Mid Lit

Gillian Flynn's "Dark Places" is one of her lesser-known novels, but we loved it! Between the Satanic Panic of it all, Ben Day's big Damien Echols vibes, and the reminder of all the ways big banks have been screwing over regular Americans since long before the 2008 crash, there is a lot to dig into here. Is the Angel of Debt a folk hero or just another dude preying on desperate people? Is Diondra scarier than Amma? Is Lyle a creep? Tune in as Carolyn Paine makes a rare appearance to chat about an actual book!

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Amma. Adora. Camille. They're all brought to terrifying and startling life in HBO's interpretation of "Sharp Objects." Jean-Marc Vellee's vision and tour de force performances from Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, and Eliza Scanlen bring the Preaker/Crellin women to life but for some reason Theresa won't stop talking about Elizabeth Perkins as drunk Jackie. Meanwhile, Rebecca has a scandalous theory about Camille's daddy, so tune in to find out what her twisted mind has come up with this time around. But if there's one thing we've learned, it's that little girls are terrifying and not to be trusted.

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Camille Preaker has serious mommy issues, and her sister, Amma, isn't going to win any awards for being well-adjusted either. Meanwhile, the ill-behaved girls of Wind Gap are turning up dead. Tune in as we talk to Lara Bricker, author, journalist, and Crime Writers On panelist, about what Gillian Flynn's "Sharp Objects" gets right about Munchausen's by Proxy, her personal experience with malevolent mothers, the Gypsy Rose Blanchard of it all, and the reality of being a small-town reporter. 

Lara also dishes about living in Exeter, New Hampshire which is simply infested with writers like Dan Brown and Joe Hill. Bonus: Find out which local used to wrestle with John Irving!

And when you're done listening, head over to order Lara's new book, "Dead on Deadline" from Water Street Books.

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What it lacks in nonsensical bear costumes, "Gone Girl" makes up for in great performances from Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tyler Perry. Tune in as Carolyn Paine joins us to talk about her possibly over-emotional response to "Gone Girl" and why she never considered Amy Elliot Dunne a feminist icon. (Score one for Carolyn not being a possibly dangerous psychopath!) Learn why putting a human face on Nick Dunne's suffering (even if it's Affleck's) helped Rebecca have some empathy for this mediocre, cheating husband. 

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Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl" is more than a book. It's a playbook for every angry wife with a neglectful, cheating husband. Get out your notepad, ladies, and make your husbands tremble in fear of what you're capable of. And also, fear Rebecca and our special guest, Blair from Unwelcome Recommendations on Instagram who maybe have a little too much admiration for psychopathic Amy. Is Gillian a feminist, a misogynist, or just a good writer with a truly terrifying imagination? We may never know but we will discuss it to death! Does any of it matter, considering what a bleak future awaits Nick, Amy, and probably all of us?  

Help support local bookstores and our podcast by getting a copy of Gillian Flynn's books at Bookshop.org.

What does "beach read" mean to you? We explore the possibly sexist term with the help of an essay from Jennifer Weiner, and then recommend some of our favorite books to read with our toes in the sand (or, if you're Theresa, while avoiding the beach like the very pale person she is). As it turns out, Rebecca may not really understand what a beach read is, but that didn't stop us from putting together a list for you to choose your next read from! So join us as we explore the joy of a leisurely beach read.

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We stumbled on a real doozy of a rant from the fist-lady of highfalutin literature, Virginia Woolf. Turns out, she haaaates "middle brows." So we knew we had to do a mini-episode in which Rebecca gets to flex her grad school skills by taking us on a very serious trip through British modernism and into ol' Ginny's life and times. Meanwhile, Theresa gest to remind us why she was a mediocre student and life-long Mid Lit fan by vaguely recalling reading "Mrs. Dalloway."

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In this mini-episode, we revisit Cat Person, Kristen Roupenian's 2017 short story for The New Yorker. As it turns out, the characters in Celeste Ng's books aren't the only ones who don't know how to communicate. Tune in to hear Theresa advocate more violence-by-women and rail against the patriarchy that trains us not to be loud and proud about our opinions, wants, and needs. Meanwhile, Rebecca maintains a level head while reconsidering her response to the initial reading of this story.

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You've heard us gush about Celeste Ng's masterful way of depicting families, communities, and the complicated dynamics that propel them all to inevitable(?) consequences. Now hear us debate which of her books are "better," and get all of our wild predictions about Ng's next book. If we're right, send us a prize. 

And don't forget to visit our bookshop to get your copy (of Celeste Ng's books or any of the books we've talked about, or even just mentioned).

Hulu's adaptation of "Little Fires Everywhere" goes off into some weird territory, making Mia a borderline unfit mother and Elena marginally more likable by contrast. And all the while we're asking, "What is Kerry Washington smelling now?" Seriously, if we were to judge by Mia's sneer throughout the entire show, we'd have to say someone was stinking up the set. By the end of it, we're on board with the uber-privileged Richardson children and screaming, "BURN IT ALL DOWN!" 

Oh, Celeste Ng... what did they do to your lovely book?

Tune in to hear more of our griping about this series!

Shop our reading list at Bookshop.org to support independent bookstores and our podcast.