Good Scribes Only

Today we’re discussing Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, a lyrical and thematic masterpiece. We cast our over-budget movie and then dig into the novel’s world - discussing everything from nomenclature to embodied writing. Thanks for listening! Website

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Ready for another cowboy story? Though it has horses and cowboys and a severe desert landscape Cormac McCarthy's 1991 All The Pretty Horses is anything but your tropey Western. Suffice to say, Mr. McCarthy is one of the greatest living writers and has earned his place on the writers' Mount Olympus with a slew of critically acclaimed novels such as No Country For Old Men, Suttree, Blood Meridian, and his most famous (though our least favorite) The Road. By title, today's novel may strike you as a light read, but All the Pretty Horses is at once beautiful, haunting, memorable, and romantic. In this episode we dig into the psychology behind its lead John Grady Cole, his 'pardner' Lacey Rawlins, their unexpected companion Jimmy Blevins and of course, Alejandra. Oh Alejandra. If you appreciate the natural world and are in the market for an author with a unique writing style this novel might just be your finest caviar. We hope you enjoy ✌️ Website

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If there were ever a man who embodies the "Good Scribe" it's Kurt Vonnegut. In a career spanning over 50 years, Vonnegut is lauded as one of the 20th century's greatest writers and social critics. He published 14 novels, three short story collections, five plays, five works of nonfiction before his death in New York City in 2007 at the age of 84.

Thematically, this book is a boilerplate. In this black comedy, Vonnegut puts under the microscope: writing, fame, consumerism, American social values, freewill, race and many other themes most authors actively avoid. Breakfast of Champions lives in the Pantheon of literature, alongside other novels by Kurt Vonnegut such as Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five, and Welcome to the Monkey House. After this conversation, we hope you'll read (or re-read) what might be the bestnovel from one of the greatest novelists to ever do it. Enjoy ✌️ Website

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In this episode, we discussed Ted Chaing's short story collection: Stories of Your Life and Others. Mr. Chiang is, to put it lightly, a rare breed of science fiction author. Perhaps this is because, before becoming a novelist, was a technical writer in during the American software boom. He is one of the only sci-fi authors either of us have read who manages to successfully balance a rigorous understanding of science and technology with authorial emotional depth. We spent most of our time on two of the stories in the collection: Tower of Babylon and Story of Your Life. Babylon is a science fiction, fantasy novelette and Chiang's first (and towering) published work. As you might expect, the story examines the Tower of Babel myth from the Old Testament and this story won the 1991 Nebula Award for Best novelette. Story of Your Life is perhaps Chiang's best known work, mostly because of the popularity of its film adaptation arrival, starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. For the Story of Your Life portion of the podcast, we focus our attention on the written version, and its major themes like language and free will. Enjoy ✌️ Website

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