Personal Rejection Letter

Does "literature" have practical value? What constitutes "literature"? Who gets to decide? Should tax payers fund "literature"? Do the boys have answers to these questions, questions? Will all be revealed if you listen? 

The boys fantasize about the opportunity to "sell out," whatever that might mean. And Bigfoot porn. 

The boys are taking requests these days, especially good ones, like A.J. Wilson's question about the challenges and rewards of moving from short forms to book-length works. Kelly's all: blah, blah, blah, Knausgaard; blah, blah, blah, Walden. Dan's like: yadda, yadda, yadda, Alice Munro; yadda, yadda, yadda, Charles Portis. 

Dan, with every fiber of his being, supports the Nobel Prize Committe's decision to award harmonica player Bob Dylan the Nobel Prize for Literature. Kelly thinks it should have gone to Billy Joel. 

Chabon, Chabon, Chabon, sha-doobie, do-doobie, do-bom! 

The boys do not discuss Mary Shelley's famous novel, its influence or content. Instead, they forget to push "record" for the first ten minutes of the initial conversation about some of the favorite books, and then go back into the studio to patch in a new intro. You can hear the stitches. 

Kelly tries, unsuccessfully, to bring bondage and discipline into the conversation, while Dan earnestly talks the highs and lows of submitting for publication when you ain't famous. 

The boys pass a podcasting milestone early in their careers: losing an entire recorded episode and having to do it over. Losing a whole episode and having to record it again. The subject is authorial identity, regional vs. nomadic. They talk about local and cosmopolitan writerly personas. 

What do you do when you honestly hate your good friend's new book? Find out in this iconoclastic episode on "literary citizenship." 

Kelly goes all Christian Science while Dan advocates for a balanced approach.