American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

Episode 30: Langston Hughes: Not Without Laughter (1)

The first of two episodes on Langston Hughes' sole novel, Not Without Laughter, a coming of age story that is also a celebration of leisure and having a bit of fun with life even when the system is agaisnt you.

Episode 8: Philip K. Dick Book Club: The Eyes Have It

In this episode we explore how Dick played with the role of figurative language in science fiction. The lesson: it may sometimes be best to assume the literal.

Episode 29: Wallace Thurman: The Blacker the Berry

In this episode we study Wallace Thurman's novel The Blacker the Berry. It is a nice counterpoint to Plum Bun.

Episode 7: Philip K. Dick Book Club: Mr. Spaceship

Dick explores the final frontier of space and the mind in this beautiful celebration of exploration and human rebirth. Join me for an examination of "Mr. Spaceship."

Episode 28: Jessie Redmon Fauset: Plum Bun (3)

Final episode on Jessie Redmon Fauset's Plum Bun.

Episode 6: Philip K. Dick Book Club: The Defenders

What happens when the machines we build to serve us learn to lie? Find out today in this episode of The Philip K. Dick Book Club as we explore "The Defenders."

 

Episode 27: Jessie Redmon Fauset: Plum Bun (2)

Part two of Jessie Redmon Fauset's novel Plum Bun. This part focuses on the limitations of passing in urban America.

Episode 5: Philip K. Dick Book Club: The Little Movement

In this episode, the toys attack. Examine Dick's version of Toy Story in "The Little Movement."

Episode 26: Jessie Redmon Fauset: Plum Bun (1)

Part one of a three part series on Jessie Redmon Fauset's novel Plum Bun, the classic Harlem Renaissance novel about passing.

Episode 4: Philip K. Dick Book Club: The Skull

In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club, we look at the 1952 story, "The Skull." In it, the origins of a new religion is explained through time travel. And maybe, it works to explain how another religious leader could appear after his untimely death.

Episode 25: The Harlem Renaissance: Nella Larsen, Quicksand.

In this episode we will look at all of Nella Larsen's Quicksand, a novel about a young woman maturing in a biracial and international context. 

Episode 3: Philip K. Dick Book Club: "The Gun"

Philip K. Dick's second published story, "The Gun" explores the questions of knowledge, lost civilizations, and automation. It is Dick's first published commentary on the problem of automation, a theme he will thoroughly explore throughout the 1950s.

Episode 2: Philip K. Dick Book Club: Beyond Lies the Wub

Episode 2 of the Philip K. Dick Book Club looks at Dick's first publishes story, "Beyond Lies the Wub", a story of fate, self-sacrifice, and the transmigration of the soul....and a pig.

Episode 24: Harlem Renaissance: Claude McKay: Home to Harlem (2)

Part 2 on Claude McKay's novel Home to Harlem. Some great material on urban culture, mobility, railroad work, and love.

Episode 1: Philip K. Dick Book Club: Stablity

The first episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club-Podcast. Dick's posthumously published story "Stability" (1947).

Episode 23: Harlem Renaissance: Claude McKay: Home to Harlem (1)

The first of two parts on Claude McKay's brilliant novel Home to Harlem, about a deserter returning to Harlem, his working life, his relationships, and of course, race.

Episode 22: Jean Toomer: Cane

We begin a new series on the writers of the Harlem Renaissance with Jean Toomer's Cane. A great example of American modernism and in some ways a thematic summary of the issues writers explored in the Harlem Renaissance.

News Update: Philip K. Dick Project

This podcast will be bifrucating for the foreseeable future. In addition to reading through the Library of America (100 pages at a time), I will be beginning a complete study of the works of Philip K. Dick.

Episode 21: Frank Norris, Essays on Naturalism

We wrap up our series on Frank Norris with a look at some of his essays on naturalism.

Episode 20: Frank Norris, The Octopus (5): Sad Ending

The concluding episode on Frank Norris' epic tale of the production and transporation of wheat, The Octopus. As the novel concludes we see, with brutal finality how indiffernet the institution is to the individual.

Episode 19: Frank Norris, The Octopus (4): The Fall of the League

In this episode, we reach the climax of Frank Norris' The Octopus, which the defeat of the Rachers League and the triumph of the railroad.

