The Book Review25 Apr 2025

Book Club: Let’s Talk About Adam Ross’s ‘Playworld’

Set in New York in the 1980s, Adam Ross’s new novel, “Playworld,” tells the story of a young actor named Griffin as he navigates the chaos of the city, of his family and of being a teenager, and the dangers that swirl around each.

Although “Playworld” grapples with bleak material, it sparkles with Ross’s vivid eye and sardonic sense of humor. The result is a dark, off-kilter bildungsroman about one overextended teenager trying to figure himself out while being failed, continually, by every adult around him.

On this week’s episode, the Book Club host MJ Franklin discusses “Playworld” with his colleagues Dave Kim and Sadie Stein.

Here are the books discussed in this week’s episode:

“Playworld,” by Adam Ross

“Mr. Peanut,” by Adam Ross

“The Catcher in the Rye,” “Nine Stories,” “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction,” and “Franny and Zooey,” by J.D. Salinger

“Long Island Compromise,” by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

“How Little Lori Visited Times Square,” by Amos Vogel, illustrated by Maurice Sendak

“The Squid and the Whale,” directed by Noah Baumbach

“The Goldfinch,” by Donna Tartt

“Headshot,” by Rita Bullwinkel

“The Copenhagen Trilogy,” by Tove Ditlevsen

“Jakob von Gunten,” by Robert Walser

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