{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Kal Penn on "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" || Books That Changed My Life","description":"In this episode of Books That Changed My Life, host Chris Collins is joined by actor and author Kal Penn. Kal opens up about his two years as a presidential aide in the Obama White House, landing a role in Superman Returns after an hour spent geeking out over comic-book history with the writers, and the Book That Changed His Life: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. He and Chris go deep on the novel's big themes \u2014 family and belonging, identity and persecution, escape and acceptance, and the role of art as a weapon \u2014 alongside the emptiness of revenge, his grandparents' place in India's nonviolent independence movement, comedy as a way to bring people together, and the misdirection that links stage magic to a good joke. Kal shares the moment the book truly landed: alone on the stairs of his shared apartment while filming in Sydney, the sun coming in, unable to see the page because he was bawling \u2014 the right book at exactly the right time. #booksthatchangedmylife #books #library #bookrecs #bookreport #interview #podcast #chrisbulldogcollins \ud83d\udea8 Grab the coolest book & library tees, socks, hoodies & more! https:\/\/booksthatchangedmylife.org\/collections\/all ","author_name":"Books That Changed My Life","author_url":"https:\/\/www.booksthatchangedmylife.org","html":"