Emma Straub Gets Quizzed on Boy Bands

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:01]Welcome back with best selling author Emma Straub and her new novel is called "American Fantasy". You should have been at this show in the commercial break. We went from right stuff to candy girl. The whole audience is dancing and what I love about it is again it crosses race, gender. The guys, even though it's boy band, guys are dancing to this. This character though, um by the way, you own one of the most beloved bookstores with your husband in all of Brooklyn. Um >> [applause] >> Yeah.

[00:00:33]Books are magic is iconic in the city independent bookstore. When you have your own work of art and you're placing it on and you pull a book like "American Fantasy", what do you want the reader to take with them? Oh, I mean it you know it's different with every book, right? But But this in particular. With "American Fantasy", I just I had the most fun writing this book.

[00:00:57]>> Because of the cruise experience?

[00:00:59]>> Just because because I mean like you saw you saw what listening to like five minutes of boy band music did to your audience.

[00:01:07]>> Right. That's how I felt the whole time.

[00:01:10]I do.

[00:01:11]Um on that cruise you were on, you talked about women coming with their matching outfits reliving the scrunchie world that we all ran from. But there was a woman who actually asked for a kidney donor on the cruise.

[00:01:25]>> Yes.

[00:01:26]>> And people responded.

[00:01:27]>> Yes. So so when I got on the cruise, one of the first things I noticed was this sign and I and I you know I've got my little notebook and I'm like, well that's going in the book. And and but what I learned is that the reason that the woman put up this sign is because on a previous cruise someone had made a sign and it had worked. Wow.

[00:01:49]That one fan had given another fan her kidney and even more amazing to me, I mean that's the most amazing part, but I hosted a a Zoom Book Club last week for Blockheads, that's New Kids on the Block fans.

[00:02:06]>> And they were both in there, in the chat.

[00:02:09]The woman who gave the kidney and the woman who GOT THE KIDNEY.

[00:02:12]>> [applause] >> I I LOVE THAT WE'RE going through this with the lens of the Annie, right?

[00:02:19]Because I I love that she's in this transition in her life and then I don't want to give too much away, but she happens to catch the eye >> [laughter] >> of a certain band member and all of those emotions that come with reminiscing. Yeah.

[00:02:34]I have a quiz for you. Are you ready for it? Okay.

[00:02:37]>> never been more ready. It's called boy band brain freeze. Sam fam at home, I think you're paying attention. I hope you are and you're going to play with us here. So, Emma, okay, on your boy band knowledge, you ready?

[00:02:48]Here we go.

[00:02:49]Tell me why ain't ain't nothing but a heartbreak? Is that what it Is that heartache. Okay, this whole time I thought it said tell me why ain't nothing but a party.

[00:03:04]Okay, boo on me. Okay, New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys or NSYNC, who sold the most albums? Okay. Okay.

[00:03:13]Oh, see this is this is terrible. I'm going to get into trouble. I have to say the New Kids on the Block, even if it's wrong, because otherwise that's like cuz those are my guys.

[00:03:22]>> That's your guy.

[00:03:23]>> Yeah. Uh it's the Backstreet Boys. OKAY, WELL, FINE.

[00:03:26]OKAY.

[00:03:27]ALL RIGHT.

[00:03:28]AND OKAY, SO THIS IS A wild card. Which member did you want to marry? [laughter] Okay, I don't I don't know if I was thinking about marriage, you know.

[00:03:41]>> not telling me you didn't look at that poster longingly on your bunk bed wondering one day what it would all be like.

[00:03:47]>> Oh, no, no, I had the posters, I had the pillow cases, I had the buttons.

[00:03:53]There is there There he is, Joey McIntyre. Joey Joey McIntyre. Joey was your guy. Why was Joey your guy? Well, HE'S THE BEST ONE.

[00:04:01]>> [laughter] >> OKAY. Joey McIntyre, you heard it here first and you got mine right. Bobby Brown was my guy. Oh, well. And then when he went solo, I was like, "THIS IS MINE."

[00:04:16]THANK YOU TO EMMA FOR WHAT WILL BE THE BEST QUEEN OF THE SUMMER.

[00:04:22]FOLLOW EMMA ON SOCIAL. PICK UP YOUR COPY, American scandal. Get a sip of red wine and escape. Damn fam, you don't HAVE TO WAIT LONG CUZ GUESS WHAT?

[00:04:34]YOU'RE ALL GOING HOME WITH YOUR OWN COPY.

[00:04:37]COMING UP, the world of Michael drama is exploding and we're DIVING IN THIS SUMMER TO PRIVATE LESSONS. We'll be right back. Oh my god.

[00:04:45]>> [music]