The story is at the center of the project. Why is it important to put a story to the data you collected?įor me, novelizing a current event is not like setting the idea to music. Studying mass incarceration also influenced your writing of An American Marriage. He relied: But this wouldn’t have happened to you in the first place. And with that, the novel was born. The woman said, Roy you know you wouldn’t have waited on me for seven years. Still, I could see they were in love– and in trouble. The woman was beautifully dressed but he looked less polished, not as put together. While I was there I went to the mall where I overheard a couple arguing. I am embarrassed to have only pages of notes, but no novel. I went home to Atlanta to visit my family. After months of reading, watching documentaries, examining oral histories, I felt like I’d learned a lot, but I didn’t have a story- and I’m a storyteller. I was stressed out because I needed to have work to show for my time there. I was researching incarceration for a new novel. An overheard snippet of conversation helped me bridge the gap between the idea of the novel to the real heart of it as a story.Īt the time, I was at Harvard, studying at the Radcliffe Institute. How did An American marriage come to be?Įavesdropping! You make it sounds so sinister. This novel captivates readers with the depths Jones explores as the novel grapples with what truly makes a marriage.Įavesdropping played a role in your creation of this novel. Roy and Celestial know love, and they struggled to be love amidst the swirling chaos that unfolded on fateful even in their new marriage. Real is the best word to describe Tayari Jones’ novel, An American Marriage, which was just named Oprah’s latest book club pick. Best of all, although each of those authors has only one of their choices featured here, every one of them chose 10 of their favorite books to share on Goodreads, which means there are 10 times more reading recommendations waiting for you on their lists.Real. Maas, Karan Mahajan, Danzy Senna, or Lily King, I've got 10 books below that you won't want to wait to read. Vaughan, Ken Follett, Colleen Hoover, Atul Gawande, Sarah J.

So if you love Stephen King, Khaled Hosseini, Brit Bennett, Brian K. What better books to read can there be, then, than the ones that have inspired your heroes? Authors, and particularly novelists, must read deeply and broadly in order to hone their craft. I believe strongly in taking reading recommendations from your favorite writers, especially if you want to be a writer yourself.

Get out your TBRs, book nerds, because you're going to have a lot of new titles to add. As part of the month-long celebration in honor of its 10th anniversary, bookish social network Goodreads has asked 10 of your favorite authors to share their 10 favorite books with the rest of us.

Silver sparrow goodreads