Next weeks story is The Largesse of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson.

Rated Explicit & NSFW

What in the world did Gerald make me read! This story left me torn, Rammy feeling blah, and both Anais and Gerald loving it. During the conversation Rammy piped up with an interesting take and then Gerald added to it with information from an interview the author did years ago. That extra information left me (speaking about oneself in the third person is so weird) incensed! Great discussion, tons of laughter and the most NSFW discussion we have ever had and worth every second.

Don’t forget, to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” If you want to design a Bradberry, we’d love to see it. On a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate “The Piano Tuner”? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Next weeks story is The Largesse of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson

Next weeks story is The Piano Tuner by Peter Meinke.

Rated Explicit

This episode had major sound quality problems. Ah, the perils of live recording. In the end, Anais decided a distorted computer sounding 4th host was better than a band saw.

Today we introduced our new fourth host Rammy! He’s well traveled, educated and lends a more conservative ear to the podcast. Rammy is a great addition and we are happy to have him. Learn more about him on the front page of literaryroadhouse.com

Usually a fourth host means at least one person will hate the story. While we’ve had science fiction in the past and we read an experimental story before, we’ve never read anything that truly felt this new. The author took many risks in both formatting the story as a series of tweets and finding a voice that works with the format. With the 2nd person point of view and exploited women in danger… I knew Gerald would be a shoe in. But alas, we all enjoyed this story. There was just something about this story that could be read so many different ways. Where Gerald found an good spy story with bombs and speedboats, Anais saw a feminist screen and commentary on narcissism. Rammy and I… well we pulled out communism and what living for the greater good can look like. Then Rammy asked the ten thousand dollar question that made us all squirm. I highly recommend the youtube video for fun “who do you picture as the terrorist” liberal discomfort.

Don’t forget, to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” If you want to design a Bradberry, we’d love to see it. On a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate “Black Box”? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Listener’s last week gave Not From Here by Angela Mitchell 5 Bradberries.

Next weeks story is The Piano Tuner by Peter Meinke.

Next weeks story is Black Box Jennifer Egan

Rated Explicit!

I do love a good debate and this story was electric. One one side we have Anais who had issues with the narrator having little emotional response or acknowledgement of her negative situation. One the other side of the ring we have Maya who says, “It’s true to her character and if there was a moral leaning it would be like every other story of abuse.” Then we have Gerald scratching his head and wondering what was the point. As if literature always has to have a point… oops, now you know who’s writing the show notes.

If you were on the fence about reading this story, just do it. Then listen to the podcast and argue with us. Oh come on, I know you do it.

Don’t forget, to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” If you want to design a Bradberry, we’d love to see it. On a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate “Not From Here“? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Listener’s last week gave The Nose by Nikolai Gogol 2 Bradberries.

Next weeks story is Black Box Jennifer Egan

Next week’s story is Not From Here by Angela Mitchell

Rated Clean!

The Nose was a fun, interesting and absurd story about a nose that walks off to have a life of his own. Written in the early 1800’s with a strong vein of satire, I can see kids enjoying this story as much as adults. Anais brought many layers to the conversation which was important since we all liked the story… well, Gerald liked everything about it except for the lack of rules which was like the whole story lol.

Don’t forget, to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” If you want to design a Bradberry, we’d love to see it. On a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate “The Nose“? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Listener’s last week gave The School by Donald Barthelme 5 bradberries.

Next weeks story is Not From Here by Angela Mitchell

Rated Almost Clean – Maya drops the s-word once. Other than that, safe!

Next week’s story is The Nose by Nikolai Gogol. (Updated Fri Sept 11 for a better translation)

The School by Donald Barthelme received high marks all around. We appreciated its ability to address a serious theme with lightness and humor. The absurdist narrative may be a first for the podcast, and perhaps it is only appropriate that Maya, Gerald, and Anais went into the weeds a bit, comparing the story to wines and candy.

