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  • IN THE ABSENCE OF MEN by Philippe Besson >> Amazing fictional account of PROUST, anyone???

    IN THE ABSENCE OF MEN by Philippe Besson >> Amazing fictional account of PROUST, anyone???
    2026/08/24
    Besson might have lured us in with Marcel P., but we stayed for the STORY. Listen in to find out how the prose, the plotting and the TURN (??) in this novel function so well.
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    51 分
  • Rachel Cusk's OUTLINE >> Who ISN'T talking about the release of LIFE OF M on August 25??

    Rachel Cusk's OUTLINE >> Who ISN'T talking about the release of LIFE OF M on August 25??
    2026/08/21
    Who ISN'T talking about the release of LIFE OF M on August 25?? Prepare for Cusk's new work by reminding yourself--or finding out for the first time--why her approach to fiction is so radical. OUTLINE's narrative, structure and even basic description means plenty of grist for my mill. Whether you loved the book or were left wondering what the hell just happened--prepare for some super-rich edification. (This is a REPOST of an earlier lecture.)
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    59 分
  • A DREAM and a DEATH by ME, KIMBERLY FORD!

    A DREAM and a DEATH by ME, KIMBERLY FORD!
    2026/08/17
    Yes. I'm going to read and analyze something I MYSELF WROTE. I promise it won't be boring. Also, it's short.
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    36 分
  • LOST LAMBS by Madeline Cash >> FInd out why the buzz around this debut novel is warranted!

    LOST LAMBS by Madeline Cash >> FInd out why the buzz around this debut novel is warranted!
    2026/08/03
    With all its inventive, kooky, paramilitary (!) elements, Lost Lambs is delightful and wholly original. Except when it seems like a DIRECT descendent of Thomas Pynchon. Listen in to fully appreciate the narrative stance, the postmodern elements (don't worry, I'll provide a definition), the structure, and the ways this frothy novel is crucially subversive. And the gnats! Dive in to hear my theory for wtf is up with all the GNATs!
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    52 分
  • MY YEAR IN PARIS WITH GERTRUDE STEIN by Deborah Levy >> Stein, Paris, Levy? What's not to love??

    MY YEAR IN PARIS WITH GERTRUDE STEIN by Deborah Levy >> Stein, Paris, Levy? What's not to love??
    2026/08/09
    See the three question marks in the title above? Listen in to find out who would hate each one of them. We all have an impression of Stein, but Levy offers up (and problematizes) so much more.
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    48 分
  • NIGHTCRAWLING by Leila Mottley >> No WONDER Mottley was the youngest to ever be longlisted for the Booker!

    NIGHTCRAWLING by Leila Mottley >> No WONDER Mottley was the youngest to ever be longlisted for the Booker!
    2026/07/29
    I picked up THE GIRLS WHO GREW BIG in the bookstore but ended up reading NIGHTCRAWLING. Wow is Mottley a talent to be watched. Based on a true story, the novel digs deeply into police corruption, the failures of the education and employment systems, misogyny, corruption, life as a young Black woman in Oakland...to say nothing of the realities of sex work. We explore a strong, recurring motif, figurative language, ingenious plotting (and some that doesn't work quite as well). I get myself into pretzels to avoid any spoilers until the end, though this book is so good you would want to read it even if you knew exactly what was coming. Give this novel the attention it deserves now!
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    56 分
  • THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOK by Doris Lessing >> How is this the first Lessing I've ever read??

    THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOK by Doris Lessing >> How is this the first Lessing I've ever read??
    2026/07/23
    Whether you love this iconic, culty, groundbreaking novel or you don't get the hype; whether you believe it's a feminist treatise or a meditation on the promise and the shortfalls of communism, you'll finish this lecture feeling like you've gotten some SERIOUS LITERATURE under your belt. If you haven't read this 1962 phenomenon--or haven't for a while--this lecture is a good (re)introduction to why the unique structure and radical candor about everything from motherhood to post-War politics in Southern Rhodesia, to the difference between the clitoral and vaginal orgasm (at least in Lessing's [somewhat hilarious and highly suspect] opinion) make this worth its 600+ pages.
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    54 分
  • "ARGOS" (yes, THE ODYSSEY dog!) by Joy Williams

    "ARGOS" (yes, THE ODYSSEY dog!) by Joy Williams
    2026/07/20
    NEVER READ IT? NO PROBMLEM! NO READING REQUIRED! I READ THE (very short) STORY TO YOU! Clearly I'm caught up in the frenzy surrounding Christopher Nolan's THE ODYSSEY. I've only seen the trailer, but ARGOS (Odysseus's dog) appears not once but TWICE in about two minutes. I could NOT stop thinking about Joy Williams's incredible short story about our hero's best friend. Forty-five minutes from now, you could feel smarter, more informed about the movie, and maybe a little better ABOUT DEATH. Williams is amazing: in three mere pages, she takes us well beyond The Odyssey into the kind of land only Williams can create. Nolan seems to be doing well with the source material. Williams's ultra-brief interpretation is a masterpiece.
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    44 分