how to win the lottery: a book club podcast

our second “unadaptable” novel this module is antkind by charlie kaufman, which is in (somewhat) rarified air: we’d both already read it. after talking about whether this book is designed to disappoint you, to not satisfy the reader in any way, we talk about how kaufman said he wrote this to be unadaptable. did he succeed? joey reads some of the wikipedia plot summary to demonstrate the novel’s surreal world before we explore the complexities of b. rosenberger rosenberg and praise kaufman for the most successful installment of “joke watch” we’ve had to date.

we discuss brainio, unseen puppets (and the many, many other ideas kaufman puts into the text), and the novel’s profound sadness. we do our best to not routinely compare this book to charlie kaufman’s films, but we also use the comparison to discuss his aesthetic, as well as what we’d want out of future novels.

there’s one footnote in the book, so we have to talk about that. joey briefly discusses this piece about amy wallace. is kaufman one of “our guys”? what do we think about the title?

reading list for season twenty-one

the odyssey by homer, translated by emily wilsonthe sugar frosted nutsack by mark leynerdetransition, baby by torrey petersantkind by charlie kaufmanthe chain by adrian mckintyyour name here by helen dewitt and ilya gridneffthe memory police by yoko ogawa, translated by stephen snyderthe catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger

our next “soon to be adapted” novel this module is detransition, baby by torrey peters, which marks a first for the podcast: it’s already been discussed! (sort of.) after shreds explains why he wants more of an ending (and why this doesn’t fly in the face of his past stance on endings), we talk about the novel’s two protagonists and how neither is the likely gateway character for most readers. we discuss the baggage and layers and emotional complexity found in all areas of the text and how much there is to learn from the story.

joey brings back his joke watch segment and then accidentally conflates this novel with euphoria. we think about how this will be adapted – and whether it’s possible to do without exposition dumps – and how we hope werner herzog shows up in the film. shreds talks about katrina’s intermittent and surprising levels of understanding and empathy. we attempt to solver a listener’s mystery about a previous episode. also, a note: there are cat issues throughout this episode.

reading list for season twenty-one

the odyssey by homer, translated by emily wilsonthe sugar frosted nutsack by mark leynerdetransition, baby by torrey petersantkind by charlie kaufmanthe chain by adrian mckintyyour name here by helen dewitt and ilya gridneffthe memory police by yoko ogawa, translated by stephen snyderthe catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger

our first “unadaptable” novel this module is the sugar frosted nutsack by mark leyner. should this have been in the new jersey module? we discuss. also, we talk about its ties to the odyssey, mark leyner’s surprising age, and how he approaches writing about “the gods” differently than neil gaiman.

in talking about why it’s unadaptable, we discuss the punishingly repetitious nature of the novel, the difficulties of writing a recursive text like this, and the little amount of action that actually takes place. we also discuss the specificity of the celebrities referenced, the literary device/role that xoxo plays, and how the sugar frosted nutsack ties into other book we’ve read (as well as one we have coming up later this module).

joey talks about the new thing he’ll be tracking in our books. shreds discusses the free association that leyner has on display, and meg writes in about what the audiobook helped with/hurt.

reading list for season twenty-one

the odyssey by homer, translated by emily wilsonthe sugar frosted nutsack by mark leynerdetransition, baby by torrey petersantkind by charlie kaufmanthe chain by adrian mckintyyour name here by helen dewitt and ilya gridneffthe memory police by yoko ogawa, translated by stephen snyderthe catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger

our second adaptable/unadaptable module kicks off with a movie in theaters this weekend: the odyssey by homer, as translated by emily wilson. after suffering a disjointed start (in more ways than one!), we spend a while discussing emily wilson’s new translation — and the text’s first 90 pages, covering both her intro and her translator’s note — before talking about why the always-angry internet seems to dislike this version, as well as why this translation is no less authentic than others. we explore emily wilson’s take on repetition and the oral tradition and her personal connections to the text.

then, we pivot to the text itself to ask: does every hero’s journey owe itself to this story? shreds talks about odysseus as “the king of lies” when really he just makes up a bunch of convoluted stories. joey asks: are we supposed to like odysseus? we talk about the lack of disbelief about people simply becoming owls, as well as the ways in which the book is (and isn’t) horny.

how will this be adapted? the structure is weird, and characters are often in disguises. will this translation be reflected at all? we review the casting and offer up other options of our dream directors of the text. the egg sends in two emails.

reading list for season twenty-one

the odyssey by homer, translated by emily wilsonthe sugar frosted nutsack by mark leynerdetransition, baby by torrey petersantkind by charlie kaufmanthe chain by adrian mckintyyour name here by helen dewitt and ilya gridneffthe memory police by yoko ogawa, translated by stephen snyderthe catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger

it’s time for another “full” season of lottery pod, and we’re returning to a familiar well: un/adaptable books. we discuss the timeliness of this module (hello, christopher nolan’s “the odyssey”!) and what happened to the adaptations we covered the last time we did this type of module. (it was a mixed bag.) shreds offers some new comic book recommendations, and we wonder: will the salinger archives ever open up?

reading list for season twenty-one

the odyssey by homer, translated by emily wilsonthe sugar frosted nutsack by mark leynerdetransition baby by torrey petersantkind by charlie kaufmanthe chain by adrian mckintyyour name here by helen dewitt and ilya gridneffthe memory police by yoko ogawa, translated by stephen snyderthe catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger