Questioning the Canon

This month, we discuss developing feelings, lashing out, and living wounded in the WWII-era classic A Separate Peace.  This book was a great read and ton of fun to talk about.  We also attempted to get to the heart of the matter of what John Knowles wrote about his characters Gene and Finny (spoiler, they may have been more than friends).

Let's go to ancient Lebanon by way of Brazil, shall we?  In this month's episode, we dive deep into the life of author Paulo Coelho, the prophet Elijah, and ideas around self-worth and privilege.  Also, before anyone comes at me, yes, I know there is no such biblical person as "King Daniel", I meant King David.  All of my Sunday school teachers are shaking their heads at me, surely.

Come explore spooky hallways and isolated estates with us as we discuss Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House.  This book was a lot of fun but also disturbing at points.  We definitely had fun talking about it and its numerous film adaptations.  This makes Liam Neeson appearance number two in our podcast so far...

This month we cover F. Scott Fitzgerald's first and career making novel This Side of Paradise.  My money is that you've never read this and you can hear about it with us!  Maybe grab a drink, like we did...

We get swept up in this true American classic by Zora Neal Hurston.  In this episode we cover Halle Berry, mules, and rabies, just to name a few appropriate topics.

Let's head out west to experience one of the most merciless books we've ever read.  You've probably heard about Blood Meridian before, but you've definitely never seen the movie (let's pray they never make it).  To be fair, though, we at least had a good time discussing the book.  Giddy-Up!

The month, we take off into Ray Bradbury's fix-up novel The Martian Chronicles.  Arguably Bradbury's second most famous book, we cover a wide a variety of themes found in the book, but, also importantly, themes that are noticeably absent.

Our first episode!  We decided to start with the most dreary book we've read in a long long time, Ethan Frome!  Get ready for cold hearts, cold roads, and sledding accidents!