Jul 16, 2019

Practice Dying

Rachel Stolzman Gullo

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

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Summary

Rachel Stolzman Gullo Practice Dying (Bedazzled Ink, 2018) is about twins, David and Jamila, who seek meaning and connection from opposite ends of the world. Just as she turns 30, Jamila falls in love with an Indian pastry chef who is temporarily in New York City. When that doomed relationship falters, she unsuccessfully tries to commit suicide, and David flies immediately home from Tibet. David is a devoted Buddhist who has been mentored by the 14th Dalai Lama. He is obsessed with a rash of self-immolations by Tibetan monks who are protesting China’s occupation of their country and attempts to annihilate their culture. In alternating chapters, the twins grapple with family bonds, spirituality, illness, death, and love. Rachel Stolzman Gullo is the author of The Sign for Drowning (Shambhala, 2008). Her poetry and fiction have appeared in various publications. Practice Dying was a semi-finalist for Best Novel in the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Literary Competition, received a fellowship from Summer Literary Seminars, and was a finalist for the Inkubate Literary Blockbuster Challenge. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons. If you enjoy this podcast and want to discuss it further with me and other New Books Network listeners, please join us on Shuffle. Shuffle is an ad-free, invite-only network focused on the creativity community. As NBN listeners, you can get special access to conversations with a dynamic community of writers and literary enthusiasts. Sign up by going here.

G.P. Gottlieb is the author of the Whipped and Sipped Mystery Series and a prolific baker of healthful breads and pastries. Please contact her through her website (GPGottlieb.com) to listen to her previous podcast interviews, to read her mystery book reviews, to check out some of her awesome recipes, or to recommend an author (of a beautifully-written new novel) to interview.

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G. P. Gottlieb

G.P. Gottlieb is the author of the Whipped and Sipped Mystery Series and a prolific baker of healthful breads and pastries. Please contact her through her website (GPGottlieb.com).

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