Literary Disco

We couldn’t resist discussing an incredible essay by Chris Offutt that appeared in The New York Times Magazine. It’s entitled My Dad, The Pornographer. You can guess what it’s about. To give us some context, we reached back into the archives and pulled out two of Offutt’s short stories from his first collection Kentucky Straight. Fathers, sons, the American south, writing, sex, and death. All the ingredients of a classic Literary Disco episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we examine whether or not every work by a master is a masterpiece. There may be some yelling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do movies affect us? How can we best write about them? Do we think in movie narratives now? What are the best books about movies? The gang tackles these pertinent questions while zipping through Tara Ison’s fun and creative essay collection. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We start off the year with a book that was hailed as one of the best of 2014: Jenny Offill’s The Department of Speculation. What’s the line between beautiful and pretentious, we ask? Plus, a revisit that jumps from comedy memoir to philosophy you’ll never read. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2014 is coming to a close, and we take a moment to answer life’s big questions: what was the best thing we read for the podcast this year? What was the best thing we read outside of it? Have Julia & Rider read Tod’s book? What is Rider’s big announcement? And who exactly is our man of mystery, producer Tucker Ives? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You will probably be given this book for Christmas, so let us pre-judge it for you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can the man who wrote “In Cold Blood” deliver a warm-blooded holiday tale? What are Julia, Tod, and Rider thankful for this year? Is it possible to cheat at “Judging a Book By Its Cover”? These questions may or may not be answered in this holiday episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, at your request, dear listeners, we take on one of the silliest, most lovable books in the known universe. We discuss the difference between satire and parody, South Park, and a rare unanimous agreement on the best satirical living writer in America. And finally we get around to discussing “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” a favorite of yours when you were eleven. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get out the tissues. This episode, we head straight for emotional jugular, as we read Edward Hirsch’s devastating poem about the life and death of his son, Gabriel. Hirsch may make us cry (and yes, that means each of us, many times) but we are also awed by his craft and uplifted by this ambitious poem. Up first, we each talk about our favorite father-son work of literature. Rider goes Searching for Bobby Fischer, Julia embraces a Long Day’s Journey and Tod heads to Empire Falls. Click here to purchase from an independent bookseller Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s really scary? Zombies, ghosts, vampires– or bizarre novels about torture based on true events? For this year’s Halloween episode, we welcome our expert in horror, Stephen Graham Jones. We begin with some fun stuff, like why it took zombies so long to catch on, and what the next zeitgesity beast might be. Then we asked Stephen to select a horror book for us to read. He picked a doozy. Hitherto unknown to all three of your Disco hosts, The Girl Next Door is without a doubt the most disturbing, controversial novel we’ve read. It’s well written, beautifully structured, and yet, will make you wish you never started it. Join us, and please share your thoughts on our Facebook Page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When she was 13, Wendy C. Ortiz started “dating” her 28 year-old English teacher. In her new memoir, Excavation, she returns to the years she spent maintaining this secret relationship. It’s a disarming look at a tough adolescence. Ortiz manages to capture not only her own disorienting emotions, but also — as Tod and Rider will attest — an incredibly accurate portrait of life in the San Fernando Valley in the ’80s. But first, it’s a Bookshelf Roulette. And Julia regales us with stories of sleepwalking… Click here to purchase from an independent bookseller Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Pulitzer Prize winner none of us had read, Tinkers is a short, innovative, and compelling novel, first released in 2009. Join us as we discuss death vigils, hermits, epilepsy, and depressed mothers. Not to be missed: Tod cries. Really, he cries. Up first, the return of the Bookshelf Revisit. Rider delves into Celine Dion. Tod talks about going Against Football. And Julia buys the new David Mitchell. Click here to purchase from an independent bookseller Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ahoy! For this very special episode, Tod & Julia talk about her trip aboard the Charles W. Morgan, Moby-Dick, and the difference between boats and ships. Followed by a piece Julia wrote aboard the Morgan. Enjoy this unique back-to-school special! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer’s over and it’s time to get serious– grab a raft and float down a river while listening to us take on the Mark Twain classic, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week the Disco Trio heads to their tablets and phones. The Atavist publishes digital essays, articles and books. One of their latest, most experimental pieces was written by Hari Kunzru. Twice Upon a Time is equal parts poem, musical experience, essay, and memoir. The discussion begins with the piece itself, then moves to the broader question of form. Should we be swiping and listening while we read? Up first, Julia gives a short recap of her time on the open seas. Then it’s a traditional Bookshelf Revisit: Rider talks about his time as a werewolf, Julia gets poetic, and Tod loves the 4th of July. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices