🎤︎︎ New Five Books Episode: Allegra Goodman on “This is Not About Us” (Or So We Tell Ourselves)

Allegra Goodman tells us how This Is Not About Us grew like a family tree from her New Yorker short story “Apple Cake,” as she continued writing about the Rubinstein family for over a decade. We discuss how her perspective - and the world - has changed since she wrote The Family Markowitz in her 20s, and how Keats’ concept of negative capability has shaped her writing. We also hear about a book that she found very dull until a bad cold taught her patience.

Allegra Goodman is a writer of extraordinary range and precision. Across novels and stories, she’s written about faith, ambition, family, science, history, and the quiet negotiations of everyday life, always with clarity, wit, and deep compassion for her characters. Allegra’s many books include Sam (a Jenna’s Book Club pick), Paradise Park, Kaaterskill Falls (a National Book Award finalist), and Isola (a Reese’s Book Club Pick.) 

Her latest novel of interconnected short stories, This Is Not About Us, brings all of that together. It follows the Rubinstein family over many years, through moments that feel small until they suddenly don’t.

1. ⁠A book that is in conversation with your latest work:

The Family Markowitz by Allegra Goodman

2. ⁠A book you changed your mind about:

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

3. ⁠⁠A passage from a book that has stayed with you or has changed how you think about things:

A famous passage from one of John Keats’ letters about Negative Capability

4. ⁠The book you’re reading now:

The Dickens the Enchanter: Inside the Explosive Imagination of the Great Storyteller by Peter Conrad

5. ⁠The author’s latest work:

This Is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman

Allegra’s first appearance on The Five Books can be found here:

• Allegra Goodman on Making the Exotic Familiar, and Finding the Modern in Ancient Words

This episode was recorded live in front of an audience in a joint event for subscribers to Nu Reads, a project from Jewish Book Council that brings remarkable Jewish literature straight to your door. This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman is the Nu Reads pick for February. Learn more at nureads.org.

What Else We’re Reading Now:

Matt Fogelson’s Restrung is a vulnerable, funny, and heartfelt memoir that traces his journey from a music-obsessed kid in 1980s New York to a father confronting the long shadow of his own father’s absence. It’s a moving exploration of father-son bonds, grief, and the courage it takes to reclaim passion and connection.

The Five Books is a partner organization of Jewish Book Council, a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers.

Spread the word about great Jewish books! Share this newsletter with friends and family!

Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at fivebookspod.org.

For transcripts and more find us online at
www.fivebookspod.org

Support our work lifting up Jewish books and Jewish authors!
Donate Here

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.