In episode 22, Alan & Nisha take a trip to the Pacific Northwest to hear the tale of Robert Grainier in Train Dreams.

Originally a 2011 novella by Denis Johnson, Train Dreams was nominated for the Pulitzer and has enjoyed a great reputation for its ability to capture the scope and beauty of life and the changing American West, in an impressively short format.

The novella was adapted into a feature-length film in 2025, directed by Clint Bentley and starring Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, and William H. Macy. Acquired by Netflix out of Sundance, the film has been hailed as a triumph of cinematography and adaptation, and has been nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

How does the story of a seemingly unremarkable man hold so much weight? How does this story get effectively compressed into these short formats?

Is the book better than the movie? Join us as we find out!