We tried to go deep with this episode, but it's such a serious topic with such hefty moral implications that, frankly, we bailed ship and talked a lot about boxing and Stephen A. Smith's radio show. Don't worry, they're tangentially related, but we wanted to be upfront with what this episode was providing. This book is a masterpiece but also really hard to discuss in an entertaining way.

One of our more serious ventures, this month we're discussing the recent Pulitzer-Prize winner: The Nickel Boys. Heartbreaking, important, and wonderfully written. We will use this novel as a jumping off point to explore what society has done to young men over the years and we will not shy away from having  frank conversations about race in American. This novel is a must read, but if that all sounds too heavy for your 2021 reading, stay tuned next month when we'll be reading the novel that inspired "Die Hard." (We like to mix it up at Literary Guise)

We wrap up Richard Matheson's masterpiece with deep dives into vampire scientists, the insidious nature of Manifest Destiny indoctrination in public schools, and the 80s cartoon classic Pound Puppies. (Yes, it was a late night at the Stardust Lounge and yes, they cut us off). 

Let's talk about dogs: doggos, puppers, and vampire-bacteria-infected-canines. Robert Neville gets a dog in these chapters and it's a heart-breaker. We also do a deep dive into male stoicism and the under-lying societal causes. So it's a light-hearted easy-breezy one, is what we're promising.  

Just like Robert Neville pumping shotgun shells into the undead, we unload right away on white male privilege, proportional biases during a pandemic, and whether or not sport peppers could stave off a zombie horde as well as garlic. Tackling the really profound topics this week on Literary Guise!

We kick off our first Listeners' Choice! (Thanks, David). "I Am Legend" by the great and woefully underrated Richard Matheson. Q: What does a man do when the world around him is totally beyond his control? A: He Drinks! He drinks and fires guns.

A full reading of the pioneering work of American Naturalism that kicked off the Old West literary craze: "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" by Bret Harte. Followed by a discussion of its themes and an examination of its main character.

Will Tom get away with it all? (Spoiler, he will, because the Italian Police are inept AF... but not for the reason you may think). Stick with the episode until the end to hear one of the best dog flatulence anecdotes ever told!

Tu vuo' fa' l'americano cocktail:
2oz Gin
.75oz Cocchi Americano
0.5oz Bruto Americano
0.5oz Grand Marinier
1oz fresh squeezed orange juice
spoon of Pedro Ximenez Sherry

When the episode description starts with a drink recipe, you know it's going to be a doozy of a podcast. We continue to talk all things Tom Ripley, casually confusing the novel and the film along the way. 

We follow Tom to Italy and deconstruct his true relationship with Dickie Greenleaf... and ice boxes... and a weird Johnny Walker Blue Label tie-in commercial series that came out a half-century after the novel. What role does attraction play in male relationships: gay or straight, romantic or platonic?Just one of the many questions we'll try our best to answer, but will still fall short of the homoerotic fantasia that is the "Gentleman's Wager" commercial series by Johnny Walker.*

*Not a paid sponsorship, we just need other people to explain to us what is really going on with that ad!