Literary Ramblings

In this special episode, Joe, Wes, Scott, and Kevin dive into a wide-ranging conversation about the act of reading, who’s doing it, and why literary fiction—however you define it—remains essential. This episode also features the premiere of our original podcast music composed and performed by Sam Muccio.

In this episode, Joe, Scott, Wes, and Kevin discuss Thomas Pynchon's 2025 novel, Shadow Ticket. At 88 years old, Pynchon gives us another gem which we compare and contrast with his previous work, discuss who might follow in the footsteps of master's like Pynchon, delve into the cheese scandals of the 1930s and much more...

In this episode, Joe, Wes, Scott and Kevin discuss the German postmodern writer Arno Schmidt and dive into what exactly postmodern literature is and what value it may or may not have.

In this episode, Joe, Scott, Wes, and Kevin discuss Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. We discuss the Judge, the Kid, the nature of violence as presented by McCarthy, why there are no women in the nevel, the influence of Faulkner and Melville, and much more...

In this episode, Joe, Scott, Wes, and Kevin discuss Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 dystopian novel, Never Let Me Go. We discuss questions around what it actually means to be human, the ethical treatment of others, what exactly is YA, style vs content, and much more...

In this episode, Joe, Scott, Wes, and Kevin discuss Rodrigo Fresán's 2022 work, Melvill. The post-modern biography centers on Herman Melville and his father who died after crossing the frozen Hudson River. We discuss Fresán's structure and playfulness, his many many literary allusions, the "bad father" trope, and much more...

In this episode, Joe, Scott, Wes, and Kevin discuss Roberto Bolaño's 2004 work, 2666. This 900+ page work has been hailed Bolaño's masterpiece and one of the most significant novels of the 21st century. We discuss Bolaño's work as a post-Boom reaction to writers like García Márquez, the strength and weaknesses of each of the five sections, our favorite post- modern digressions and much more...

In this Bonus Short, Wes shares his thoughts on José Donoso's The Obscene Bird of Night (1970). Wes helps us understand the complicated and twisting tale of this postmodern novel of identity and offers insight into the themes and ideas Donoso is working with.

In this episode, Joe, Scott, Wes, and Kevin discuss Benjamín Labatut's 2020 work, When We Cease to Understand the World. The work is ranked 83rd on the NYT's list of The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. We focus on Labatut's strange blending of fiction and nonfiction and the way this parallels particle superposition in Quantum Mechanics, what happens to scientists when they look into the eyes of God, William Burroughs, and much more...

In this Bonus Short, Joe shares his thoughts on Percival Everett's James (2024). Joe discusses Everett's choices in diverging substantially from the plot line and time period of Huck Finn where Everett's title character first appears in literature. Joe further discusses the value of Twain's Huck Finn and what Everett's novel introduces to the conversation.