Don’t forget, to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” If you want to design a Bradberry, we’d love to see it. On a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate “Bloodchild“? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Listener’s last week gave Bloodchild by Octavia Butler 5 bradberries.

Next week’s story is The Nose by Nikolai Gogol. (Updated Fri Sept 11 for a better translation)

Rated Explicit

Next week’s story is The School by Donald Bartelme

Bloodchild by Octavia Butler received high marks from all three of us this week which is pretty rare and says a lot about the author. This is only our second science fiction story and the first that truly felt deeply sci-fi so I was a little nervous suggesting it. I am glad I did. Bloodchild provided great fodder for a fun discussion on gender, symbiosis and diversity in fiction. The story was also a wonderful example of science surpassing it’s genre.

Don’t forget, to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” If you want to design a Bradberry, we’d love to see it. On a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate “Bloodchild“? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Next week’s story is The School by Donald Bartelme.

Rated Explicit

Next week’s story is Bloodchild by Octavia Butler.

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and understanding for last weeks late podcast. This week, we read Annie Proulx and while Maya entered the podcast torn about the time shifts, both Anais and Gerald loved the story. This was a deeply dense and nuanced tale that took close reading to fully appreciate the skill and artistry. Maya also recommends listening to the story on Audible. Close Range by Annie Proulx is a collection of stories based in the rural communities in Wyoming. If you don’t have Audible already, click here for a free trial.

Don’t forget, to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” If you want to design a Bradberry, we’d love to see it.

Listeners gave last week’s story “Sonny’s Blues” by 5.5 Bradberries.

So tell us, on a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate “The Half-Skinned Steer“? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Next week’s story is Bloodchild by Octavia Butler.

Rated Explicit

Next weeks story is The Half-Skinned Steer by E. Annie Proulx

This week both Anais and Maya fell in love with James Baldwin and Gerald is left with a quandary. I also have to say, Anais did an excellent job on this weeks Audio!

Don’t forget, to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” If you want to design a Bradberry, we’d love to see it.

Listeners gave last week’s story “The Start of the Affair” by 3.5 Bradberries.

So tell us, on a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate “Sonny’s Blues“? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Next week’s story is The Half-Skinned Steer by E. Annie Proulx.

Next week’s story is Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin. You can also read it here.

This podcast is available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spreaker. Please take a few moments to leave a review (for Spreaker follow & heart us). Those reviews encourage us and help us be found by new listeners.

Rated Explicit

This week Rammy joined us for an unexpectedly lively discussion. It was an odd episode where we spent half the time debating the actual content of the story. Anais and Gerald came into the conversation sure of summary and ready to record. Then it was immediately clear that Rammy and Maya read the same story so differently that it was almost like discussing two different stories.

Don’t forget, to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” If you want to design a Bradberry, we’d love to see it.

Listeners gave last week’s story “The Empty Family” by Colm Tóibín 5 Bradberries.

So tell us, on a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate “The Start of the Affair“? More importantly, was James black or white? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Next week’s story is Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin. You can also read it here.

Next week’s story is The Start of the Affair by Nuruddin Farah.

This podcast is available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spreaker. Please take a few moments to leave a review (for Spreaker follow & heart us). Those reviews encourage us and help us be found by new listeners.

Rated clean for language, but not so clean for audio quality. Maya spent the week at a writer’s conference, and Anais edited the audio for the first time. Please forgive the audio rookie.

This week we read a short story by Irish author Colm Tóibín, whose novel The Blackwater Lightship Gerald has read before. Gerald loved the short story, but Maya and Anais who are new to Tóibín had lukewarm feelings towards the story. Anais was turned off by the lack of conflict, and Maya was alienated by a surprisingly distant voice for a first person narrative.

Don’t forget, to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” If you want to design a Bradberry, we’d love to see it.

Listeners gave last week’s story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver 5 Bradberries.

So tell us, on a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate “The Empty Family”? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Next week’s story is The Start of the Affair by Nuruddin Farah.