Jeff and Rebecca tackle a titan of modern fiction, discussing the breakout book that made a literary icon, Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. They talk about what made Rushdie famous and what keeps him relevant, how to approach this challenging read, and why it's worth the effort.

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Jeff and Rebecca explore Octavia Butler's eerily prescient 1993 novel, The Parable of the Sower, and discuss Butler's legacy and enduring impact on science fiction.

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Jeff and Rebecca revisit Donna Tartt's cult classic, the OG of dark academia, The Secret History.

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Jeff and Rebecca throw it way back to the GOAT of ancient Greek tragedies, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and are delighted to report that, 2500 years later, it still hits. They discuss the invention of drama, the ways that ancient philosophy continue to influence art, and why some really old stories never lose their staying power.

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Jeff and Rebecca revisit To Kill a Mockingbird and attempt to separate the book from the discourse in order to understand what one of America's most beloved—and most banned—novels means today.

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This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks.

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Jeff and Rebecca explore the greatest tragedy and arguably the best-known work by the man, the myth, the legend: William Shakespeare.

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Jeff and Rebecca go back to the future to discuss Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 literary dystopian novel, Never Let Me Go.

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This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks.

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Jeff and Rebecca reflect on the impact of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, with help from Book Riot's managing editor Vanessa Diaz and resident young adult fiction expert Kelly Jensen.

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This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks.

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Jeff and Rebecca tackle the debut novel of the all-everything novelist Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye.

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Jeff and Rebecca go full "brain on" to tackle Thomas Pynchon's Vineland, in the news again as Paul Thomas Anderson adapts it in his new movie, One Battle After Another.

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This season of Zero to Well-Read is sponsored by Thriftbooks.

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