American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time): Recent Episodes
Evan Lampe
In each episode I discuss around 100 pages from the works of American writers. Contact me at hundredpagescast@gmail.com
The finale of my review of the "U.S.A." trilogy by John Dos Passos. In this part we focus on again on the working class activists, which is where we started the series.
I will not be posting for a while until I can start creating new episodes in a few weeks (after I return to Taiwan and get back into work mode). Our next project will be another trilogy, the Studs Lonigan Trilogy by James T. Farrell. In the meantime, take a look at my episodes on John Steinbeck's early works. https://hundredpages.podbean.com/?s=steinbeck
The penultimate part of my review of John Dos Passos' "U.S.A." Trilogy. In this section we witness the end of a character who has been with us from almost the beginning, but that is all just part of the wild mosaic of this novel.
This section of John Dos Passos' brilliant U.S.A. Trilogy follows the rise of consumer culture as reflected in the biographical sketches and we get to know Margo Dowling, who will be a major character in the later part of this series.
In this part of my review of the "U.S.A." trilogy by John Dos Passos we dig into the first part of The Big Money. We meet new characters and are reintroduced to some old ones.
In this episode we follow our characters in the aftermath of the Great War as they participate on the margin of greatness at or around the Paris Peace Settlement. We also see the end of Daughter, a great character while she lasted, and we meet Ben Compton who always seems to be taking one for the team. And Dos Passos eulogizes the unknown soldier without sentiment or grotesque patriotism.
In this episode we continue our look at 1919, part of the U.S.A. trilogy by John Dos Passos. This section focuses on a new character, "Daughter" and the continued degeneracy of Eveline Hutchins.
We lose Joe Williams as we get to the halfway point of 1919 and the entire U.S.A. series. This section is also notable for its biographical sketches of Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt.
In this part of my review of John Dos Passos, "U.S.A." trilogy, we start our look at the central novel about World War I called 1919 and focus on the character of Joe Williams and Evelin Hutchins (who we already knew) and are introduced to Dick Savage.
Part three of this mega review of U.S.A trilogy completed our look at 42nd Parallel. In this part we say bye (only for now we hope) Mac and meet Charley Anderson.
So in this part of my review of Dos Passos' U.S.A. trilogy we meet J. Ward Moorehouse, Eleanor Stoddard, and Janey Williams. Still no plot, but all a brilliant mosaic of American life in the early 20th century.
I begin a long series on Lost Generation American writers with this look at the first part of John Dos Passos' U.S.A. Trilogy. This section focuses on the character of Mac, a working class radical skilled in printing who become a Wobbly. Good stuff.
The final part of my massive review of Sven Beckert's masterpiece Capitalism: A Global History. In this last section we survey the neoliberal hell we currently exist in and get all depressed.
In this penultimate part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History looks at the golden age of capitalism in the West, the period from 1945-1970s. What ever happened to the "Affluent Society"? Maybe we will find out.
In this part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I finish chapter 14 and read through chapter 15, exploring the response to the Great Depression and the rise of "insurgent" capitalisms in the colonial world.
Part 7 of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History. In this section of the book we explore Beckert's commentary on state expansion and the origins of the Great Depression.
In part 6 of this 10 part review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I read the chapters on the "reconstructions" of capital and labor in the later 19th century. It is in these reconstructions that the foundations of modern capitalism were laid
Wow, we are half done with this massive book. The next part of my review of Capitalism: A Global History by Sven Beckert. This section focuses on the emergence of a capitalist culture and the rebellions that brought the "old regime capitalism" to an end. It is fascinating stuff.
These chapters of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History explore the revolutions we often lump together as the Industrial Revolution and the growing expansion of capitalism into the hinterland. It is increasingly clear we need to take a hinterland first view of capitalism's spread.
In this third part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I explore chapters 5-6 on the developments in industrial production in the early modern period and their relationships with capitalism, as well as the reasons capitalism broke out from the islands due to a "perfect storm" of feedback loops.
Part two of my review of Sven Beckert's brilliant Capitalism: A Global History. This section centers on how the islands of capital became connected and extended their reach in the early modern period.
For the next 10 episodes I will be reading Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History, which covers the history of capitalism from its earliest origins to the present. It consolidates most of the findings in the recent "history of capitalism" trend in historical scholarship. I am very excited to begin this project.
A pretty short episode capping off this rather long series on James Scott and others.
Anna Tsing's thoughts on disturbed areas is amazing and relevant to how to make sense of our disrupted world.
I guess I was excited to start my look at Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History. Not sure if he is an American though (Born in Germany I guess). Should not matter. Let's do this. Next ten episodes will look at this mammoth book.
In this episode I look at The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Tsing. In this first half of the book we explore the human history of the matsutake mushroom. This great book will be the conclusion of this series that began with our look at The Moral Economy of the Peasant so many months ago.
The finale of my review of The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrove. In this section we look at the origins (or non-origins) of the state and return to the indigenous critique of Europe.
Part 4 of my review of David Wengrove and David Graeber's The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity. As we come to the close of this book we begin to go deeper into the Neolithic and explore urban forms and political systems, asking the question if anything has an origin and if not, how can we tell the story of early humanity?
Part three of my review of David Graeber and David Wengrove's massive book The Dawn of Everything. In this section we focus on the origins of agriculture and communities and hierarchies.
Hey guys. Back with another section of my review of The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrove. In this section I focus on his chapters on the origins of agriculture, the sections that have the most to contrast with James Scott's Against the Grain.
As a follow up to James C. Scott's Against the Grain I wanted to look into the more comprehensive and perhaps more radical and challenging interpretation give in The Dawn of Everything by David Wengrove and David Graeber. Here is the first of five parts.
Part two and the conclusion of my review of Race Rebels by Robin Kelley. In this second half of the book, we explore the infrapolitics that inspired mid to later 20th century black politics especially black communism and internationalism, and the politics of rap music.
In this episode I look at Robin Kelley's wonderful exploration of black politics in the 20th century Race Rebels. It is the best example that I know of an author using James C. Scott's theory of "infrapolitics". The result of a fascinating account of politics from "way, way below".
In this episode I close our my review of James C. Scott's works with a reading of his final book In Praise of Floods. It is a good summary of many of his major arguments but shows where some of his thinking had he lived longer.
In this second half of my review of James C. Scott's Against the Grain, I explore his arguments about the origin of the state and the "golden age for barbarians".
After enjoying Scott's take on anarchism we can move onto his penultimate book, a text exploring the origins of agriculture and the impact it has on human beings. We will be taking a closer look at his arguments and other perspectives on early agricultural societies when we read The Dawn of Everything, but for now let's enjoy the first half of Against the Grain.
My review of James C. Scott's short book Two Cheers for Anarchism. The book is a great introduction to Scott's ideas and a useful guide to putting an anarchist perspective on the world we live in.
The finale of my review of James C. Scott's "The Art of Not Being Governed". This part of the book focuses on kinship and the role of leadership in millenarian movements as part of the strategy of state evasion.
Next up: James Scott's modern classic, "Against the Grain"
Part two of my review of James C. Scott's history of upland Southeast Asia (Zomia), from the perspective of those who intentionally evaded states. In this part of the book we move from the strategies of states to the strategies of evasion. What do you think the most useful strategies for evading states in today's world.
The first part of my review of Scott's masterpiece on upland Southeast Asia, The Art of Not Being Governed. So many of his ideas come together into this indispensable book. In this first part we will learn about Zomia and the creation of geographical spaces outside of the machinations of states.
The finale of my review of James C. Scott's Seeing Like a State. The last few chapters of this excellent book explore the experiments in agrarian high modernism and then explores metis, or embedded knowledge and the capacity of resilience against the designs of high modernist states.
In part two of my review of Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott, I explore the dangers of high modernism and some of the case studies of failed experiments he examines. What is your favorite example of high modernism going wrong, besides the opening night of The Rites of Spring?
As we continue our exploration of the works of James C. Scott, we move from the arts of resistance to the designs of a state with faulty vision. How do states see, how do they envision transformation, and how do these two things together fail us?
In this episode I complete my reading of James C. Scott's DOMINATION AND THE ARTS OF RESISTANCE: HIDDEN TRANSCRIPTS. In this section we focus on the workings of infrapolitics and the question of how they become visible and possible unstoppable.
In this episode I review Domination and the Arts of Resistance by James C. Scott, exploring the concepts of public and hidden transcripts. What can we gain by looking at the world through the lens of hidden transcripts?
The conclusion to my study of James C. Scott's Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance.
This episode is part 2 of my review of James C. Scott's examination of a Malay village, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. It is a slow burn but it builds toward an impressive interpretation.
We get to know a Malay village down to its last family through James C. Scott's anthropological study Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. What are the styles of everyday resistance in your workplace?
In this episode I finish reading The Moral Economy of the Peasant by the brilliant James C. Scott. So what do you think of this book and its ongoing relevance?
I begin my deep dive into the works of James C. Scott with The Moral Economy of the Peasant. In this work, Scott explores the subsistence ethic and the consequences of it for peasant resistance. Is it just me or were lots of people writing about peasants in the 1970s and 1980s?
As we prepare for our deep dive into James C. Scott's work, we finish up with a related text, Karl Jacoby's Crimes Against Nature. This is one of the more fascinating looks at the history of conservation and helps us ask the question, for just who were the conservationists conserving, and did they do a better job that the people who made their living in spaced deemed "wilderness".
The conclusion to my review of TAMING MANHATTAN by Catherine McNeur. What can we learn from this book about making more environmentally sustainable cities? Will the drive to improve urban environments always lead to the class wars and conflicts discussed in this book?
Catherine McNeur writes a wonderful account of environmental conflicts and how they became class conflicts and fights over the boundaries between rural and urban in antebellum Manhattan. TAMING MANHATTAN is a great starting place for reading engaging and relevant environmental history,
The completion of my review of the lengthy but excellent book "The Republic of Nature" by Mark Fiege. Strongly recommended. What did you think?
Part three of my review of Mark Fiege's Republic of Nature covers a wide swap of American history in just a couple of chapters. One explores the environmental history of the transcontinental railroad and the other looks at Los Alamos and the scientists who developed the atomic bomb. While I may have wanted a bit more on industrial America, it is hard to fault a book this solid in its interpretive lens.
Part two of my review of Mark Fiege's excellent book The Republic of Nature. In this chapter we focus on the mid-nineteenth century with a chapter on the ecology of the cotton economy, the ecology of Lincoln's worldview, and the ecology of Gettysburg. What aspects of history do you think could we use to explore themes of environmental history?
The first part of my four episode review of Mark Fiege's excellent The Republic of Nature: An Environmental History of the United States. In the first two chapters we explore the environmental context of witch trials, religious dissent, the American Revolution, Monticello, and the Puritan encounter with indigenous people.
Part two of my review of Republican Reversal, a book exploring the fate of the Republican commitment to federal conservation laws. I found it pretty bleak, but maybe there is some hope. I do think the book needs an update to consider the last 8 years.
The first part of my review of The Republican Reversal: Conservatives and the Environment from Nixon to Trump. While this book is quite short, it is essential reading to understand the conservatives turn away from conservation. Some of the "whys" are obvious but quite a few are surprising.
In this episode I look at a sensory history of the American Civil War. It is a fascinating way to look at the past, but like so many sensory experiences, this one left me wanting more. What do you think of looking at the past through the realm of the senses?
The second part of my review of the excellent history book American Lucifers: The Dark History of Artificial Light. Who are today's Lucifers and is their story still dark?
To start this new phase of this podcast, I am reviewing one of the best history books I read in the past year, Jeremy Zallen's American Lucifers, a book about capitalism, labor, violence, and the environment and how they all interrelate. Let me know what you think of the ideas of the book and if you read the book, let me know what you think I got wrong.
The episode in which I explain where this podcast will go from here, so as not to overwhelm me and my capacities.
This is the first episode of my review of Robert Heinlein's longest work, NO TIME FOR LOVE. We are reintroduced to an old friend, Lazarus Long, as he reflects on his life (but maybe not enough reflection for this reader).
THE DEVIL FINDS WORK was James Baldwin's final major essay and a fascinating exploration of how he has seen and experienced American (and some non-American) films over the course of his life, finding the problem at the heart of America's major cultural export.
The finale of my review of I WILL FEAR NO EVIL by Robert A. Heinlein. Next up, NO TIME FOR LOVE.
My quick review of James Baldwin's excellent essay NO NAME IN THE STREET. The last 20 pages of this essay are particularly hard hitting and remain meaningful.
Boy does this book drag on. Lots of good stuff, but Robert A. Heinlein seems to take his precious time getting there. Is I WILL FEAR NO EVIL a sign of what will come later in his works?
Part 1 of 4 of my review of I WILL FEAR NO EVIL by Robert A. Heinlein. I wonder how other recent readers of this book look back on it. Obviously the novel deals with gender in sexuality in transgressive ways, but it also seems very old fashioned in its approach.
Brief thoughts on James Baldwin's 1963 essay THE FIRE NEXT TIME and its place in American history.
In this episode I review James Baldwin's collection of essays NOBODY KNOWS MY NAME: MORE NOTES OF A NATIVE SON. These essays bridge his time in Paris to his engagement in the discourse on civil rights in America.
The conclusion to my review of THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS. In the next episode we will being a four part dive into I WILL FEAR NO EVIL.
Part two of my review of THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert A. Heinlein. In this episode, I cover the revolt on the Moon and some of the political theory at the heart of the novel, both the spoken and unspoken parts.
Part 1 of 3 of my review of THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS, one of Heinlein's most famous and well-regarded books. Often billed a libertarian novel, is it better to look at it as anti-colonial? Can it be both?
We begin our look at James Baldwin's essays with his 1955 collection NOTES OF A NATIVE SON. Some of the topics explored in this collection are black representation in culture, expat life in Paris, and political life in Harlem.
The second part of my review of FARNHAM'S FREEHOLD by Robert A. Heinlein. I really struggled with this book, but think it reveals the fundamental problem with Heinlein's relationship with the American past.
I talk a bit about GLORY ROAD to finish up my thoughts on that novel, but I have decided to move onto Heinlein's FARNHAM'S FREEDHOLD. Is it his worst novel? Maybe not, but it is sure is trying hard. We will see what the second half gives us.
I had hoped to talk about the first half of GLORY ROAD by Robert A. Heinlein, but I ended up talking about most of the events of the book. It is definitely one that needs to be unpacked for some of the larger discussions we are having about Heinlein.
In this episode I review the final four stories of GOING TO MEET THE MAN by James Baldwin. This episode includes my look at the titular story, which remains one of the most well-known and widely read of Baldwin's works.
In this episode I talk about the first four stories of the great collection by James Baldwin GOING TO MEET THE MAN.
The final episode of my review of ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin. This novel deserves to be remembered as one of the best of the later 20th century.
Part three of my review of the wonderful novel ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin. In this section, Eric returns to New York and crisis deepens in the relationships of our main characters Ida, Vivaldo, Cass, and Richard.
In this episode I take a quick look at the excellent short novel by Robert A. Heinlein PODKAYNE OF MARS. It is one of my favorite Heinlein novels I have read and it really seems Heinlein can write young characters well, just not young men.
Part two of my review of ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin. For a novel that is just exploring transgressive romantic relationships (and some square relationships too), it is an enthralling journey.
This teeny tiny short story by Robert A. Heinlein also seems to be the last short story we will look at in this series. From here on out it will be wild novels. But this is a nice story to end with.
This episode is part one of my four part review of ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin, a novel about race, sex, and art set in Greenwich Village. It is excellent.
Sorry for the delay in uploads. ANOTHER COUNTRY and work has been keeping me busier than I thought.
But here is the conclusion to my review of STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND by Robert A. Heinlein. One thing I never really talked much about in the review is cannibalism, but that is just a symptom of how much this book has to talk about.
In this episode I look at the middle third of Robert A. Heinlein's STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. We take a closer look at the word "grok" and its in-world meaning.
In this episode I begin my look at Robert A. Heinlein's STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. We will have a lot to talk about over these three episodes as this is a thematically rich book. The first third of the book is doing a lot of set up and drags at times, but nevertheless this one is worth attempting.
I am a bit backed up in producing episodes because I am wrangling with two larger novels (STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND and ANOTHER COUNTRY). Hopefully those episodes will be ready next week.
For now, we can look at Heinlein's short story "All You Zombies", a time travel story with a trans twist.
In part two of my review of STARSHIP TROOPERS, I complete my look at the text of the novel and discuss a little bit about the books legacy and influence on other storytellers.
Want to read a very sad novel about expats in Paris? Try James Baldwin's GIOVANNI'S ROOM. I loved it and am fully convinced that Baldwin is a beautiful writer. This short novel is full of theme and is certainly worth a read or two.
In this episode I review the first half of STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein and discuss all of the "History and Moral Philosophy" sections and the claims often made about Heinlein's politics. In the next episode I will discuss the rest of the book and its legacy.
The conclusion to my review of James Baldwin's GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN. This delightful and rich book is worth a look or two. Let me know what you thought of it.
With this episode we close the book on the Robert A. Heinlein juveniles, so in addition to reviewing HAVE SPACE SUIT, WILL TRAVEL, I give my overall ranking of the 12 Scribner novels. There are only 15 works (13 novels and 2 short stories) left and I could not be more excited to jump into his works of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
In this episode I begin my look at James Baldwin with his first novel GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN. It the first half of this novel, we can already sense Baldwin's unique contribution to African-American literature.
In the quasi-fantasy story "The Man Who Traveled in Elephants" (1957) Heinlein wrote a sentimental tale about America, journeys, and a man getting what he deserves in the afterlife.
"Menace from Earth" by Robert A. Heinlein is a teenage romance, set on the Moon that builds on the themes explored in the excellent stories collected in THE GREEN HILLS OF EARTH.
The finale of my review of THE OUTSIDER by Richard Wright and the end of my examination of the works of Richard Wright. Our next series will be a long one, looking at the works of James Baldwin.
My frustration with THE OUSIDER by Richard Wright grows a bit as I read Part 4 (Despair). Cross Damon does another murder and is trying to avoid arrest for his crimes but still has time for long debates on Communism and Fascism.
Every once in a while I lose myself in a book. Not that I get engaged so the rest of the world passes by. Sometimes, I actually get lost and am not sure where the book or its characters are going. As I explore part 3 of THE OUTSIDER by Richard Wright I experience this. And I am not sure Wright is going to help me find the theme.
In this rather long episode I explore Heinlein' excellent novel THE DOOR INTO SUMMER. This book seems to be about a deterministic time travel loop, but it is really about our relationship to technology, each other, and work. Oh, and the main character gets engaged to a child and gaslights her into going into deep freeze so he can marry her while she is still young and hot. Not one of our author's best moments.
Part two of my review of THE OUTSIDER by Richard Wright. This section seems to be the most hopeful part of the novel as we witness Damon Cross' attempt to remake himself and find a type of freedom while avoiding bad faith.
CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY is the best and most expansive of the Heinlein juveniles, as well as one of its most adult in theme. While only the penultimate juvenile, it seems to be the capstone work in many ways.
I start my look at Richard Wright's THE OUTSIDER with part one (Dread), which introduces us to Cross Damon (Wright's names amirite) and his miserable life and how an accident gives him a chance to start fresh, but is forced to commit a murder to keep his secret.
In this episode, I examine the delightful novel DOUBLE STAR by Robert A. Heinlein and talk about how the actor loses themselves into their subjects. While not necessary to be a science fiction novel, Heinlein weaves a handful of fascinating sci-fi elements into the story.
The conclusion of my review of A TIME FOR THE STARS by Robert A. Heinlein. The changing relationship between the twins as one approaches death and the other returns still young with his life ahead of him seems to reflect the experiences we all face with the older generations.
The finale of my review of BLACK BOY (AMERICAN HUNGER) by Richard Wright. This part of the memoir follows Wright's life in Chicago and his love affair and breakup with the American Communist Party.
Next, five episodes on THE OUTSIDER.
Part 2 of my review of the memoir BLACK BOY by Richard Wright. This part of the novel explores Wright's discovery of the rules of Jim Crow, his quest for intellectual autonomy, and his ultimate decision to leave the South.
Part 1 of my review of A TIME FOR THE STARS by Robert A. Heinlein. This novel explores the twin paradox and humanity branching out into the cosmos.
In this episode I explore the first four chapters of Richard Wright's BLACK BOY, his gut wrenching and deep memoir of growing up black in the Jim Crow South.
Robert A. Heinlein's TUNNEL IN THE SKY has a strong and fascinating second half in which we explore questions of building democracy and civilization. The good: The optimism about cooperation in harsh conditions. The bad: strong hints of settler colonialism.
In this episode I look at the first half of Robert A. Heinlein's TUNNEL IN THE SKY. In this juvenile, Heinlein does some interesting thing with the old Malthusian over-population narrative. The first half reads a bit like a standard adventure story, though. This novel really shines in the second half.
In this third part of four exploring the powerful novel NATIVE SON by Richard Wright, we witness the capture of Bigger Thomas and the way the media presented a black defendant, ignored black victims, and jumped to racist assumptions, all the while trying to expose the Communist Party for its anti-racist work.
The conclusion to my review of the excellent novel, THE STAR BEAST, by Robert A. Heinlein. One of his best novels and high on the ranking of the juveniles. It explores issues such as gender, service, family heritage, and diplomacy.
In this episode I look at most of part two of Richard Wright's NATIVE SON, called "Flight". Here the narrative focuses on Bigger Thomas' efforts at survival after his murder of Mary Dalton, but also look more into the perspectives of mainstream white society on communists and African-Americans.
THE STAR BEAST is one of the best books by Robert A. Heinlein that I explored in this podcast, and this suprised me from the look of the silly cover. Gender, diplomacy, politics, law, and bureaucracy are just some of the themes Heinlein crams into this little novel.
In this episode I take on the first 100 pages of NATIVE SON by Richard Wright. It is a brilliant novel and I can only scratch the surface, but it is required reading for understanding America. I focus on the major characters and their motivations, knowing we can only begin to understand Bigger Thomas in the early stages of the novel.
While "Project: Nightmare" (1953) is not one of Heinlein's strongest short stories it is worth reading for his use of the Cold War setting. The question of morality, sacrifice, and the use of misuse of the talented for the achievement of national goals is still worth reflecting on.
