Club Calvi

Mary Calvi hosts the book club where you pick what we read next. Club Calvi chooses three new fiction titles. Readers vote to decide the winner and then can engage with the author by asking their most burning questions in a monthly meetup. Every week, Mary talks with authors about their research, writing process, the journey to being published, and with book lovers about their favorite reads.

Club Calvi is a arts podcast hosted by CBS News NY, with 24 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

CBS News NY hosts Club Calvi, a arts show with 24 episodes published.

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  Club Calvi

  Chris Bohjalian on "The Amateur" & putting the personal in the plot

  Aug 19, 202634 min

  Mary Calvi talks to Chris Bohjalian about his new novel "The Amateur," which became an instant New York Times bestseller. The book opens with golf prodigy Mira Winston hitting a shot that kills a young caddie on a golf course in Westchester County. Her life unravels after the tragedy. Bohjalian told Mary that he uses elements of his personal life in his characters, and he shared the surprising ones he included in writing about Mira and the teen who died. In fact, Bohjalian says he didn't intend for the book to be about Mira, but two sentences changed his mind. Bohjalian has written more than two dozen books, and he says he never outlines his stories. Instead, there's one activity that helps him figure out what happens next. ⁠clubcalvi.com⁠ Audio excerpted with permission of Penguin Random House Audio from THE AMATEUR by Chris Bohjalian, read by Melora Hardin. Chris Bohjalian ℗ 2026 Penguin Random House, LLC. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  Club Calvi

  Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray on "A Pair of Aces" and their writing partnership

  Aug 12, 202631 min

  Bestselling authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray talk with Mary Calvi and answer questions from readers about their latest novel "A Pair of Aces." It was voted a Readers' Choice for Club Calvi, and was Benedict and Murray's third book together and third bestseller. Their previous novels were "The Personal Librarian" and "The First Ladies." In "A Pair of Aces," Benedict and Murray reimagine the story of how Eunice Carter, New York's first female Black prosecutor, came up with the strategy to bring down the powerful mob boss Lucky Luciano in the 1930s. In the book, she teams up with the infamous madam Polly Adler. Mary talked with Benedict and Murray about how they discovered the story, how they split the research and writing, and whether one has veto power over the other. ClubCalvi.com Audio excerpted with permission of Penguin Random House Audio from A PAIR OF ACES by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, excerpt read by Barrie Kreinik. Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray ℗ 2026 Penguin Random House, LLC. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  Club Calvi

  John Searles on "Single Girls," Helen Gurley Brown, and Cosmopolitan magazine's early years

  Aug 5, 202632 min

  John Searles is known as a bestselling author of suspenseful thrillers, but he told Mary Calvi that his new novel of dramatic fiction is one that he's wanted to write for years. In the 1990s, Searles was hired by legendary magazine Editor-In-Chief Helen Gurley Brown to work at Cosmopolitan magazine. He stayed there for more than 20 years and became a top editor. His new book, "Single Girls," reimagines Brown in the 1960s, fresh off the success of her book "Sex and the Single Girl," and tasked with turning around the failing Cosmopolitan. She and her female team produced a daring publication, with shocking stories for the times, that challenged society's norms for women and changed culture. Searles told Mary that "Single Girls" is his love letter to Brown and women's magazines. He also shared the harsh note that he accidentally received after an early book was rejected, and how it propelled his writing career. ClubCalvi.com Audio From SINGLE GIRLS by John Searles. Copyright © 2026 by John Searles. Reprinted by permission of Mariner Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  Club Calvi

  Abigail Savitch-Lew on "Livonia Chow Mein"  & place as a character

  Jul 29, 202630 min

  Abigail Savitch-Lew took a long, deep dive researching the history of her family and the history of a community in Brooklyn to write her debut novel "Livonia Chow Mein." She spent a decade crafting the story of a Chinese family who owns a restaurant in Brownsville and the restaurant's impact on Black and Jewish residents over the course of 100 years. The novel explores how the changing times impact each generation of the family and the wellbeing of the neighborhood. "Livonia Chow Mein" received starred reviews and it was voted a Club Calvi Readers' Choice. Savitch-Lew talked with Mary and answered questions from readers about what she learned about relations among people from different cultures, prejudice, and how residents and other writers were crucial to her storytelling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  Club Calvi

  Daniel Silva on Gabriel Allon, "Ransom," writing, and failing privately

  Jul 22, 202631 min

  Daniel Silva is on a publishing streak that most authors can only dream about: all of his novels have been New York Times and international bestsellers. He talked to Mary Calvi about his latest book, "Ransom," his 29th novel and the 26th featuring Gabriel Allon, the art restorer and master spy who is pulled back into the life he thought he left behind. In Allon, Silva created one of the most popular characters in contemporary fiction. But Silva told Mary that as he's writing, he keeps his stories secret from everyone but his wife. "Ransom" centers on the disappearance of the wife of a British billionaire, melding kidnapping and global intrigue with security threats facing the world today. Silva talked with Mary about his rigorous writing habits to publish a new book every July and how he treasures meeting readers on his book tours. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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