Book Spider

Book Spider

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Book Spider episodes

  • S1 Ep2: On Fran Ross's Oreo
    In this episode, Chris, Hans, and I explore Fran Ross's devilishly cunning novel Oreo. The novel tells the story of sixteen-year-old youth Christine as she leaves her grandmother, who is black, in search of her father, who is Jewish. With links to the myth of Theseus, the novel explores race and identity.
    48 min
  • S1 Ep16: On Truman Capote's In Cold Blood
    In this episode, Chris, Hans, and I discuss Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. We touch on the use of fiction techniques in creative nonfiction, portraiture, the ethics of narrative, and (briefly) queer theory. 
    1 hr 23 min
  • S1 Ep15: On John Barth's The Sot-Weed Factor

    In this episode, Chris, Hans, and I discuss John Barth's The Sot-Weed Factor, an epic tale that might be an historical novel, a satire of an historical novel, or both. It's witty and hilarious, but also serious and touching. Check it out.

    1 hr 44 min
  • S1 Ep14: On Kurt Vonnegut's The Sirens of Titan

    In this episode, Heather, Jedd, and I discuss Vonnegut's third book, a sci-fi novel that satirizes wealth, inequality, and the human sense of purpose. It's hilarious, and it affords me the opportunity to go on a rant against Sam Harris and pirates.

    1 hr 15 min
  • S1 Ep13: On Steve Erickson's Zeroville

    In this episode, Hans, Chris, and I discuss the fantastic Zeroville. This novel follows autistic protagonist Vikar as he becomes a film editor in 70s-era Hollywood. It's hilarious, moving, and tragic.

    1 hr 10 min
  • S1 Ep12: On Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed

    In this episode, I discuss Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed with Jedd Cole and special guest Heather Cole. The Dispossessed is a thought experiment that explores an anarcho-syndicalist society on the moon Anarres, which orbits the planet Urras. Urras is much like Earth, with capitalist nations controlling much of what goes on.

    1 hr 5 min
  • S1 Ep11: On Janet Frame's The Carpathians

    In this special episode, Hans, Chris, and I discuss Janet Frame's strange, mind-boggling novel The Carpathians. Since I found reading it like looking into opaque glass, Hans and Chris discuss the novel at length before we veer off into a larger discussion of language, the technological singularity, and forms of life.

    1 hr 38 min
  • S1 Ep10: On Cormac McCarthy's The Crossing

    In this episode, Hans and I discuss Cormac McCarthy's novel The Crossing, which details a teenager's confrontation with "the perfect cohesion of darkness," an indifferent world constructed on borders both artificial and natural.

    55 min

About Book Spider

From the publisher's feed

Book Spider (previously known as The God Setebos) is a book-of-the-week podcast primarily covering novels, with the occasional detour into nonfiction, literary criticism, poetry, and music. We pride ourselves in running a smart podcast for the discerning listener, and we strive for the highest level of intellectual rigor.