BUY THE BOOK! https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/744560/dream-state-by-eric-puchner Buy at Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/dream-state/id6504841280 Listen to the Audiobook on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4x3YoAvjZDfv7zEFg4CB8N?si=547a878fa812404f In this episode of Oprah’s Book Club: Presented by Starbucks, Oprah and author Eric Puchner discuss his newest book "Dream State" - a novel New York Times bestselling author Elin Hildebrand calls “an absolute masterpiece.” Set in Montana, Oprah’s 111th book club pick is a page turner and emotional rollercoaster that spans 50 years in the lives of college friends starting in the early 1990s. As we witness this tight circle experience friendship, a love triangle, marriage, raising kids aging and death, the novel evokes powerful questions about what really matters in life. For this conversation, Eric and Oprah are joined by a live audience enjoying Matcha Lattes in a Starbucks cafe in the iconic Empire State Building. Eric talks about character development, his writing process and his thought-provoking depiction of friendship, marriage and parenting while taking questions from the audience of avid readers. Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@Oprah 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
Full Episode
Welcome, Eric. Thank you so much. You were so stunned when I called. I was incredibly stunned when you called. In fact, my publicist had made me think that he was just calling to talk about something kind of boring.
Hello? Hello, is this Eric? Yes, it is. Eric, hi, it's Oprah Winfrey. Oh my God. Yeah. Oh my God.
I teach at Johns Hopkins University and I I get terrible reception in my office, so I was crouched in my car in this kind of ugly parking lot, and then it was Oprah on the line. I almost dropped the phone. I was completely astonished.
Well, it's great to have you here. I told you we were going to be in at Starbucks, Books in Conversation. And you know what you said? Oh, will I be a part of that? That's the whole idea, Eric!
Hi, everybody. Welcome to Oprah's Book Club, presented by Starbucks. Hello. We're here in the gorgeous New York City, Starbucks, and we are having some interesting books, conversation, and coffee. And we are all readers here. Hello, readers.
I think that your neighborhood Starbucks is a great place to get together with friends with a copy of my new book club pick and connect over a delicious cup of curated coffee. The pairing for this book is a matcha latte. My 111th book club pick is a real page turner and an emotional roller coaster. Wouldn't you say? It is the novel Dream State by Eric Hockner.
An absolute masterpiece, a wonder of character and craft. Beautiful, brilliant. One of the most anticipated books of 2025. That's just some of the literary praise for Eric Buchner's novel, Dream State. It's set among the serene lakes and picturesque mountains of Montana, which is its own dream state. This is a story about Cece, who's arrived alone in town one month early to plan her wedding.
It's also about her fiancé, Charlie, who's a doctor back in Los Angeles, and his best friend Garrett, who just happens to be the officiant for their wedding. When the tumultuous wedding day arrives, Cece makes a shocking choice that affects everybody in her life. That's when Dream State becomes a story about a love triangle spanning 50 years.
This is a story of opportunity, grief, commitment, family... marriage, longing, regrets, parenthood, connection, human nature, friendship, and life. I sat down at Starbucks in New York City with the author and a cafe full of readers. Married people in here? A lot of married people? Resonated, right? The audience told us why they connected so deeply to these beautifully written characters.
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