Ali Smith's new book Companion Piece has just been published, but we're actually reviewing an older book of hers: There But For The. We talk about the structure of this novel-in-stories and how it differs in form from Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad. We also talk about why this very good novel may not have widespread appeal and how voice and race comes into play in a book not overtly about race.

For this series, we will read and discuss three novels-in-stories: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad Mar 25 - Apr 8, Ali Smith's There But For The Apr 15- 29, and Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno May 6 - 20.

You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.

You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here:

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You can also support us by buying There But For The or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too!

We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Hey aging punk rockers,

We're wrapping up our deep dive into Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad, focusing a bit more on the structure this time. Eyad wants to explore the story cycle structure and how that works in tandem with the theme of time, the titular goon squad beating and thieving from us all.

For this series, we will read and discuss three novels-in-stories: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad Mar 25 - Apr 8, Ali Smith's There But For The Apr 15- 29, and Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno May 6 - 20.

You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.

You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here:

Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube

You can also support us by buying A Visit from the Goon Squad or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too!

We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

What theme unifies A Visit from the Goon Squad? Do any of the individual stories stand out? In this episode we discuss the different ways these stories work individually and together.

For this series, we will read and discuss three novels-in-stories: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad Mar 25 - Apr 8, Ali Smith's There But For The Apr 15- 29, and Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno May 6 - 20.

You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.

You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here:

Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube

You can also support us by buying A Visit from the Goon Squad or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too!

We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

On the eve of the publication of Egan's novel The Candy House, we review her 2011 prize winning prequel A Visit from the Goon Squad. We introduce our new series: A Novel in Stories, and talk about communing with David Foster Wallace, our alternate reality competitive canoeing podcast, and what's missing in this really really (really!) good book.

For this series, we will read and discuss three novels-in-stories: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad Mar 25 - Apr 8, Ali Smith's There But For The Apr 15- 29, and Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno May 6 - 20.

You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.

You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here:

Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube

You can also support us by buying A Visit from the Goon Squad or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too!

We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This week we wrap up our Contemporary Utopian Fiction series by discussing all the ways they are impossible.  Impossible to take seriously.  Impossible fits for the postmodern world. Impossible to dramatize in fiction.  In this wide-ranging conversation we touch on Asimov, Thomas More, Paradise Lost, Camelot, and Eyad even spoils The Good Place for you (be forewarned!).

For this series we read and discussed Toni Morrison's Paradise Jan 14-28, Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga Feb 4-18, and Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed Feb 25 - Mar 11.

Next week we will begin our new series on Novels in Stories by reviewing Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad.

You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.

You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here:

Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube

You can also support us by buying a book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too!

We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Eyad reviews Yoko Tawada's new novel Scattered All Over the Earth.  Tawada is one of our favorite writers and we loved her 2014 novel The Emissary which we read as part of our Contemporary Japanese Fiction series two years ago.  Does her new novel live up to our lofty expectations?

You can join our book club discussion here:https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.

You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here:

Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube

You can also support us by buying Scattered All Over the Earth or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too!

We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This week we dive into the central theme of the book-- anarchism-- and discuss whether or not it is still relevant 50 years after the publication of The Dispossessed. 

What does Le Guin have to say about anarchism? Is it specific to a particular school of anarchism?  1:05

What are the new forms of power explored in the book? 27:05

Is Shevek's research into the nature of time anarchist in any sense? 35:50

Kim Stanley Robinson says his and Le Guin's forms of leftist politics are different, but the differences don't matter. If they don't matter now, when do they matter? 43:10

For this series we read and discussed Toni Morrison's Paradise Jan 14-28, Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga Feb 4-18, and Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed Feb 25 - Mar 11. Next week we will wrap up the series by discussing all three of these books.

You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.

You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here:

Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube

You can also support us by buying The Dispossessed or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too!

We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

The Dispossessed describes a radical political ideology but are there any aspects of this book that are, in fact, not radical? This week we look at this book from the point of view of linguistics, sexual politics and more.

What is the novel saying about sexuality and the nuclear family? Is the novel taking a radical position? 1:35 Can a civilization be shaped by its language?  Was Le Guin's application of this idea believable? 19:15 Is The Dispossessed trying to be radical? 34:33 

For this series we will read and discuss Toni Morrison's Paradise Jan 14-28, Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga Feb 4-18, and Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed Feb 25 - Mar 11.

You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.

You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here:

Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube

You can also support us by buying The Dispossessed or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too!

We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This week we review a classic of philosophical science fiction: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. 

Why read The Dispossessed? 1:05

Are the Anarres chapters boring? 4:20

Is this an example of the best science fiction can offer? 9:55

Is Le Guin's philosophical discussion too earnest? 17:35 

Is this book still relevant? 21:00

 

For this series we will read and discuss Toni Morrison's Paradise Jan 14-28, Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga Feb 4-18, and Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed Feb 25 - Mar 11.

You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.

You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here:

Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube

You can also support us by buying The Dispossessed or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too!

We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Eyad leads this episode's discussion as we finish up our examinations of Resnick's utopian story cycle Kirinyaga.  Does this book say anything about postcolonial African politics? (1:00) Why do readers feel upset when white writers write about black subject matter? (8:45) Are Western writers unable to represent other cultures in fiction? (22:15)

For this series we will read and discuss Toni Morrison's Paradise Jan 14-28, Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga Feb 4-18, and Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed Feb 25 - Mar 11.

You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.

You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here:

Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube

You can also support us by buying Kirinyaga or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too!

We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!