A Better Life Tackles Immigration

Lionel Shriver is an American novelist and journalist. She is the author of eighteen novels, as well as a story story collection and a collection of essays, beautifully entitled Abominations: Selected Essays from a Career of Courting Self-Destruction. Her most famous book is We Need to Talk about Kevin, though my personal favourites are The Post-Birthday World and So Much for That.

Her latest novel, A Better Life, is a tour de force, a comic pageturner that addresses one of the biggest political issues of our time head-on without ever becoming programmatic or preachy. It’s classical Shriver: a readable romp, lively, hilarious and spot on in its analysis of social malaise and human nature. In addition to discussing the novel itself (without spoilers), we talked about the craft of writing in general, the current state of the literary world, immigration, childlessness and many other subjects. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Lionel Shriver.