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 withou...
the next book in our second-person module is suicide by édouard levé, which kicks off a mini-module of shorter writing that is also european as hell. after discussing a gem of a film we discovered on the criterion channel, we talk about suicide‘s up-ending afterward and the manipulation found within the text. we discuss suicide as the defining moment in anyone’s life who dies that way and why it’s hard to reflect on what happens within the book. we explore how (and why) first-person is found more in this book than in our other books this module, the wildly different alt cover, and how the extensive poetry that ends the text reads in french. we talk about wanting to learn more about translators and the act of translation. egg does a great job of articulating thoughts about this text.
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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39:32
bright lights, big city by jay mcinerney
welcome back to the penn badgley module. today’s episode is the most “normal” book we’ve read in a while: bright lights, big city by jay mcinerney. we talk about the novel’s deadpan humor, whether it feels tied to the 1980s, and how the main character ends the book while still sort of spiraling. we explore the current irony of a plot about fact-checking and computers making life easier, the arc to cocaine as a drug in the united states, and a time where t.g.i. friday’s was a cool place to hang out. we wonder if there’s a jay mcinerney connected universe and we revisit shreds’s shared bennington literary universe. we discuss how the second-person perspective villainizes amanda, the amount that bret easton ellis seems to take from this writing, and the weird miscasting in the film adaptation. shreds champions a specific element of kevin smith’s movies.
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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47:51
if on a winter's night a traveler by italo calvino
our next second-person novel is if on a winter’s night a traveler by italo calvino, which features an all-time great first chapter. before we talk about the novel, though, we simply must talk about the season 5 trailer for “you.” we then talk about incarnations of the text’s “gimmick” in other mediums, whether this is a “horny book for dudes,” and how long a postmodern text can exist before its schtick becomes tiring. we lament a second person element lost in the english language, talk about the text’s charlie kaufman-esque elements, and admire its prescience around generative ai. shreds talks about the oulipo gathering. we ask: what do you want in a bookstore? rip david lynch.
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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46:05
interior chinatown by charles yu
our second-person module kicks off with interior chinatown by charles yu, which gives us literary whiplash both in terms of difficulty and perspective. we talk about the type of racism that charles yu captures in the book (and the type we “expected” to find), the way he takes down hollywood in the novel (and the similar representations we’ve seen on tv), and the strengths of the novel (as well as its limitations). we briefly discuss the limited series on hulu (which was a surprise to both of us) and what “chinatown” usually signifies in stories like this. shreds makes a request to make the book longer.
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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31:23
season thirteen theme and reading list
it’s time for another season of lottery pod, and today’s theme reveal is news to everyone, including joey. (well, not everyone. shreds knows. he made it.) we discuss the theme as structure (rather than content), the inspiration for this theme, and the only book most people know that fit this theme. we talk about our goal of aiming for something less depressing, shreds teases modules that he created but abandoned, and we wonder if this module annoy us. we discuss the potential benefits and drawbacks of writing in this style.
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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