Book cover of Nick and Jake: An Epistolary Novel

Book description

America in 1953 seems hell-bent on squandering the flood tide of international goodwill earned in WWII. Senator Joe McCarthy is on a red-hunting rampage in Washington, and the fledgling CIA under Allen Dulles is starting to dabble in nation-building.

Into this moment of history wander Nick Carraway and Jake Barnes,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Nick and Jake as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The Great Gatsby is one of my all-time favorite books, so I was thrilled to get to spend more time with Nick Carraway (not my favorite “Gatsby” character, but still…) I love so much about this hilarious, inventive book. Would Fitzgerald approve? Possibly. Would Papa, likely not.

Regardless, I love the letters, memos, transcripts, and other ephemera that come together to make for an entirely novel reading experience.

If you love Nick and Jake...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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