How two families learned to work the system

Also this week: Saying goodbye to Elizabeth Wurtzel, critics' picks and more [American Oligarchs, by Andrea Bernstein]( Andrea Bernstein cohosts the podcast Trump, Inc., and her new book American Oligarchs examines how President Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner have benefited from family connections and the influence of money in politics. The Trump family "could not have been what they are without the help of the taxpayers in a whole variety of ways through infrastructure programs, through tax abatement programs, which allowed them to avoid paying taxes in certain instances," she tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. [Hear the whole conversation here.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- [Elizabeth Wurtzel in 2000]( Neville Elder/Corbis via Getty Images Elizabeth Wurtzel, whose brash, unapologetic 1994 memoir Prozac Nation inspired a national conversation about depression, died this week at the age of 52. Prozac Nation had a complicated reception -- the New York Times called it "wrenching and comical," "self-indulgent and self-aware" — redolent of Bob Dylan and Joan Didion while still in need of "some strict editing." But it started a trend of popular memoirs from young writers that's still going strong today. [Our appreciation of Wurtzel is here.]( [Why We Can't Sleep, by Ada Calhoun]( Continuing on our topic of Gen X women for a moment, Ada Calhoun's new book Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Midlife Crisis examines the unique pressures on middle class, middle aged women. "They were raised thinking that they could have it all and do it all. The world was their oyster," she tells NPR's Rachel Martin. "And then they kind of got to middle age and they found that it was actually quite difficult to have, you know, even some of it." [Hear the full conversation here.]( Finally this week, critic Michael Schaub says [Crissy Van Meter's Creatures]( "is so beautifully written, it's somewhat surprising that it's a debut." Heller McAlpin calls Topics of Conversation "[slim but potent]( And Caitlyn Paxson says Woven in Moonlight [seems like a straightforward revenge tale at first]( but "blossoms into something much more quicksilver and subtle." [Creatures, by Crissy Van Meter]( [Topics of Conversation, by Miranda Popkey]( [Woven in Moonlight, by Isabel Ibanez]( — Happy reading! --------------------------------------------------------------- What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [books@npr.org](mailto:books@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Pop Culture, Code Switch and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Books emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy](