American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 18: The Logic of Empire

Heinlein may always have been annoying, but it sort of triggers me in this one. In this episode I discuss "The Logic of Empire" (1941) and Heinlein's allegory for American slavery and indentured servitude.

Episode 570: Mark Twain: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (Part 2)

Part two of my review of Mark Twain's A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT. I discuss mostly the points where reform hits the cultural wall, and the nature of authority and power in Twain's imagination.

Episode 569: Mark Twain: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (Part 1)

Part one of my review of Mark Twain's novel CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING'S ARTHUR COURT. The first third of this book mostly sets up the hero and the setting. Over the next few episodes I will explore the themes of technology, power, and religion as they are explored and lambasted in the novel.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 17: Common Sense (1941)

"Common Sense" is Robert A. Heinlein's action-packed sequel to "Universe". While I do not find it quite as elegant a story as "Universe", I did enjoy how it wrapped up the story with a bittersweet success for our heroes, but maybe a loss for humanity.

Episode 568: Mark Twain: The Prince and the Pauper (2)

This episode includes part two of my review of THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER by Mark Twain (1882). I discuss my concerns that Twain is making safe arguments from a safe place and cannot quite see the necessity for radical alternatives.

Episode 567: Mark Twain: The Prince and the Pauper (1)

Part one of my review of THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, an 1882 children's novel by Mark Twain. This classic role-swapping story is a window into American attitudes about aristocracy and class.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 16: Universe

My review of Heinlein's 1941 story "Universe". While the first part of the story later published as ORPHANS OF THE SKY stands on its own, only with the sequel "Common Sense," do we find a darker more pessimistic truth about the necessity of stability.

Episode 566: Mark Twain: Roughing It (Part 4)

The finale of my review of ROUGHING IT by Mark Twain. In the final chapters of this book Mark Twain moves on from Nevada to California and spends half a year in Hawaii. Is this a break from the earlier narrative or just part of a larger story of American empire?

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 15: Magic, Inc.

"Magic, Inc." is a fascinating novella by Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1940. It explores issues such as union power, technology, law, corruption, and industrial production, while also trying to take magic seriously by placing it in our world. It is worth checking out for the richness of the themes.

Episode 565:Mark Twain: Roughing It (Part 3)

After failing as a silver prospector, Mark Twain took up journalism. He discusses his early days on the beat in ROUGHING IT (1872). I discuss this and other issues as I dig deeper in my review of this autobiographical book.

Episode 564: Mark Twain: Roughing It (Part 2)

In part 2 of my review of ROUGHING IT by Mark Twain, I find some of the most important commentary and observations on the betrayals at the heart of the ideology of democratic capitalism, and clues as to why the West was so quickly tamed by capital, big business, and government (later the military-industrial complex). Is there any future to an economy built on speculation?

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 14: They

In "They", published in 1941, Robert A. Heinlein takes on issues I am more used to talking about in my series on Philip K. Dick: conspiracy, shifting realities, and paranoia. Mostly, I take on the question of the utility of conspiracy theories and express my distaste for the solipsism of the extremely based. But I cannot not recommend this story to Heinlein readers. It has its value.

Episode 563: Mark Twain: Roughing It (Part 1)

In this episode, I begin my look at one of my favorite Mark Twain books, ROUGHING IT (1872), an autobiographical exploration of life in the West in the the decades before it was tamed. The early pages deal with the stagecoach ride to Nevada and the myths that develop on the road.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 13: Successful Operation

In this episode, I take a short look at a very short Heinlein story, "Successful Operation". It can be read a couple of ways and I am happy with both.

Episode 562: Mark Twain: Innocents Abroad (Part 4)

In this episode, I finish up my study of INNOCENTS ABROAD by Mark Twain. There are so many layers to this book, the best I can so is lay them out and reflect on what I find most powerful: the relationship between a young nation and the deep past.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 12: Solution Unsatisfactory

"Solution Unsatisfactory", published in 1940, is my favorite of the early Heinlein stories I have been exploring. It explores the consequences of the introduction of weapons of mass destruction to the world, the result being an reluctant American hegemony.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 11: Blowups Happen

Listen as I realize the obvious radical politics at the heart of this story by Robert A. Heinlein "Blowups Happen". This tale is at its heart about externalities and capitalism.

Episode 561: Mark Twain: Innocents Abroad (Part 3)

In this part of my look at INNOCENTS ABROAD by Mark Twain, we spend most or time looking at Twain's comments on Italy and our odd relationship to history and its horrors. Tourism remains banal to me, and I find Twain sharing my views.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 10: Coventry

In this sequel to "If This Goes On" Robert A. Heinlein explores the limits of individualism and the dangers of assuming the most conspicuous alternatives are best. It pairs nicely with FOR US, THE LIVING.

