Bonnie Garmus

ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more.

Elizabeth Zott is the heroine of Lessons in Chemistry, the internationally best-selling debut novel by Bonnie Garmus.

Elizabeth Zott is a brilliant chemist, stymied in her career at every turn by the sexist world of the 1950s.

And so she takes the job hosting a TV cooking show, or as she thinks of it, a science education show.

Well, thank you for inviting me.

This is just wonderful.

I spoke to Bonnie Garmus in 2024 and Bonnie has a new novel out.

It's called Peck and Peck.

I'm not a dog guy, never had one, don't particularly like them.

But you know who does? Bonnie Garmus.

A dog shows up in her smash hit novel, Lessons in Chemistry.

I just read one of those interviews where they asked her what books were on her nightstand and her first answer was a memoir about a dog.

That is, until he lands one in the copy room of Peck and Peck, a highly prestigious poetry magazine.

But soon, Batter becomes embroiled in the personal and editorial conflicts of the staff and the magazine's publisher.

The book is called Peck and Peck, and Bonnie Garmus joins us to talk about it.

Welcome.

And all his customers at Fred's Auto and Tire will be, I'm making all this up.

But I hope folks remember Bonnie Garmus, who came out of nowhere with a novel a few years ago called Lessons in Chemistry.

It was a huge hit.

It was her first novel.

And I was fascinated by the machinations, I guess, of this magazine and how the editors clash and how Batter Gray, who came to it out of nowhere, although he loved poetry, rose within the ranks of this magazine, which was called Peck and Peck.

And, you know, in some ways, we've been talking a lot in the last couple of months about world building.

I think Bonnie Garmus does a terrific job of world building in this.

It's not a fantasy book, but there are, I don't know, the way she describes the building that houses this poetry publication is magical.

Oh, yes

... an auth- Bonnie Garmus.

Hmm.

Um, and they've turned it into a TV show.

[jazzy music] This is Poured Over, a show about stories presented by the booksellers of Barnes & Noble.

Bonnie Garmus, I'm so happy to see you.

Oh, it's so nice to be back.

I am so happy to see you.

Freaky times.

Uh, books-wise, Peck & Peck sees the return to the bookshelves of Bonnie Garmus, who gave us the excellent and best-selling Lessons in Chemistry.

This novel tells the story of a young man whose life turns upside down when he is hired by the most prestigious, secretive, and dysfunctional poetry journal in the world, the renowned Peck & Peck.

Folks are pretty pumped for this one.

The literati are jumping with joy.

So that's Peck & Peck from Bonnie Garmus, which is now available in your local bookshop.

So that's the one book I wanna shout out.

Music-wise, ooh, have we got some bangers this week.

Thanks for having me.

Coming up next, uh, bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, is here to talk about her brand-new novel.

Don't go anywhere.

[upbeat music] So great.