Tommy Orange joins us now from Oakland. Thanks so much for being with us. TOMMY ORANGE: Thank you so much for having me. SIMON: This novel is so beautifully written and so hard to read.

Thanks so much for being with us. KAVEH AKBAR: Thank you so much for having us. TOMMY ORANGE: Yeah, thank you. SIMON: What's the idea behind this road trip? AKBAR: Tommy and I wrote our two books ...