Did you love this GIGANTIC bestseller from nine years ago? Let me remind you why! It was SO fun to dig in to how Ng makes fiction do what fiction does best: her narrative stance, structure, plotting and characterization are so strong. OR--maybe you didn't quite get the hype?? Allow me to offer a couple of explanations as to why that might be. This lecture--underscoring why certain novels are such gigantic phenonemena--ended up being an excellent way to help you become a BETTER READER (though I think you're perfect the way you are). Treat yourself now!

NO READING REQUIRED! I READ THE WHOLE (super short) SHORT STORY TO YOU! Remember Chopin's THE AWAKENING? This 1894 story has the same vibe, same boldness, same feminist prose--but it's short! Listen in for a deeper understanding of crucial elements of old-school, classic short fiction: reminders of why the form works well and how writers today uphold or push against conventions. This twisty tiny masterpiece was SO FUN to dig into. Listen in now!

Watch me conjure John Steinbeck from the dead! NO ACTUAL READING OF THE NOVEL REQUIRED! If you love the TV series, listen now to get A LOT more out of it. I'll tell you, this 1952 classic surprised me! Its sense of place, lessons in history, denigration/elevation of women, biblical underpinnings...the list of strengths could go on and on. Whether its your favorite novel of all time, or you've only seen the show, or you have just the haziest ninth-grade memories of Lenny squeezing that bunny in OF MICE AND MEN--tune in to hear why Steinbeck deserved that Nobel Prize.

To be completely honest, I picked this up because I thought I saw it on the Booker long list. I was mistaken (!!) but WOW am I glad I read it. How is this his first novel??? Also, best title ever. *** https://blog.loa.org/2014/10/an-interview-with-jed-perl-how-lives-of.html https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dialogues-the-david-zwirner-podcast/id1400997563?i=1000554152182 https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jed-perl/we-never-called-it-frisco/

This book is SO smart. Listen in to appreciate its richness, depth and complexity. ALSO, an hour from now you'll know the crucial difference between extraction skimming and reading as a means of real understanding.

Goodman is sooooo smart. HELEN is inventive, heady, strange and HILARIOUS. Listen in to see what all those Booker judges might have identified when they longlisted this gem of a novella. Resources consulted and/or cited: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/makenna-goodman-interview https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/feb/06/helen-of-nowhere-by-makenna-goodman-review-a-perfect-fairytale-for-our-times https://www.guernicamag.com/makenna-goodman-motherhood-and-isolation/ https://www.sevendaysvt.com/arts-culture/books-arts-culture/inside-the-mind-of-booker-prize-nominee-makenna-goodman/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbRJv5dyq3M

Luiselli is TOO GOOD. This readable, complex, multi-faceted text proves yet again that she's a voice we need to hear. Listen in for a better appreciation of the structure, the polyphonic nature, its autofiction elements and the crucial use of echo. Plus what I think is REALLY GOING ON HERE.

NEVER have I been so riveted by a controversy. When's the last time LITERATURE caused this kind of stir?? Listen in to explore: what Cusk is actually up to; where I think sympathy lies; how looking closely at the title, the cover, the opening, and THE TEXT gives us the best way to understand the whole knotty, complex, fascinating thing!

If you loved this book this summer (or didn't quite think it lived up to NORTH WOODS), go back to school with me (and Miles and Kate and their kids) to study why the novel works well in so many ways--and falls a little short in others. Plus! A look at how Mason's humor is really firing on all cylinders in this one! Interview referred to in podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/poured-over/id1567969228?i=1000775778354

The average moviegoer can't answer that because, honestly--who's plowed through the 592-page epic poem recently? With today's lecture, no one needs to, but you might end up WANTING TO. We discuss what THE ODYSSEY actually is, when it was sung, when it was written, whether it was actually Homer who did the writing and so much more. Then we dive into the difficulty of translating this behemoth, with some gorgeous (and hilarious) comparisons of lines from the years 1611, 1967, 1996 and 2018. Lastly we dive into my impressions of the movie, which I saw AT A DRIVE-IN. In a mere hour you could feel a lot smarter about one of the foundational texts of all of Western Literature. Listen in now!