The conclusion to my thoughts on the wonderful short story collection, UNCLE TOM'S CHILDREN by Richard Wright. In the second half of this collection we move to a proposed (if maybe futile) response. The last two stories have moments of resistance culminating in sacrifice but not victory or a promise of change.
A very brief look at the short story "Sky-Lift" by Robert A. Heinlein. It is mostly a technical piece on the dangers of space flight and works as a sequel to the GREEN HILLS OF EARTH stories.
Richard Wright's first published book was a series of short stories called UNCLE TOM'S CHILDREN. They are wonderful stories looking at the brutality of race relations in Great Depression-era America and good preparation for NATIVE SON.
The conclusion to my look at STARMAN JONES by Robert A. Heinlein. This one clearly stands out among the Heinlein juveniles by branching out into new themes and new geographies.
The conclusion to my review of Richard Wright's first novel, LAWD TODAY. It is a great way to start digging into Richard Wright, and I think a good contrast with NATIVE SON, which we will look at in a few weeks.
In 1953, Heinlein wrote his 7th juvenile in STARMAN JONES. He always seems to have something new to say in each of these novels, even if the main characters are always a little bit cookie cutter. He does try to give this young man a bit more differentiation. Nevertheless, this is another good example of world building. I enjoy how each of these novels feels lived in.
Today I start a new series looking at the major works of Richard Wright. We begin with LAWD TODAY!, which was published in the 1960s, but was actually the first book written. It is an amazing modernist text looking at the working class black life in Chicago during the Great Depression. It is also one of the bleakest books we have looked at in a while.
"The Year of the Jackpot" is a fascinating story by Heinlein published in GALAXY in 1952. It deals with sexual morality, normalcy, survival, historical cycles, and the end of the world. A must read.
The final episode in my review of BLACK RECONSTRUCTION by W. E. B. Du Bois. These final three chapters summarize the major themes of the book quite well. One of the best books on the topic, even a hundred years after publication.
The conclusion to my review of THE ROLLING STONES by Robert A. Heinlein. An overall great book in this juvenile series.
We are in the meat of the book BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA by W. E. B. Du Bois. In these chapters, he looks into the revolution and counter revolution of property in Mississippi and Louisiana and then Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. We see how different demographic structures led to different reactions by the ruling planter class.
In this episode we get introduced to the Stone family and watch them becoming THE ROLLING STONES. This 1952 novel has some of the most well drawn of Heinlein's characters, but it is not the major young man protagonist who are pretty much interchangeable in this one. Some meta commentary on his juvenile novel heroes, I reckon.
The second part of my review of THE PUPPET MASTERS by Robert A. Heinlein. While I love a lot about this book, it ultimately falls far short of what it could have been.
In this episode look at the middle chapters of BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA, exploring the broader questions at the heart of the 15th Amendment and the impact of black voting rights on the Reconstruction politics of South Carolina.
It is kind of nice to have old Heinlein back. After writing those juveniles and mainstream science fiction stories, THE PUPPET MASTERS allows Heinlein to bring back hot women, nudity, and individualist philosophy. I am not sure this novel is a success yet, but it is lots of fun.
One of the most fascinating looks at Andrew Johnson is made by Du Bois in this section of BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA. I also discuss his sources and unique bibliography in this episode.
The Civil War ends and the reaction to emancipation starts. In the second part of my coverage of W. E. B. Du Bois' BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA, I look at chapters 5-6 and the beginning of the conservative reaction to the second American Revolution.
Once again, we begin a look at what turns out to be my favorite of the juveniles by Robert A. Heinlein. BETWEEN PLANETS is the best yet. Can they keep getting better? The lesson in this book is courage and honor in the face of fate.
In this episode I look at the first four chapters of the amazing book BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA by W. E. B. Du Bois. It is a brilliant celebration of the potential of interracial democracy, written at a time when those potentials were forgotten by historians.
A bit of an aside in this series, "Cliff and the Calories" by Heinlein is a short story about a young woman struggling with a perhaps unnecessary diet. It slightly aligns with some of what he was doing with his juveniles, but I think we need to wait until we read Podkayne to know for sure.
The finale of my review of OLDTOWN FOLKS by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and the conclusion to this series on Stowe's novels. Next up, we will return to W. E. B. Du Bois with a deep dive into Reconstruction-era America.
Part 4 of my review of OLDTOWN FOLKS by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This is an amazing novel that deserves more attention.
A story of capitalism run amok and maybe doing some good, THE MAN WHO SOLD THE MOON, by Robert A. Heinlein is a great novella exploring how money can do almost anything.
The middle sections of Harriet Beecher Stowe's OLDTOWN FOLKS (1869) explored education with intense focus and through multiple conversations. While repetitive, this section of the novel allowed Stowe to engage with the debates of her own time about education, making a case as persuasive as the one she made in UNCLE TOM'S CABIN about slavery.
In this episode, I finish up my review of the excellent novel FARMER IN THE SKY by Robert A. Heinlein. This novel has some excellent reflections on population, empires, war, ecology, and the frontier. Are the juveniles (and the Future History series at large) metaphors for the Atlantic world? Sometimes I think so.
Heinlein's fourth juvenile novel, FARMER IN THE SKY (1950) is one of the best books he wrote to that point and the most "mature" of his "boy's novels". We seen Heinlein's approach and concerns grow up with his characters. The first part of this book is an excellent window into the ecological, scientific, and political vision Heinlein develops.
Harriet Beecher Stowe's OLDTOWN FOLKS (1869) is doing a lot, and that is made clear in the second section of this book, which explores the fate of two orphans in this small New England Town, and their ultimate liberation.
"Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon" is another delightful Future History story by Robert A. Heinlein, but this one includes Boy Scouts. Can an Earth Scout ever find a place with the Moon Scouts with the Moon's inhospitable environment? Maybe if he saves the day? This story has some very harrowing life and death moments as two boys get lost a "morning glory" (a sinkhole).
In this episode I begin to explore OLDTOWN FOLKS by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This is a fascinating, almost modernist, novel about one man's memory of the days of his youth in early 19th century New England. Through deep dives into characters and the community, Stowe digs into surface level and hidden aspects of New England society.
What is this early 1940s Heinlein story doing in the 1950? In this episode I explore Heinlein's brief return to ASTOUNDING with "Gulf". Thanks, I hate it.
In this episode I finish up up look at Harriet Beecher Stowe's THE MINISTER'S WOOING. It finishes up much the way we expect. Overall, this novel is a nice surprise and worth checking out if you have the time. Next up, OLDTOWN FOLKS.
This is the last of the GREEN HILLS OF EARTH stories (from the anthology, but not thematically), we explore the question of who is suited for space exploration by looking at the place of women in the frontier.
In part two of my review of THE MINISTER'S WOOING by Harriet Beecher Stowe we build out the world of post-Revolutionary New England with a closer look at the new theology of the Great Awakening and get to experience the suspicious arrival of Aaron Burr as a suitor. Then tragedy hits.
The finale of my review of Robert A. Heinlein's RED PLANET. I focus on the political aspects of the novel and the awesome portrayal of the indigenous Martians.
In this episode I begin looking at Harriet Beecher Stowe's THE MINISTER'S WOOING, a novel about New England religion tied to a sentimental novel of love and loss.
This episode is the first half of my review of RED PLANET by Robert A. Heinlein. While I loved the "Green Hills of Earth" cycle, I cannot help but feeling that this novel brings us back to the Heinlein I love to wrestle with.
The end of my five-part review of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Overall, I am very glad I finally read this excellent book. There are great moments throughout the novel and it deserves its place as a classic, not just a historically important text.
This section is the turning point in the story, where we see our hopes in the white characters end through their untimely deaths. It then take Tom (and the readers) to hell and the heart of the story, which will play out in the cotton fields of the deep South.
In this small fantasy story, "Our Fair City", Robert A. Heinlein explores city politics and corruption through the adventures of a sentient whirlwind. This story may be skippable, but has some nice moments. I like Heinlein reflecting on local politics more than I do the fantasy elements of this story.
The middle sections of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN by Harriet Beecher Stowe are some of the most interesting in the novel. Stowe is more intriguing with the conflicted and complex characters. With the death of Eva (explored in the next episode) the characters become more clearly defined, and that is a bit of a pity.
Another Robert A. Heinlein Future History Story, "The Black Pits of Luna". The title and themes parallel "The Green Hills of Earth" quite well. With this story along with the others we look at, I think all we need for tackling THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS is here, but that will be a while yet.
Part two of my review of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This section begins a deeper look at the religious and moral values Stowe was working out in this famous book about American slavery.
Another Future History story by Robert A. Heinlein, "Gentlemen, Be Seated" explores the character of the humans who should venture into space. While it is built on a humorous set piece, there are some interesting ideas about the gap that will grow between humans on Earth and those in space.
Part 1 of 5. This review will explore the themes and ideas of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN by Harriet Beecher Stowe. While I have never read this book before, I am familiar with its big ideas. I am pleasantly surprised by how good it is.
A thematic sequel to SPACE CADET and "Ordeal in Space", this story explores the values of the Patrol and seems to be a testament to all the uncelebrated heroes of war.
The final slave narrative of this series in the mostly unknown story of the trickster slave J. D. Green. It is fun, brutal, and fascinating and maybe deserves a greater place in our literary history.
So TOWN AND COUNTRY published a very interesting Heinlein story called "Ordeal in Space" in 1948, which explores how we face and overcome trauma. A powerful reflection on the experiences of returning soldiers from World War II.
Part two of my review of SPACE CADET by Robert A. Heinlein. Let's meet some Venerians and test the values of the Space Patrol when faced with the desires of unrestrained capitalism, or something.
The conclusion of my look at INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL by Harriet Jacob. This remains my favorite slave narrative and is in my view the most powerful.
Part one of my review of SPACE CADET. This should be a favorite of Next Generation fans and has some of the best work building in the Heinlein juveniles.
Perhaps the best slave narrative, and certainly my favorite, INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL by Harriet Jacobs hits to the heart of the experience of slavery for women and has some of the most intense moments in the genre.
This episode contains my thoughts on the excellent slave narrative by William and Ellen Craft, detailing their escape from slavery and Georgia and how they hacked the color line and the unwritten rules of slavery. A brilliant work of resistance.
No Robert A. Heinlein book club would be complete without the 1947 story "Water is for Washing". I almost forgot about it and probably will again soon.
This episode includes my review of Robert A. Heinlein's short mystery story "They Do It With Mirrors." While it is not exceptional as a locked room mystery, it does reflect on Heinlein's sexual politics.
My review of the narrative of the life of Sojourner Truth, one of the more unique slave narratives of this era. A little less about slavery itself and more about the development of a religious revival, a new name, and a mission.
We explore another excellent slave narrative with the work of Henry Bibb, whose narrative explores the trauma of being married in slavery and the difficult choices people need to make while being married in a system rooted in sexual violence.
As we come close to wrapping up our look at Heinlein's 1947 works, we look at a short and not so significant story showing Heinlein trying to define courage. It is called "No Band Playing, No Flags Flying" and its a bit odd.
Frederick Douglass' amazing slave narrative probably does not need much of an introduction. Few works deconstruct all the myths of the Old South so efficiently.
While this is not quite a slave narrative, "The Confessions of Nat Turner" is testimony of one of the most famous American slaves (although the case can be made that he had already freed himself). While most slave narratives were weaponized in the anti-slavery struggle, this document was weaponized to justify strengthening the institution of slavery in the Antebellum South.
"Space Jockey" is another great science fiction story by Heinlein from 1947 published in the Saturday Evening Post. At the same time it is horribly quaint and seems a bit more like fantasy than science fiction. Someone moving from the gig economy to full time family-supporting employment? Not in this universe.
The conclusion of my thoughts on the slave narrative by Olaudah Equiano. In my view, in this narrative he parallels the struggle against slavery with his Christian journey for salvation, coming together into a call for action. Next we will jump to the antebellum slave narratives with the Confessions of Nat Turner.
"It's Great to be Back" is another 1947 Saturday Evening Post story by Robert A. Heinlein dealing with nostalgia for Earth and the human presence in space. A great story to pair with "The Green Hills of Earth".
In this wonderful short story, Heinlein tells us the history of a blind working class space poet, who also caught the essence of Earth's identity in space. One of his best.
The first of two episodes covering Olaudah Equiano's amazing slave narrative. It is a thematic. structural, and moral foundation of all other slave narratives. It is also an amazing story that everyone should read.
In this tiny story published in 1947 in STARTLING STORIES, Robert A. Heinlein explores the struggle for progress and how every generation builds off the courage of those that came before, and how we forget.
I am back from my summer break and start with a look at slave narratives. First up is the strange but significant account by James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw. It works as a narrative of the Atlantic working class and the benefits of Christianity, but never directly attacks slavery itself, making it one of the strangest slave narratives. However it was the first published in English.
A great story by Robert A. Heinlein, "Jerry Is a Man" (1947) explores the nature of humanity, animal rights, and genetic engineering. It is hard not to think of this story in terms of Star Trek's great episode "The Measure of a Man"
I complete my look at Mark Twain with one version of "Mysterious Stranger" known as "No. 44: The Mysterious Stranger". The other versions have interesting things to say as well, but this one focuses on work, automation, and technology.
A better novel than TOM SAWYER ABROAD, TOM SAWYER, DETECTIVE by Mark Twain picks up as a sequel to THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN. It also is a window into Tom Sawyer's potential adult life.
It's Nazis on the moon in part two of ROCKET SHIP GALILEO by Robert A. Heinlein. While it does not compare to some of the short stories and later juvenile we will look at soon, there is some staying power with in this novel.
The review of the first half of Robert A. Heinlein's ROCKET SHIP GALILEO, the first of his famous young adult novels. A rocket club gets a chance to go to the moon.
In the short novel TOM SAWYER, ABROAD (1892), Mark Twain takes Tom, Huck Finn and Jim on a balloon voyage to Africa. In this episode are my thoughts on this book.
In 1892, Mark Twain published a sequel of sorts to THE GILDED AGE called THE AMERICAN CLAIMANT. It goes back to an old theme Twain was fascinated by: the mutual misunderstandings of Europeans and Americans. Throughout this story, Colonel Sellers is up to his old schemes.
In this episode of the Robert A. Heinlein Book Club, I look at "Free Men", an interesting and moralistic look at the duty of free men to resist authoritarian state power. More of a political tract than a story.
Finale of my review of THE GILDED AGE by Mark Twain. While not one his most popular novels, I think this one deserves a read for its important themes and reflections on American capitalism and politics.
In this episode of the Robert A. Heinlein book club, I look at this odd little story "A Bathroom of Her Own," a non-science fiction tale of housing and politics.
Now we need to deal with two sussy colonels in this novel? Colonel Sellers and Colonel Selby team-up to extract love and money from post-Civil War Washington. THE GILDED AGE by Mark Twain is actually a pretty underrated novel.
We wrap up our pre-war coverage of Heinlein's works with WALDO, a fitting story to complete the Anson MacDonald ASTOUNDING period of Heinlein's career. It hits so many of the themes Heinlein had been playing with since he started writing.
In this episode I mostly look at Heinlein's short story "My Object All Sublime" but also mention "Pied Piper". These forgettable tales may have some thematic interest regarding vigilantes and total war.
Part two of my review of THE GILDED AGE by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner. This part of the novel moves our focus to the national level and exposes how deep the corruption in the nation ran.
"... Jonathan Hoag" is a great Robert A. Heinlein story that keeps getting me to think about and talk about Philip K. Dick. I loved it.
Part one of my review of the underrated novel THE GILDED AGE, by Mark Twain and another guy. It is one of the most sturdy investigations into America's political and economic culture. Sellers and Hawkins got something for you to buy.
"Goldfish Bowl" by Robert A. Heinlein is almost a H. P. Lovecraft story. One of his best pieces of short fiction that I read from him.
With this final episode on FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR, I finish up with Mark Twain's travel literature. Coming up is THE GILDED AGE and his later novels.
There is a lot happening in the second half of BEYOND THIS HORIZON by Robert A. Heinlein, but I skip over most of that to talk about Heinlein and the gun culture.
At the halfway point of Mark Twain's FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR, we shift our focus to British India and the cultural changes and continuities in India under British rule.
BEYOND THIS HORIZON by Robert A. Heinlein came out in early 1942 in ASTOUNDING. It is one of the best early Heinlein books and explores various themes he had been developing up to this time, including his vision for a post-scarcity society and a broadly available genetically engineered society. It is also famous for its commentary on gun culture.
The part of Mark Twain's FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR that I discuss in this episode explores the British colonization of Australia and carries on many of the themes from the first part of the book. It is a brutal and honest look at forced migrations, ecological change, and genocide.
In this episode I begin the final Mark Twain travelogue FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR. It is one of the greatest anti-imperialist texts of the 19th century, an excellent travelogue, and an example of Twain's most bitterly charged satire.
"Elsewhen" (also known as "Elsewhere") by Robert A. Heinlein is another borderline fantasy story that explores the unrealized potential of human beings. It also introduces the multiverse to his writing (a theme he will take up later).
"... And Be Built A Crooked House" is a solid and fun story by Robert Heinlein, exploring the geography of four dimensions through the device of a tesseract house.
A bit of fatigue with these travelogues by Mark Twain hits me in this (one of my shortest) episodes. A TRAMP ABROAD descends into more simple tourism at the end, sadly. Hopefully, I will have more to say in FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR.
Well, this one is a doozy. BY HIS BOOTSTRAPS is one of the best Robert A. Heinlein stories yet. A perfectly constructed time travel story that begs the question: Can you lift yourself by your own bootstraps? Answer: Maybe?
Part 3 of my review of Mark Twain's A TRAMP ABROAD tried to take a big picture look at this book and its significance among Twain's travel literature.
The second part of my review of SIXTH COLUMN by Robert A. Heinlein. It is a fascinating a troublesome book about race, religion, resistance, and technology.
I continue to work my way through the works of Mark Twain with A TRAMP ABROAD. Mark Twain seems to be coming to terms with European nationalism and folklore as he makes his deep dive into the German land, culture, and people.
We go back to the travel writings with Mark Twain's 1880 A TRAMP ABROAD. These are some of the funnest to read and some of the hardest to talk about books I have ever one on this podcast. In any case, let's see what Mark Twain thinks of Europe now that he is not innocent anymore.
This one (Robert A. Heinlein's SIXTH COLUMN) certainly leaves us with lots to talk about, including Pan-Asianism, technology, religion, and race. This is episode 1 of 2 exploring this short novel, originally published in 1941.
Let's explore some Super science and posthumanism with Robert A. Heinlein's LOST LEGACY, a novella about the untapped potential of humanity and infiltrating The Boy Scouts.
In this episode I finish another book (Mark Twain's PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF JOAN OF ARC) and another volume of the Library of America. At this rate, I will finish in about the time it took for France to win the 100 Years War!
Like in the previous episodes on THE PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF JOAN OF ARC by Mark Twain, I focus on what Joan of Arc can mean to us today. The book stans way to hard for Joan, so we need move a bit beyond the text.
I finish up my thoughts on METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN in this episode. Mostly, I talk about the tension between individualism and the community. If it were not so cliche I would have mentioned Tocqueville.
This part of the THE PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF JOAN OF ARC is about lifting the siege of Orleans, but I do not says much about that and instead continue to explore the question of what in Mark Twain's mind made Joan of Arc great and what she transformation she causes.
Here I take a look at part 2 of "Methuselah's Children" by Robert A. Heinlein. I spend most of the time trying to figure out what might be the key to understanding this story and Heinlein himself. I fail. I guess I will need to read more Heinlein.
What do we owe our youth? Maybe we just owe it to get out of their way. In this episode I use JOAN OF ARC by Mark Twain to reflect on this question and the type of world we leave to our children.
The first part of METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN by Robert A. Heinlein does a great deal of work in putting together the "future history" world and introduces one of his cornerstone characters. It is also a great ideas novel.
In the finale of my review of A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT, I explore technology, power and the chilling climax of the novel. This is one of Twain's best books and worth a close look.
Pay attention Hollywood, this episode on Heinlein's 1941 short story "We Also Walk Dogs" includes a pitch for the next hit TV series.
Heinlein may always have been annoying, but it sort of triggers me in this one. In this episode I discuss "The Logic of Empire" (1941) and Heinlein's allegory for American slavery and indentured servitude.
Part two of my review of Mark Twain's A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT. I discuss mostly the points where reform hits the cultural wall, and the nature of authority and power in Twain's imagination.
Part one of my review of Mark Twain's novel CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING'S ARTHUR COURT. The first third of this book mostly sets up the hero and the setting. Over the next few episodes I will explore the themes of technology, power, and religion as they are explored and lambasted in the novel.
"Common Sense" is Robert A. Heinlein's action-packed sequel to "Universe". While I do not find it quite as elegant a story as "Universe", I did enjoy how it wrapped up the story with a bittersweet success for our heroes, but maybe a loss for humanity.
This episode includes part two of my review of THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER by Mark Twain (1882). I discuss my concerns that Twain is making safe arguments from a safe place and cannot quite see the necessity for radical alternatives.
Part one of my review of THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, an 1882 children's novel by Mark Twain. This classic role-swapping story is a window into American attitudes about aristocracy and class.
My review of Heinlein's 1941 story "Universe". While the first part of the story later published as ORPHANS OF THE SKY stands on its own, only with the sequel "Common Sense," do we find a darker more pessimistic truth about the necessity of stability.
The finale of my review of ROUGHING IT by Mark Twain. In the final chapters of this book Mark Twain moves on from Nevada to California and spends half a year in Hawaii. Is this a break from the earlier narrative or just part of a larger story of American empire?
"Magic, Inc." is a fascinating novella by Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1940. It explores issues such as union power, technology, law, corruption, and industrial production, while also trying to take magic seriously by placing it in our world. It is worth checking out for the richness of the themes.
After failing as a silver prospector, Mark Twain took up journalism. He discusses his early days on the beat in ROUGHING IT (1872). I discuss this and other issues as I dig deeper in my review of this autobiographical book.
