In July of 2020, we were all struck by Bryan Washington’s short story collection Lot, which takes readers deep into the Hispanic and Black neighborhoods of Houston, describing the lives of apartment complexes and storefronts via the people who occupy and care for them. So to prepare for Summer Reading and our kickoff event with the man himself, we’re reading and discussing Washington’s novel Memorial. Memorial returns to Houston via couple Benson and Mike, who are pretty much definitely at the end of their relationship. A wrench is thrown into their lives when Mike finds out his dad is dying of cancer, and he leaves for Japan just as his mother arrives to visit. Mitsuko and Benson are left together in a thumbprint-sized apartment, despite never having met each other, while Mike lands in Osaka to take care of his father, Eiju, who abandoned the family when Mike was young.

Memorial has so many layers that it’s hard to pull them into one cohesive podcast episode. But we think we’ve done it with this one! We’re digging into the concept of home, the essence of change, and most importantly, how weird it is to cook in someone else’s kitchen. We also take a look the characters Washington creates for both of the “hometowns” in Memorial: Houston and Osaka.