American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

Episode 111: Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars (2)

The finale of my review of Charles W. Chesnutt's "The House Behind the Cedars." The novel shifts from being about the color line to being about sexual harassment and the struggles of a young woman in the workplace. Very important to revist today.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: 87.2: Time Out of Joint (2)

Part 2 of my review of Time Out of Joint by Philip K. Dick.

Episiode 110: Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars (1)

In "The House Behind the Cedars" Charles Chesnutt takes a deep look at the color line. The result is a brilliant novel on race, but also gender and the harassment faced by young women.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: 87.1: Time Out of Joint (1)

Part one of my review of "Time Out of Joint", Dick's 1959 novel about a man realizing that the world he lives in is a false front. This is one of Dick's best and maybe the best 1950s novel he wrote.

Episode 109: Charles W. Chesnutt, The Wife of His Youth (2)

Part two of my review of the stories in Charles Chesnutt's collection "The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line." A lot of great stories here, making a great introduction to the ideas of Chesnutt about the post-Reconstruction South.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: 86: Null-O

The sociopathy of the technocrat and other issues are explored in Philip K. Dick's short story "Null-O." Dick had to sit on this one a while before publishing it, but it is notable as the only publication of his in 1958.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: 85: Misadjustment

This is a story by Philip K Dick about posthumanism, with an interesting twist. They have the ability to change reality. So in "Misadjustment" do we have the best possible path to utopia?

Episode 108: Charles W. Chesnutt, The Wife of His Youth (1)

And now we look at some of the stories in Charles Chesnutt's collection "The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line." This ia a great window into Chesnutt's views on race in America in the aftermath of the Civil War and Reconstruction. In this episide I look at four of the collected stories.

"The Wife of His Youth"
"Her Virginia Mammy"
"The Sheriff's Children"
"A Matter of Principle"

Philip K. Dick Book Club: 84 The Unreconstructed M

"The Unreconstructed M" is a good story to join with the more well-known "The Minority Report." While "The Minority Report" is based on psi powers, Dick relies entirely on big data to tell the story of law enforcement in this story.

Episode 107: Charles Chesnutt, The Conjure Woman

In this episode, I begin a brand new series on turn of the century African-American writers. First up is Charles W. Chesnutt and his connected collection of short stories "The Conjure Woman".

Episode 107: James Fenimore Cooper: The Prairie (4)

And we have reached the end of the Leatherstocking Tales. In this episode we have my final thoughts on "The Prairie" .
Looking ahead we are going to examine the works of Charles Chesnutt and other turn of the century black writers.

Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 83.6: Eye in the Sky (6)

The finale of my review of Philip K. Dick's 1957 novel, "Eye in the Sky".
Next up: more short stories.

Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 83.5: Eye in the Sky (5)

In this episode, I continue my examination of Philip K. Dick's novel "Eye in the Sky". In this episode, we go from the Puritianical to the paranoid.

Episode 105: James Fenimore Cooper: The Prairie (3)

 Part 3 of my review of James Fenimore Cooper's final Leatherstocking Tale, "The Prairie".

Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 83.4: Eye in the Sky (4)

Part four of my review of "Eye in the Sky" by Philip K. Dick. In this part we leave the nutty religious world and enter the nutty world of clean bourgie living.

Episode 104: James Fenimore Cooper: The Prairie (2)

Part two of my review of James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Prairie". Let's see if old man Bumppo still has any of his old tricks.

Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 83.3: Eye in the Sky (3)

Part three of my review of Philip K. Dick's "Eye in the Sky".

Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 83.2: Eye in the Sky (2)

Part two of my review of Philip K. Dick's novel "Eye in the Sky".

Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 83.1: Eye in the Sky (1)

In Dick's second novel, published in 1957, "Eye in the Sky", we go where no one has gone before, into the minds of others.

Episode 103: James Fenimore Cooper: The Prairie (1)

Part one of my review of "The Prairie", the last of the Leatherstocking Tales. It is a great send off for our hero Natty Bumppo.

Episode 102: James Fenimore Cooper: The Pioneers (4)

The finale to my review of "The Pioneers" by James Fenimore Cooper. It is all downhill from here. Only one more Leatherstocking Tale to go, "The Prairie".

Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 82.4: The Cosmic Puppets (4)

 Conclusion to my review and thematic summary of Philip K. Dick's "The Cosmic Puppets". Let me know you thought of this novel.
Next time, "Eye in the Sky"

Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 82.3: The Cosmic Puppets (3)

Part 3 of my review of "The Cosmic Puppets" by Philip K. Dick. 

Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 82.2: The Cosmic Puppets (2)

Part two of my review of Philip K. Dick's "The Cosmic Puppets".

Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 82.1: The Cosmic Puppets (1)

Part one of my review of "The Cosmic Puppets" by Philip K. Dick, a great novel exploring the shifting realities in our towns and cities.

Episode 101: James Fenimore Cooper: The Pioneers (3)

As we enter into the second half of James Fenimore Cooper's "The Pioneers" we find the most clear expression of Cooper's thoughts on the realtionship between pioneer society and the environment. We also find our good friend Natty in some legal trouble.

Episode 100: James Fenimore Cooper: The Pioneers (2)

In the second quarter of "The Pioneers" by James Fenimore Cooper, we get a closer look at the emerging settler society in Templetown and learn more of the deep conflict between the ethos of Leatherstocking and that of the pioneers.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 81: Pay For the Printer

In "Pay For the Printer," Dick explores the challenges of a world of technological post-scarcity as it relates to our skills and knowledge. And he imagined a 3D printer. Some really great and relevant questions are raised in this short piece.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 80: To Serve the Master

In "To Serve the Master", Dick explores the internal conflict between the work ethic and technological leisure. Which side are you on?

Episode 98: James Fenimore Cooper: The Pioneers (1)

Part one of my series on James Fenimore Cooper's "The Pioneers," the first of the Leatherstocking Tales to be written. It shows Natty Bummpo as an old trapper in Templetown, a growing frontier community. What is the place of a man like Natty in a place like this?

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 79: The Minority Report

"The Minority Report" is a bit of a Rorschach test for us. We will invariably see it as a story on police powers and survelliance, but maybe all Dick was doing was writing a tale of Cold War institutions at war.

Episode 98: James Fenimore Cooper: The Pathfinder (Finale)

My final look at James Fenimore Cooper's The Pathfinder. We say goodbye to Natty for a while, but he will be back as old man Leatherstocking in The Pioneers.

Episode 97: James Fenimore Cooper: The Pathfinder (4)

Part 4 of my review of James Fenimore Cooper's "The Pathfinder".

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 78.6: The Man Who Japed (6)

The finale of my series on Philip K. Dick's novel "The Man Who Japed".

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 78.5: The Man Who Japed (5)

Part five of my series on Philip K. Dick's novel "The Man Who Japed".

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 78.4: The Man Who Japed (4)

Part four of my series on Philip K. Dick's novel "The Man Who Japed".

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 78.3: The Man Who Japed (3)

Part three of my series on Philip K. Dick's "The Man Who Japed".

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 78.2: The Man Who Japed (2)

Part two of my series on Philip K. Dick's novel, "The Man Who Japed."

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 78.1: The Man Who Japed (1)

Part one of a series on Philip K. Dick's novel "The Man Who Japed."

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 77; Autofac

Finally we come to Philip K. Dick's clearest expression of one of his long running concepts, the "Autofac", as important today as it ever was.