North Woods: Pulitzer Price Finalist Daniel Mason on His Hit New Novel

Here & Now co-host Robin Young moderated a conversation with New York Times best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason about his hit novel, “North Woods.”
Named one of the best books of 2023 by the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe and NPR, it is a sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries.
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[@collnss]

Phenomenal book! Unforgettable.

[@Chanterelle137]

"North Woods" is one of the best books I've read. I read the entire book outdoors, on wintry days in Riverside Park, NYC. Though only 370 pages, it seemed like an epic tome three times in length -- so rich and deep is the prose. It's paced like a symphony with magnificent variations on a theme. Gorgeous.

[@HerAeolianHarp]

I could not put this book down. It is so vast and yet so full of personal detail. I especially love the depiction of non-human characters. It reminded me of the deft way Steinbeck handled the turtle crossing the highway in "The Grapes of Wrath". I also loved the rich mix of genre!

[@beccabonk1]

I'd like to recommend the Audiobook version of this wonderful book. With the exception of the opening chapter titled "Osgood's Wonder, Being the Reminiscences of an Apple-Man," the narration is excellent. Osgood's accent and enthusiasm is a bit grating. Keep going, don't stop!

[@collnss]

The man with schizophrenia is the grandson of the lady who hired the psychic. His mother is the little girl in the background.

[@digby3618]

How much is the publisher spending on marketing for this book?
It's a terrible book!
It's a book about apples written by a seriously sexually repressed man. The characters are two-dimensional and completely unlikable. The descriptions are sparse where they need to be in depth, to flesh out the characters, and way too detailed where they could have been one line. The entire chapter on bug porn was entirely unnecessary.
I can not fathom why this book is being pushed so hard.