Uploaded September 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
On March 11, 2022, Hanya Yanagihara returned to the John Adams for a conversation about 'To Paradise', her three-part story across three centuries, centered around New York City. To Paradise is a revisionist American history – not identical to the America as we know it but a ‘what if’ narrative, invested in raising concerns about America as a nation: what it has been, what it might have been and what it could be. An epic tale told across multiple timelines and characters, separate from each other, but providing major themes and takeaways for the reader. “A masterpiece of our time,” according to The Guardian.
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On March 11, 2022, Hanya Yanagihara returned to the John Adams for a conversation about 'To Paradise', her three-part story across three centuries, centered around New York City. To Paradise is a revisionist American history – not identical to the America as we know it but a ‘what if’ narrative, invested in raising concerns about America as a nation: what it has been, what it might have been and what it could be. An epic tale told across multiple timelines and characters, separate from each other, but providing major themes and takeaways for the reader. “A masterpiece of our time,” according to The Guardian.
Support and rate our Bright Minds podcast on Spotify - open.spotify.com/show/1GkgmYjJ1FgxCZA10tMTta
--
Want to find out more about the John Adams Institute? Check out our socials:
Instagram - instagram.com/johnadamsnl/?hl=en
Twitter - twitter.com/JohnAdamsNL
Facebook - facebook.com/JohnAdamsInstitute
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/john-adams-amsterdam







![T.C. Boyle: The Harder They Come (lecture)
After his first visit in 1995, one of the paragons of American literature, T. Coraghessen Boyle, returned to the John Adams Institute on September 5, 2015. His latest novel, The Harder They Come, recounts the miseries of a troubled father and son in a resonant meditation on the American frontier ethos.
Exploring the dark side of the American dream, the novel recapitulates themes that have preoccupied Boyle throughout his long career: his fascination with characters who pit themselves against their neighbors, the system and nature; freedom as both a founding principle of America — and an invitation to rebellion and self-indulgence; and the dark fallout of ideological certainty and obsession.
The Harder They Come has been praised by critics as a Great American Novel: a drama taking place at the core of the American soul. “From the novel’s thrilling set piece of a start […] to its pensive conclusion,” The New York Times wrote, “The Harder They Come is a masterly — and arresting — piece of storytelling, arguably Mr. Boyle’s most powerful, kinetic novel yet.
This video was recorded on September 5, 2015.
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnAdamsNL T.C. Boyle: The Harder They Come (lecture)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/saHjvAFsyG8/mqdefault.jpg)


