This week we begin a new book! Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri is astonishing, even from its opening pages. On this episode, Rhea and Shari talk about Daniel Nayeri the author and character in his own autobiographical novel that is also a memoir and also true… mostly. We talk about refugees, being good guests and good hosts, Schehrazade and her thousand tales, the coiling of stories, our slippery memories, time and storytelling, unreliable narrators, and more.

We are taking three weeks to discuss this story. Next week we’ll discuss through p. 231; and the following week we’ll discuss the end.

After Everything Sad is Untrue, we’ll be discussing tales from the Arabian Nights. We will be reading from the new translation by Yasmine Seale.

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This week’s episode begins a new experiment on the Reader & the Writer, where Rhea and Shari discuss articles we find interesting on the topics we love. These are one-off episodes that we will intersperse between our regular episodes where we do careful, slow-ish readings of stories well told.

For this first O.A.I (I can’t help it, I was a military wife for 14 years), we’re discussing a 2021 article written by James Wood for the New Yorker magazine, “Anthony Doerr’s Optimism Engine.” We’ll be discussing Wood’s critiques of Doerr’s Cloud Cuckoo Land, and weighing in on whether or not we agree with him, and why.

You can read the New Yorker article here: Anthony Doerr’s Optimism Engine

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Thanks for listening! We’ll see you next week (8/20) for our first of three discussions on: Everything Sad is Untrue, by Daniel Nayeri

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This week on The Reader & the Writer, Rhea and Shari bring their discussion of Cloud Cuckoo Land to a close. It is a long, winding conversation on everything from being human and part of the problem, the beauty of our broken lives, understanding that what we already have is almost always better than what we think we need, and—finally—the eternal beauty of pursuing the best kind of fool’s errand.

Next week we will begin something new: occasional podcast episodes on articles we’re reading. These are one-off episodes where Rhea and I will be discussing recent articles we’ve found on Substack and other information outlets concerning topics near and dear to us both: education, literacy, literary trends, and some arts & culture… and anything else we find fascinating and want to share with you!

The next two books we are reading on the R&W:

* Everything Sad is Untrue, by Daniel Nayeri

* The Annotated Arabian Nights, translated by Yasmine Seale (we will be reading portions of this book, not its entirety)

We’d love to hear from you!

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This episode is all about captivity. Shari and Rhea discuss each of the characters’ movement into being held captive—in some cases literally, and always within themselves.

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We’re continuing our close reading of Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, and, as Rhea says, it’s all about captivity. How are each of the characters being held in captivity—both outwardly and inwardly? What is holding them there? Is every idea they are held captive by bad? What about us? What are we being held captive by day in and day out? And what about poor Aethon? His story isn’t turning out as magical as he thought it would. Finally, Rhea and Shari discuss all the ways they see the characters’s stories begin to intersect and talk to one another, even though physically in some cases, there is no way they ever could. We had a lot of fun discussing this episode, and hope you enjoy listening along.

Timeline for the rest of Cloud Cuckoo Land:

* July 30: Chapters 13-19

* Aug 6: Chapters 20-24

Programing note:

A head’s up on what we’re reading next. Rather than tackle three YA novels over six weeks giving none of them due diligence, we’ve decided to focus on Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayari. Afterwards, we’ll be reading some of The Arabian Nights, which Everything Sad… is written (loosely) in concert with. Everything Sad… will begin either Aug. 13th or Aug 20th, and run for three episodes.

We’d love to hear from you!

* Email us at: [email protected]

* Follow us on Facebook: The Reader and the Writer

* Subscribe to the podcast on Substack and these major platforms: Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon

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Hello Reader & Writer listeners! This week, Rhea and I are beginning a new book: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. In this episode we spend considerable time talking about Anthony Doerr and his “theory of everything” masterfully contained inside this book. We dive into the story’s strange structure: three time periods, five protagonists, and the magical myth of Aethon running throughout. We talk about quest stories. We fumble through the first seven chapters of the story, trying to make sense of each character’s situation and how each one rhymes with the others through simple repetitions and woven through motifs.

