The debut novel from Tommy Orange has been on almost every Best Of 2018 list, but does the Literary Disco trio agree? In this week's episode, Julia, Rider, and Tod discuss the complex and multifaceted approach to identity—and how Orange avoids the usual MFA clichés—as “There, There” follows a collection of Native American characters in the build-up to a powwow in Oakland, California.

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Welcome to a new year, with your favorite literary podcast. We start 2019 with the classic tale of Tarzan.

 We all know the story: after the death of his parents a boy is raised by apes, and encounters humans again years later when an expedition enters the jungle. How has this story aged over time? Will Tarzan be Rider's next project? Join Julia, Rider, and Tod this week to find out!

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Nick Drnaso's Sabrina is the first graphic novel to be nominated for the Man Booker Prize. It's also a beautiful and heartbreaking rendering of the current American psyche and a pointed commentary on how media has allowed conspiracy and paranoia to run absolutely rampant in the absence of answers.

Join Julia, Rider, and Tod as they discuss this very important work, along with the graphic novel's realistic depiction of the male human body (mostly in their underwear), feeling empathy for those with views unlike ours, and a brief tangent on the recent Springsteen on Broadway Netflix special.

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The last book club you’ll ever need. This week, Julia, Rider, and Tod discuss the best books they read in 2018, including Tara Westover’s Educated, Arthur Krystal’s This Thing We Call Literature, and Jonathan Weisman’s (((Semitism))): Being Jewish in America in the Age of Trump. 

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It’s the holidays! A time to deck the halls, grab some eggnog, and curl up with the SCARIEST book you can find…

That’s right. Christmas horror. It’s a real thing. And Blumhouse and editor Christopher Golden have put together a collection of short fiction just in time to fill you with holiday fear.

Join us as Tod, Rider, and Julia have fun with this bonkers set of stories.

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A couple months ago, Vulture published this crazy, crazy list.

It’s an admittedly premature attempt to create a literary canon for the last 18 years.

In this episode of Literary Disco, we discuss the titles we were surprised by, the ones we were disappointed didn’t make it, and — mostly — how few of these books we’ve actually read.

Get ready to feel like you have a lot of catching up to do…

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It’s getting cooler, the leaves are changing, time to curl up with a good book.

It’s our Bookshelf Revisit for Fall 2018, an eclectic conversation that covers:

Wild children and cults.WWII and China.Robertson Davies.It makes no sense, except that it’s Literary Disco!

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Hunter S. Thompson became a legend the moment he published this novel of a drug-fueled trip into the desert. Packed with mind-altering chemicals, extreme paranoia, and claiming to be a scathing journey to “the heart of the American Dream,” Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas established Thompson’s particular style, and purported to give voice to the disillusionment of a generation.

But who was included in that generation?

Has the book aged well?

And what kind of effect did this story have on the city of Las Vegas itself?

We explore these questions and more. Buckle up. This is bat country.

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