Book Fight

We're time-traveling back to 1922, where we check out an early edition of Best American Short Stories, including a story by Ring Lardner and another that, in a review of the collection, was called "possibly the worst short story ever written." We've also got a variety of news items from 1922: monkey dinners, idle wives, a tugboat tragedy, the Wannamaker organ, the still-unsolved murder of William Desmond Taylor, and much much more!

Visit us online for more, including links to some of the stuff we talked about in the episode: bookfightpod.com

Direct download: Ep111_Wayback_1922.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

This week we're talking about Sarah Shotland's 2014 novel Junkette, about a young woman trying to escape both heroin addiction and a seriously codependent relationship--maybe two codependent relationships, actually: one with her boyfriend and one with the city of New Orleans. We talk about what makes writing feel honest, and how good writers are like tour guides to places you've never been. In the second half of the show, Mike tries out a new, South Philly-centric segment, and Tom talks about lit journals with pedantic submission guidelines. 

For more, visit us online at bookfightpod.com

Direct download: Ep110_SarahShotland_Junkette.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Back by popular demand, we're embarking on another Winter of Wayback, in which we pick a year, then read a story or essay from that year and research a variety of literary and non-literary happenings going on at the time. This week: 1914! We check out back issues of The Smart Set, a lit mag that aimed to reach high-minded New Yorkers (and those who wanted to emulate them). We also go down a couple of internet wormholes researching forgotten authors, including a mentee of Theodore Dreiser's who was later institutionalized, and a Baltimore writer who was sued for libel and once attacked someone with a tennis racket. Literature!

For more, as always, you can visit us online at bookfightpod.com

Direct download: Ep109_Wayback_1914.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Welcome to the new year, Book Fighters! This week we're talking about an Elizabeth Hardwick book that is something of a cult classic, though at least one of us is decidedly not in the cult. Also: Idle chit chat! Rate My Professor chili peppers! Spills! Thrills! Hoverboards! 

For more, visit us online at bookfightpod.com

Direct download: Ep108_Hardwick.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

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