outside of a dog

Abandon all hope ye who enter this episode, which details the disturbing fantasies of the Marquis de Sade, argues their (a)moral value and delights in the name "Bum-Cleaver".

Recommendations:

Nicholson Baker, Vox

Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Much to Christian's chagrin, Jonas insists on discussing the publishing phenomenon "Twilight". We talk about sparkly vegetarian vampires, why they might not be the end of the world after all, and what there actually is to like about the book.

Recommendations:

Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

Meg Cabot, The Princess Diaries

John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let The RIght One In

Karen Cushman, Catherine, Called Birdy

We go back to our roots and discuss our second poem, Christina Georgina Rossetti's "Goblin Market", and analyse its ambiguous subject matter, its strange relationship with rhymes and whether lesbian incest is really the mainstream now.

Recommendations:

Caryl Churchill, The Skriker

Labyrinth (dir. Jim Henson)

We have a very special guest with us - writer and scholar Oliver Plaschka is here to talk to us about Neuromancer, why it is such an influential work, whether it is sci-fi or something else, and why the hell Space Rastafarians.

You can find Oliver @ www.rainlights.net and on Facebook. Check out his novels!

Recommendations:

Ghost in the Shell (dir. Mamoru Oshii)

William Gibson, Pattern Recognition

Continuing our spying theme, we have a look at Joseph Conrad's cynical account of the Great Game, analyse its topicality and argue whether there is any good character in the novel.

Recommendations:

Oscar Wilde, "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime"

G.K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday

John Le Carre, The Looking-Glass War

We will probably annoy all of our listeners by defending a sexist homophobe, gushing about materialist propaganda and rambling on while becoming increasingly drunk.

Recommendations:

Eric Ambler's early spy fiction (especially Epitaph for a Spy)

Casino Royale (dir. Martin Campbell)

A highly acclaimed novel from a bestselling author - but is it rightly praised or will the hype fade?

Recommendations:

Colson Whitehead, Sag Harbor

Barack Obama, Dreams of my Father

We hunt down and dissect one of the top candidates for the elusive Great American Novel, discuss whether it is more Gothic or more comical, and ponder what a sperm whale called 'Dick' might stand for.

Recommendations:

Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

China Miéville, The Scar

Warning: contains descriptions of gore and drug use as well as off key singing!

Recommendations:

Will Self, Dorian

Ryu Murakami, In the Miso Soup

Happy Shakespeare Day! To honour the Bard, we discuss one of his most popular, but also most maligned plays, and argue whether it's just a silly romp or whether its characters actually possess some depth.

Recommendations:

Neil Gaiman et al., "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

Poul Anderson, A Midsummer Night Tempest