Episode 560: Mark Twain: Innocents Abroad (Part 2)

In part two of my review of INNOCENTS ABROAD by Mark Twain we follow our author through Italy and his engagement with the reality and idealization of the Renaissance.

Episode: 559: Mark Twain: Innocents Abroad (Part 1)

We move onto Mark Twain's first published book INNOCENTS ABROAD. This book recounts his adventures in Europe and Asia during a steamship tour. Through it he reflects a lot on tourism and authenticity.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 9: If This Goes On (Part 2)

In this short episode, I finish up my thoughts on IF THIS GOES ON by Robert A. Heinlein, focusing on the strategy for insurgencies and how movement cultures transform ideology.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 8: If This Goes On (Part 1)

In this episode of the Robert A. Heinlein Book Club, I examine the first half of "If This Goes On," which images a rebellion against a theocratic American autocracy. It forces us to consider what goes into making movement cultures.

Episode 558: Mark Twain: Pudd’nhead Wilson

In this episode, I take a quick look at Mark Twain's PUDD'NHEAD WILSON, a great exploration of the absurdity of the color line and slavery in America.

Robert A. Heinlein BookClub: Episode 7: Requiem

There is not a whole lot to say about Robert A. Heinlein's story "Requiem" but I try anyway to give my thoughts. Maybe we will have more to say when we get to "The Man Who Sold the Moon", his prequel to this story.

Episode 557: Mark Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Part 3)

This episode is the conclusion to my thoughts on THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, one of my nation's greatest novels. It ends (in my opinion) with a criticism of liberalism as a path to change and progress.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 6: The Roads Must Roll

I agree that the "roads must roll", but to what degree does that mean we should be obliged to one class of people? Perhaps I look into that in this review of "The Roads Must Roll" by Heinlein.

Episode 556: Mark Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Part 2)

In part 2 of my review of THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Mark Twain, I focus on the odious adults that Huck and Jim interact with and how we might interpret the various lines between freedom and slavery, adulthood and childhood, and above all, the color line.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club:Episode 5: Let There Be Light

In the 1940 story "Let There Be Light", Heinlein takes on the question of IP and public good, but much more radically than in "Life-Line." And based gender politics too.

Episode 555: Mark Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Part 1)

The first part of my review of THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Mark Twain. I focus on Huck's character and the adults surrounding him. I will lots to say about both of these themes in future episodes, but it is clear how radical Twain's position is on civilization and morality.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 4: Misfit

In "Misfit" by Robert A. Heinlein we experience the Civilian Conservation Corps in space and see how in the frontier a natural genius can succeed. Not sure how more American you can get than this story.

Episode 554: Mark Twain: Life on the Mississippi (Part 4)

This episode is the conclusion of my review of LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI by Mark Twain. The ending has some great commentary on the Southern memory of the American Civil War and how the antebellum culture of the South was corrupted by the works of writers such as Walter Scott.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 3: Life-Line

What happens to insurance companies when a scientist can predict the moment of your death? Should corporations be able to stop the spread of knowledge that benefits humanity? Heinlein takes on these questions in his first published story, "Life-Line". I talk about these themes in this episode.

Episode 553: Mark Twain: Life on the Mississippi (Part 3)

This episode is part three of my coverage of LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI by Mark Twain. With Twain we explore how the South and the nation changed in the years after the American Civil War, for better or for worse. He grabbed my attention again with his writing on New Orleans.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 2: For Us, the Living (Part 2)

In this episode, I finish my look at FOR US, THE LIVING by Robert A. Heinlein. There is a lot of historical and economic details that I scan over here, but I strongly encourage you to look at this utopia work.

Episode 552: Mark Twain: Life on the Mississippi (Part 2)

This episode is a little more on LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI by Mark Twain. It is also an episode where I have a personal breakdown and realization.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 1: For Us, the Living (Part 1)

I start my exploration of Robert A. Heinlein's works with my thoughts on FOR US, THE LIVING, a fascinating study of the "social credit" economy.

Episode 551: Mark Twain: Life on the Mississippi (Part 1)

The early chapters of the massive THE LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI explores the natural and human history of the river before getting into the personal history of young Samuel Clemens as a trainee steamboat pilot. For much of the first half, it is a celebration of the knowledge of the working class.

Episode 550:Mark Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Part 2)

The second half of my review of THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER by Mark Twain. Here I discuss adulthood, the preservation of freedom (or not) and the horrors of maturation.

Episode 549: Mark Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Part 1)

I begin my series on the works of Mark Twain with THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER. I hope I have a little bit to say about this well-known novel.