American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

H. P. Lovecraft Book Club: Series 8: Episode 1: Letters, January-March 1932

The H. P. Lovecraft letters from early 1932 show his frustration with the status of the Weird Tales and other magazines, as he finds he cannot match they style they desire and have come to expect from him. Some real anxiety in this set of correspondence.

Episode 457: Barbara Tuchman:The Guns of August (4)

Toward the end of Barbara Tuchman's THE GUNS OF AUGUST we explore the battle of Tannenberg and the retreat of French armies toward Paris. Tuchman also analyzes the situation at sea and the position of the USA in the early days of the Great War.

H. P. Lovecraft Book Club: Series 7: Episode 15: The Trap (Lovecraft and Whitehead)

I finish up this series on Lovecraft's stories from the late 1920s and early 1930s with a look at his collaboration with Donald Whitehead, "The Trap". While not as amazing as the Bishop revisions, this story does have some interesting ideas, and a 17th century wizards.

Episode 456: Barbara Tuchman: The Guns of August (3)

Part three of a review of THE GUNS OF AUGUST by Barbara Tuchman. The logic of planning leading to entrenchment (military, institutional, and ideology) is explored in the middle chapters of this excellent study of the first days of the Great War.

H. P. Lovecraft Book Club: Series 7: Episode 14: Medusa's Coil

The last of the Lovecraft revisions of Zealia Bishop's work is also the most controversial. This short story explores the culture of the Black Atlantic, the post-war south, and art. It is the most detailed study of the artist by Lovecraft since "Pickman's Model".

Episode 455: Barbara Tuchman:The Guns of August (2)

In this episode, I explore the second part of THE GUNS OF AUGUST by Barbara Tuchman. In these chapters we see how the war plans set up by the Great Powers made conflict unavoidable and prevented military and political institutions from changing course. 

H. P. Lovecraft Book Club: Series 7: Episode 13: The Mound (2)

I did not plan to record any two-part reviews of the H. P. Lovecraft revisions, but THE MOUND is such a massive and interesting tale that I just had to this time. In this episode, we focus on the culture and society of K'n-yan.

H. P. Lovecraft Book Club: Series 7: Episode 12: The Mound (1)

One of Lovecraft's most significant revision works was the novella THE MOUND. Zealia Bishop provided the original prompt and Lovecraft ran with it creating an entire civilization. Influenced by THE COMING RACE by Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

H.P. Lovecraft Book Club: Series 7: Episode 11: The Curse of Yig

In this episode, I explore THE CURSE OF YIG by Zealia Bishop and H. P. Lovecraft. It is one of his most famous revisions and a great story that takes Lovecraft's worldbuilding to the American Midwest.

H. P. Lovecraft Book Club: Series 7: Episode 10: The Shadow Over Innsmouth (Part 3)

My final thoughts on THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH by H. P. Lovecraft. This story ends with some action and then an coda examining our narrator's deep family history.

Next, we will explore the Zealia Bishop revisions.