how to win the lottery: a book club podcast

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

we’re talking about american psycho by bret easton ellis. given that it’s almost the 4th of july, we’re also talking about american opulence, the connective tissue between this and the great gatsby, and the paradox of american exceptionalism. we discuss what happens when patrick bateman interacts with people outside his circle, the purposeful lack of a memorable ending, and the timothy price “fakeout.” shreds talks about what ellis’s writing means to him (and its inclusion in the pre-podcast module) and reads the novel’s manifesto (if such a thing exists).

we praise the successful film adaptation (and note where it falls short), talk about how bateman’s nihilism ultimately wins out, and discuss the possibility of whether patrick bateman is gay. we also talk about sean bateman, alison poole, and the intertextuality on display in american psycho. how much of this book actually happened? what’s up with the patty winters show? do people consider this a great american novel?

our third great american novel module kicks off with the great gatsby by f. scott fitzgerald, and we’re joined by an old friend (albeit one who makes a very brief appearance before immediately leaving). after discussing, briefly, two film adaptations (and the flaws in baz luhrmann’s version), joey asks: is this wasted on high schoolers? we talk about gatsby’s ties to other classic literature, the wealth discrepancy on display in the novel, and whether kids prefer “new money” today.

we discuss the profound sadness of gatsby reconnecting with daisy and the inability to recapture the past, and heap praise on daisy, who is the novel’s best character. shreds explains a homoerotic reading of the text and talks about why the best scene in the novel works as well as it does. we cast the best adaptation of gatsby anyone has ever dreamt up, and we look ahead to american psycho (and the themes to look out for).

reading list for season twenty

the great gatsby by f. scott fitzgeraldamerican psycho by bret easton ellis