<club-desc-paragraph>How you think you will respond to a crisis and how you actually respond to a crisis are never the same - and Amanda and Clay learn that the hard way when their long weekend in remote Long Island is upended by a city-wide blackout, bizarre goings-on with animals in the surrounding woodlands, and the arrival of Ruth and G.H., complete strangers and the owners of the vacation home Amanda and Clay are staying in with their teenage children.<club-desc-paragraph>
<club-desc-paragraph>Rumaan Alam’s second novel is a suspenseful, magnetic look at parenthood, race, class, and how much you can trust other people in a crisis. Written well before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the United States, both the publish date and the novel’s content have made Leave the World Behind an unexpected symbol of how the pandemic can impact and change people as well as a powerful look at climate change.<club-desc-paragraph>
<club-desc-paragraph>Join author Rumaan Alam for a deep dive into Leave the World Behind on BookClub, where he discusses the overpowering nature of the book (an intentional decision), how the novel comments on race (and why he wants the reader to really determine what the book says about race), and how the pandemic changed how the book was received (“context determines how you feel about an artifact,” Alam says). Leave the World Behind is a novel that will leave you unsettled and contemplating your impact on the world around you in only a way a great novel can<club-desc-paragraph>
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<club-landing-h3>On Writing<club-landing-h3>
<club-landing-paragraph>Author Rumaan Alam introduces readers to Leave the World Behind, a book he designed to overpower the reader. He discusses some of his inspirations for the book, contemporary book culture, and how Covid-19 changed the response to the book.<club-landing-paragraph>
<club-landing-h3>Building the World<club-landing-h3>
<club-landing-paragraph>Rumaan talks about what it took to build both the voice of the book and its unsettling nature, as well as why the book has always been more about climate change than anything else.<club-landing-paragraph>
<club-landing-h3>On Characters<club-landing-h3>
<club-landing-paragraph>Rumaan reveals how having his children led to the writing of this book, and shares that parenting, an experience he refers to as a “denial of reality,” plays an interesting role in the book. He also talks about specific characters in the book and how they relate to each other and specifically the children in the book.<club-landing-paragraph>
<club-landing-h3>On Theme<club-landing-h3>
<club-landing-paragraph>While discussing some of the major themes of the book (race, class, and handling a crisis), Rumaan also discusses the monstrous nature of some of his characters. While discussing the racial issues at the center of the book, Rumaan challenges readers to be the ones who determine what the book really says about race.<club-landing-paragraph>
<club-landing-h3>Inspiration for the Title<club-landing-h3>
<club-landing-paragraph>Rumaan talks about his writing process, including the notebook that he always carried with him as he was writing, and how the title was influenced by AirBnB. Finally, he dives into the role that flamingos play in the book.<club-landing-paragraph>
