John Purcell Makes THE FRIEND by Sigrid Nunez

Listen above or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or if you want to SEE us in all our glory… watch at the bottom of this post.

This episode's book: The Friend by Sigrid Nunez is a quiet novel about a woman who inherits the dog owned by her best friend when he dies. Not just any breed of dog but a MAMMOTH Great Dane, oh and her rental agreement is NO DOGS. Although a novel about grieving a friend, it also offers a lot of insight into a writers life as both the MC and her friend are writers.

This week’s guest is John Purcell, who we think might be one of the most well-read authors in Australia. While still in his twenties, John Purcell opened a second-hand bookshop in Mosman, Sydney, in which he sat for ten years reading, ranting and writing. He’s currently Head of Books at The Nile Australia and his latest book, The Amateur's Guide to Killing Bad Guys, will release in August this year.

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In this episode, we cover:

Re-reading old faves

Writing classes and the writing advice in this novel

This dangerous profession and the risks of having a writer in your family

Is telling really a sin?

Dogs vs Cats

2nd person point-of-view

The movie adaptation, which John refuses to watch.

📚 Books Mentioned in this Ep

Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

A Room With a View by E.M. Forster

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

A Gentleman of Moscow by Amor Towles

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

Lee Child’s Jack Reader novels.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Books by Bryce Courtenay, Colleen McCullough, Agatha Christie, Thomas Hardy, Deborah Levy, Rachel Cusk, Ali Smth.

⏰ Timestamps

1.0 Intro

1.25 – John apologises for loving Brother of the More Famous Jack, as well he should.

1.30 – Rachael cranks the handle on her feminine wiles. Anthea settles in to learn from the master

3.21 – John refers to Rachael as a wonderful author and Rach responds with a comment about John’s top-notch erotica.

5.20 Anthea reads the blurb in an attempt to bring down the spice!

7.21 John complains that Rach and Anthea kind of ruined his re-read of The Friend. Anthea refuses to feel bad about it.

9.33 Rach adds background info about The Friend. Anthea starts thinking about tea.

10.53 Rating time – Kiss, Kill or Marry?

12.07 Anthea goes first, and makes some excellent points

14.34 John doubles down on The Friend. Rachael captivated, Anthea suspects he’s a cat person.

18.56 Rach agrees with John about everything – but she does mention Anthea’s latest book, so Anthea agrees with herself that they can still be besties!

22.06 There’s some nonsense conversation about cats and dogs. Anthea wonders if she can make it to the kettle..

27.05 Not naming characters – cool literary device – or just a bit wanky?

27.39 Writing in second person. Pointless? Wanky? Is the kettle on?

29.44 John discusses self-publishing and AI. A cup of tea is delivered to Anthea by an 83 year old ghost. Nice!

34.10 John loves Room With A View. Anthea wonders about the cat thing.

35.27 Rach tells John he has picked a novel that’s TOO good, with TOO much to discuss! Anthea bows to the master, and realises she still has much to learn.

36.40 Rach and John discuss the issue of offending modern audiences, and modern sensibilities.

41.40 John disses tonnes of hyped books – Rachael and Anthea are in awe.

46.37 John disses Dame Agatha Christie, which Anthea thinks is a bridge too far.

47.07 Rachael enthuses about John’s Nile posts (Anthea wishes they would get a room already..)

47.36 Thomas Hardy – John’s wingman – and one of the greatest reading experiences of John’s life

49.50 Rachael asks – are all writers monsters??

54.23 John has lost three dogs, and has chosen to replace them with cats. Enough said.

55.25 Next book – Wild Dark Shore (and a super fond farewell from Rach!)

👉 Watch now and tell us - did you love The Friend?

👉Next Ep, we’re diving into Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy and our April guest is Mercedes Mercier who will make us read The Only One Left by Riley Sager.

May Books: 14th May - Half His Age by Jeanette McCurdy28th May - Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster with guest author Tamara Moss

Exciting NEWS - we’ve pretty much locked in all our books for the rest of the year! You can see them here!