Episode 18: Frank Norris, The Octopus (3): Fight or Die

Part 3 on Frank Norris' The Octopus. In this episode, we see the global significance of American wheat as the ranchers begin to search for ways to struggle against the railroad. And some of our beloved characters learn the hard way that the railroad leaves no one untouched.

Episode 17: Frank Norris, The Octopus (2): Love in the Wheat Fields

Second episode on Frank Norris' The Octopus. We see the beginnings of the ranchers' resistance and some nice meditations on relationships past and future. It's still spring and nothing has matured yet. We also get one of the great barn dances of American liteature.

Episode 16: Frank Norris, The Octopus (1): Setting

My first episode on one of my favorite novels, Frank Norris' The Octopus. This episode includes a detailed study of the characters of the novel.

Episode 15: Frank Norris, McTeague; Bird in a Gilded Cage

We complete our study of Frank Norris' McTeague. As always, I finish each study of a particular work with an examination of the major themes and tropes of the work.

Thanks for listening.

Episode 14: Frank Norris, McTeague: Show Me the Money

In the second episode on Frank Norris' McTeague, we find out what happens to our favorite neighborhood dentist when he gets married and runs into a little bit of cash. . . . It is not good.

Episode 13: Frank Norris, McTeague: A Dentist Falls in Love

The beginning of my analysis of Frank Norris' McTeague, a novel on possession and greed.

Episode 12: Frank Norris, Vandover and the Brute: The Decline of Vandover

This episode complete our study of Frank Norris' Vandover and the Brute. We watch Vandover's inevitable decline with a little bit of glee. I also sum-up some of the major themes of the novel.

Episode 11: Frank Norris, Vandover and the Brute: On Being a Pampered Jerk

We begin a new series on Frank Norris, starting with his Vandover and the Brute, first published after his death. In the first half of the novel, we see the early life of Vandover, his education, and the consequences of his playboy lifestyle. This episode also includes an introduction into Frank Norris and a discussion of his legacy.
This episode includes brief references to sexual violenc and suicide.

Episode 10: Melville: Mardi Part 4: Conclusion?

Our final episode on Herman Melville for a while and the end of a series on Mardi. In the final part of the novel we enter Melville's metaphorical Europe and witness his critique of American democracy. This episode also includes an analysis of the major themes of the entire work.

Episode 9: Melville, Mardi, Part 3: Religion and Free Will

In part 3 of our study of Herman Melville's Mardi, we take on the deep questions of free will and religion.
Yet the elusive Yillah is not to be found.

Episode 8: Melville: Mardi Part 2: Lost Love

In our second episode on Herman Melville's Mardi, we follow the adventures of Taji and his new companions: a philosopher, a king, a poet, and a historian. They begin to search all of the world of Mardi for Taji's lost love, Yillah.

Episode 7: Mardi: Part 1: Dude? Am I still in the Pacific?

The first of four episodes exploring Herman Melville's Mardi. He goes off the rails a bit in this one and and it is lots of fun.

Episode 6: Omoo 3: Island Wanderlust

In this final episode on Herman Melville's Omoo, we follow our narrator in various adventures through the islands of the Society Islands all of which climax in a failed job interview.

Episode 5: Omoo 1: Jailhouse Blues

I continue my study of Herman Melville's Omoo. In this part of the novel, our characters are put in a jail for sailors in punishment for resisting work. Their life in jail is partially a lesson in working class hyjinks and partially a lesson in class discipline.

Episode 4: Omoo: I Prefer Not to Sail

Herman Melville's second novel Omoo explores the vagabonds and wanderers of the colonial Pacific. But before our heroes can join that cast of fascinating figures, they will need to find a way off of their ship and away from their captain.
Enjoy as work resistance becomes rebellion.

Episode 3: Typee-Conclusion

In this episode, I complete my analysis of Herman Melville's Typee and explore some of the major themes of the novel. We say goodbye to the Marqueses, for now.

Episode 2: Sailor Ethnography

In the second hundred pages of Herman Melvill'e Typee, our narrator settles into life with the cannibal Typee and decides to become an anthropologist.

Episode 1: Starting in the Pacific

Welcome to the first episode of the American Writers: One Hundred Pages at a Time podcast. In this first episode we explore the first 100 pages of Herman Melville's first novel, Typee.