. But if survive it will be the thrill of a lifetime, the subject of stories for decades to come.

Nov 9, 2024 | nhpr.org | Rachel Barenbaum

Discover a new author with Check This Out. This series features host Rachel Barenbaum in conversation with emerging and diverse writers about their latest work. The third season of in-depth author interviews continues with Essie Chambers, author of "Swift River."Longlisted for The Center for Fiction 2024 First Novel Prize, there’s a lot to unpack in this novel. Sixteen year old Diamond is the only Black person in the town of Swift River, stuck in a town she hates it as much as it hates her.