In part 2 of my review of ROUGHING IT by Mark Twain, I find some of the most important commentary and observations on the betrayals at the heart of the ideology of democratic capitalism, and clues as to why the West was so quickly tamed by capital, big business, and government (later the military-industrial complex). Is there any future to an economy built on speculation?
In "They", published in 1941, Robert A. Heinlein takes on issues I am more used to talking about in my series on Philip K. Dick: conspiracy, shifting realities, and paranoia. Mostly, I take on the question of the utility of conspiracy theories and express my distaste for the solipsism of the extremely based. But I cannot not recommend this story to Heinlein readers. It has its value.
In this episode, I begin my look at one of my favorite Mark Twain books, ROUGHING IT (1872), an autobiographical exploration of life in the West in the the decades before it was tamed. The early pages deal with the stagecoach ride to Nevada and the myths that develop on the road.
In this episode, I take a short look at a very short Heinlein story, "Successful Operation". It can be read a couple of ways and I am happy with both.
In this episode, I finish up my study of INNOCENTS ABROAD by Mark Twain. There are so many layers to this book, the best I can so is lay them out and reflect on what I find most powerful: the relationship between a young nation and the deep past.
"Solution Unsatisfactory", published in 1940, is my favorite of the early Heinlein stories I have been exploring. It explores the consequences of the introduction of weapons of mass destruction to the world, the result being an reluctant American hegemony.
Listen as I realize the obvious radical politics at the heart of this story by Robert A. Heinlein "Blowups Happen". This tale is at its heart about externalities and capitalism.
In this part of my look at INNOCENTS ABROAD by Mark Twain, we spend most or time looking at Twain's comments on Italy and our odd relationship to history and its horrors. Tourism remains banal to me, and I find Twain sharing my views.
In this sequel to "If This Goes On" Robert A. Heinlein explores the limits of individualism and the dangers of assuming the most conspicuous alternatives are best. It pairs nicely with FOR US, THE LIVING.
In part two of my review of INNOCENTS ABROAD by Mark Twain we follow our author through Italy and his engagement with the reality and idealization of the Renaissance.
We move onto Mark Twain's first published book INNOCENTS ABROAD. This book recounts his adventures in Europe and Asia during a steamship tour. Through it he reflects a lot on tourism and authenticity.
In this short episode, I finish up my thoughts on IF THIS GOES ON by Robert A. Heinlein, focusing on the strategy for insurgencies and how movement cultures transform ideology.
In this episode of the Robert A. Heinlein Book Club, I examine the first half of "If This Goes On," which images a rebellion against a theocratic American autocracy. It forces us to consider what goes into making movement cultures.
In this episode, I take a quick look at Mark Twain's PUDD'NHEAD WILSON, a great exploration of the absurdity of the color line and slavery in America.
Heinlein explores a theocracy and considers the realities of building a movement culture of resistance in IF THIS GOES ON, originally published in 1940.
Mark Twain explores the color line and the horrors of slavery in PUDD'NHEAD WILSON. It is a morally significant and brilliant small novel.
There is not a whole lot to say about Robert A. Heinlein's story "Requiem" but I try anyway to give my thoughts. Maybe we will have more to say when we get to "The Man Who Sold the Moon", his prequel to this story.
This episode is the conclusion to my thoughts on THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, one of my nation's greatest novels. It ends (in my opinion) with a criticism of liberalism as a path to change and progress.
I agree that the "roads must roll", but to what degree does that mean we should be obliged to one class of people? Perhaps I look into that in this review of "The Roads Must Roll" by Heinlein.
In part 2 of my review of THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Mark Twain, I focus on the odious adults that Huck and Jim interact with and how we might interpret the various lines between freedom and slavery, adulthood and childhood, and above all, the color line.
In the 1940 story "Let There Be Light", Heinlein takes on the question of IP and public good, but much more radically than in "Life-Line." And based gender politics too.
The first part of my review of THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Mark Twain. I focus on Huck's character and the adults surrounding him. I will lots to say about both of these themes in future episodes, but it is clear how radical Twain's position is on civilization and morality.
In "Misfit" by Robert A. Heinlein we experience the Civilian Conservation Corps in space and see how in the frontier a natural genius can succeed. Not sure how more American you can get than this story.
This episode is the conclusion of my review of LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI by Mark Twain. The ending has some great commentary on the Southern memory of the American Civil War and how the antebellum culture of the South was corrupted by the works of writers such as Walter Scott.
What happens to insurance companies when a scientist can predict the moment of your death? Should corporations be able to stop the spread of knowledge that benefits humanity? Heinlein takes on these questions in his first published story, "Life-Line". I talk about these themes in this episode.
This episode is part three of my coverage of LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI by Mark Twain. With Twain we explore how the South and the nation changed in the years after the American Civil War, for better or for worse. He grabbed my attention again with his writing on New Orleans.
In this episode, I finish my look at FOR US, THE LIVING by Robert A. Heinlein. There is a lot of historical and economic details that I scan over here, but I strongly encourage you to look at this utopia work.
This episode is a little more on LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI by Mark Twain. It is also an episode where I have a personal breakdown and realization.
I start my exploration of Robert A. Heinlein's works with my thoughts on FOR US, THE LIVING, a fascinating study of the "social credit" economy.
The early chapters of the massive THE LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI explores the natural and human history of the river before getting into the personal history of young Samuel Clemens as a trainee steamboat pilot. For much of the first half, it is a celebration of the knowledge of the working class.
The second half of my review of THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER by Mark Twain. Here I discuss adulthood, the preservation of freedom (or not) and the horrors of maturation.
I begin my series on the works of Mark Twain with THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER. I hope I have a little bit to say about this well-known novel.
Finally, I reach the end of my series on the American Civil War. Next up, we will look at the works of Mark Twain.
Among other things I explore Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, the passage of the 13th Amendment, and the later battles of the Civil War. This series nears its end.
In this episode, I begin the end of my coverage of the American Civil War Library of America anthology with a gloss on the March to the Sea and related events, as well as the 1864 election.
The crucial election of 1864 took place in the context of decisive Union victories in Atlanta and Virginia. How do these events effect the people who experienced them first hand? I read about it in the Library of American anthology of Civil War writings.
In this episode, I consider documents from the American Civil War on the 1864 peace movement, the siege of Atlanta, the Jubal Early raid on Washington, and other issues.
I continue to explore the American Civil War through primary sources, looking primarily at the brutal outcomes of the Overland Campaign and the soldiers responses and recollections of those costly battles.
In this episode, I begin my look at the final year of the American Civil War through the Library of American anthology. I was particularly moved by Harriet Jacob's school in Virginia. I also look into the Fort Pillow Massacre and the start of the Overland campaign.
The final episode in my review of IT. Let me know what you think of this novel and my coverage of it.
In part 10 of my review of Stephen King's IT, we (almost) get the climax in the sewers. Before we can go there we need to spend around 100 pages watching King set that climax up. It has one of the most memorable and horrible moments in the novel, the confrontation between Beverly and her possessed father.
In this episode I explore three chapters of Stephen King's novel IT. It includes a couple of a my favorite sections: the death of Patrick Hockstetter and a deeper dive into Derry's history in the fourth "Interlude" chapter.
In this episode I look at the chapters "The Smokehole" and "Eddie's Big Break" from Stephen King's novel IT. Sadly these are both chapters that have been neglected or radically changed in the film adaptations, but they are still pretty important.
I continue my deep dive into IT by Stephen King by looking at the turning point chapters on the "Apocalyptic Rock Fight" and "The Album", which set up the confrontation that will dominate the rest of the novel
In this episode, I look at some historical documents produced in the winter of 1863 and 1864. With the tide of the war decisively changed, desperation, desertion, and even some radical proposals appear in the Confederacy. The war was lost at home and on the battlefield.
In this episode I look at the "Walking Tours" chapter of Stephen King's novel IT. It sets up some important themes for the later half of the novel and prepares us for the non-stop unification of past and present that we will experience from here to the end.
In this episode I explore more documents from the American Civil War, focusing on the end of 1863. Topics include Reconstruction, the battles around Chattanooga, and The Gettysburg Address.
This is the episode where I deal with the biggest problem I have interpreting this novel. The question of IT's motivations, the return of the Losers, and the reason they are all rich and childless. I also talk about the second "interlude" chapter and "The Reunion".
The documents from the summer of 1863, after the victories of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, show how rapidly Emancipation changed the fortunes of the war and public opinion in both the North and the South. I had a lot of fun with these documents and hope you enjoy too.
The documents from the summer of 1863, after the victories of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, show how rapidly Emancipation changed the fortunes of the war and public opinion in both the North and the South. I had a lot of fun with these documents and hope you enjoy too.
In this episode we continue our slow read through IT by Stephen King and finish up part two of the book. The chapters focus on the power of magic, belief, reason, and the group.
In this episode we continue our slow read through IT by Stephen King and finish up part two of the book. The chapters focus on the power of magic, belief, reason, and the group.
Part three of my review of IT by Stephen King. The chapters I look at here explore the creation of a Ka-tet (to steal a Dark Tower term) and meditate on the power of the group.
Part three of my review of IT by Stephen King. The chapters I look at here explore the creation of a Ka-tet (to steal a Dark Tower term) and meditate on the power of the group.
In this episode we look at a handful of turning points in the American Civil War by working through the Library of America's anthology of Civil War writings.
In this episode we look at a handful of turning points in the American Civil War by working through the Library of America's anthology of Civil War writings.
Part two of my review of Stephen King's IT. I mostly discuss how much I like the book's relationship to fictional and real history.
Part two of my review of Stephen King's IT. I mostly discuss how much I like the book's relationship to fictional and real history.
As I continue reading through a series of primary sources on the American Civil War, I dig into the events of June of 1863, which set the stage for some climactic events including the draft riots, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the attack on Fort Wagner.
As I continue reading through a series of primary sources on the American Civil War, I dig into the events of June of 1863, which set the stage for some climactic events including the draft riots, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the attack on Fort Wagner.
This episode of my non-Hugo-award-winning podcast introduces a mini-series on Stephen King's IT, which will be released alongside my main series. Here I cover the first few chapters of the novel.
When did the American Civil War become a total war? The documents I look at in this episode cover the spring of 1863 and suggest these months may be when the war truly became total.
In this episode I continue my Civil War series and look at the impact of Emancipation on the war effort, diplomacy, and public opinion. I also talk about Sherman's questions about freedom of the press.
A bit of a mixed bag in this episode. I close out my look at Franklin's writings from before his relocation to London in 1757 and take on a grabbag of letters on science and politics.
I read another 100 pages of American writers. This time, it is Ben Franklin's writings from the 1740s and 1750s, up until the Albany Plan of Union and his departure to London. I found the most interesting sections in this bunch of readings involved Franklin's arguments for a proper education.
The 1730s and 1740s saw Benjamin Franklin use his newspaper to promote issues of public necessity such as a post office and a fire department. It is during these years he also helped form the American Philosophical Society. All of this got me thinking about the public domain and the role of the media in building community (or not).
We look at Ben Franklin's writings in the later 1720s and early 1730s. Mostly I consider some of his journalism for the Pennsylvania Gazette, but maybe most interesting from this period is his argument for paper currency.
In this episode I start a new series looking at the works of Benjamin Franklin. This time we will focus on his early Boston and London writings such as the Silence Dogood letters and his philosophical pamphlet on free will and pain.
The finale of my coverage of Sinclair Lewis with my final thoughts on BABBITT (1922). Is there any hope for Babbitt? I am not sure. I see some hints of it before he seems to surrender to conformity at the end. Let me know.
Part two of my review of the excellent novel by Sinclair Lewis, BABBITT. Here we see the calm before the storm of Babbitt's crisis of faith as he tries to invest in his social status in Zenith, without much success.
In this episode we jump into BABBITT by Sinclair Lewis. Most of the first third of this novel is devoted to introducing the character of the ultimate conformist George Babbitt and the town that is the root of his identity (although it could be almost any town in America), Zenith.
The finale of my review of MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis. The major themes in this part are the cancel culture of Gopher's Prairie and the possibilities of escape.
Part 4 of my review of MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis. In this part we see the Kennicott marriage fall apart, while the banality of Gopher's Prairie seems to have metastasized.
In this episode we explore more of MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis as Carol Kennicott takes a more practical approach to her reforms. Yet, her frustrations continue to deepen. Much of this section of the novel explores the nature of the family in middle America.
Part two of my review of MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis. We get a more intimate look at Gopher's Prairie and its people, and see a darker side to the town.
In this episode, I dig into MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis and talk about the psychology of the newly educated and the cultural gap between Main Street and the American coastal cities. Is Main Street the peak of our civilization? Maybe it is.
In this episode I look at the Library of America's anthology of Civil War writing, focusing on the end of 1862 and the Battle of Fredericksburg and emancipation.
Next, we will take a break from the Civil War and look at MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis.
Lots going on in the fall of 1862, in the aftermath of the Emancipation Proclamation as new debates emerge. This episode follows those debates, the firing of McClellan and Lincoln's 1862 message to Congress. Just how into colonization was Lincoln?
In this episode we explore documents surrounding Lee's invasion of Maryland, the Battle of Antietam, and the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Some of the eye witness accounts of this battle, collected in this anthology are fascinating.
In this episode we see how Lincoln moved toward emancipation in the context of failed military campaigns and growing pressure from enslaved people. You can explore these documents yourself in the Library of America's anthology of civil war writings.
Our next episode in this series on the American Civil War looks at the events surrounding the Seven Days Battle, especially General Hunter's move to arm blacks in occupied territories. As always we get a diverse cast of witnesses to this conflict.
In this episode, I look at the events surrounding the battle of Shiloh such as the push for compensated emancipation, the seizure of New Orleans, and the battle of the ironclads. As always, my source is the anthology published by the Library of America.
I am still alive, yes. Just taking a break from recording. Anyway, as we continue reading American Civil War anthology by the Library of America, we take a look at the first major Union victory, the surrender of Fort Donaldson.
I complete my look at volume 1 of the Library of America's anthology of Civil War writings. It is a dark winter for the USA after a series of military defeats. The political and military response to these defeats is the centerpiece of the documents I examine in this episode.
The aftermath of the Battle of Bull Run was a lot of hand wringing and searching for new ideas by the USA. The battle of WIlson's Creek deepened these anxieties. We also see how emancipation begins to be worked into Republican policy. I explore all of this in this episode.
In this episode, I look at documents surrounding the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major battle of the American Civil War.
In this episode we read into the aftermath of the attack on Fort Sumter by looking at documents by people such as Walt Whitman, George Templeton Strong, and William T. Sherman.
Our series looking into the American Civil War as anthologized by the Library of America continues with the events surrounding the attack on Fort Sumter.
Second in a series of the major documents telling the story of the American Civil War. This section covers the secession debate that emerged during Buchanan's lame duck period and the proffered "compromise" which would have involved constitutional amendments.
Today, I begin a long series on the Library of America's anthology of writings of the American Civil War. The first documents we look explore the impact of the election of 1860.
The final episode of my epic review of THE BAROQUE CYCLE by Neal Stephenson. I do some rankings of the books, characters, and review some of the major themes.
We have finally come to the end of my review of THE BAROQUE CYCLE. Some great moments in the final scenes of this epic story, including the hanging of Jack Shaftoe and the Trial of the Pyx.
As we reach the climax of THE BAROQUE CYCLE, by Neal Stephenson, we get two heroic moments from our central characters. Daniel Waterhouse stages a jail break and Jack Shaftoe endures being pressed and decides to face the enemies of the vagabonds (courts and the gallows).
It has all come to this, the final volume of the BAROQUE CYCLE, appropriately called THE SYSTEM OF THE WORLD. This is not only comes from the last volume of PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA, but also from Daniel Waterhouses' thesis about the ultimate fate of the medieval and the birth of the modern.
We finish the penultimate volume of Neal Stephenson's BAROQUE CYCLE with some mighty fine action scenes. An attempt on the life of Peter the Great and an impaling by a cello are some of the highlights. And Jack Shaftoe comes out in force here.
In this section of the final volume of Neal Stephenson's epic BAROQUE CYCLE, we see the investigative club seemingly achieve its goals through a stake out at Bedlam, leading to an important revelation.
I think this will be the end of my H. P. Lovecraft Book Club. While there is much more I could do, I think this is a fine place to stop. For those interested, the second volume of THE MEANS TO FREEDOM completes the conversation between Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard.
As we come to the close of the Baroque Cycle in the book CURRENCY, we get lessons in modern economics through a fascination discussion between Daniel Waterhouse and Eliza. Picking up with Eliza is welcome after the previous book in the BAROQUE CYCLE.
The next episode in my series looking at the letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. This episode focuses on the summer of 1932 and a handful of massive letters dealing with issues such as war with Japan and American regionalism and folklore.
The climax to SOLOMON'S GOLD by Neal Stephenson is a heist on the Tower of London by Jack Shaftoe. For most of this section, Newton and Daniel Waterhouse are completely outclassed by their antagonist. SOLOMON' S GOLD is my least favorite book in the BAROQUE CYCLE, but it has a riveting climax.
This is part 2 of my review of SOLOMON'S GOLD, part of the BAROQUE CYCLE, by Neal Stephenson. As always it is a fun exploration of the 17th and 18th centuries. In this section, Daniel Waterhouse starts an investigative club.
More of my look at the Robert E. Howard-H. P. Lovecraft letters, focusing on the period from September 1931 to June 1932. We really get into explorations of American regionalism in these letters.
The final volume of Neal Stephenson's BAROQUE CYCLE begins with Daniel Waterhouse's return to England. He learns about the beginning of the Industrial Age and runs errands, while a mystery begins.
Our final look at THE CONFUSION by Neal Stephenson. These sections involve a dramatic journey across the Pacific, religious drama in the Americas and Jack Shaftoe's traumatic return to Europe. Great stuff.
I guess some more of my commentary on the Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft letters. A bit of a slog but they are certainly worth reading for a glimpse at the ideas of each author about history and folklore.
In this episode, I look continue my read-through of the BAROQUE CYCLE and come toward the end of THE CONFUSION. In this section of the tale, we pick up with the adventures of Jack Shaftoe in the Indian Ocean, where he becomes a temporary king.
In part four of my review of Neal Stephenson's THE CONFUSION, we see the high point of Eliza's character, as she uses the Nine Years War to destroy an alchemist banker (sort of) villain. It all comes down to the emergence of new banking systems in Western Europe.
Here starts a 9-part series exploring the Lovecraft-Robert E. Howard letters. It will be a nice way to finish up this series. The conversation begins with a discourse on the peopling of the British isles.
This is part three of my review of THE CONFUSION (Book 2 of the BAROQUE CYCLE). In this section, Eliza in France, escapes a trap by marrying a villain, while changes are in the works for the English banking system.
We end out look at Lovecraft's stories with THE CHALLENGE FROM BEYOND, a round-robin tale. Started promising but then Lovecraft hijacks it. Next up, a 9-episode conclusion to this book club focusing on the Howard-Lovecraft letters.
This part of THE CONFUSION by Neal Stephenson focuses on the voyage from Spain to Cairo and Jack Shaftoe and the Cabal stealing the Solomonic gold from creepy French slave traders and the Pasha's men. Plus, Jack gets revenge for Eliza. Lots of fun.
In books four and five of THE BAROQUE CYCLE, the story becomes "confused". We will explore these two intertwined stories in six episodes. We start with a reintroduction to Jack Shaftoe in Algiers, still a galley slave.
As we wrap up this look at the Lovecraft revisions we come to the Kenneth Streling story "In the Walls of Eryx", a science fiction tale with a Lovecraftian theme.
THE DIARY OF LORENZO TYPER is a Lovecraft collaboration with William Lumely. It is a pretty solid story that relates to the Lovecraft mythos.
In this part of the BAROQUE CYCLE, we see Eliza go on an adventure in the Rhineland and Daniel rake part in the Glorious Revolution, making a deal to destroy alchemy.
H. P. Lovecraft and E. Hoffman Price's epic sequel to "The Silver Key" ("Through the Gates of the Silver Key") establishes a multiverse and does more to expand Lovecraft's universe than any of revision.
Eliza make a deception, shorting VOC stock by spreading rumors of the "Fall of Batavia" and the foundations of a new banking system are laid in England. Meanwhile Daniel Waterhouse finds himself in political trouble.
A story E. Hoffman Price that discussed with H. P. Lovecraft, TARBIS OF THE LAKE is a supernatural love story about a stalker mummy.
Set immediately after KING OF THE VAGABONDS, ODALISQUE follows Eliza in the Versailles court caught between the French and William of Orange. This novel is partly epistolary.
In this episode of the H. P. Lovecraft Book Club I look at a bunch of works by R. H. Barlow, which Lovecraft helped revise. They area an interesting mix that show the development of a young talent. My favorite is TILL A' THE SEAS.
The final part of my review of THE KING OF THE VAGABONDS by Neal Stephenson. Watch as Jack descends into madness, helps Huguenot galley slaves, crashes a party and becomes infamous. We also see Eliza get trapped.
In this episode of my coverage of THE BAROQUE CYCLE by Neal Stephenson, I dig deeper into KING OF THE VAGABONDS. Jack and Eliza learn about commerce and witches before going their separate ways. They will meet again in 20 years or so.
This is a pretty wild story by Duane Rimel, and revised by H. P. Lovecraft, about a leprosy infection leading to the machinations of a mad scientist. Recommended.
Here, I look at two Duane W. Rimel stories revised by H. P. Lovecraft: THE TREE ON THE HILL and THE SORCERY OF APHLAR. They are fine.
Part one of my review of KING OF THE VAGABONDS from the BAROQUE CYCLE by Neal Stephenson. In this section we meet two more of our heroes of the story: Jack Shaftoe and Eliza. Through this story we get another view of European society during the Baroque
Seen as the last of the H. P. Lovecraft stories ghost-written for Hazel Heald. The scenes with old people telling stories in general shops gives me a real Stephen King vibe.
In the later parts of QUICKSILVER (from THE BAROQUE CYCLE) we see Daniel Waterhouse become a public figure, meet Leibniz, and witness the horrible banking system of 1660s England.
I look at yet another H.P. Lovecraft story. In this episode it is the Hazel Heald revision OUT OF THE AEONS. This story is notable for its world building and a possible cameo by Randolph Carter.
