our ohio module keeps on truckin’ with both a pop quiz about the state and a discussion of omensetter’s luck by william gass. we talk about the difficulty in reading the novel (and how the first two sections sort of fake you out a bit), what william gass is “doing” in this text, and why regional writing tends to be set back in time. shreds explains why the novel made him feel unbearably sad and hopeless — and how surprised he was by the way gass’s life turned out. we discuss the afterward (and whether or not it’s true) and how william gass (among others, including authors we have already read like john barth) pushed the postmodern genre forward. we talk about casting an adaptation and create an ambitious new module idea, because why would we ever want to do anything the easy way?
reading list for season fourteen
the bluest eye by toni morrisonomensetter’s luck by william gassoutside in by doug cooperohio by stephen markley
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the bluest eye by toni morrison
our ohio module kicks off with a known quantity: the undeniably great debut novel from toni morrison, the bluest eye. after briefly reflecting on the states so far, we talk about famous people from ohio as well as whether the bluest eye feels specific to ohio. we talk about its thematic ties to ryan coogler’s sinners, as well as the text’s generational trauma and its characters who can afford to be nice. why isn’t joey bothered when his least favorite trope in movie-making pops up in books? we discuss. we admire toni morrison’s mastery of dialogue — especially kid dialogue, as well as kid behavior. we talk about her writing this novel from the perspective of an editor and the merits of introducing great literature to high school students (even if it’s lost on them). egg writes in a great email.
reading list for season fourteen
the bluest eye by toni morrison
omensetter’s luck by william gass
outside in by doug cooper
ohio by stephen markley
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season fourteen theme and reading list
it’s time for another card drawing on lottery pod, and even though we don’t say it in this episode: suck shit, sufjan stevens. after we struggle to remember which states we’ve already covered, we make picks and predictions for both the states that we’re most excited about and the states we think will come up in the drawing. (spoiler: shreds is almost right.) we figure out what we’re reading. shreds recaps fantasy baseball news from eight months ago. (note: after recording this episode, we decided to swap in the bluest eye by toni morrison for beloved.)
reading list for season fourteen
the bluest eye by toni morrison
omensetter’s luck by william gass
outside in by doug cooper
ohio by stephen markley
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open water by caleb azumah nelson
we’re closing out our second-person module with one of our strongest books yet: open water by caleb azumah nelson. after talking about the pitt (and the mount rushmore of tv), we talk about the lack of irony in open water and the way its naturalistic style makes you forget it’s written in second-person. we talk about the way nelson writes about media (and how it feels like a barry jenkins movie), how good he is at describing music, and the good lineage of books with “water” in the title. we ask: what would this be like if it was set in the u.s.? we admire the amazing circumstance of the main characters’ meeting, how glad we are at what this book did NOT become, and the shortcut nelson uses to existing art (and the intertextuality it has with other modern media). would this make a good movie? we reflect back on the mixed bag of a module.
reading list for season thirteen
interior chinatown by charles yu
if on a winter’s night a traveler by italo calvino
bright lights, big city by jay mcinerney
suicide by édouard levé
the malady of death by marguerite duras
how like a god by rex stout
the diver’s clothes lie empty by vendela vida
the night circus by erin morgenstern
a man asleep by georges perec
open water by caleb azumah nelson
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a man asleep by georges perec
our penultimate book in the “you” module is a man asleep by georges perec, which is a return to form as it’s once again french as hell. we talk about how it compares to suicide by édouard levé and the malady of death by marguerite duras, as well as the refreshing nature of variation in the module. shreds talks about the other short story in the collection (things) and the act of lucid dreaming. we discuss perec describing the act of playing solitaire, whether the end is a call to action (or defeatist), and life as a street performer. shreds talks about bosho’s hakus (and how different “english haikus” are), and then he predicts the title of elif batuman’s next novel.
reading list for season thirteen
interior chinatown by charles yu
if on a winter’s night a traveler by italo calvino
bright lights, big city by jay mcinerney
suicide by édouard levé
the malady of death by marguerite duras
how like a god by rex stout
the diver’s clothes lie empty by vendela vida
the night circus by erin morgenstern
a man asleep by georges perec
open water by caleb azumah nelson
a book club, like oprah’s if oprah were two suburban guys from new jersey, or reese witherspoon’s if reese were two suburban guys from new jersey, except without the engine of fame that those two huge stars provide. but come on: oprah is not going to answer your emails. (trust us, we know.) every two weeks, a new book microscoped and surgeried by benevolent despot joey lewandowski and disgraced college professor "shreds"... with your help! here's a guarantee: every episode ends with an arrestable crime. will it be something boring like credit card fraud or something sexy like a casino heist? listen to find out.
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