First broadcast August 13 2021.
Playlist at https://www.wrek.org/?p=35990
“Many people were surprised that the book Goodnight Moon wasn’t on the list.“
Lost in the Stacks, Episode 497: The Unbearable Uncertainty of Classics
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Tag Archives: fiction
Supercontext: Hyperion
Dan Simmon’s 1989 science-fiction novel is acclaimed for its unique structure, references, and style. We take a closer look at how it interrogates our expectations of genre to explore a complex host of themes. Thank you to Chris Marlton for coproducing this episode.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
- Throwback Thursday: The Mind-Altering Scope of Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos
- Better to travel hopefully: Dan Simmons’s Hyperion
- Dan Simmons World-class maker of worlds
- Dan Simmons. By: Shindler, Dorman T., Writer (Kalmbach Publishing Co.), 00439517, Feb2001, Vol. 114, Issue 2
- THRALL, J. H. (2014). Authoring the Sacred: Humanism and Invented Scripture in Octavia Butler, Kurt Vonnegut and Dan Simmons. Implicit Religion, 17(4), 509.
- Shea, B. (2015). Evolution and Neuroethics in the Hyperion Cantos. Journal of Cognition & Neuroethics, 3(3), 139.
- The one huge problem with Dan Simmons’ sci-fi mystery Hyperion
- Eschatology and Pain in Dan Simmons’ Hyperion
- Senior, W. (2012). Dan Simmons’s Hyperion Cantos: The Fantasy Within. Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS), 18(1/2), 213-226.
Supercontext: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
This 1962 novel is being reappraised by critics and fans as a creeping meditation on 1950s housewives, agoraphobia, and good old-fashioned New England persecution.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson – a house of ordinary horror
- The Witchcraft of Shirley Jackson
- Flavorwire Author Club: Shirley Jackson’s Haunting Final Novel, ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’
- SILVER, M. (2013). Is It Real? On Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Southern Review, 49(4), 665–667.
- Savoy, E. (2017). Between as if and is : On Shirley Jackson. Women’s Studies, 46(8), 827.
- BOYD TONKIN. (2015, July 29). Her dark materials: how Shirley Jackson became the ‘sorceress at the sink.’ Independent (UK).
- Shirley Jackson. (2020). Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 1.
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle: A Prelude to a Myth
- How ‘We Have Always Lived In The Castle’ By Shirley Jackson Novel Made Me Love Horror — Even Though I Hate Being Scared
- The Haunted Mind of Shirley Jackson
Supercontext: Distant Star by Roberto Bolaño
This 1996 novella is about the dark history of Chilé, merged with a detective story about poets. We look at Bolaño’s career, while taking into account criticisms of his authenticity and his representation of Chileans from the vantage of his security in Europe.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
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Valdes, M. (2008). His Stupid Heart: Robert Bolaño’s Novels Were a Love Letter to His Generation, But What He Had to Say Many Chileans Didn’t Want to Hear. Virginia Quarterly Review, 84(1),
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Corral, W. H. (2006). Roberto Bolaño. World Literature Today, 80(6), 50–54.
Supercontext: The Killing Floor by Lee Child (Jack Reacher Book 1)
This crime novel follows a wandering problem-solver who always wins. We discuss why these books are so immensely popular and the vicarious consolation we get out of the hero, his nobility and his alienation.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
- The Killing Floor
- Servant of the Shard
- The Authority Vol 1 (featuring Midnighter)
- Captain America and the Crusade Against Evil: The Dilemma of Zealous Nationalism
- Lucas Davenport series
- The Equalizer
Additional Resources:
- The Official Website of Lee Child and Jack Reacher FAQ
- LEE CHILD: THE EMOTIONAL CONTRACT OF JACK REACHER
- How Jack Reacher Was Built
- Why I love Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels
- The Curious Case of Lee Child
Supercontext: A Visit From the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan
This 201 award-winning work of literary fiction has been celebrated by everyone from academics to Rolling Stone. But we look at it in light of its cultural expectations, from a “high brow” publisher, to its timidity about engaging with ethnically diverse characters.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
- A Visit From the Goon Squad
- Burn Collector
- The Loom of Ruin
- Commonwealth
- Run
- White Jazz
- American Tabloid
- The Cold Six Thousand
Additional Resources:
- A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan ? review
- “Goon Squad”: Jennifer Egan’s time-travel tour de force
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- CS Note: Salon’s site is so full of ads and video overlays that I could barely read the article as it slowed my computer to a halt.
- HBO Sets Pulitzer Prize Winner ‘A Visit From The Goon Squad’ For Series Treatment
- Strong, M. J. (2018). Found time: Kairos in A Visit from the Goon Squad. Critique, 59(4), 471-480.
- Cowart, D. (2015). Thirteen Ways of Looking: Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad. Critique, 56(3), 241-254.
- MOLING, M. (2016). “No Future”: Time, Punk Rock and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad. Arizona Quarterly, 72(1), 51.
- “Water, Water Everywhere,” By: WHELDON, WYNN. Commentary. Nov2017, Vol. 144 Issue 4, p60-62. 3p.
- “Big Novelist: Jennifer Egan,” By: Heller, Nathan. Rolling Stone. 5/31/2012, Issue 1158, p66-67. 2p.
- Bookclub-in-a-Box Discusses A Visit From The Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan, By: Godfrey, Laura; Egan, Jennifer; Herbert, Marilyn; Bookclub-in-a-Box (Firm). [England] : Bookclub-In-A-Box. 2012. eBook., Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
Supercontext: Michael Shea (w/ guest Robert Lamb)
Michael Shea was a genre writer who combined fantasy, science fiction and horror into a unique blend of wonder and imagination. Together with our guest Robert Lamb (Stuff To Blow Your Mind), we discuss Shea’s writing style and legacy.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
- Demiurge: The Complete Cthulhu Mythos Tales of Michael Shea
- Michael Shea listing on Amazon
- Eight Black Offerings
- The Grave Stompers: Six Tales From the Southern Earth
- Karl Edward Wagner listing on Amazon
- Swords and Deviltry (The Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser) (Vol 1)
- The End of the Story: The Collected Fantasies, Vol. 1 (The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith)
Additional Resources:
- www.michaelsheaauthor.com
- The Extra. (2009). Publishers Weekly, 256(49), 35.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee5ckbUQ4jI
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_FSICmPrDU
Supercontext: I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore
Fed up with humanity? Does it seem like everyone is an asshole lately? Macon Blair’s I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore may be just the film you need to watch. But… does Netflix’s distribution make it less likely that a movie like this will be seen?
The North Avenue Lounge, April 11 2016
Guest: M. O. Walsh
I talked with author M. O. Walsh about My Sunshine Away, the writing life, and how to teach someone to be interesting.