Douglas Stuart: “John of John” | Oprah’s Book Club
5/5/202652 min
As part of the 30th anniversary of Oprah’s Book Club, Oprah picks her 123rd selection: John of John by celebrated Scottish author Douglas Stuart. His other novels include Young Mungo and Shuggie Bain which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2020. John of John is set in a small, fictional farming and textile town, Falabay, on an isle off northern Scotland where everybody knows everyone’s business. The story centers around three generations living under the same roof: a father, his son and the son's grandmother. The central theme to this enthralling book is the secrets these three so desperately hold on to: secrets from each other, from their neighbors and from the church. A love story at its heart, Douglas Stuart tells Oprah how he spent six years writing this book, spending 16 weeks researching the Outer Hebrides Isles on the northwest coast of Scotland talking to local people who inspired his 26 supporting characters. Oprah and Douglas Stuart are joined by an audience in New York City who enthusiastically read the book and have questions for the author. BUY THE BOOK! https://groveatlantic.com/book/john-of-john/ 00:00:00 - Welcome Douglas Stuart, author of “John of John” 00:03:01 - The setting of the book 00:04:05 - Where he found this story 00:07:30 - What Douglas needed to learn to write “John of John” 00:09:20 - Douglas describes “John of John” 00:11:43 - Oprah compares the book to Heated Rivalry 00:13:30 - An unexpected love story 00:17:40 - The conflict between father and son 00:20:40 - His writing process 00:25:55 - Father and gay son on “John of John” 00:30:30 - How man found acceptance of his son 00:34:20 - Feeling seen in a novel 00:38:27 - What Douglas wants the reader to feel 00:44:50 - Masculinity and the patriarchy 00:46:10 - The experience of growing up gay 00:47:20 - The end of the novel Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social: Instagram Facebook TikTok Listen to the full podcast: Spotify Apple Podcasts #oprahsbookclub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDouglas Stuart· Guest0:00
[gentle music] [phone ringing] Okay.
Oprah Winfrey· Host0:04
This is Oprah. As in Oprah Winfrey. [laughs] Uh-huh.
Douglas Stuart· Guest0:09
Is there any other Oprah?
Oprah Winfrey· Host0:11
I'm calling about Jon of Jon. Jon of Jon.
Douglas Stuart· Guest0:16
Oh my God.
Oprah Winfrey· Host0:18
I'm calling because I wanna choose it as a book club.
Douglas Stuart· Guest0:20
Oh my God, that's amazing. You must have had some people hang up on you over the years not believing it was, it was really you. This is a real pitchy moment.
Oprah Winfrey· Host0:28
I thought this was so interesting in light of Heated Rivalry and all that's going on with that.
Douglas Stuart· Guest0:32
Yeah.
Oprah Winfrey· Host0:34
[laughs] If you liked Heated Rivalry, you're gonna love this book.
Douglas Stuart· Guest0:36
Yeah.
Oprah Winfrey· Host0:37
[laughs] [laughs] All right? That's all I got to say.
Douglas Stuart· Guest0:39
Yeah.
Oprah Winfrey· Host0:39
This is, this is the deeper end of the ocean- That's right ... of Heated Rivalry. [upbeat music] Hi, everybody. I am so happy to be here with you on the Oprah Podcast 'cause today is my favorite kind of day because I'm with an audience of readers. [cheering] [clapping] We are all reading people, and I know that book clubs are all the rage now. And when I first started doing it, nobody had a book club, and the idea of doing a book club, certainly publicly, was like, "How are you gonna get people to read?" And now look, everybody has a book club. I'm 30 years in, and I'm so excited to share with you my 123rd Oprah's Book Club selection. [cheering] [clapping] 123.