American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 18: The Cookie Lady

In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club we examine "The Cookie Lady," Dicks retelling of the Hansel and Gretel story. But what does a story about the old consuming the young have to do with our time? A lot, it seems.

Episode 40: Thomas Paine: The Crisis and Other Pamphlets

In this episode we look at the remainder of Paine's pamphlets, including the final Crisis articles and "Agrarian Justice."

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 17: Martians Come in Clouds

In "Martians Come in Clouds", Philip K. Dick takes on lynching and race relations in the suburbs. Or maybe he is just writing science fiction.

Episode 39: Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, Part 2

In this episode we continue reading The Crisis and see as Paine begins to think about what kind of nation will come out of the armed conflict with Britain.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 16: Colony

What happens when your toaster is plotting against you? Find out in the episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club as we look at "Colony."

Episode 38: Thomas Paine: The Crisis, Part One

In this episode, Thomas Paine goes to the front and provides reportage, and trolls the British. Learn what is wrote in The American Crisis.

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 15: Paycheck

In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club, we examine "Paycheck," a story of corporate games that remind us of later cyberpunk works.

Episode 37: Thomas Paine: Common Sense

In this episode, we begin a new series on Thomas Paine with his 1776 pamphlet "Common Sense".

Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 14: The Preserving Machine

In this episode we see how cultures could be preserved in DNA, and corrupted. We also witness another example of how Dick misunderstood evolution.

Episode 36: Arna Bontemps: Black Thunder (2)

In this final episode on the Harlem Renaissance, I explore the impact of Gabriel's Revolt of 1800 as told by Arna Bontemps in his historical fiction novel Black Thunder. (See Episode 35 for my introduction to this book)

Episode 13: Philip K. Dick Book Club: Second Variety

In "Second Variety", Philip K. Dick explores the future of war at its most brutal.

Episode 35: Arna Bontemps: Black Thunder (1)

In this episode, I examine the first half of Arna Bontemp's novel on Gabriel's Revolt, Black Thunder.

Episode 12: Philip K. Dick Book Club: The Infinities

Energy beings, hamsters, evolution, and unexplored asteroids...it's Philip K. Dick's story "The Infinites".

Episode 34: Rudolph Fisher: The Conjure Man Dies (2)

Part 2 of 2 on Rudolph Fisher's The Conjure Man Dies, a wonderful Harlem Renaissance novel exploring magic and society in Harlem.

Episode 11: Philip K. Dick Book Club: The World She Wanted

In this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club we find out how to make the world--and the people in it--our plaything.

Episode 33: Rudolph Fisher: The Conjure Man Dies (1)

Rudolph Fisher's wonderful mystery novel of the Harlem Renaissance, The Conjure Man Dies, examines the people and culture of black Harlem.

Episode 10: Philip K. Dick Book Club: Roog

In "Roog," Dick explores the never ending battle between dog and garbage man, or something.

Episode 32: George Schuyler: "Black No More"

An interesting science fiction novel on race and the color line in America. In George Schuyler's Black No More we discover what happens when science provides a solution to the race problem in America.

Episode 9: Philip K. Dick Book Club: The Piper in the Woods

In "The Piper in the Woods", Philip K. Dick explores work and finds it better to rest and watch the pretty alien girls go by.

Episode 31: Langston Hughes: Not Without Laughter (2)

We continue our study of Not Without Laughter, the only novel written by Langston Hughes. This part follows our hero as he transitions from boy to man in the contet of the momentous early 20th century.

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.