In this section of QUICKSILVER we get a close look at the Royal Society in the mid-1660s. Neal Stephenson has great fun characterizing people like Oldenburg, Hooke, Wilkins, and (the fictional) Daniel Waterhouse.
I am excited to present part 1 (of 24) of my examination of THE BAROQUE CYCLE by Neal Stephenson. In this part we meet Daniel Waterhouse and the eternal wizard Enoch Root while getting a sense of the numerous themes in the series.
In this story written by Hazel Heald and H. P. Lovecraft (mostly ghostwritten by HPL), we explore an amazing wax museum with a horrible special exhibit. One of the most delightful of the Lovecraft collaborations.
The final episode in my series on William Wells Brown explores the second half of MY SOUTHERN HOME, the author's second memoir.
Next up, a special series on Neal Stephenson's BAROQUE CYCLE.
MY SOUTHERN HOME is a memoir by William Wells Brown written toward the end of his life. It rehashed much from his earlier writers, but from the perspective of a more sober old man.
In another of Lovecraft's Hazel Heald revisions (ghostwriting)--WINGED DEATH--we get a fascinating tale of science, empire, and revenge. Like THE MAN OF STONE, we get most of the story from the villain' point of view.
The first of five collaborations between H. P. Lovecraft and Hazel Heald. In this story, a wizard uses black magic to punish his adulterous wife. Through a framed narrative our authors give us a window into the mind of the villain.
In 1862, William Wells Brown wrote a series of short biographies of black activists, politicians, scientists, and artists in an attempt to prove black people's capacity for self-rule in the context of the Emancipation Proclamation. It begins with a great philosophical essay.
The final by-line publication by H. P. Lovecraft during his life was THE HAUNTER IN THE DARK. I explore this story in this episode, finishing up the formal read through of his works.
In this episode I look at a play by William Wells Brown called THE ESCAPE. It is an effective look at the horrors of slavery and the necessity of resistance.
The second part of my review of THE SHADOW OUT OF TIME by H. P. Lovecraft. I cannot believe I made it this far. There is still a lot to look at in future episodes but only one more "by-line" publication. Anyway, this story is good.
An only slightly deeper look at William Wells Brown THE AMERICAN FUGITIVE IN EUROPE. The second half of this travelogue focuses on Browns' travels through Britain, him seeing the homes and monuments of great writers, and some of his anti-slavery work.
William Wells Brown spent 1849-1854 in Europe doing anti-slavery work. This narrative of these years reads more like a traditional travelogue than a polemical text, and that is okay.
The first half of my review of H. P. Lovecraft's THE SHADOW OUT OF TIME. This story is a nice mix of cosmic horror, science fiction, and horror. It also has one of Lovecraft's most well-developed protagonists.
CLOTEL is the first novel by an African-American in the United States. While not a plot-driven page-turner, William Wells Brown created a convincing portrait of the sexual and gender politics in American slavery.
Another H. P. Lovecraft story (THE THING ON THE DOORSTEP) is explored in this episode. You think your marriage is bad. Try being married to a bossy lady who is actually an old wizard who wants your body (not in that way).
The second part of my review of THE DREAMS IN THE WITCH-HOUSE by H. P. Lovecraft. Great stuff in this story on modern science and folklore. This story is also our best look at the city of Arkham. Why people not like?
I start a new series on the works of William Wells Brown. I start with his compelling and short autobiography about his time as a slave, published in 1847. I also speak a bit on CLOTEL, his novel.
We begin a series on the final H. P. Lovecraft stories with THE DREAMS IN THE WITCHHOUSE. This is one of my favorite Lovecraft stories, but it seems to not get much love.
The finale of my coverage of the letters of H. P. Lovecraft. I do not think I will be coming back to letters until I take on the Robert E. Howard series in the near future. For now we return to stories.
I am almost through with my commentary on the fourth volume of the selected letters of H. P. Lovecraft. These cover the autumn of 1933.
I know it has been a while since I uploaded anything. Been busy at home in Wisconsin. But here are some more thoughts on the letters of H. P. Lovecraft, focusing on those written in the late summer of 1933.
In this episode, I dig deeper into the fourth volume of the selected letters of H. P. Lovecraft. There are some unhinged stuff in this set, especially the letters to J. Vernon Shea.
The finale of my review of THE PROUD TOWER by Barbara Tuchman also finishes off our look at this mid-century American historian.
More of Lovecraft's letters are examined in this episode covering the period from January to April 1933. Some of the most notable elements include the publication of DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE and the death of H.S. Whitehead.
As we move on in Barbara Tuchman's THE PROUD TOWER we explore chapters devoted to the Hague Conventions on peace with their successes and failures, as well German culture. The later chapter deals almost exclusively with the career of Richard Strauss, the composer.
In this episode, I talk about the fourth volume of H. P. Lovecraft's Selected Letters, focusing on the winter of 1932-1933. Overall, a tame set of letters during a transformative period for the United States and the world.
In chapters 3-4 of THE PROUD TOWER by Barbara Tuchman we examine the emergence of a new phase of American imperialism and the Dreyfus Affair in France. These two chapters are not very related, but the entire book is quite fragmented.
I continue to explore the fourth volume of Lovecraft's selected letters. While these 20 letters are not the most exciting we see a continuation of some important themes: frustration with publication in commercial fiction market and Lovecraft's flirtation with fascism.
I kick off my four-part look at THE PROUD TOWER by Barbara Tuchman. The first two chapters of this book look at pre-Great War British aristocracy and anarchism. Two topics that do not see to meld, within a book that does either.
In these letters we see Lovecraft's continued frustration over the the state of the magazine fiction market and the personal impact of the death of his aunt, Lillian Clark.
The finale of my review of THE GUNS OF AUGUST by Barabara Tuchman. I give my overall feelings of this text along with a look at the last chapters and Tuchman's conclusion.
The H. P. Lovecraft letters from early 1932 show his frustration with the status of the Weird Tales and other magazines, as he finds he cannot match they style they desire and have come to expect from him. Some real anxiety in this set of correspondence.
Toward the end of Barbara Tuchman's THE GUNS OF AUGUST we explore the battle of Tannenberg and the retreat of French armies toward Paris. Tuchman also analyzes the situation at sea and the position of the USA in the early days of the Great War.
I finish up this series on Lovecraft's stories from the late 1920s and early 1930s with a look at his collaboration with Donald Whitehead, "The Trap". While not as amazing as the Bishop revisions, this story does have some interesting ideas, and a 17th century wizards.
Part three of a review of THE GUNS OF AUGUST by Barbara Tuchman. The logic of planning leading to entrenchment (military, institutional, and ideology) is explored in the middle chapters of this excellent study of the first days of the Great War.
The last of the Lovecraft revisions of Zealia Bishop's work is also the most controversial. This short story explores the culture of the Black Atlantic, the post-war south, and art. It is the most detailed study of the artist by Lovecraft since "Pickman's Model".
In this episode, I explore the second part of THE GUNS OF AUGUST by Barbara Tuchman. In these chapters we see how the war plans set up by the Great Powers made conflict unavoidable and prevented military and political institutions from changing course.
I did not plan to record any two-part reviews of the H. P. Lovecraft revisions, but THE MOUND is such a massive and interesting tale that I just had to this time. In this episode, we focus on the culture and society of K'n-yan.
One of Lovecraft's most significant revision works was the novella THE MOUND. Zealia Bishop provided the original prompt and Lovecraft ran with it creating an entire civilization. Influenced by THE COMING RACE by Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
In this episode, I explore THE CURSE OF YIG by Zealia Bishop and H. P. Lovecraft. It is one of his most famous revisions and a great story that takes Lovecraft's worldbuilding to the American Midwest.
My final thoughts on THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH by H. P. Lovecraft. This story ends with some action and then an coda examining our narrator's deep family history.
Next, we will explore the Zealia Bishop revisions.
In this episode, I dig deeper into THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH. We get a walking tour of the city, in classic H. P. Lovecraft style.
In this episode I give my thoughts on the early pages of THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH by H. P. Lovecraft. One of his most important stories, for many reasons.
The finale of my coverage of AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS. So what did Danforth see? That is the most compelling mystery at the close of this epic story. Next up, SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH.
So glad to be back with a volume of The Library of America. This episode will begin a one-month series exploring THE GUNS OF AUGUST and THE PROUD TOWER, beginning with the opening chapters of GUNS. The warnings of the Great War speak to the Cold War in rather direct ways.
This episode is part 3 of my coverage on AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS by H. P. Lovecraft. Much of this section deals with the history and society of the Elder Things and brings us right up to the climax of the story.
In this episode I dig deeper into AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS, which as Lovecraft tries to warn us is a bad idea. Part 2 of 4.
One of the more popular H. P. Lovecraft stories is AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS. It may really be the best example of Lovecraft's later style. The opening pages focus on science and exploration. I give my thoughts on these early sections.
The finale of my review of THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS by H. P. Lovecraft. Things get nice and cosmic and strange in the final chapters of this story, but for me the early chapters contain the most interesting elements.
This episode is the second of three covering my thoughts on THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS. Fun with letters from a crazy friend.
THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS begins a new phase in Lovecraft's career and a new series in this podcast. The rich look at folklore, skepticism, and conspiracy make this story lots of fun. I just get started reviewing this tale in this episode.
The second part of my review of FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH by H. P. Lovecraft. Also, plenty of evidence on why I should not be doing too much with Lovecraft's poems.
My thoughts on the first half of FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH by H. P. Lovecraft. This is a cycle of sonnets exploring various of Lovecraft's themes, vistas, and questions.
We wrap up our look at the third volume of the "Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft" with the later part of 1931. During this period, Lovecraft was writing THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH. He begins to write with increasing frequency to J. Vernon Shea, a young weird fiction writer.
Lovecraft was not writing too much fiction in the summer of 1931 (the exception being the collaboration "The Trap" with Henry Whitehead), but as always was busy with his penpals. Included in this period is a letter to Elizabeth Toldridge in which Lovecraft explores the causes of the Great Depression. For my money, this is the highlight of this set.
In the first half of 1931, H. P. Lovecraft was writing AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS, but he was also also writing some substantial letters. A highlight here is on to Frank Belknap Long one cosmic isolation, race, and machine culture. Another fascinating letter is to Henry George Weiss on socialism and ethics. This episode explores these and more.
In the winter of 1930-31, H P. Lovecraft wrote about time travel stories with Clark Ashton Smith, Asian poetry with Elizabeth Toldridge, Quebec with James Morton, and atheism with August Derleth. There is more but you will need to listen to this episode.
In this podcast, I talk about the letters H. P. Lovecraft wrote to his friends and colleagues in the autumn of 1930. Topics include: "The Whisperer in Darkness, Quebec, Lovecraft's fictional world-building, witches, and the importance of dynamite in horror tales.
What do dinosaur bones, "clock-slavery", Charleston, and Hart Crane have in common? They all are discussed in H. P. Lovecraft's letters in 1930 (specifically February through August). I talk about this and more in this episode of this podcast.
H. P. Lovecraft's letters from the winter of 1929-1930 were written around the time he wrote "The Mound". So we should not be surprised to see him reflecting on civilizations, art, and geography. These letters also speak to his thoughts about erotic art. Highlight is a massive letter to Woodburn Harris.
So we are back to the "Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft" in this episode. Features correspondents include Maurice Moe, Elizabeth Toldridge, and James Ferdinand Morton. Topics include poetry, lost cultures, and machine culture
In this second revision of a Adolphe de Castro story, "The Electric Executioner", we explore the supernatural power of electricity in a Mexican setting. A fun story, worth checking out.
"The Last Test" is by Adolphe de Castro, as revised by H. P. Lovecraft. I rather liked this story, with its exploration of deep history and hidden traditions. It is framed as a story about experiment and outbreak in the prison, although the truth is much more chilling.
So this story is based on a dream, detailed in a letter by Lovecraft to Donald Wandrei in 1927. Wandrei later revised this account into a the published story "The Thing in the Moonlight".
The second and final part of my review of CONFIDENCE by Henry James. This puts an end to this series on James' early novels.
This short story, "Two Black Bottles", was written by Wilfred Blanch Talman, with an assist by H. P. Lovecraft. While not one of the revisions that is mostly done by Lovecraft, let's read it anyways. It is a pretty good story. Published in WEIRD TALES in 1927
Like THE EUROPEANS, CONFIDENCE is a light and somewhat comedic novel about Europeans in America or Americans in Europe, or something. Another early novel by James that I found underwhelming but still probably worth checking out.
After a long wait, I am finally looking at "The Very Old Folk", the published version of Lovecraft's dream of ancient Rome. It hits many of the themes Lovecraft was interested in at this time of his career, especially vernacular traditions and their dangers.
In this short comedic novel, THE EUROPEANS, Henry James follows two Europeans-a soon to be divorced woman seeking a new start and a free-spirited young man--in their encounters with a wealthy American family. Decent entertainment.
The second part of my review of "The Dunwich Horror" by H. P. Lovecraft. What is the danger of ignoring the backcountry? What is the blowback to burying the horrible things deep? I think this story gives some of Lovecraft's answers.
Part three and finale of my review of THE AMERICAN by Henry James. It is a highly recommended novel with some real drama and wonderful character growth. Our hero becomes an American while confronting European aristocratic culture.
Part two of my review of THE AMERICAN by Henry James. For much of the middle part of this novel, the hero pursues his courtship with a French aristocrat while learning more of the gap between his world and that of the woman he hopes to marry.
"The Dunwich Horror" is another of my favorite H. P. Lovecraft tales that has a bit of everything; intentional amnesia, folklore, outer gods, body horror, class tensions, and the geography of horror. Part one of my analysis.
"The Color Out of Space" was Lovecraft's favorite story and it is indeed one of his best. The combination of body horror, science, and classic Lovecraftian themes makes for a fascinating, if bleak tale.
Part one of my review of THE AMERICAN by Henry James. It is by far my favorite of the five early novels I will look at in this series. It explores the attempt of a rich American to court a French widow from an aristocratic family.
Part three of my review of RODERICK HUDSON by Henry James. It is his first strong novel but a bit repetitive and banal in the end. I guess the lesson is Americans should stay away from Europe.
The final part of my review of THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD by H. P. Lovecraft. The final chapter is an epic story of the conscious eradication of memory.
We go back to the present in chapter 3 of THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD and witness the consequences of Ward's exploration into his family history. Some strange mysteries are revealed and the horror begins again.
Let's start over with Henry James by looking at his first decent novel, RODERICK HUDSON. In this novel, an aimless rich man adopts a poor artist and brings him to Europe for fame and adventure. What they find is that Europe is a bad place for anyone, especially artists, to be.
A solid second chapter of H. P. Lovecraft's THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD almost works as a stand-alone horror story set in the 18th century, climaxing in the context of the American Revolution. Through this story we see Joseph Curwen as a metaphor for America's founding sins.
More forgettable stuff in the second half of WATCH AND WARD by Henry James. Let's hope his later novels are a bit more interesting. If nothing else, this novel is a good piece of evidence of why certain authors will never be cancelled.
The second of two posthumously published novels by H. P. Lovecraft, THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD also happens to be my favorite Lovecraft story. There is no better place to go for Lovecraft's historical vision.
A new series and a new novel: Henry James' WATCH AND WARD. While it is not a good novel and can be easily forgotten we can at least introduce ourselves to Henry James as we prepare to read his first five novels.
The final to my review of DODSWORTH by Sinclair Lewis and the final of my series on Lewis's mid-1920s works. While DODSWORTH is not my favorite, I think it has some interesting things to say about marriage, aging, and the habits of the elite.
A trio of works by Lovecraft are examined in this episode. Two of them explore the mythology of the Necronomicon and the other deals with footnotes.
My final thoughts on Lovecraft's DREAM-QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH appear in this episode. In this part of the story we see the battle between the Men from Leng and their Moon creatures allies and Carter's forces before arriving at the final confrontation between the Dreamer and the Outer Gods.
Part two of my review of DODSWORTH by Sinclair Lewis has us explore a wealthy expat couple in Europe as their marriage begins to fray as the European setting exposes their different dreams. Mr. Dodsworth return to America in these chapters is a nice diversion.
In the third part of my review of DREAMQUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH we explore the realm of the ghouls and other dark places, while learning more about the Men from Leng.
Part one of my review of DODSWORTH by Sinclair Lewis. My least favorite of these novels by Lewis, it centers on a rich American business man who retires to Europe with a restless wife.
Part two of my review of DREAM-QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH by Lovecraft. My interest in this series of episodes is to explore how the themes of Lovecraft's horror novels are revealed in the 'dreamlands' stories. As it turns out there is more than I thought.
The four and final part of my review of ELMER GANTRY by Sinclair Lewis. A final crisis emerging from his girl-crazy ways, leads Elmer Gantry to triumph and a bright future. But what does that say about our institutions?
Part three of my review of ELMER GANTRY by Sinclair Lewis covers Gantry's rise in the aftermath of the death of Sharon Falconer. He finds himself recruited by Methodists and has no problem making the transition.
A favorite of Lovecraft fans, "Pickman's Model", ties directly to DREAM-QUEST and was written around time, but is a great tale in which we see Lovecraft trying new narrative techniques. And in good Lovecraft fashion we get a look at the underground architecture of decaying city.
In part two of my review of ELMER GANTRY by Sinclair Lewis we follow Gantry as he got pushed out of his ministry due to drunkenness, but finds his way back into evangelical Christianity through the popularity of revival-style worship.
My review of Lovecraft's "Strange High House in the Mist" allows us to return to Kingsport in preparation for our upcoming "Dream Quest".
Elmer Gantry is a student at a religious university who far from lives the religious life, but find himself on the career path of a Baptist preacher. Sinclair Lewis' novel ELMER GANTRY is a great look at the culture wars of the 1920s.
The "Silver Key" is Lovecraft's greatest Randolph Carter story with an enduring theme of childhood saving us from the banality of modern life. Carter's quest for meaning, set years after the events of DREAMQUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH has lessons for the importance of childhood.
The final of my review of ARROWSMITH by Sinclair Lewis. It ends on a rather high note where science triumphs over the distractions of American capitalism.
In the second half of my review of THE CALL OF CTHULHU I explore some of the most important passages in all of Lovecraft's writings: the interview with the cultist Castro. The cost of wordily freedom maybe high, but for many marginalized people it is worth paying.
Part four of ARROWSMITH by Sinclair Lewis explores Martin Arrowsmith's career as it moves into hard science, war, and eventually a devastating plague in the West Indies. As always the contradictions between science and politics follows him.
The first of two episodes in which I look at the famous story by H. P. Lovecraft, THE CALL OF CTHULHU. Great story due to its nested narrative and global scope.
Martin Arrowsmith, bored with being a small-town doctor moves into the field of public health, finding the politics of science even worse than the personal politics of private practice. I look at this as well as other things in this part of my review of ARROWSMITH by Sinclair Lewis.
"In the Vault" seems a bit out of place in this period of Lovecraft's career, but it is a bit of fun and plesantly gory. The TV show TALES FROM THE CRYPT did a episode seemingly inspired by this tale called "Fitting Punishment".
Part two of my review of ARROWSMITH by Sinclair Lewis. In this episode we follow Martin Arrowsmith as he begins his career as a small-town doctor.
"Cool Air" by H. P. Lovecraft is a lovely science-fiction horror story set in New York, the last of Lovecraft's stories set in New York after "Red Hook" and "He".
Part one of my five-part review of ARROWSMITH by Sinclair Lewis. This novel explores the culture of professional medicine in early 20th century America through the life of a young doctor torn by different perspectives on the proper role of the doctor.
In this episode, I examine Lovecraft's short story "He", the second in a "trilogy" of New York stories. This one is the most meta and personal and certainly, the most cosmic.
In this short episode, I finish my look at Aldo Leopold's writings with his journals. I know I said I would look at his letters, but I decided to move on to my next series, starting with ARROWSMITH by Sinclair Lewis.
Part two of my review of THE HORROR AT RED HOOK by H. P. Lovecraft. Ignoring this story due to his racism, compartmentalizing his views on immigrants, or saying Lovecraft was just a man of his time will not due...and this story shows why.
The third and final episode looking at Aldo Leopold's professional and private ecology writings. These cover the period of the Second World War and Leopold's growing awareness of the depth of the crisis in ecology.
The first half of my review of THE HORROR AT RED HOOK, by H. P. Lovecraft. This is a story that pulls together most of the threads from his earliest horror writings. Despite its nasty language about immigrants, it is essential reading for those interested in his philosophy.
A look at some more of Aldo Leopold's professional and private writings on ecology from the period when he began his work in Wisconsin, coinciding with the Great Depression and New Deal programs on conservation.
Having finished A SAND COUNTY ALMANAC, we will now go back to look at Aldo Leopold's writings from the start of his career in 1917 until 1933, when he published a book on game management.
In this episode of the H. P. Lovecraft Book Club I look at a bunch of horror poems Lovecraft wrote in the later 1920s.
This episode completes my review of A SAND COUNTY ALMANAC by Aldo Leopold. The second part of the book of essays explores the human impact on ecology and proposes a solution, the Land Ethic.
The second part of my review of "Supernatural Horror in Literature" looks at the bulk of the text. Most of the essay is surveys of the major works in different periods and regions. SHIL will remain a useful guide for readers of 18th, 19th, and early 20th century horror.
In this episode of the H. P. Lovecraft Book Club I examine "Supernatural Horror in Literature", Lovecraft's brilliant survey of horror writing. I focus on his overall philosophy as detailed in the first chapter of this book-length essay.
Episode one of my new series on the writings of Aldo Leopold. To begin we will explore his masterpiece A SAND COUNTY ALMANAC. It remains one of the greatest works of American ecology. In later episodes, we will look at his professional writings and journals.
The end of this series on H. P. Lovecraft's letters. This set is a doozy with some monster letters to Frank B. Long, Wilfred Talman, and Woodburn Prescott Harris.
In this final episode on James Agee, I look at his shorter fiction, including "Morning Watch" and "Death in the Desert". They are all pretty excellent and worth checking out.
Lovecraft's letters in 1928 ranged in topics from literature to modernism to race and class. I review some of these letters as I continue to work my way through the second volume of The Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft.
