Spine Crackers

In this first episode back after an extended vacation, the Spine Crackers ease back into things with some miscellaneous discussion of literature, booktube, our reading styles, why we started the podcast, and many other topics! Check it out! 

This week, the Spine Crackers read British novelist T.F. Powys' 1931 allegorical novel of Death, Love, and Vice in an English country town, Unclay.

This week the Spine Crackers read science fiction legend Philip K. Dick's 1969 novel of consumerism, death, identity, and time Ubik. We get a nice little case of the giggles in this one so be sure to look out for that. 

This week, the Spine Crackers read Jean Toomer's 1923 modernist classic of the Harlem Renaissance, Cane. Alternating between vignettes of African American life in the South and the North, as well as poems, Cane is a unique achievement.

This week, the Spine Crackers are joined by OG IRL friend and friend of the pod Casey to present our first ever 3-hour episode. We discuss Haruki Murakami's 2017 epic of art, trauma, family, and so much more, "Killing Commendatore!" Settle in for this one y'all! 

This week, the Spine Crackers read Russian-American author Vladimir Nabokov's first English-language novel (1941) of identity, memory, exile, and language "The Real Life of Sebastian Knight." 

This week, the Spine Crackers read Sicilian crime novelist Leonardo Sciascia's early novel The Day of the Owl. Place, community, and the realities of organized crime take center stage here. Godfather eat your heart out. 

For our first ever non-fiction episode, the Spine Crackers tackle Henry Miller's pseudo-travelogue of exile, national identity, art, and the American consciousness, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare. 

This week, the Spine Crackers read the highly praised "millennial fiction" novel of race, sex, and self Luster by Raven Leilani. 

This week the Spine Crackers read Yugoslavian-born author Dubravka Ugresic's strange, beautiful novel of identity, war, memory, and place The Museum of Unconditional Surrender.