Book Buzz: Peck & Peck by Bonnie Garmus
“I think we’re all born with potential, and while it takes thousands of hours of practice to turn that potential into something real, making that kind of commitment is what life is all about. That’s one of the reasons Gen A.I. bothers me so much. There is no effort, no practice, no learning, no growth.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Interview, New York Times
What booksellers are saying about Peck & Peck
- Who writes a fabulous novel centered around poetry? Bonnie Garmus does! This is another captivating original story of a family-owned publishing company that puts out a quarterly issue of poetry. Hold on to your hat when you’re reading this one!
― Beth, The Country Bookshop, Southern Pines, North Carolina | BUY
- I was leery about this one. Lessons in Chemistry, which I loved, is a very hard act to follow and I was hoping Peck & Peck didn’t try to hard to tread the same path. My fears were completely unfounded. This is magic of a completely different kind and I loved it so much. The setting—1982 New York at the offices of an elite and eccentric poetry magazine—provided the most relaxing mental vacation for me as a former English major from a bygone analog era. While it shares a few similarities with Lessons in Chemistry (exceptional dog? Check.) I found it to be a completely different reading experience that I won’t soon forget.
― Kat, Novel., Memphis, Tennessee | BUY
- A delightful story revolving around the importance of poetry and poets. As in Lessons in Chemistry, Garmus’ cast of characters includes a wise and heroic dog. This novel is not as tightly written as her first and without the more serious themes of Lessons in Chemistry but it is a fun witty novel.
― Jean, Thornwell Books, Morganton, North Carolina | BUY
- Bonnie Garmus’s follow-up to Lessons in Chemistry is an absolute joy to read. Lifelong poetry lover Batter Gray is thrilled to land a job at the distinguished poetry journal Peck & Peck – but neither the job nor the company turns out to be quite what he was expecting. What follows is part coming-of-age story, part mystery, part tongue-in-check exploration of the value of poetry in a commercial world – and ultimately a love song to art, in all its forms, for art’s sake. Oh, and it features a dog every bit a match to Lessons in Chemistry’s Six-Thirty. I loved it!
― Jude, Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi | BUY
About Bonnie Garmus
Bonnie Garmus is a coffee-dependent American novelist. Her debut novel, Lessons in Chemistry, was a Good Morning America Book Club Pick, a Goodreads Choice Best Book of the Year, spent nearly two years on the New York Times bestseller list and was named by Times readers as one of the top 100 books of the 21st century. Translated into over forty languages, Lessons in Chemistry was honored with sixteen international literary awards and made into an Apple TV limited series. Peck & Peck is her second novel.
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“I think that we certainly talk about pregnancy and motherhood and reproductive freedoms. These are conversations that we are having, but within pretty narrow parameters. And what I liked about this idea was the opportunity to talk about some of those issues from a different lens than usual — not least because so many people’s minds are already made up about so many of these ideas, and that means that we can’t really have a conversation. But if we change the lens, if we change the approach, if we change the givens and the parameters that we go in with, then we get to have a conversation.
I hope I don’t give too much away, but I was quite inspired by Witness, with Harrison Ford amongst the Amish. I was really interested in this idea of a gangster amongst peacemakers, which is really what Witness is. I find that really fascinating. I became interested in Celtic Christianity because it was very revolutionary at the time in ways that we slightly forget. This was a world of utter warlordism, a very, very violent world and it was pagan. All of that was predicated on the idea that it was good to be strong and kill people. If gods were with you, that’s what would happen. If gods weren’t with you, you’d be weak. The idea of a religion that was founded on the idea that you might want to be weak, or you might want to be humble, was completely insane to these people. I mean, they looked at it and just went, “You’re mad! What are you talking about?”
