The Book of Love vs The Dud Avocado: Fantasy, Paris & Book Club Verdicts

In this episode of The Book Club Review, we return to our book club roots with two wildly different novels: The Book of Love by Kelly Link and The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy.

The Book of Love is the first novel from acclaimed American short story virtuoso and Pulitzer Prize finalist Kelly Link. In a seemingly ordinary coastal town three teenagers become pawns in a supernatural power struggle. Vulture magazine named it ‘the escapist masterpiece of the year’ but what did Laura’s book club think?

Our second book-club pick is Elaine Dundy's The Dud Avocado – a fizzing, exuberant novel from 1958 about a young American woman let loose in Paris, determined to live life on her own terms. It gained instant cult status on first publication and remains a timeless portrait of a woman hellbent on living, a book that feels bracingly modern despite being nearly seventy years old. But did it make for a good book club read?

We've also got some listener feedback on Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, we're catching up on recent reads, and the books we’re excited about next.

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Booklist

You'll find all the books mentioned in the pod's Bookshop.org bookshop

Bookshop.org list

Slow Days Fast Company by Eve Babitz

Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

The Book of Love by Kelly Link

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy

Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan

Niccolo Rising by Dorothy Dunnett

Other links of note

One Grand Books

Frances Ambler's substack

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