Here are the links to the interviews mentioned in the episode:

* Free Library of Philadelphia Interview with John Freeman

* Writers Symposium by the Sea interview with Dean Nelson (on All the Light We Cannot See)

* Anthony Doerr’s website

* Anthony Doerr on The Louisiana Channel

Here is the schedule for the rest of Cloud Cuckoo Land:

* July 16: Chapters 1-7

* July 23: Chapters 8-12

* July 30: Chapters 13-19

* Aug 6: Chapters 20-24

Finally, a head’s up on what we’ll be reading next, as we’ve made a change. Rather than tackle three YA novels over six weeks giving none of them due diligence, we’ve decided to focus on Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayari. Afterwards, we’ll be reading some of The Arabian Nights, which Everything Sad… is written (loosely) in concert with. Everything Sad… will begin either Aug. 13th or Aug 20th, and run for three episodes.

We’d love to hear from you!

* Email us at: [email protected]

* Follow us on Facebook: The Reader and the Writer

* Subscribe to the podcast on Substack and these major platforms: Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon

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Here we are, at the final episode for North Woods. This was, by far, our favorite section of the story. Just when we thought it couldn’t be anymore of a delight to read, Mason pulls all the threads through in a most magisterial way. In this episode Shari and Rhea discuss the nature of mental illness (a motif that shows up throughout the story), mementos and their meanings, transcendence, constructs of time, and the liminal space between here and eternity. Shari gets her Hamilton quote in for the series, and we end with a C.S. Lewis quote from Weight of Glory.

We hope you loved North Woods as much as we did. Let us know what you thought of the story, our discussion, and your personal takeaways in the comment section.

Our next story is Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr. The first episode of this series will drop July 16. You’ll notice we’re taking a break on July 9th, so everyone—us included!—has time to read. :)

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* Write a review on your preferred podcast listening platform!

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We are in the middle of North Woods and things are getting wild. In this episode, Shari and Rhea spend a lot of time discussing the heart of the artist: the tension between vision and expectation, who one makes art for, and getting out of the way of what wants to be made. We also talk about confessing to the earth, all the ways Mason continues to bring this north woods alive for us: the wonder of these multiple points of view, images, “found texts;” the making and re-making of Eden, blights, diseases, “Harrow,” “Rupture,” and “Stitching.” And, of course, the lusty beetle scene!

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This week Rhea and Shari begin North Woods by Daniel Mason. In this episode they discuss their first impressions of the story and give an overview of the characters and action in these beginning sections of the book. They talk about elegant writing, playfulness with prose, and the way Daniel Mason is masterful at creating movement and transcendence throughout the narrative. Of course, there are character transitions, p.o.v shifts, action, and the motifs they discuss as well: The Creation narrative, the Fall, and all that white space (!).

Links to interviews, articles, and podcasts they discussed in the show:

* You Tube interview

* Oxford Review of Books article/interview

* Sold a Story podcast

Timeline for the rest of North Woods:

* Part 2 (pp. 131-242): June 25

* Part 3 (pp. 243 - end): July 2

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On this episode, Shari and Rhea wrap up their discussion of David Copperfield. They explore all the side stories and whether they were so much of “side stories” after all. They compare mother - child relationships, notice the many subtle—and not so subtle—Biblical connections, and recognize all the ways Dickens is plain old havin’ fun in this section: the theatrics, dramatic monologues, romanticism, stark contrasts of good and evil, and… the over-the-topness of Mr. Micawber’s speechifying. Oiy!! They also ask themselves who is the real hero of David’s story? And… do they still wonder if they made a mistake reading David Copperfield and Demon Copperhead back-to-back? This, and a lot more!

We’d love to hear from you! What do you think of the episodes? What would you like to hear more about when we discuss each story? Have any questions? What do you think of our assessments of characters and their motives? You can message us through the Reader & the The Writer, or through each of our personal Substack accounts: Shari Dragovich, or Rhea Forney.

Looking ahead to our next reads:

Summertime Reads:

* North Woods by Daniel Mason;

First episode dropping June 18th; “One” up to but not including “Letters to E.N.” (pp. 5-127); Episode 2: pp. 131-239; Episode 3: pp. 243-369 (end)

* Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Back to School YA Slam:

* The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

* Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayari

* You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins (Note: Shari misspoke when she named this title in the podcast… oops!)

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