We just wrapped up our live Book Club discussion with Karim Dimechkie about his novel The Uproar — a story that captures the tensions of a city in crisis at the dawn of the Zohran Mamdani era. Thanks so much to the nearly 1,000 of you who joined us! We talked about:
Whether this “stressful social novel” is an attempt to correct misperceptions about the world — including the uncomfortable truth that “good” people can still be racist
How Karim’s work in the extraordinarily diverse world of social services shaped his worldview and informed the direction of his novel
The contradiction between how we see ourselves and how others perceive us
The backlash against the era of “virtue signaling” and “performative do-gooding,” and how the world has changed
What it means when people are forced to think about affording things at all times — and how Zohran Mamdani offers hope for a better future
Whether there is room to acknowledge complexity in a fraught era like this one
How loving a dog can sometimes be easier than loving a person! 🐾
You won’t want to miss any of it. Just click on the video player above to watch the entire conversation.
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Join us for more Live conversations next week!
Next Thursday, July 31, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, we’ll talk with New York Times Magazine Staff Writer Jonathan Mahler about Zohran Mamdani and how change comes in New York.
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How to participate in the Book Club
We’ll post questions — our discussion guide — every Sunday, and every other Wednesday we’ll meet for a discussion with the Club or a visit from an author or other special guest. Look out for posts with further details. We’ll also host chat threads to get your insight on key questions in advance of our meetings. For our next book, we will be discussing Sunbirth by An Yu. Time to get reading!
To participate in our meetings and author talks on Substack Live, join from your phone or tablet with the Substack app. You can watch on desktop at The Ink, and comment and ask questions in our chat, but you won’t be able to join the live video discussion. Book Club meetings are open to paid subscribers to The Ink, so if you haven’t become part of our community, please join us today.
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