This week, read a heartbreaking supernatural thriller by one of our own columnists, debate the creation of the male birth control pill, check out a current events quiz podcast, and revisit an American classic.
On Your Kindle
Saving Elijah, by Fran Dorf
On alternate Wednesdays, our very own Fran Dorf offers advice to TDM readers who have a problem they just don’t know how to solve. Fran’s own novel, Saving Elijah—newly available on Kindle e-readers—centers around a woman with her own heartbreaking, unsolvable problem.
Dinah is a successful psychologist, a happily married mother of three. When her five-year old son, Elijah, falls into a coma, Dinah grapples with grief, guilt, and the fear of loss as she watches him deteriorate in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. When a smooth-talking, literary, sarcastic ghost from Dinah’s past presents himself and offers a bargain that just might save her son, Dinah begins to deal with the demons—both real and imaginary—that threaten to uproot everything she’s ever loved. Fran’s novel—inspired, in part, by the tragic death of her own child—is moving and thought-provoking, a supernatural tale grounded in the heartbreaking realities of life and death.
On Your Smartphone
A Major Advance Toward a Birth Control Pill for Men, by Lindsay Abrams
With recent media attention about the pill—who will pay for it, who will provide it, and how it will affect November’s election—this article, which recounts recent strides toward the advent of a birth control pill for men, could be a conversation changer. Check it out and let us know what you think—how would a male birth control pill affect society, politics, and personal lives? Weigh in below!
On a Podcast
Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, by NPR
NPR’s rich archive of inspiring podcasts—from short morning news roundups to pop culture happy hours and in-depth interviews—contains clips that are as entertaining as they are informative. This classic radio feature is a weekly current events quiz with questions so cloaked in sarcasm and wit that the contenders don’t always know what is real and what is fabricated. If you’re a trivia junkie looking for some fun on your morning commute, download these free podcasts.
Old School
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
With only months to go before the Christmas debut of the star-studded feature film about Jay Gatsby, the mysterious millionaire who lives a lavish life in the fictional West Egg, Long Island, re-visit this high school English class favorite—and one of the greatest American novels of all time. The novel, narrated by the confused, uprooted Midwesterner Nick Carraway, tells the tale of this Great Gatsby, a maker of “new money” who commands attention and captivates Carraway. As Nick gets closer to Gatsby, he learns that that Great enigma had, as a poor youth, once loved his cousin Daisy, who now lives with her abusive and unfaithful husband in the “old money” haven of East Egg. The story that unfolds as Gatsby tries to regain Daisy’s heart calls into question the very nature of the American Dream.