In this episode I finish up my look at James Agee's novel A DEATH IN A FAMILY. I find the novel a bit more interesting in the second half as Agee explores issues of race, childhood, and maturation.
The highlight of the H. P. Lovecraft letters from the winter of 1927-28 is Lovecraft's account of a story-length Roman dream. He mediates quite a lot about the Romans and their history, in seeming preparation for his debates with Robert E. Howard.
The first part of my review of James Agee's DEATH IN THE FAMILY. This posthumously published novel won the Pulitzer Prize. I found it to be of interest, but a bit of a slog.
The H. P. Lovecraft letters I look at in this episode cover much of the second half of 1927. There is not much in the way of philosophy, but professionally it is an important period with the submission of "The Call of Cthulhu".
The episode in which I try to make some final sense of James Agee's LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN. I am pretty sure I am only scratching the surface.
Let's look at some more of H. P. Lovecraft's letters. In this episode I explore the ones he wrote in 1927. There are a few good and important letters here such as one to Donald Wanderi on metaphysics and one to Bernard Dwyer on culture, migration and modernism.
Part three of my review of LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN by James Agee. In this part of the book, Agee continues his report on the material conditions of life for the three sharecropping families. It will get weird again at the end.
The winter of 1926-27 Lovecraft wrote several interesting letters on his aesthetic and literary tastes and he worked on THE DREAMQUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH. Some ennui at this time, it seems to me.
In part 2 of LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN by James Agee we get a look at the material conditions of life for our three sharecropper families, with special focus on their homes.
Back in Providence, Lovecraft felt more at peace, but his New York experience shaped how he even saw Providence as he began to explore it again. He saw pockets of his town he never noticed before. Lots of fun letters in this section showing these reflections on NY.
In this episode I look at more of H. P. Lovecraft's letters. These cover his final months in New York and his return to Providence. But this New York experience will stay in Lovecraft's mind for many years.
Part one of my review of the frustrating, fascinating, and beautiful work LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN. I still do not know fully what to think of this one. It explores the lives of sharecroppers in the South during the Great Depression, but goes off the rails.
If you are interested here are some thoughts on a few pieces of James Agee's assorted journalism for FORTUNE and TIME, including some book reviews. The most interesting may be his look at cock fighting and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
For the first time in this podcast, I am looking at a screenplay. This one was by James Agee based on the book NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, about a Bluebeard character. Contains some real horror elements.
An episode where I try to look at a bunch of H. P. Lovecraft's letters from his time in New York.
In this episode, I look at a short story by Harry Houdini (ghost written by H. P. Lovecraft) called "Under the Pyramids". It is a beautiful story of the exploration into deep history even if the scare at the end is fairly typical of its writer. Narrated by Houdini, the "was it all a dream" suggestion has a bit more punch.
In this episode we finish up with Agee's film reviews for TIME. Overall, I think they are worth reading in the context of re-exploring some of the films of the 1940s.
Lovecraft revised a couple of interesting stories by Sonia Greene, his future wife. While we can identify a few Lovecraftian themes Sonia Greene brings her how thoughts to these tales.
In this episode I finish looking at Agee's NATION reviews and then jump into some he wrote for TIME. In 1948 Agee stopped writing film reviews for both publications.
In this episode I look at three of Lovecraft's revisions with Winifred Jackson and Anna Helen Crofts ("The Green Meadow", "The Crawling Chaos", and "Poetry and the Gods"). They are all interesting tales. The first two were mostly written by HPL. "Poetry and the Gods" was more of a true revision.
Part three of my review of James Agee's film reviews get us through some more of THE NATION reviews, including his review of MONSIEUR VERDOUX, the Chaplin classic.
Another one of my favorite Lovecraft stories, "The Shunned House" is a study in local history and mythology. Some of his best writing legacy of family histories.
Another dive into family history, occult traditions, and the sea in "The Festival" by H.P. Lovecraft, but maybe most interesting about this story is the exploration of Kingsport's antiquarian architectures.
In this episode I start my look at the works of James Agee. Before jumping into his collaboration with Walker Evans, let's check out his film writings. This episode covers the first year or so of his work with THE NATION.
Two episodes packed into one as I finish up looking at THE NEW INDUSTRIAL STATE by John Kenneth Galbraith. Next up James Agee's journalism and film reviews.
"The Rats in the Wall" is a story by H. P. Lovecraft about a trans-Atlantic family and its history (kind of like "The Lurking Fear" in a way). It also follows the method of archeology going deep into British history.
One of my favorite Lovecraft stories, "The Lurking Fear" explores heredity, immigration, American history, and race all in the form of an interesting mystery tale.
Part two of my review of THE NEW INDUSTRIAL STATE by John Kenneth Galbraith. Here he digs deep into the workings of the "technostructure" and makes an interesting contrast with planning in the socialist states of the time.
Another interesting story by H. P. Lovecraft, "The Hound" is about art and its impact on searchers who become grave-robbers to satisfy their curiosity.
The U.S. economy is planned. But don't take my word for it. John Kenneth Galbraith laid it all out in THE NEW INDUSTRIAL STATE. Here are my thoughts on the first 100 pages of that book.
The "Unnamable" is a great little horror story that includes a philosophical discussion about the nature of terror. A bit on the known unknowns of common knowledge and the limits of official narratives.
Part two of my review of THE AFFLUENT SOCIETY by John Kenneth Galbraith. This part of the book explores the consequences of affluence and present Galbraith's policy recommendations about how to restore a public sphere.
In this episode, I look at a story fragment ("Azathoth") and very short complete story ("What the Moon Brings"). Both are experiments in cosmic horror and the stories share similar themes.
Part one of my review of THE AFFLUENT SOCIETY by John Kenneth Galbraith. This book remains relevant in our conversations about post-scarcity and the lack of balance between public and private spending.
Re-uploaded.
Part one of my review and analysis of HERBERT WEST: REANIMATOR by H. P. Lovecraft. One of my favorite Lovecraft stories. Watch as I become convinced of a theory about the narrator over the course of my reading.
A short tale by H. P. Lovecraft, "Hypnos" involved an unreliable narrator exploring his dreams with an unknown associate. A nice contrast to some of the more optimistic dreamer stories.
So the second half of Galbraith's book called THE GREAT CRASH is about the impact of the 1929 crash on American life. Overall a good survey of the causes of the crash itself, it not the best on the structural causes of the Depression.
A great short story by H. P. Lovecraft, "The Music of Erich Zann" is one of his first to take seriously the power of art and the tendency of art in the 20th century to move toward the bizarre. Is it a commentary on musical modernism? Or just a good horror tale?
The economist John Kenneth Galbraith wrote this very interesting book about a famous airplane disaster. Here are my thoughts on the first half of this book.
A short story by H. P. Lovecraft, "The Other Gods" explores humanity's hubris at thinking they can understand the universe. These Other Gods will be explored in more depth in THE DREAMQUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH.
Part two of my review of AMERICAN CAPITALISM by John Kenneth Galbraith. In the second half of this slim book we get into specific examples of counterveiling power through labor unions, cooperatives, government, and other forces.
"The Outsider" is a well-known tale by H. P. Lovecraft, probably due to its psychological dimension. One of his best works of short fiction, to be sure, even if not one of my favorites.
This episode begins a new series looking at the works of John Kenneth Galbraith. We begin with AMERICAN CAPITALISM, a book exploring the concept of "countervailing power" and how the size of firms undermines classical economics.
"The Moon-Bog" by Lovecraft may reminds us of "The Rats in the Wall' with its European setting and castle restoration subplot, but the story has its unique ideas, especially with the relationship between the workers and the castle owner, a relationship to water, and cultists of a sort.
"The Quest of Iranon" is a dreamlands story with (possibly) a dreamer from within the dreamlands themselves. It also works as a nice allegory for modernity, art, and celebrity.
No Lovecraft this Wednesday. Instead I will put an end to this Parkman series with the finale of MONTCALM AND WOLFE. Lots to perhaps say in summation about New France, the French and Indian Wars, and my insanity for doing this project. But, let's not. Next up, John Kenneth Galbraith's still relevant writings.
Part 5 of my review of MONTCALM AND WOLFE by Francis Parkman. In this episode we explore the invasion of Canada and the emergence of Wolfe as a commander.
In "The Nameless City" we see Lovecraft sending an explorer into an ancient, pre-human city. While these themes would be explore in more depth in AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS, this story remains a classic and not only because it introduces the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred.
In this fourth part of my review of MONTCALM AND WOLFE by Francis Parkman, we look at some major battled of the French and Indian War included the siege of Louisbourg (again), the rise of General Wolfe, and the setting for the invasion of Canada.
One of my favorite Lovecraft stories, "The Picture in the House" is about the sea, the horrors of Atlantic history, and the legacy of ancient beliefs and traditions.
Part three of my review of MONTCALM AND WOLFE by Francis Parkman. In this section we witness campaigning in the frontier and the Hudson Valley, the rise of Montcalm, and the beginning of a global war.
A story based on one of Lovecraft's dreams, "Nyarlathotep" provides some interesting ideas on modernity, the threat of ancient traditions, and race while also introducing us to one of his more memorable gods.
Two years before the Seven Years War broke out in Europe, Americans were once against fighting each other in the frontier regions between the British colonies and New France. These early losses for Britain are explored in this part of MONTCALM AND WOLFE by Francis Parkman.
"Ex Oblivione" by H. P. Lovecraft is a dreamer story about someone trying to escape this world into the realm of dreams, even beyond that to non-existence.
FFS, another French and Indian war. Well, in any case we are getting another one as we jump into Francis Parkman's final volume in his massive history of French North America, MONTCALM AND WOLFE. This section covers the roots of the final French and Indian war.
This episode is my review of "From Beyond" by H. P. Lovecraft, a story about a scientist trying to find what lies beyond our senses. Made into a good movie.
In the final parts of Francis Parkman's A HALF-CENTURY OF CONFLICT we explore the failed peace ending King George's War, ongoing struggles for Acadia, and the siege of Louisbourgh. One more book left, MONTCALM AND WOLFE.
Part three of my review of A HALF CENTURY OF CONFLICT by Francis Parkman. This episode deals with the build up and origins of King George's War. Who can keep track of all of these French and Indian wars with massive loss of life and few territorial changes? It is as if dying for empire is pointless.
In "Celephais" we have another of Lovecracft's "Dreamlands" stories. This one is about a man who is so isolated in the modern world he seeks fame and adventure in his dreams. Perhaps something about Lovecraft's psychology could be said.
A U-boat captain during World War I learns about an ancient civilization under the Atlantic Ocean (possibly Atlantis), but never gives up his faith in Prussian supremacy over ignorant peasant Rhinelanders. "The Temple" by H. P. Lovecraft is a study in efficient, effective and decisive leadership.
Queen Anne's War may have ended but the fighting between Britain and France continued in a series of proxy wars using Native American tribes. I talk about this and more in part two of my look at Francis Parkman's A HALF-CENTURY OF CONFLICT.
A short H. P. Lovecraft story with a long title, "Arthur Jermyn" deals with topics such as heredity, exploration, Darwinism, and empire. It is one of my favorite of Lovecraft's early stories.
In this episode, I start looking at another book by Francis Parkman. In this case it is A HALF-CENTURY OF CONFLICT which looks at the North Americans Wars from the 1690s to 1750s, as well as the many proxy wars fought through Indian societies.
A nice story by H. P. Lovecraft set in the Dreamlands about mythology, law, witches, gypsies and cats. And all in just a few pages. Highly recommended.
The finale of my review of Francis Parkman's COUNT FRONTENAC AND NEW FRANCE UNDER LOUIS XIV. This section deals with the roots of King William's War and the final years of Frontenac's life and his efforts to subdue the Iroquois and defend Canada from English invasion.
The second part of my review of COUNT FRONTENAC AND NEW FRANCE UNDER LOUIS XIV by Francis Parkman. This part of the book looks at the governorships of Le Barre and Denonville.
Lovecraft's short story "The Tree" is about art, friendship, and fate. Check it out for something a little bit different.
The fifth volume of FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN NORTH AMERICA looks at the height of New France during the reign of Louis XIV. This episode digs into the first part of this book, covering Count Frontenac's first term as governor and the problems he runs into with the clergy and the backwoodsmen.
"The Terrible Old Man" is a sweet little vampire story by H. P. Lovecraft. This will not be the first time Spanish bullion will be used as a warning to stay away. The polyglot criminals in this story will learn the hard way.
In the final episode of the second "season" of the H. P. Lovecraft Book Club, I look at some of his World War I poems. Next up, his stories written from 1920 to 1924.
The finale of my review of THE OLD REGIME IN CANADA by Francis Parkman. One of the best books in the series. Highly recommended.
A few more poems by H. P. Lovecraft explore some of this themes of cosmic horror, as well as some other themes, including a satirical romance.
Part two of my review of THE OLD REGIME IN CANADA by Francis Parkman, a social, political, and institutional history of New France during the time of Louis XIV.
In the fourth volume of Parkman's FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN NORTH AMERICA we look at the political and social institutions in New France during its peak during the years of Frontenac and Louis XIV. A great addition that does something different from the other values in the series.
The third and finale part of my review of LA SALLE AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST by Francis Parkman. This episode focuses on La Salle's attempts to establish the foundation of a Mediterranean empire for France. (All he got for it was a short-lived for in present-day Texas). Saint-Domingue is mentioned only in passing.
Lovecraft is not often accused of being dry, but he totally was. Try to enjoy this episode of the H.P. Lovecraft Book Club sober. I bet you cannot.
In this episode, I look at some of La Salle's labor troubles during his expeditions to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi. Maybe it is time for a labor history of exploration.
Lovecraft as an amateur astronomer and he shared his insights in newspapers. This episode takes a brief looks a series of columns he wrote to introduce the basic of astronomy to readers, and provide glimpses into his views of cosmic horror.
In this episode I dig into some of Lovecraft's amateur journalism dealing with the First World War. Why did he think the U.S. should back Great Britain in the conflict? It has a lot to do with race and his vision of an Anglo-American "white Atlantic".
Francis Parkman's third volume of his epic history of New France is called LA SALLE AND THE GREAT WEST. What drove La Salle to explore the Great Lakes and Mississippi? Find out.
Since I lack the first volume of the Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft, I am working off some notes I took a few years ago. In the future I promise more complete examination of his wacky letters.
Finale of my review of THE JESUITS IN NORTH AMERICA by Francis Parkman. In this episode I look at the martyrdom of the Jesuits, the "Mourning Wars", and the refugee crises among the Huron.
"Season One" of the H. P. Lovecraft Book Club ends with a look at "The Street." Next, we will explore some of his other early writings such as astronomy, his letters, amateur journalism and poetry.
More on the French Jesuits in Canada and the Huron mission in this episode of my read-through of Francis Parkman's FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN NORTH AMERICA.
Part 1 of my review of Francis Parkman's THE JESUITS OF NORTH AMERICA. This volume covers the mid-17th century Jesuit efforts among the Huron and Algonquins amidst the Beaver Wars (Mourning Wars).
A fairly famous story of Lovecraft's "The Statement of Randolph Carter" builds to a shocking ending. Not the richest thematically, but a lot of fun to read.
Lovecraft's story "The Doom that Came to Sarnath" tells the story of a civilization that forgot its roots and paid the price. While Lovecraft is usually an advocate of forgetting, in this story he warns against it. The story is also a polemic against decadence and a celebration of grand architecture.
Final part of my review of THE PIONEERS OF NEW FRANCE IN NORTH AMERICA by Francis Parkman Jr. In this section we look at the career of Champlain and the other explorers who established Quebec. Next up, the Jesuits.
In this part of Parkman's THE PIONEERS OF NEW FRANCE we witness the massacre of the Floridan Huguenots and begin to survey the French explorations of North America in the St. Lawrence River.
In my review of "The White Ship" by H. P. Lovecraft I make a bold claim about what type of writer Lovecraft is. Beyond that, this is just a great "Dreamlands" story about the pitfalls of various utopias.
We start our look at FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN NORTH AMERICA with the first part of THE PIONEERS OF NEW FRANCE. This episodes focuses on his deception of the Huguenots in Florida.
Lovecraft wrote a great story called "The Transition of Juan Romero". It may be his best early depiction of ancient religions in a vast network. A must read for Lovecraft fans if you missed it.
The conclusion to my review of Francis Parkman Jr.'s THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC. In the final section of this book we explore the consequences of Pontiac's revolt for the people of the American West.
Lovecraft had some particular views on alcohol and drugs, which are reflective in this early (science fiction?) story of his, a morality tale about inheritance and social decline.
Part 4 of my review of THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC by Francis Parkman. In this episode we look at the failure of the Indian cause, frontier violence, and the vigilantism of the Paxton Boys.
Lovecraft goes a little overboard on his descriptions of back-country folk in "Beyond the Wall of Sleep" but the story places him right in the middle of the eugenics conversation of his time.
In part three of my review of THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC, I talk about Pontiac's plans, the role of cunning and deception in the early Indian victories, and the siege of Detroit.
In "Polaris" we get the first of Lovecraft's "Dreamland" stories and an allegory for the racial conflicts he saw as the primary vehicle of history. By taking a look at some of his World War I era writing, we can put this story in a broader context.
Part two of my review of THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC by Francis Parkman Jr. Here I look at the causes of Pontiac's War as described by Parkman.
In episode 5 of the HP Lovecraft Book Club, we jump into Lovecraft's love for 18th century British culture by looking at his 1917 story "A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson". Perhaps it is one most Lovecraft readers skip, but it is worth a few minutes of your time if you want to appreciate our author's worldview.
Part 1 of my review of THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC by Francis Parkman Jr. The opening chapters of the book describe the lives of Native Americans east of the Mississippi, the French empire in the Americas, and the interactions of the British and French with the Indians. All important background.
In this episode, I take a deep look at "Dagon" by H. P. Lovecraft. This story, set in the Pacific during World War I, explores the possibilities of ancient cultures and long-enduring mystical traditions. The narrator's discovery and exploration of a recently raised landmass from below the Pacific is not forgettable.
In this episode I conclude my thoughts on Francis Parkman Jr.'s THE OREGON TRAIL and I sum-up the themes of empire, ecology, and the capitalist expansion into the "Great West". Up next, Parkman's first work of history THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC.
Episode three of the H. P. Lovecraft Book Club takes a look at "The Tomb" and Lovecraft's fascination with deviant subcultures.
Part two of my review of THE OREGON TRAIL by Francis Parkman Jr. This book is a travel memoir, but is full of great material on American empire, Native American life, ecology, and transformation of the "Great West".
In "The Alchemist" (1908) Lovecraft establishes one of his most important themes: vernacular networks of knowledge opposing esoteric forgotten tomes. This fascinating story is his first mature work of fiction.
We will begin looking at one of the greatest historians of the 19th century, Francis Parkman Jr. But this first book is not a history, but a memoir of his travels in the prairie and Rocky Mountains. An interesting look at a changing, dynamic, and often cruel frontier.
In this inaugural episode of the H. P. Lovecraft Book Club, I introduce the series and talk about four stories Lovecraft wrote as a child: "The Little Glass Bottle," "The Mystery of the Grave-Yard," "The Secret Cave," and the (much more mature) "The Beast in the Cave".
So my series "Twentieth Century Girls" comes to an end with a look at some of Zora Neale Hurston's essays and assorted short non-fiction. Next up Francis Parkman Jr and a dive into mid-nineteenth century American history writing.
Part two of my review of DUST TRACKS ON A ROAD by Zora Neale Hurston. This great memoir gets political in the second half. Listen to my thoughts on her conservatism and skepticism of racial politics.
The first part of my review of Zora Neale Hurston's memoir DUST TRACKS ON A ROAD. The first part of the book deals with her childhood, her family, the origin of her imagination and curiosity, and her struggles to earn an education.
Part two of my review of TELL MY HORSE by Zora Neale Hurston. This part of the book explores Voodoo in Haiti. A brilliant take on this tradition and its meaning in Haitian life.
The first half of my review of TELL MY HORSE by Zora Neale Hurston deals with the geo-political realities of independent Caribbean states in a time of empire. All of this sets up her analysis of voodoo in the region.
The second half of MULES AND MEN by Zora Neale Hurston looked at voodoo in the United States. In this episode, I finish up my thoughts on this classic of American folklore.
My next "Twentieth Century Girl" is the brilliant Zora Neale Hurston. First we will look at her book of black folklore called MULES AND MEN. Still a great introduction to the tradition.
I close out my series on Shirley Jackson with a review of WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVE IN THE CASTLE. This novel is a masterpiece of gothic fiction with the ultimate deception of isolation and agoraphobia. Next up, Zora Neale Hurston.
Part one of my review of THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson. This is an important novel in the history of American horror. Hill House is the original EVIL (not haunted) house, which would inspire King's Martsen House and the Overlook.
In this episode, I take a look at the rest of Shirley Jackson's short story collected THE LOTTERY. So many good stories on race, alienation, women's role in society, family, and the meaning of home. (Lots of other themes too.) This rich collection is a must read.
In this episode, I begin a new series in which I examine some of the major works by the brilliant Shirley Jackson. First up will be half of THE LOTTERY AND OTHER STORIES. These are some of America's greatest short stories. Read them!
The finale of my series on Jane Bowles. (I know I said there may be one more.) In this episode I look at some of her stories.
In the second half of Jane Bowles' TWO SERIOUS LADIES we get a closer look at the adventures of Christina Goering as we looks for freedom in seedy working class bars. Class and sexuality are explored in fascinating ways in this odd and brilliant novel.
Another "Twentieth-Century Girl". In this episode I look at the only novel by Jane Bowels, TWO SERIOUS LADIES. This is really one you need to read just for the experience. It is unlike anything else.
It has been a long series but we have come to the end of the study of Mary McCarthy with my final look at CANNIBALS AND MISSIONARIES. Next up: Three quick episodes on Jane Bowles.
Part two of my review of CANNIBALS AND MISSIONARIES by Mary McCarthy. Uploading two in one day because of internet troubles in China causing delays.
Terrorism, liberalism, art, and class are all explored in depth in Mary McCarthy's last novel CANNIBALS AND MISSIONARIES. I am not sure it is worth a visit, but it certainly is worth knowing about.
