Marlon and Jake Read Dead People

Marlon and Jake dive into one of literature's trickiest subjects: sex. Why do some writers capture intimacy with honesty while others veer into the unintentionally hilarious? Along the way, they discuss why writing about sex is really writing about people, the differences between American and French attitudes toward sexuality in fiction, ghost stories as a vehicle for taboo desires, and the delicate balance between telling the truth and keeping readers engaged. Tune in for a conversation about why the best writing on sex is rarely just about sex.

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Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth 

“The Diamond Mine” by Nadine Gordimer

The Late Bourgeois World by Nadine Gordimer

Death of Venice by Thomas Mann

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig

Miracle of the Rose by Jean Genet

Maurice by E. M. Forster

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Ernesto by Umberto Saba

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

London Fields by Martin Amis

The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe

Sex and the Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown

G. by John Berger 

Flashman series

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis

The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

Jaws by Peter Benchley

Marlon and Jake tackle the writers they have no interest in revisiting, asking when it's worth giving a beloved (or notorious) author another chance and when it's perfectly fine to walk away for good. Tune in as they debate literary canon, books that simply aren't for them, the difference between a difficult author and a difficult book, and why sometimes the most honest review is, "Nobody needs to go back to that"

Subscribe to our River-herd digital newsletter and our print newspaper, The Eddy, for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content: https://sites.prh.com/the-eddy-newspaper.

The Executioner series by Don Pendleton

Hotel by Arthur Hailey

Airport by Arthur Hailey

Wheels by Arthur Hailey

The Moneychangers by Arthur Hailey

Advise and Consent by Allen Drury

Shōgun by James Clavell

Tai-Pan by James Clavell

King Rat by James Clavell

Whirlwind by James Clavell

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson

Light in August by William Faulkner

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Pylon by William Faulkner

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Music for Chameleons by Truman Capote

Answered Prayers by Truman Capote

“Where Is the Voice Coming from?” by Eudora Welty

The Ballad of the Sad Café by Carson McCullers

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

The Return of a Native by Thomas Hardy

The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing

The Summer Before the Dark by Doris Lessing

Children of Violence series by Doris Lessing

Pentimento by Lillian Hellman

Scoundrel Time by Lillian Hellman

An Unfinished Woman by Lillian Hellman

The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara

Butterfield 8 by John O’Hara

A Rage to Live by John O’Hara

Sophie’s Choice by William Styron

Grendel by John Gardner

October Light by John Gardner

The Art of Fiction by John Gardner

On Moral Fiction by John Gardner

The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Giant by Edna Ferber

Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver

A Distant Mirror by Barbara W. Tuchman

Once Is Not Enough by Jacqueline Susann

Burr by Gore Vidal

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches

Delina Delaney by Amanda McKittrick Ros

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Stuart Little by E. B. White

The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

Jaws by Peter Benchley

Marlon and Jake explore why we're so eager to revisit the worlds of our favorite stories, asking whether great characters are better left where their authors left them—or if there's value in imagining what came before or after. Tune in as they unpack the appeal of sequels, the pitfalls of origin stories, and why some fictional worlds are more powerful when they remain a mystery.

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A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

The Life and Loves of a She-Devil by Fay Weldon

Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis

Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Lost Horizon by James Hilton

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Big Blonde by Dorothy Parker

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Marlon and Jake dive into the world of dystopian fiction, unpacking what truly makes a dystopia—and whether some of the genre’s biggest ideas hold up under closer scrutiny. Along the way, they discuss why some dystopias feel more believable than others, how our understanding of these stories changes over time, and the real-world parallels that make them resonate long after the final page. Tune in as they explore how history, power, and human nature shape the worlds we imagine.

Subscribe to our River-herd digital newsletter and our print newspaper, The Eddy, for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content: https://sites.prh.com/the-eddy-newspaper. 

Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle

The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow

The Last Man by Mary Shelley

1984 by George Orwell 

Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban

Pilgermann by Russell Hoban

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Pincher Martin by William Golding

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Welcome back for a new season! Marlon and Jake catch up on what they’ve been reading, writing, and working on, including Marlon’s new novel, and explore the books they return to when it’s time to create. They discuss the stories that inspire rather than intimidate, the surprising value of giving up on a book, and the writers they revisit to clear the cobwebs from their minds. Tune in to hear how reading shapes their creative process, from finding the right voice to discovering what makes great dialogue.

Subscribe to our River-herd digital newsletter and our print newspaper, The Eddy, for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content: https://sites.prh.com/the-eddy-newspaper.

“A Trifle from Life” by Anton Chekhov

Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

“Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway

The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne

War Music by Christopher Logue

The Odyssey by Homer

The Oresteia by Aeschylus

Letters from a Stoic by Seneca

Maurice by E. M. Forster

Ernesto by Umberto Saba

Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar

New Hampshire by Robert Frost

In Parenthesis by David Jones

Civil War by Lucan