Laura Flanders Show

Salman Rushdie praised A.M. Homes' latest novel, The Unfolding as, "A terrific black comedy, written almost entirely in pitch-perfect dialogue, that feels terrifyingly close to the unfunny truth." In this episode, A.M. and Laura discuss political fiction, women writers and the unraveling of American democracy. Homes is an American writer best known for her novel The End of Alice, about a convicted child molester and murderer and Music for Torching, about the run-up to a school shooting. The Unfolding, written in the decade before the January 6th Insurrection, is similarly anticipatory. It follows a Republican donor plotting a mob assault on Washington. It was published this September 6th. Also included, a clip of a solidarity reading at the New York Public Library in support of Rushdie. And a commentary from Laura on the reality journalism of the late Barbara Ehrenreich. "I definitely want to make work that is about prompting a conversation. That is not about creating characters that make people feel, I love that guy. You don't have to like them, but I want people to have questions, to debate, to wonder about things." - A.M. Homes. "Where we are right now, which I would say is very, very dangerous, is some people have lost track of what is a fact, what is actionable, what is real. The problem with that is.... absent any consensus on what is real and true, all bets are sort of off."- A.M. Homes. Guest: A.M. Homes: Author, The Unfolding.