While I cannot say I am a very fond of Mary McCarthy's final two novels, BIRDS OF AMERICA does have some interesting discussions about art, revolution, the expat life, and family. Check it out, or not.
The finale of my review of Mary McCarthy's THE GROUP. This is a must read novel if you want to know the philosophy behind second wave feminism and an overall great novel.
Part 2 of my review of Mary McCarthy's THE GROUP. A great novel of second-wave feminism and perhaps McCarthy's most well-known work. It is a profound look at the struggles professional women faced in the 1930s with spoke directly to the 1960s, when it was written.
Part one of my review of Mary McCarthy's THE GROUP. THE GROUP is a classic text of second-wave feminism in which a group of educated women deal with various social inequalities. In this first part we meet the "Group" and talk about class, birth control, and sexual freedom.
In A CHARMED LIFE, Mary McCarthy explores intellectual bohemians and their quite odd lives. At the center of this story is an affair between a married woman and her domineering ex-husband. The tragedy comes when she finds she might be pregnant, but who is the father?
Mary McCarthy's A CHARMED LIFE is a pretty interesting story about suburbia, adultery, and in-typical McCarthy fashion-intellectuals and artists acting bizarrely. Worth a read.
The conclusion of my review of Mary McCarthy's THE GROVES OF ACADEME. Overall, a really fun novel about the delusional and petty world of academia that still has a contemporary feel.
In THE GROVES OF ACADEME Mary McCarthy studies the insane world at a small liberal college. Like all of the other groups McCarthy studies, the whole is certainly less than the sum of its parts.
Onto the second Mary McCarthy novel in this episode. THE OASIS is about an intentional community of crazy intellectuals doing crazy, petty, and stupid stuff. Sounds like a university.
What a great novel! I finish my thoughts on Mary McCarthy's debut novel THE COMPANY SHE KEEPS in this episode. These chapters look at American Trotskyism and the psychological confessional.
We begin a new series looking into the early works of the brilliant Mary McCarthy. In this episode we begin with THE COMPANY SHE KEEPS, a novel of interconnected stories dealing with the contradictions in the life of a modern American woman.
This is the finale episode covering the stories in THE FUTURE IS FEMALE written since 1963. One of the highlights of this section is Ursula K Le Guin's "Nine Lives" about cloning and individualism. Overall a nice anthology. Next up, Mary McCarthy.
This episode continues my review of the THE FUTURE IS FEMALE anthology. I look at stories from the 1960s. Women writers in during the "New Wave" era looked at themes of gender, population, family, and sexuality with a bit more intensity.
A few more stories from THE FUTURE IS FEMALE anthology. These are stories from the mid-1950s, including Zenna Henderson's "Ararat" and Alice Jones' "Created He Them" (a forerunner of A HANDMAID'S TALE)
This episode looks at three stories from THE FUTURE IS FEMALE edited by Lisa Yaszek. These stories cover the years 1945 to 1951 and include Wilmar Shiras' "In Hiding".
In this episode I look at five stories collected in THE FUTURE IS FEMALE edited by Lisa Yaszek. Clare Winger Harris, "The Miracle of the Lily" Leslie F. Stone, "The Conquest of Gola" C. L. Moore, "The Black God's Kiss" Lesli Perri, "Space Episode" Judith Merril, "That Only a Mother"
Willa Cather wrote SAPPHIRA AND THE SLAVE GIRL in 1940. This novel takes us back to pre-Civil War Virginia and looks at the sexual politics in a slave-owning household. Perhaps it is not her best novel, but it certainly gets the sexual tension in such households correct.
This episode includes my thoughts on LUCY GAYHEART by Willa Cather. This novel tells the story of a naive young woman who falls in love with a married singer in Chicago. But her silliness does not excuse her scorned suitor from feeling he has been put into the imaginary "friendzone". That was a thing in the 1920s too? Men never change.
We say good bye to colonial French Canada and another of Willa Cather's excellent novels in part two of my review of SHADOWS ON THE ROCK. I loved the characters and setting in this one.
What was life like on late 17th century French Canada? I have no idea, but Willa Cather paints a nice picture of a socially diverse but united community. And in good Cather style we see the conflict between the evolving frontier and the home culture.
Spoiler alert. He dies.
In this episode, I look at the the second half of DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP by Willa Cather. We continue to follow two priests who play a role in taming the New Mexico frontier, for better or for (probably) worse.
After the U.S. stole half of Mexico, the Catholic church formed a new diocese in New Mexico. In DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP, Willa Cather tells the story of how the church played its role in bringing this frontier to heel.
In this episode, I finish looking at Willa Cather's THE PROFESSOR'S HOUSE. In the second half we get a look at the background of Tom Outland, a look at the ancient southwest civilizations, amateur archeology, the indifference of bureaucracy, and the resolution to the Professor's mid-life crisis.
I look at the first half of THE PROFESSOR'S HOUSE by Willa Cather. This book is a fascinating look at academia, family, and a mid-life crisis.
In this episode I take a look at a splendid little novel deconstructing the heroic age of the frontier: A LOST LADY by Willa Cather. While only 100 pages, it seems to tell the entire story of the American West.
The finale of my series on Abraham Lincoln and on American political history in the 19th century. Next up, "Twentieth Century Girls": A series on American women writers.
In 1864, Grant took command of the Union armies, Lincoln was re-elected, Atlanta fell and Sherman gave his president Savannah as a Christmas present. We look at all of these things and the impact of emancipation on American politics and the war effort in this episode.
The war turned to the Union's favor in 1863 in no small part due to the Emancipation Proclamation. In this episode I look at the consequences of emancipation on the war through Lincoln's writing, the major turning points of the siege of Vicksburg and Gettysburg, and the growing opposition of the "peace" Democrats.
1862 was a bad year for the Union army and Abraham Lincoln with numerous defeats and military frustrations along with some Democratic gains in the mid-term elections. But it was also the year in which runaway slaves forced Lincoln to rethink the meaning of the war.
In this episode, I look at the writings of Abraham Lincoln during his trip to Washington and the first year of the Civil War. Here the major issues include his policy toward the border states and the early wartime questions about slavery.
In this episode I look at the writings of Abraham Lincoln from 1860. This was the year of the election that won Lincoln the presidency and saw the first state secede from the Union.
In this episode, I look at the writings and speeches of Abraham Lincoln from 1859. The most notable document is the "Cooper Union" speech Lincoln gave in New York City, but there are some other interesting texts, including a speech he gave in Milwaukee on technology and labor.
In this episode, we see how Abraham Lincoln lifted his 1858 debates with Stephen Douglas to a new level by pursuing the moral argument against slavery and against its expansion.
The Philip K. Dick Book Club will be on hiatus for a while, but here are my future plans. Let me know if you have any additional ideas.
In this "finale" of the Philip K. Dick Book Club, I look at RADIO FREE ALBEMUTH. This novel is far superior to the re-write (VALIS). I love the look at a slowly creeping dystopia and the necessity of futile but inevitably victorious resistance.
In this episode, I look at the third and fourth of the great Lincoln-Douglas debates. It seems to me that Lincoln was on the defensive in these two debates. He has yet to lift the subject of the debate to issue of the morality of slavery.
The best of Philip K. Dick's later novels is THE TRANSMIGRATION OF TIMOTHY ARCHER. It explores the religious culture of California during Dick's own life. We get some Bishop Pike, some John Allegro and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and some Alan Watts.
This podcast is the first of three episodes exploring the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.
In addition to reading them I watched the reenactments aired by C-SPAN in the 1990s. I recommend them.
We have come all this way in order to read Philip K. Dick's most disappointing book. It is an opaque novel that betrays much of what Dick established in his earlier career on what it means to be human and how to respond to power. But share your thoughts.
Philip K. Dick's "VALIS Trilogy" begins with a little novel called VALIS. A fan favorite, but not one I care for very much. Let me know what you think.
"The Alien Mind" was Philip K. Dick's last published story, appearing in The Yuba City High Times in February 1981. Next up, we will look at the VALIS novels.
"Rautavaara's Case" by Philip K. Dick is one of his last stories. It uses an interstellar dispute over a man's remains to explore the limits of understanding between cultures and what a truly religious system could look like. This story also asks some nice bio-medical ethics questions.
This episode examines Lincoln's writings from the aftermath of the Kansas-Nebraska Act to his nomination by the Illinois Republican Party to the Senate in 1858. The highlight of this period is his famous "House Divided" Speech.
In "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon" (published in PLAYBOY) Philip K. Dick wrote a nice story about change, how we do not trust memories, and how memories may fill in for what we have lost. One of his last stories.
Philip K. Dick wrote with brilliance about mental illness and institutionalization throughout his career. Check out this story (the first work of his from the 1980s, I look at), "Strange Memories of Death". It is a mainstream story about living next to the Lysol Lady.
What did Philip K. Dick think of Watergate and state secrets and the military-industrial complex? I think we know, but if you have any doubt read "The Exit Door Leads In" which was published in ROLLING STONES COLLEGE PAPERS. It is a very nice story Dick published in 1979
In this episode, I take a close look at the writings and speeches of Abraham Lincoln during the years after the Mexican War, as the sectional conflict began in the United States. Lincoln completes his only term in the House of Representatives and returns to Illinois and lawyering, but remained an observer of Whig politics during the last years of that party.
Now we get to some of the strange late Philip K. Dick stories. The first of these is "The Day Mr. Computer Fell Out of Its Tree", in which Dick takes on once again the dangers of automation. One of his first themes was also one of his last.
In the finale of my review of A SCANNER DARKLY by Philip K. Dick we see the ultimate fate of Bob Arctor and his friends, as well as possibly the fate of all of us in the eternal struggle between the individual and the institution. And this conclusion is set in Dick's greatest depiction of an asylum.
The years 1845 to 1848 see Lincoln engaged in local Whig politics and then moving onto national politics by serving on the House of Representatives where he opposed the Mexican War. In this episode I look at his major speeches and writings from those years.
Bob Arctor learns that working undercover is not all it is cracked up to be as he hits rock bottom, loses his sense of identity, and ends up being put through the consuming machine of the state. All of this and more in part 4 (of 5) of my review of Philip K. Dick's A SCANNER DARKLY.
In part 3 of my review of Philip K. Dick's A SCANNER DARKLY we follow Bob Arctor as he descends into the ultimate of paranoia and addiction by investigating himself. Is this is metaphor for the ultimate fate of the surveillance state? Of course.
A new series and a new phase in American political thought. In this episode we meet Abraham Lincoln as a young Whig politician in the 1830s and early 1840s.
As we get deeper into Philip K. Dick's A SCANNER DARKLY we see just how deeply paranoia runs in a world governed by the police state. But just how much of the paranoia is justified? And how paranoid is the state compared to the people it tries to control?
The first of five episodes covering Philip K. Dick's A SCANNER DARKLY. This novel has some of his most bleak and powerful images of life in late capitalist California and his prescience on failed war on drugs is astounding. One of his best novels.
In part 7 of my review of Alexis de Tocqueville's DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA we get to the heart of the argument about social relations, gender, family, and other aspects of the mores of democratic culture. It is the most fascinating and perhaps relevant part of the book covering everything from how democracies fight wars to how they raise daughters.
In part 6 of my review of Alexis de Tocqueville's DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA we look at his views on egoism and individualism as well as their impact on American culture and intellect. Is individualism good? What will individualism coming through democracy mean to the aristocratic cultures of Europe?
In the 1975 short story (unpublished in his life) "The Eye of the Sibyl", Philip K. Dick writes about himself and his fiction and the Roman oracle. A good preview of the type of thinking that dominated the later part of his life.
We jump into volume 2 of Alexis de Tocqueville's DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA, where he begins to look at the mind of a democracy. He starts with its intellectual culture. It is not all pretty. Is banality the cost of democracy?
I complete my look at the odd novel DEUS IRAE by Philip K. Dick and Roger Zelazny in this episode. The core idea of a religious pilgrimage in a shattered world is pretty interesting, if not very well executed here. The secret identity subplot does create some tension toward the end.
As we continue our push through Alexis de Tocqueville's DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA and come to the end of volume 1, we explore what he had to say about the threats to American democracy due to slavery.
In this episode, I take on the first half of DEUS IRAE by Philip K. Dick and Roger Zelanzy. It is an odd novel that has a host of narrative and tone issues, but as with all of Dick's novels is always interesting. There are some important previews of the VALIS trilogy themes in this book.
Part three of my review of Alexis de Tocqueville's DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. In this part, he begins looking at federalism and its benefits to the American system of government and democracy overall. He also begins looking at the threats facing democracy and explores whether parties are one of those threats.
Is is better to be married or a "crap artist" a bit off his rocker? Dick tries to answer this question in his splendid mainstream novel CONFESSIONS OF A CRAP ARTIST. In this episode I finish off my analysis of this book.
Part two of my review of Alexis de Tocqueville's DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. Here we focus on his views of local and state governments in American democracy.
In part 3 of my review of CONFESSIONS OF A CRAP ARTIST, we watch was one family collapses and another emerges in its wake. The horror of the eternal return of married life is the theme of this splendid novel.
This novel (CONFESSIONS OF A CRAP ARTIST) is so good. Prove me wrong. Philip K. Dick is at his best when he is writing about marriage and the strangers who sleep next to us.
In this episode, I start an eight-part series on Alexis de Tocqueville's DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. What is the importance of the general equality of conditions in the creation of American democracy? What is the future of American democracy when this equality of conditions has been replaced with oligarchy?
We come to the end of this series on the writings of Thomas Jefferson with the letters written during the last decade of his life. His lack of growth of race is striking, but his commitment to democracy did not seem to waver. This contradiction will forever shape how we look at him.
In this episode we start to look at Philip K. Dick's CONFESSIONS OF A CRAP ARTIST, written in the late 1950s. It was a mainstream novel that explores some interesting themes of family and new religious movements.
Philip K. Dick has been writing obliquely about Malthus since some of his earliest stories. In the "Pre-Persons" Dick takes on these issues again, and along the way angered the feminists. Is this story just his response to Roe v. Wade or does it have a more significant place in his argument against gerontocracy?
The highlight of Thomas Jefferson's retirement letters are those he wrote to John Adams. In this episode, we look at some of those and some other important and interesting letters he wrote in 1813, 1814, and 1815.
In this set of letters, I look at Jefferson's last years in public life and the interests he pursued after retirement. Much of his work in this period involves education, culminating in his work on the University of Virginia.
In this wonderful little story ("A Little Something for Us Tempunauts") Philip K. Dick explores the tedious repeatability of space exploration, both for us and for the explorers. Maybe we can do better if we had a real frontier?
In this lengthy episode, I take a detailed look at FLOW MY TEARS, THE POLICEMAN SAID by Philip K. Dick. It presents a detailed police state, examines class dynamics in authoritarian societies, and has some of Dick's most touching looks at relationships and the futility of liquid relationships.
In this selection of the letters of Thomas Jefferson we explore the "Revolution of 1800" and Jefferson's first term as president. The achievements of this period are well known, but more interesting may be his internal thoughts about his presidency.
In the conclusion of WE CAN BUILD YOU by Philip K. Dick, we find ourselves in a very different novel. After a mental breakdown Louis Rosen is institutionalized and we see one of Dick's best descriptions of the asylum.
Thomas Jefferson comes back from Paris to become Secretary of State. Fights with everyone. Decides to do it himself and runs for president. Let's watch the rise of the party system in American politics by looking at Jefferson's letters from the 1790s.
Well, they got an Abe Lincoln bot and all was going well, but they lost their designer and engineer. How can our little startup survive against the big corporations without its greatest minds? Find out in part 3 of my review of WE CAN BUILD YOU.
While Jefferson was in Paris he started having sex with Sally Hemmings, commented on the Constitution, and saw the spread of revolution in Paris. We look at one of the most critical periods of Jefferson's life through his letters.
So they built a Edwin Stanton android, but what can they do with it. And what happens when you fall for your crazy underage co-worker? Find out in part 2 of my review of WE CAN BUILD YOU, by Philip K. Dick
In this episode I begin my look at WE CAN BUILD YOU. This novel by Philip K. Dick was written in the early 1960s and feels like one of his conventional novels, but it has a sci-fi twist by giving us a small android building business.
This episode covers Thomas Jefferson's letters written from his youth to the mid-1780s, when he was sent to Paris.
In this episode I take on some assorted writings by Thomas Jefferson. Maybe the most important are the collected memoirs called the "Anas".
Back to a Philip K. Dick short story with the posthumously published "Cadbury, the Beaver Who Lacked". Is it his final word on marriage? Not quite, but it seems to serve as such.
In this episode, I look at some of Thomas Jefferson's speeches and examine how he envisioned the place of Indians in the American empire. Of particular importance are his written annual addresses and the speeches he delivered to Indian nations during his presidency.
In the final part of my review of OUR FRIENDS FROM FROLIX 8 we see the brutal way that equality can be restored in a world where the elite are superior post-humans.
In part 3 of my review of "Our Friends from Frolix 8" we see the nature of the friendship offered by aliens and need to wonder what is the best path to institutional change: reform from within, movements from the outside, or help from foreign powers.
In part two of my review of OUR FRIENDS FROM FROLIX 8, we get a closer look at the movement culture that emerged to resist the posthumans in power, consider how much it resembles drug dealing, and continue to enjoy watching the back and forth between the New Men and Unusuals, the two varieties of posthumans.
In this episode I look at the public papers Jefferson produced while Secretary of State, when he developed his opposition to Hamilton's policies. I also glance at his plans for the University of Virginia and his opposition to the import duty on books.
In this episode I look at Thomas Jefferson's public papers from the time before he became Secretary of State, when he was mostly working in Virginia politics. Of special interest is his draft for a Virginia Constitution and his laws on education, crime, and religion.
In part one of my review of OUR FRIENDS FROM FROLIX 8, I examine how meritocracy and posthumanism leads to a pretty interesting dystopia.
The finale of my look at Philip K. Dick's A MAZE OF DEATH. Tell me, is this book the antithesis of GALACTIC POT-HEALER?
The conclusion to my brief series on Jefferson's important text "Notes on the State of Virginia". In this episode we take a look at Jefferson's views on race, immigration, land rights, and industry.
During a quest to find out where they are, the unfortunate pioneers on Delmak-O begin to learn that their subjectivities are coming true. The results are murderous. Learn about this and more in part 3 of my review of Philip K. Dick's "A Maze of Death."
In this episode, I look at "Summary of the Rights of British America" by Thomas Jefferson. I also jump into the first half of "Notes on the State of Virginia". So let's begin exploring his political ideas as well as what his thoughts on science, nature, the "Columbian Exchange" and Native Americans.
Part two of my thoughts on "A Maze of Death" by Philip K. Dick. Things start to get dark quickly.
The autobiography of Thomas Jefferson was written in 1821 and covers his life from the 1760s to his return from Paris. It has some interesting things to say about his views of slavery, the French Revolution, and the writing of the "Declaration of Independence". We kick off a new series on American political writing with this interesting, if unessential work.
Now for the antithesis to "Galactic Pot-Healer". "A Maze of Death" by Philip K. Dick asks some of the same questions as GPH but comes to very different and bleaker answers. What to make of this?
In Philip K. Dick's final story from the 1960s, "The Electric Ant" we get a mixture of reality bending metaphysics and android anxt.
The conclusion of my thoughts on Philip K. Dick's greatest novel "Galactic Pot-Healer". We are coming to the end of this very long series on Dick's publications of the 1960s. Excited to move into the 1970s with "Maze of Death", the antithesis novel of GPH.
This podcast is the third in my series on "Galactic Pot-Healer" by Philip K. Dick. In this part of the novel, we explore the theme of entropy. What does it have to do with meaningful work?
Part 2 of my review of my favorite Philip K. Dick novel "Galactic Pot-healer". Joe Fernwright is guided by the Glimmung to a new life with an actual purpose.
We get to the end of Herman Melville's prose writing with our look at "Billy Budd", published in 1924. It is a great little novel on power, the law, and duty.
Let's raise Heldscalla! "Galactic Pot-Healer" is my favorite Philip K. Dick novel. Let me tell you why.
Part two of my review of "The Confidence Man" by Herman Melville. Maybe we will get the final answer to the age old question: should you trust your neighbor?
Part one of Herman Melville's exploration of America's market economy, "The Confidence Man." Can the economy work without confidence and charity? We will explore these and other questions in this review.
The quite bleak finale of "Ubik" by Philip K. Dick. It is not entirely clear what is going on as this novel closes. You will either love it or hate it, but in my view it does not ruin a fascinating novel.
Joe Chip, our story's hero, tries to make sense of a world in which everything decays and even technologies revert to earlier forms, in part three of our look a Philip K. Dick's "Ubik". Maybe the secret is that everyone is dead.
We finish up looking at Herman Melville's short fiction in this episode. Some great tales about class, family, and technology. These may not all be known as Melville's greatest works of short fiction, but they are mostly all entertaining and rich in meaning.
In this episode, I look at an assortment of Herman Melville's assorted short prose: some book reviews and short stories. Part one of a two part series on these uncollected works.
This is part two of my review of "Ubik" by Philip K. Dick. With an android bomb, the posthuman industrial spying plot winds down as we find our characters in a world of decay and entropy. We will struggle with them to find out footing.
The first part of my review of Philip K. Dick's "Ubik". This novel would have been great it if was just about industrial espionage and post-humanism, which is what we think we are getting in the beginning of the story.
"Not By Its Cover" by Philip K. Dick looks at religious texts, preservation, reproduction and authenticity. It is a nice story that is firmly in Dick's period of religious speculation, but it may be more significant for what it says about knowledge preservation in a digital age.
This episode is the second in my review of Herman Melville's "The Piazza Tales". Two of these stories are quite strange, but "The Encantadas" is a brilliant quasi-historical account of the changing Pacific. Read it!
Poor Deckard. Doomed to be kipple, but maybe he can find some meaning in an electronic frog. Let's read the final chapters of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and move onto a book with a much shorter title.
We reach the climax of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". How will Deckard do his job when he realizes that he has developed empathy for androids?
A few of Melville's most famous tales are "Benito Cereno" and "Bartleby the Scrivener". They make up the first half of the collection, "The Piazza Tales". Lots to discuss in these important works.
