Hallo Leute!

In this, intro episode of Slow Learners, hosts Asher Dark and John Semley lay out their ambition plan, or "plot": to read through Thomas Pynchon's massive 1973 Gravity's Rainbow, discuss it, and talk with experts about its themes and ideas, big and small, smart and stupid.

Topics this episode include: Prof. Irwin Corey, literary awards, Alice Tully Hall, preterition (and its meritorious price), being feted, Homer Simpson, Boeing, scrambled eggs, Oyster Bay High School, "The Boys," the character of Robert as played by Brad Garrett on the long-running CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, They-Systems vs. We-Systems, hating books, etc., etc.

Read Proverbs For Paranoids, John's guide to Gravity's Rainbow.

E-mail us your questions, queries, and crackpot theories: [email protected]