In this part of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" our bounty hunter Deckard runs into a fake police station and learns something important about himself.
Part two of my review of Herman Melville's "Israel Potter", in which we experience most of his 50 years of exile.
Another Herman Melville novel. This one is much more conventional than "Pierre". but it is still a valuable read. "Israel Potter" looks at the life of a Revolutionary War veteran as his service to his country leads him into exile and lets him meet some more famous revolutionary heroes.
Part two of my review of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" gives us a chance to explore the empathy test as we watch Deckard begin his mission to hunt down the rogue Nexus-6 androids.
The opening chapters of Philip K. Dick's great novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" puts us in a bleak world of mood organs, empathy boxes, lead codpieces, and kipple.
So, after deciding to get married to his (maybe) sister, things start to get even stranger for Pierre. Listen to my thoughts on this in part three of my review of Herman Melville's "Pierre".
Philip K. Dick's contribution to "Dangerous Visions" was "Faith of Our Fathers", one of his most important stories on false fronts and the prison of state power.
"Retreat Match" by Philip K. Dick is a really good story on false memories, shifting realities, and the politics of empire.
In the second hundred pages of "Pierre" by Herman Melville our hero comes to believe he has what he always wanted, a sister. What will be the cost of this realization?
Time to go mad with Herman Melville as we begin looking at his 1852 novel "Pierre, Or the Ambiguities".
The conclusion to Philip K. Dick's "Counter-Clock World" centers on a failed rescue attempt at the Library, a forthcoming race war, and the question of how our hero Sebastien Hermes can find new meaning in life with the death of his wife and the near destruction of his business.
The Library has become victorious in stealing the Anarch. Can the various factions interested in him get him back before the Library can prevent him from writing any more dangerous books?
In this section of Philip K. Dick's "Counter-Clock World" we learn that the once-dead Anarch Peak still has something to say and that there are lots of people who will kill to hear what he has to say...or to eradicate what he has to say. Our hero's scheme to make a quick buck gets a lot of more complicated.
In "Counter Clock World", Philip K. Dick takes us to an Earth where time moves backward, knowledge must be destroyed, and the dead come back to life. At least these is still money to be made digging up graves. Beware the library.
The final part of my review of "The Zap Gun" by Philip K. Dick. Is it possible that a toy can stop an alien invasion?
In the second half of Charles Brockden Brown's "Edgar Huntly" we enter a world of brutal frontier violence as our hero finds out how easy it is to kill. It is one of the darker visions of the American frontier.
Things get even stranger in Charles Brockden Brown's "Edgar Huntly", a novel of frontier violence, sleepwalking, Indian isolates, and global adventurers.
Comic book weapons, alien slavers, and time traveling androids complicate the live of our hero Lars Powderdry in part three of my review of Philip K. Dick's "The Zap Gun".
In this part of the Zap Gun, we continue to follow Lars Powderdry's depression, but learn that maybe there is a way about by taking the manufacturing of weapons a bit more serious. And it just may be important.
The second half of Charlie Brown's "Arthur Mervyn" drags a bit in my view, but there is still some nice moments and we can start to see the possibilities of a feminist interpretation of early American history in Brown's writing.
My review of the opening chapters of "The Zap Gun" by Philip K. Dick. An interesting novel exploring the relationship between the military-industrial complex and a consumer economy. In this part of the novel we meet our depressed hero with an explosive name, Lars Powderdry.
Part 2 of my review of Charles Brockden Brown's novel "Arthur Mervyn". In this section we experience the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 in stunning brutal detail.
A preview of his novel "Counter-Clock World", "Your Appointment Will be Here Yesterday" introduces us to the Hobart phase and the consequences of the rising dead.
In "Holy Quarrel", Philip K. Dick takes on big data....again. A really good story and more relevant than ever.
"Arthur Mervyn" is another strange tale by Charles Brockden Brown, although this one is a bit more down to earth. It tells the story of a young man who falls into a criminal network when he tries to go from the farm to the city. How will he end up?
In this episode I take on the 1966 short story by Philip K. Dick "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale". It has spies, aliens, and world-saving empathy.
The final episode containing my thoughts on Philip K. Dick's "Now Wait for Last Year". This novel has one of the best endings in a Philip K. Dick novel. Marriage still sucks, but maybe we need to stick with it because it is one of the areas where we can find institutionalized solidarity.
The finale of this short series on "Wieland" by Charles B. Brown. Madness or the supernatural or the machinations or a trickster?
A new series on Charles Brockden Brown. We will start with "Wieland", one of independent America's first novels, a strange story of ancestry and insanity.
This novel, "Now Wait for Last Year" by Philip K. Dick, starts to get weird in part 3 of my review.
It all comes to this. In part 6 of my comments on "Moby-Dick" we follow Ahab's chase of the White Whale.
Another one of my favorite novels by Dick from the 1960s, "Now Wait for Last Year." Here is the first thoughts on the novel.
Will the Pekes take over Earth Prime? Will the population crisis be averted? Find out in the conclusion to my review of Philip K. Dick's "The Crack in Space".
More whaling with Ishmael and the crew of the Pequod in part 4 of my review of "Moby-Dick" by Herman Melville.
Part one of my thoughts on Philip K. Dick's "The Crack in Space", one of his most politically significant novels.
Part one of my thoughts on "Moby-Dick" by Herman Melville. We are introduced to the international proletariat.
In this episode I look at the material added to "The Unteleported Man", turning it into "Lies, Inc." More frustrating out of sequence stuff.
The first of two parts exploring Philip K. Dick's novel "Lies, Inc." This part will explore the material in his 1965 novella "The Unteleported Man."
The finale of my series on "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch". Why is it so important for our characters to avoid those dreaded three stigmata?
Part Three of my review of Philip K. Dick's "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch." Things are getting weird.
Opps. Dropped the ball on quality the last time I uploaded this. But here it is again. The final part of my review of Melville's "Reburn". See you soon with "White-Jacket".
Part 2 of my review of Philip K. Dick's "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch". You need to wait a bit to know what those three are.
Part one of my review of Dick's wounderful novel "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrtich". In this part we learn about Mars, PP Layouts, and Can-D.
And now for one of Philip K. Dick's most fascinating post-nuclear war settings in "Dr. Bloodmoney". It is another one-off episode on a novel, so be prepared.
We come back to Melville with his coming of age novel set on a merchant ship in the Atlantic, "Redburn".
We come to the end of our study of Philip K. Dick's works from 1964 with "Precious Artifact".
In this episode we look at Philip K. Dick's short story "The Little Black Box", a story about religion, empathy, and the limits of state power.
We return to the familiar ground of frontiers in Philip K. Dick's short story on consumerism and manufactured markets in "A Game of Unchance".
In part 8 of my review of "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser we witness a trial of the ages.
In this episode, we look at "What the Dead Men Say", in which Philip K. Dick introduces the concept of half-life and plays with the power of media and corpoations.
Things start to get complicated for Clyde and his love life in part four of my review of "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dresier.
Another short story by Philip K. Dick published in 1964, one of his most prolific years. This one is on creativity and inspiration, with a sci-fi twist.
Mostly this episode contains things we covered in my review of "The Simulacra", but the story "Novelty Act" does differ from the novel's main themes in a few ways.
Part 3 of my review of "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser. This section focuses on how Clyde Griffiths finds a new job as a supervisor in a collar factory.
In this 1964 short story, Philip K. Dick writes himself into a tale about time travel and the origin of creativity.
Part 1 of a 9 part series on Theodore Dresier's excellent book "An American Tragedy". In this part we meet Clyde Griffiths and his family, think about the urban missionary movement of the Progressive era and ponder the impact of that lifestyle on young people.
In this one-off episide, I will be looking at Philip K. Dick's "The Penultimate Truth". It is a rich novel on fake news, labor, power, and time travel. It is one of Dick's stronger political novels.
With this novel we are done with the novels of 1964. Coming up, the stories Dick published in 1964.
My final thoughts on Willa Cather's "One of Ours" as I close this series on Willa Cather's early works. Next up, Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy".
A one off episode giving my thougths and complete review of "Clans of the Alphane Moon" by Philip K. Dick.
Willa Cather's Great War Novel "One of Ours" starts in familiar territory, rural Nebraska. Let me know what you thoguht of this one. Here are my comments.
And that is all she wrote for "The Simulacra". Here are my final thoughts. Up next is a one off episode on "The Clans of the Alphane Moon"
The first half of my thoughts on Willa Cather's "My Antonia", a great novel on the American frontier and the social history of American immigrant women.
Part three of "The Song of the Lark" by Willa Cather explores Thea's soul searching as she comes to a crisi in her musical education in Chicago.
In the second part of Willa Cather's "The Song of the Lark", Thea arrives in the barren wasteland of Chicago in order to contuine her musical education only to discover her talent as a singer.
We are nearing the end of "Martian Time-Slip". In this part of the novel, things get a little bit weird.
First part of my review of "The Song of the Lark", a heafty novel by Willa Cather about becoming an artist, the rapidly changing frontier, and the costs of being a career woman.
The second half of my review of Willa Cather's "O Pioneers". Next up, "The Song of the Lark."
The first part of my thoughts on Dick's 1964 novel "Martian Time-Slip". Oh, it is so good!
The first episode in my series on the early novels of Willa Cather. We begin with her collection of short stories on art and artists, "The Troll Gardens".
A bit more on the media and the mythology of history in "If There Was No Benny Cemoli", another a Philip K. Dick's 1963 short stories.
I close out my series on turn on early 20th century Afircan-American writers with a look at some more essays by James Weldon Johnson and some of his poems.
Next up, Willa Cather's early works.
In this episode, I look at some of James Weldon Johnson's early essays and the introductions to some of his edited work.
In this episode I will look at two Philip K. Dick tales that make up a single story. "Stand-by" and "What'll We Do WIth Ragland Park" together make a short novel about the media, automated political power, folk music, and posthumanism.
Back to some Philip K. Dick short stories. The first we will look at is "The Days of Perky Pat" a tale about war, the future, and Barbie dolls.
The finale of my review of James Weldon's Johnson autobigraphy, "Along This Way" Thsi part focuses on his civil rights work with the NAACP.
In this part of "Along This Way" James Weldon Johnson discusses his career in the State Department and his participation in U.S. imperialism in Latin America.
The finale of my review and commentary on Philip K. Dick's novel "The Gameplayers of Titan".
Part 2 of James Weldon Johnson's autobiography "Along This Way" looks at his time in New York with with his brother and his time as a school principal.
Part 3 of my review and comments of Philip K. Dick's "The Game-Players of Titan". Thanos has yet to show up.
"Along This Way" is James Weldon Johnson's autobiography. The first part of it explores his family and his education.
And now for a strange one, "The Game-players of Titan" by Philp K. Dick. What is this one about? Marriage? Gambling? Fertility? Drugs? Mental Illness? Colonialism? Psychotherapy? Classical Music? In a Philip K. Dick novel of the 1960s, it can be about all those things.
A one-off episode on James Weldon Johnson's novel "Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man", a story on passing, cigar rolling, and black Manhattan.
We have made it to the end of "The Man in the High Castle" by Philip K. Dick. Let you know what you think of my finale episode on this Hugo Award-winning novel.
Oh..the feels. Time to say goodbye to W. E. B. Du Bois. Maybe we will meet again if The Library of America publishes another volume of your works.
Articles from the "Crisis"--lots of them.
Part four of my comments and review of Philip K. Dick's Hugo Award-winning novel "The Man in the High Castle".
The essays I look at in this episode are from the end of Du Bois' career, including a chapter from his masterpiece "Black Reconstruction in America."
Season 2 of the Philip K. Dick Book Club kicks off with part 1 of my comments on Dick's Hugo Award winning "The Man in the High Castle".
In this episode, I take a look at Du Bois' essays from the post World War I period to the 1920s. Topics include the betrayed promise of natonal self-determination after the war and the Marcus Garvey movement.
My final episode on "Vulcan's Hammer" by Philip K. Dick.
This also brings to an end "Season 1" of this series on Dick's works, covering the stories and novels of the 1950s. (Vulcan's Hammer and Dr. Futurity, published in 1960, were written much earlier). I will be back soon with the novels and stories of the 1960s, beginning with "The Man in the High Castle".
Part two of my comments on Dick's 1960 novel "Vulcan's Hammer." A little murder mystery (murder of a computer anyway) thickens the plot.
The first part of my comments on Philip K. Dick's 1960 novel "Vulcan's Hammer". Not one of his best, to be sure, but one of the more contemporary thematically.
The first of a series on episodes on the essays of W. E. B. Du Bois. These cover the period from his college days to the First World War. with themes such as the founding of "The Crisis" and education.
Part two of my comments on W. E. B. Du Bois's autobiography and statement on global race relations, "Dusk of Dawn." In this part, we explore Du Bois' thoughts on Africa, empire, and the chaotic early 20th century.
The finale of my review of Philip K. Dick's novel "Dr. Futurity" and my thoughts on what it means for us in our time.
Part one of my comments on W. E. B. Du Bois' "Dusk of Dawn," an autobiograhy and statment of American (and global) race relations in the 20th century.
The second part and finale of my review of W. E. B. Du Bois' "The Souls of Black Folk." In the second part of this collection of wounderful essays Du Bois explores some of the cultural and economic aspects of black life in America at the turn of the century.
Part one of my review of Philip K. Dick's 1960 novel "Dr. Futurity". It may not be one of his best, but it is rich with ideas, many of which are relevant to us. At the the heart of its concern, the relationship between young people and the systems we hand over to them.
In "War Game," Philip K. Dick considers the ideology of toys. It makes me think a bit about "Mimsy Were the Borogroves".
I humbly give my comments on what I think is one of the greatest works of American literatre, W. E. B. Du Bois' "The Souls of Black Folk".
Although this story was written much earlier in Dick's career, "Fair Game" was not published until 1959. A rather silly tale, but good for a chuckle and a little meditation on the nature of how we respond to those who watch us.
Part two of my review of Du Bois' Ph.D. dissertation on the legal, moral and economic changes that led to the end of the slave trade.
"The Suppression of the Slave Trade" was W. E. B Du Bois' Ph.D. dissertation wirtten in Harvard. It is a solid work of legal history exploring the relationship betwene moral progress, legal justice, and economic change.
In this Philip K. Dick story, "Recall Mechanism", we consider the relationship between mental illness and precognition.
The first of Philip K. Dick's stories from 1959, "Explorers We", considers the possiblities of a very strange alien invasion.
In this episode we say goodbye to Charles W. Chesnutt by looking at a handful of his most important esasys. Next up, W. E. B. Du Bois.
In this episode, I look at some of the uncollected stories by Charles W. Chesnutt. We have some more stories in the Julius series, including one on Southern geophagia. There are also some of his "northern stories" dealing wtih the color line from a broader national perspective. There are even a few stories were Chesnutt (out of character) took on issues not relating to the color line at all.
The first of two episodes looking at Charles W. Chesnutt's masterpiece, "The Marrow of Tradition", a book on post-Reconstruction politics, race relations, racial violence, and the color line.
We go a little bit deeper into the rabbit hole of Ragle Gumm's strange life in part three of my review of Philip K. Dick's "Time Out of Joint".
The finale of my review of Charles W. Chesnutt's "The House Behind the Cedars." The novel shifts from being about the color line to being about sexual harassment and the struggles of a young woman in the workplace. Very important to revist today.
In "The House Behind the Cedars" Charles Chesnutt takes a deep look at the color line. The result is a brilliant novel on race, but also gender and the harassment faced by young women.
Part one of my review of "Time Out of Joint", Dick's 1959 novel about a man realizing that the world he lives in is a false front. This is one of Dick's best and maybe the best 1950s novel he wrote.
Part two of my review of the stories in Charles Chesnutt's collection "The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line." A lot of great stories here, making a great introduction to the ideas of Chesnutt about the post-Reconstruction South.
The sociopathy of the technocrat and other issues are explored in Philip K. Dick's short story "Null-O." Dick had to sit on this one a while before publishing it, but it is notable as the only publication of his in 1958.
This is a story by Philip K Dick about posthumanism, with an interesting twist. They have the ability to change reality. So in "Misadjustment" do we have the best possible path to utopia?
And now we look at some of the stories in Charles Chesnutt's collection "The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line." This ia a great window into Chesnutt's views on race in America in the aftermath of the Civil War and Reconstruction. In this episide I look at four of the collected stories.
"The Wife of His Youth" "Her Virginia Mammy" "The Sheriff's Children" "A Matter of Principle"
"The Unreconstructed M" is a good story to join with the more well-known "The Minority Report." While "The Minority Report" is based on psi powers, Dick relies entirely on big data to tell the story of law enforcement in this story.
In this episode, I begin a brand new series on turn of the century African-American writers. First up is Charles W. Chesnutt and his connected collection of short stories "The Conjure Woman".
And we have reached the end of the Leatherstocking Tales. In this episode we have my final thoughts on "The Prairie" . Looking ahead we are going to examine the works of Charles Chesnutt and other turn of the century black writers.
The finale of my review of Philip K. Dick's 1957 novel, "Eye in the Sky". Next up: more short stories.
In this episode, I continue my examination of Philip K. Dick's novel "Eye in the Sky". In this episode, we go from the Puritianical to the paranoid.
Part 3 of my review of James Fenimore Cooper's final Leatherstocking Tale, "The Prairie".
Part four of my review of "Eye in the Sky" by Philip K. Dick. In this part we leave the nutty religious world and enter the nutty world of clean bourgie living.
Part two of my review of James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Prairie". Let's see if old man Bumppo still has any of his old tricks.
In Dick's second novel, published in 1957, "Eye in the Sky", we go where no one has gone before, into the minds of others.
Part one of my review of "The Prairie", the last of the Leatherstocking Tales. It is a great send off for our hero Natty Bumppo.
The finale to my review of "The Pioneers" by James Fenimore Cooper. It is all downhill from here. Only one more Leatherstocking Tale to go, "The Prairie".
Conclusion to my review and thematic summary of Philip K. Dick's "The Cosmic Puppets". Let me know you thought of this novel. Next time, "Eye in the Sky"
Part one of my review of "The Cosmic Puppets" by Philip K. Dick, a great novel exploring the shifting realities in our towns and cities.
As we enter into the second half of James Fenimore Cooper's "The Pioneers" we find the most clear expression of Cooper's thoughts on the realtionship between pioneer society and the environment. We also find our good friend Natty in some legal trouble.
In the second quarter of "The Pioneers" by James Fenimore Cooper, we get a closer look at the emerging settler society in Templetown and learn more of the deep conflict between the ethos of Leatherstocking and that of the pioneers.
In "Pay For the Printer," Dick explores the challenges of a world of technological post-scarcity as it relates to our skills and knowledge. And he imagined a 3D printer. Some really great and relevant questions are raised in this short piece.
In "To Serve the Master", Dick explores the internal conflict between the work ethic and technological leisure. Which side are you on?
Part one of my series on James Fenimore Cooper's "The Pioneers," the first of the Leatherstocking Tales to be written. It shows Natty Bummpo as an old trapper in Templetown, a growing frontier community. What is the place of a man like Natty in a place like this?
"The Minority Report" is a bit of a Rorschach test for us. We will invariably see it as a story on police powers and survelliance, but maybe all Dick was doing was writing a tale of Cold War institutions at war.
My final look at James Fenimore Cooper's The Pathfinder. We say goodbye to Natty for a while, but he will be back as old man Leatherstocking in The Pioneers.
Finally we come to Philip K. Dick's clearest expression of one of his long running concepts, the "Autofac", as important today as it ever was.
"Human Is" brings an end to an informal series of Philip K. Dick short stories on adultery, beginning with "Out in the Garden", "Beyond the Door," and "Of Withered Apples".
In "The Mold of Yancy", Dick examines how the media can shape public perception and figures that the best way to create ideological conformity is to plague the world with banality and charming folk wisdom. A fascinating idea.
Part 3 of my comments on James Fenimore Cooper's "The Pathfinder". This is the section where Natty (Pathfinder) has his heart broken.
In the story "The Chromium Fence", Philip K. Dick explores technology and the debate over transhumanism. Are we forced to particpate in the updates of consumer goods? Windows updates for everyone.
Part 2 of my series on James Fenimore Cooper's "The Pathfinder." We end up where we began, but we have lots of fun doing it.
In "Surface Raid," Philip K. Dick explores posthumanism in ways similiar to that of "Planet for Transients," but with deeper themes and emotional punch. Who is going to reclaim the earth after a war? What role will technology play? Will war divide humanity into different species?
In "The Pathfinder", James Fenimore Cooper picks up just a few months after the events of "The Last of the Mohicans". We see Natty Bummpo up to his old games, helping guide people to forts in the midst of war.
In this story, Philip K. Dick comes close to presenting a general theory of the post-human. Are they a threat? Are they the future? Are they are comrades? Are they outsiders?
Do consumer goods control our minds? How does mass media, radio, or just the products in your hope affect your ideology? These are some of the questions explored in Philp K Dick's story, "Service Call".
Part two of my review of James Fenimore Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans". In this episode we learn more about one of the best villans in early U.S. history, the Huron warrior Magua.
Just in time for the U.S. release of the episode of "Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams" comes my thoughts on the 1955 story. (Plus a few words on the episode.)
In thie episode we begin out look at the second of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the epic adventure story "The Last of the Mohicans."
In "Nanny", Philip K Dick explores child rearing and automation. What will the robotics revolution mean for raising children? Can robots do a better job than distracted and flawed adults?
What is the relationship between war and consumerism? What was the impact on children of the Cold War-era brinkmanship? To what degree is totalitarianism defined by our freedom of choice to buy or not buy products? These are some of the questions exposed in Dick's story "Foster You're Dead"
In this section of my review of "The Deerslayer", I discuss torture and the morality of denying marriage. As the Deerslayer is on "furlough" from his captivity,all of the characters must make important decisions and their solidarity is put to variosu tests.
In this episode, we dive deeper into James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Deerslayer": a ransom, a rescue, and a kidnapping.
The Philip K. Dick Book Club moves onto 1955. In "War Veteran" Dick plays with time travel and conspiracies and the ongoing conflict between Earth and the colonies.
And now for a story I really do not like, "Strange Eden". "Strange Eden" is a story of ancient alien explorers mixed with some mighty strange sexual politics.
In this episode I look at chapters 7 through 12 of James Fenimore Cooper's novel, "The Deerslayer." In this section, the Deerslayer, Natty Bummpo, makes his first kill and the mystery of the box of pirate treasure is examined.
In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club, we look at the short story "The Father-Thing". It is a story about who children see the emotional instability of their parents. It is also (it seems) a story of childish imagination and adventure in a suburban environment.
Time to insanely charge into the Leatherstocking Tales. We will begin with the first in the series (although the last one published), "The Deerslayer." So, let's meet Natty Bummpo and his friends as they arrive at Glimmerglass.
In "The Turning Wheel", Philip K. Dick explores Eastern religions and the broader realtionship between the technocratic life and the religious life. It is one of his strongest early stories dealing with technology.
Our final episode in this series on Louisa May Alcott. In the second half of "Jo's Boys" our major heroes face adult challanges and even life and death choices.
In this episode, I look at Philip K. Dick's story "Progeny." How much power should we give to those we raise and educate our children? Can the posthuman (transhuman?) be achieved simply through education?
It is ten years after the events of "Little Men" and we check in on the adulthood of the graduates of Plumfield. In this episode, we look at Alcott's final novel "Jo's Boys".
In this episode we look at Dick's sole tale looking specifically at anarchism. While anarchist themes run throughout his works, he only examined the concept directly in this sci-fi tale, "The Last of the Masters." And through this tale, Dick explores the germ of the state and the relationships between automation and freedom and government.
Part 2 of my thoughts on Louisa May Alcott's "Little Men," which includes my ideas on the central chapter of the novel "Damon and Pythias".
"You! You're not Silvia. You are one of the Kung Fu Creatures on the Ramage 2"
"Upon the Dull Earth" is a story by Philip K. Dick. A little help?
We continue our look into the "Little Women" trilogy with "Little Men". How are Jo's students and family doing at her school in Plumfield? What does Alcott have to tell us in this novel about education, family, second chances, and growing up?
In "Shell Game", a preview of his great novel "Clans of the Alphane Moon", Dick explores the military, paranoia, and mental illness. Are our delusions products of our environment and training?
In this episode we come to the end of Alcott's novel "Little Women," but we have a lot more Alcott to discuss as we explore the sequals.
Once again Philip K. Dick takes us to the frontier and evaluates empire, cultural homogenity, technology, and work in his brilliant story "Souvenir". In this story, Dick expands his ideas on crafting, human-scaled technology, and the meaning of work. He will fully develop these ideas in "Galactic Pot-Healer" a decade later.
Opps. I guess I messed up the order of episodes.
"Prize Ship" by Philip K. Dick is a story that exploress the consequences of time travel and an expanding universe, war, and the frontier.
We are reaching the climax of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women." In the second half of the novel the story moves to focus on Amy and Jo and their futures in relationships and art.
One of Philip K. Dick's masterpieces, "A World of Talent" explores posthumanism, the frontier, war, and governmental conspiracies. This story brings to a capstone many of Dick's early ideas and themes.
Part 3 of my review of "Little Women" covers Beth's recovery, the return of Mr. March, and the journies of the women as they enter into adult careers.
In "Meddler", Philip K. Dick gives us a time travel loop story. We have seen these plenty of times. What do you think of Philip K. Dick's take on this old story? Can meddling in the future change the present?
Second part of my series on Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women." How do the girls get along without their mother and when facing disease and death?
Why do we give such power to urban planners and developers? What are their goals? Should we allow those in power to manipulate our reality for a greater good? These are just some of the questions explored in Philip K. Dick's story "Adjustment Team".
In this episode, we begin a new series looking at the "Little Women" triology. We will begin with "Little Women." So let's all be reintroduced to Jo, Beth, Meg, Amy, Mrs. March and Laurie.
In "Exhibit Piece", Philip K Dick explores time travel and history and gives an ironic look at 1950s conformity. Was the 1950s the peak of American consumeri conformity or was it really, just maybe, a golden age of free minded individualism? Maybe it all depends on how the future turns out.
Our final episode on Jack London looks at some of his later stories. J-Lo has been fun, but it is time to move onto different things (bigger and better?).
"The Strength of the Strong" "War" "The Mexican" "Told from the Drooling Ward" "The Water Baby" "The Red One"
Philip K. Dick explores posthumanism and the relationship between the abnormal and the state in "Crawlers." Are posthumans a threat? Whare is our moral burden for communities destroyed by nuclear testing?
A handful of stories by Jack London are looked at in this episode, including some of his best stories of the Pacific and urban America. "All Gold Canyon" "The Apostate" "A Piece of Steak" "The Chinago" "Mauki" "Koolau the Leper" "South of Slot"
The next in a series of short stories by Philip K. Dick that explored marriage, but unlike the others ("Human Is," "Beyond the Door," :Our in the Garden"), "Of Withered Apples" is set in a rural setting.
In this episode, I look at six more of J-Lo's short stories set in the Klondike gold rush. "God of his Fathers" "Batard" "The League of Old Men" "Love of Life" "The Wit of Portortuk" "To Build at Fire"
What would you risk for another couple years of peace? Is war worse than death? Dick explores these questions in "Breakfast at Twilight."
In thsi episode, I look at six of Jack London's Klondike tales, the stories produced from his experiences in the Yukon gold rush. "To the Man on the Trail" "The White Silence" "In a Far Country" "The Wisdom of the Trail" "An Odyssey of the North" "The Law of Life"
In "Sales Pitch", Philip K. Dick considers consumer society, the commute, and the frontier, but fails once again to see the value of automation.
In "Prominent Author," Philip K Dick goes back to an old interesst of his: explaiing the origin of the world religions using the devices of science fiction. Could the Bible have been written by a time traveller?
The final part of my examination of Jack London's "The Sea-Wolf." In this episode I suggest that Maud Brewster may be the real hero of the story. This ends out look at Jack London's books, but we still have his stories (25 of them), which we will look at over the next two weeks.
"Survey Team" by Philip K. Dick explores the question of over-conumption and war and the morality of abusers getting another chance (they don't get one).
Part 2 of my review of Jack London's "The Sea-Wolf." In this part, I take on the question of resistance and take a closer look at the character of Humphrey Van Weyden.
In this episode, we look at the first chapters of Jack London's "The Sea-Wolf" and take a close look at the villain of the tale, the sealing schooner captain Wolf Larsen.
In this episode we look at a novel (slightly out of chronological order), "The World Jones Made." This novel takes on three interelated themes: precognition/mutation, the frontier, and individualism in a totalitarian state.
Part two of my look at "White Fang" and we get to see the relationship between modern civilization, law, and violence. Where does kindness and love come from in a world defined by hierarchy and violence?
In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club, we look at "Small Town". What does this story say about family, urban planning, and suburbia?
On the surface, White Fang is the opposite of The Call of the Wild, but in many ways J-Lo is dealing with many of the same issues. Join me, the she-wolf, White Fang, and One Eye as we see what it is like to face scarcity and violence. Or do we already know that thanks to the lessons of capitalism.
Once again Philip K. DIck takes on segregation and race relations. But is the answer he provides in "James P. Crow" right? I worry that this is a story Richard Spencer can get behind.
My comments on Jack London's signature text, The Call of the Wild. Was the original J-Lo talking about dogs, wolves, or us?
Part of a series of 1953-1955 short stories exploring marriage by Philip K. Dick. "Beyond the Door" combines a critique of clock time with a critique of the bourgie marriage.
Dick's first great story of posthumanism and mutants is "The Golden Man." Can humans coexist with Humanity+?
Part two of my overview of Jack London's John Barleycorn. The focus of this episode is the "White Logic" and London's depression. Four essays by Jack London are also briefly explored.
In "Jon's World," Philip K. Dick wrote a followup to "Second Variety." While the humans one the war, the survivors are put in a position of prefering an alterantive timeline where the war never started, even if it means the end of all they knew.
Jack London's brilliant autobiography on alcohol, John Barleycorn, Or Alcoholic Memoirs, is a book about many things, including male socialibility and working class culture. One of my favorite books by London.
Philip K. Dick explores the Biblical story of Noah, the suburban family, and post-traumatic stress in his short story "The Builder."
The final episode on Jack London's Martin Eden. What happens when our lonely writer finds success?
In this episode we examine the Philip K. Dick story "The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford." What does this story tell us abour family? Consumerism? Technology? Work? A silly story on first glance acually has a lot to tell us.
Part three of a series on Jack London's Martin Eden. In this part, we explore Eden's frustrations, his new friendships, and the decline of his romantic life.
In "The Crystal Crypt", Philip K. Dick explores the arms race and the "spy v. spy" dynamic of the Cold War. But does Dick have more to say about the city and the state?
In this episode I look at the second hundred pages of Jack London's masterpiece Martin Eden. What are the challenges of becoming a writer in the face of the impersonal publishing industry? How does an artist face poverty?
In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Club we look at "A Present for Pat", cargo cults, and alien gods.
In this episode we meet Martin Eden and the struggles of a working class man to become a published writer.
We look at "The Hanging Stranger," Philip K. Dick's story of lynching and state power. And it has Lovecraftian creatures in it. What happens when we story accepting the cruelities essential to the systerms we live in?
In the second part of The Iron Heel, Jack London takes us to the events surrounding the first uprising, or the Chicago Commune. How does the Oligarchy survive this and other threats? How much of London's novel is true to life? Are we facing our own Iron Heel today?
Is creation just a failed experiment? Do children hold the key to preserving individualism in an increasingly conformist world? These are some of the questions explored in Philip K. Dick's short story "Project: Earth".
The first episode of two on Jack London's dystopian novel, The Iron Heel. In this work, London takes on the role of prophet as he predicts what the future of American capiatalism will be. How much of his prediction has come true?
Philip K. Dick takes on endless war and consumerism in his allegorical tale "Some Kinds of Life". Are wars for resources ever justifiable? What happens when we start to fight wars to keep up with the most banal consumer technologies.
In this episode I explore Jack London's memoirs on his year as a hobo, The Road. This short book is a great introduction into hobo life and the economic depression of the 1890s.
Does Earth belong to humans, or to the life that comes after us? Philip K. Dick asks this question in his short story "Planet for Transients."
Part two of my comments on Jack London's People of the Abyss, with more on his socialism and what it means for his social Darwinism.
Once again, a new series. Join me as I explore the worst in human nature with Jack London in London's East End, in The People of the Abyss.
In this episode, Philip K. Dick introduces us to some humans who remember Earth only as a myth. In The Impossible Planet, they try to find Earth to make some quick cash , but who knows what might be out there. Probably contains spoilers for the upcoming television show episode.
Before Minecraft, before World of Warcarft, Philip K. Dick imagined Worldcraft bubbles. But is it right to destroy these worlds when we build them? Are we in a simluation? If so, so we have a right to life?
I finish up this phase of John Steinbeck's career with one of his most famous works, Of Mice and Men.
My opening thoughts on the episodes we can expect to see on Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams. Spoilers for all the stories these episodes have been adapted from are included. All in all, it looks like a great television series that is remaining true to the stories and the themes of Philip K. Dick.
Another of Dick's early fantasy stories, "The King of the Elves", might just be his first great work on mental illness.
In "The Great C", Philip K. Dick explores a post-war world where humans sacrifice their young to a super computer. But other than that, it seems like a nice society.
Something a little bit different. How did Philip K. Dick see history? Is history eternal return or are we destined for a final frontier?
In this episode we meet the paisanos of Montery as we look at Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat.
In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club we look at urban planning and suburbia in "The Commuter".
(This story will be adapted in Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams)
My thoughts on "Out in the Garden," one of Dick's earliest essays on the broken American family. It will not be his last. A fun fantasy story.
Part two of my reading of "To a God Unknown," an underappreciated novel by John Steinbeck. Let me know what you thought of this novel, if any of you have read it.
And we are back to looking at Dick's early short stories. In this episode on "The Cosmic Poachers", we get an alien tale with the most banal invasion strategy.
In this episode we take a look at the quitessential American rural mystic in John Steinbeck's underappreciated To a God Unknown.
In this final episode on Philip K. Dick's Solar Lottery, I take a closer look at some of the themes of the novel and give my final thoughts. Thanks for listening to this series. It has been fun getting into one of Dick's most thematically rich novels.
In this episode, we finish up with the chapter summaries for Solar Lottery. What will happen to this world when the crisis passes? Dick does not give us easy answers (or really any answers). Like the frontier, the future is unwritten.
I am back from the USA! Thanks for waiting. Here is the next part on Solar Lottery. It is a very action and plot-heavy section, but still has some great Philip K. Dick themes to explore.
In this episode, I look at the second half of John Steinbeck's Pastures of Heaven. Sorry for the delays in publishing these episodes. I am enjoying my summer in Wisconsin. Things will get more regular when I get back to Taiwan.
Part two (Chapter 4-6) of Philp K. Dick's Solar Lottery. In a world based on randomness, anything can happen.
And we come to Dick's first novel, Solar Lottery. In this episode we will look at the first three chapters of the book, which does a lot to set up the setting and the world.
In this episode we start a new series on John Steinbeck, beginning with his novel of short stories The Pastures of Heaven.
In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club we take on one of my favorite early Dick stories (novella to be honest), "The Variable Man". (I mention that Hollywood never took on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, but I was wrote. There was a 1944 adaptation. I stand by that my claim that this could make a good movie if revisted.) Let me know what you think? Does "The Variable Man" deserve more love?
In this episode we say goodbye to my favorite founder, Thomas Paine, as we look at the second part of Age of Reason. Next up....John Steinbeck.
What happens when the bugs decide to do us in? What if the real ancient old ones are insects? Find out in episode of the Philip K. Dick Book as we look at "Expendable".
In this episode, we begin to close the book on Thomas Paine with the work that may be his most infamous or his most enduring, The Age of Reason.
In "Tony and the Beetles", Philip K. Dick provides an allegory of postcolonialism and the impact of white privledge on people as they grow up.
In this episode we examine part 2 of The Rights of Man, where Paine gives some deatils on the functions of democratic societies and governments.
"Impostor" is Dick's first published robot story that explored the idea of the machine programmed to think its human.
In this episide we begin a two-episode series on The Rights of Man, Thomas Paine's defense of the French Revolution. In the first part of this important book, Paine focuses on principles and responses to some of Edmund Burke's most odious critiques of the French Revolution.
In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club we examine "The Cookie Lady," Dicks retelling of the Hansel and Gretel story. But what does a story about the old consuming the young have to do with our time? A lot, it seems.
In this episode we look at the remainder of Paine's pamphlets, including the final Crisis articles and "Agrarian Justice."
In "Martians Come in Clouds", Philip K. Dick takes on lynching and race relations in the suburbs. Or maybe he is just writing science fiction.
In this episode we continue reading The Crisis and see as Paine begins to think about what kind of nation will come out of the armed conflict with Britain.
What happens when your toaster is plotting against you? Find out in the episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club as we look at "Colony."
In this episode, Thomas Paine goes to the front and provides reportage, and trolls the British. Learn what is wrote in The American Crisis.
In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club, we examine "Paycheck," a story of corporate games that remind us of later cyberpunk works.
In this episode, we begin a new series on Thomas Paine with his 1776 pamphlet "Common Sense".
In this episode we see how cultures could be preserved in DNA, and corrupted. We also witness another example of how Dick misunderstood evolution.
In this final episode on the Harlem Renaissance, I explore the impact of Gabriel's Revolt of 1800 as told by Arna Bontemps in his historical fiction novel Black Thunder. (See Episode 35 for my introduction to this book)
In this episode, I examine the first half of Arna Bontemp's novel on Gabriel's Revolt, Black Thunder.
Energy beings, hamsters, evolution, and unexplored asteroids...it's Philip K. Dick's story "The Infinites".
Part 2 of 2 on Rudolph Fisher's The Conjure Man Dies, a wonderful Harlem Renaissance novel exploring magic and society in Harlem.
In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club we find out how to make the world--and the people in it--our plaything.
Rudolph Fisher's wonderful mystery novel of the Harlem Renaissance, The Conjure Man Dies, examines the people and culture of black Harlem.
In "Roog," Dick explores the never ending battle between dog and garbage man, or something.
An interesting science fiction novel on race and the color line in America. In George Schuyler's Black No More we discover what happens when science provides a solution to the race problem in America.
In "The Piper in the Woods", Philip K. Dick explores work and finds it better to rest and watch the pretty alien girls go by.
We continue our study of Not Without Laughter, the only novel written by Langston Hughes. This part follows our hero as he transitions from boy to man in the contet of the momentous early 20th century.
The first of two episodes on Langston Hughes' sole novel, Not Without Laughter, a coming of age story that is also a celebration of leisure and having a bit of fun with life even when the system is agaisnt you.
In this episode we explore how Dick played with the role of figurative language in science fiction. The lesson: it may sometimes be best to assume the literal.
In this episode we study Wallace Thurman's novel The Blacker the Berry. It is a nice counterpoint to Plum Bun.
Dick explores the final frontier of space and the mind in this beautiful celebration of exploration and human rebirth. Join me for an examination of "Mr. Spaceship."
What happens when the machines we build to serve us learn to lie? Find out today in this episode of The Philip K. Dick Book Club as we explore "The Defenders."
Part two of Jessie Redmon Fauset's novel Plum Bun. This part focuses on the limitations of passing in urban America.
In this episode, the toys attack. Examine Dick's version of Toy Story in "The Little Movement."
Part one of a three part series on Jessie Redmon Fauset's novel Plum Bun, the classic Harlem Renaissance novel about passing.
In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club, we look at the 1952 story, "The Skull." In it, the origins of a new religion is explained through time travel. And maybe, it works to explain how another religious leader could appear after his untimely death.
In this episode we will look at all of Nella Larsen's Quicksand, a novel about a young woman maturing in a biracial and international context.
Philip K. Dick's second published story, "The Gun" explores the questions of knowledge, lost civilizations, and automation. It is Dick's first published commentary on the problem of automation, a theme he will thoroughly explore throughout the 1950s.
Episode 2 of the Philip K. Dick Book Club looks at Dick's first publishes story, "Beyond Lies the Wub", a story of fate, self-sacrifice, and the transmigration of the soul....and a pig.
Part 2 on Claude McKay's novel Home to Harlem. Some great material on urban culture, mobility, railroad work, and love.
The first episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club-Podcast. Dick's posthumously published story "Stability" (1947).
The first of two parts on Claude McKay's brilliant novel Home to Harlem, about a deserter returning to Harlem, his working life, his relationships, and of course, race.
We begin a new series on the writers of the Harlem Renaissance with Jean Toomer's Cane. A great example of American modernism and in some ways a thematic summary of the issues writers explored in the Harlem Renaissance.
This podcast will be bifrucating for the foreseeable future. In addition to reading through the Library of America (100 pages at a time), I will be beginning a complete study of the works of Philip K. Dick.
The concluding episode on Frank Norris' epic tale of the production and transporation of wheat, The Octopus. As the novel concludes we see, with brutal finality how indiffernet the institution is to the individual.
In this episode, we reach the climax of Frank Norris' The Octopus, which the defeat of the Rachers League and the triumph of the railroad.
Part 3 on Frank Norris' The Octopus. In this episode, we see the global significance of American wheat as the ranchers begin to search for ways to struggle against the railroad. And some of our beloved characters learn the hard way that the railroad leaves no one untouched.
Second episode on Frank Norris' The Octopus. We see the beginnings of the ranchers' resistance and some nice meditations on relationships past and future. It's still spring and nothing has matured yet. We also get one of the great barn dances of American liteature.
My first episode on one of my favorite novels, Frank Norris' The Octopus. This episode includes a detailed study of the characters of the novel.
We complete our study of Frank Norris' McTeague. As always, I finish each study of a particular work with an examination of the major themes and tropes of the work.
Thanks for listening.
In the second episode on Frank Norris' McTeague, we find out what happens to our favorite neighborhood dentist when he gets married and runs into a little bit of cash. . . . It is not good.
The beginning of my analysis of Frank Norris' McTeague, a novel on possession and greed.
This episode complete our study of Frank Norris' Vandover and the Brute. We watch Vandover's inevitable decline with a little bit of glee. I also sum-up some of the major themes of the novel.
We begin a new series on Frank Norris, starting with his Vandover and the Brute, first published after his death. In the first half of the novel, we see the early life of Vandover, his education, and the consequences of his playboy lifestyle. This episode also includes an introduction into Frank Norris and a discussion of his legacy. This episode includes brief references to sexual violenc and suicide.
Our final episode on Herman Melville for a while and the end of a series on Mardi. In the final part of the novel we enter Melville's metaphorical Europe and witness his critique of American democracy. This episode also includes an analysis of the major themes of the entire work.
In part 3 of our study of Herman Melville's Mardi, we take on the deep questions of free will and religion. Yet the elusive Yillah is not to be found.
In our second episode on Herman Melville's Mardi, we follow the adventures of Taji and his new companions: a philosopher, a king, a poet, and a historian. They begin to search all of the world of Mardi for Taji's lost love, Yillah.
The first of four episodes exploring Herman Melville's Mardi. He goes off the rails a bit in this one and and it is lots of fun.
In this final episode on Herman Melville's Omoo, we follow our narrator in various adventures through the islands of the Society Islands all of which climax in a failed job interview.
I continue my study of Herman Melville's Omoo. In this part of the novel, our characters are put in a jail for sailors in punishment for resisting work. Their life in jail is partially a lesson in working class hyjinks and partially a lesson in class discipline.
Herman Melville's second novel Omoo explores the vagabonds and wanderers of the colonial Pacific. But before our heroes can join that cast of fascinating figures, they will need to find a way off of their ship and away from their captain. Enjoy as work resistance becomes rebellion.
In this episode, I complete my analysis of Herman Melville's Typee and explore some of the major themes of the novel. We say goodbye to the Marqueses, for now.
In the second hundred pages of Herman Melvill'e Typee, our narrator settles into life with the cannibal Typee and decides to become an anthropologist.
Welcome to the first episode of the American Writers: One Hundred Pages at a Time podcast. In this first episode we explore the first 100 pages of Herman Melville's first novel, Typee.