American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

Episode 594: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (Part 2)

The conclusion of my thoughts on the slave narrative by Olaudah Equiano. In my view, in this narrative he parallels the struggle against slavery with his Christian journey for salvation, coming together into a call for action. Next we will jump to the antebellum slave narratives with the Confessions of Nat Turner.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 42: It’s Great to be Back

"It's Great to be Back" is another 1947 Saturday Evening Post story by Robert A. Heinlein dealing with nostalgia for Earth and the human presence in space. A great story to pair with "The Green Hills of Earth".

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 41: The Green Hills of Earth

In this wonderful short story, Heinlein tells us the history of a blind working class space poet, who also caught the essence of Earth's identity in space. One of his best.

Episode 593: Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1)

The first of two episodes covering Olaudah Equiano's amazing slave narrative. It is a thematic. structural, and moral foundation of all other slave narratives. It is also an amazing story that everyone should read.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 41: Columbus was a Dope

In this tiny story published in 1947 in STARTLING STORIES, Robert A. Heinlein explores the struggle for progress and how every generation builds off the courage of those that came before, and how we forget.

Episode 592: Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw

I am back from my summer break and start with a look at slave narratives. First up is the strange but significant account by James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw. It works as a narrative of the Atlantic working class and the benefits of Christianity, but never directly attacks slavery itself, making it one of the strangest slave narratives. However it was the first published in English.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 39: Jerry Is a Man

A great story by Robert A. Heinlein, "Jerry Is a Man" (1947) explores the nature of humanity, animal rights, and genetic engineering. It is hard not to think of this story in terms of Star Trek's great episode "The Measure of a Man"

Episode 591: Mark Twain: No 44: Mysterious Stranger

I complete my look at Mark Twain with one version of "Mysterious Stranger" known as "No. 44: The Mysterious Stranger". The other versions have interesting things to say as well, but this one focuses on work, automation, and technology.

Episode 590: Mark Twain: Tom Sawyer, Detective

A better novel than TOM SAWYER ABROAD, TOM SAWYER, DETECTIVE by Mark Twain picks up as a sequel to THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN. It also is a window into Tom Sawyer's potential adult life.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 38: Rocket Ship Galileo (Part 2)

It's Nazis on the moon in part two of ROCKET SHIP GALILEO by Robert A. Heinlein. While it does not compare to some of the short stories and later juvenile we will look at soon, there is some staying power with in this novel.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 37: Rocket Ship Galileo (Part 1)

The review of the first half of Robert A. Heinlein's ROCKET SHIP GALILEO, the first of his famous young adult novels. A rocket club gets a chance to go to the moon.

Episode 589: Mark Twain: Tom Sawyer, Abroad

In the short novel TOM SAWYER, ABROAD (1892), Mark Twain takes Tom, Huck Finn and Jim on a balloon voyage to Africa. In this episode are my thoughts on this book.

Episode 588: Mark Twain: The American Claimant

In 1892, Mark Twain published a sequel of sorts to THE GILDED AGE called THE AMERICAN CLAIMANT. It goes back to an old theme Twain was fascinated by: the mutual misunderstandings of Europeans and Americans. Throughout this story, Colonel Sellers is up to his old schemes.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 36: Free Men

In this episode of the Robert A. Heinlein Book Club, I look at "Free Men", an interesting and moralistic look at the duty of free men to resist authoritarian state power. More of a political tract than a story.

Episode 587: Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner: The Gilded Age (Part 4)

Finale of my review of THE GILDED AGE by Mark Twain. While not one his most popular novels, I think this one deserves a read for its important themes and reflections on American capitalism and politics.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 35: A Bathroom of Her Own

In this episode of the Robert A. Heinlein book club, I look at this odd little story "A Bathroom of Her Own," a non-science fiction tale of housing and politics.

Episode 587:Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner: The Gilded Age (Part 3)

Now we need to deal with two sussy colonels in this novel? Colonel Sellers and Colonel Selby team-up to extract love and money from post-Civil War Washington. THE GILDED AGE by Mark Twain is actually a pretty underrated novel.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 34: Waldo

We wrap up our pre-war coverage of Heinlein's works with WALDO, a fitting story to complete the Anson MacDonald ASTOUNDING period of Heinlein's career. It hits so many of the themes Heinlein had been playing with since he started writing.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 33: My Object All Sublime and Pied Piper (1942)

In this episode I mostly look at Heinlein's short story "My Object All Sublime" but also mention "Pied Piper". These forgettable tales may have some thematic interest regarding vigilantes and total war.

Episode 585: Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner: The Gilded Age (Part 2)

Part two of my review of THE GILDED AGE by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner. This part of the novel moves our focus to the national level and exposes how deep the corruption in the nation ran.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 32: The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag

"... Jonathan Hoag" is a great Robert A. Heinlein story that keeps getting me to think about and talk about Philip K. Dick. I loved it.

Episode 584: Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner: The Gilded Age (Part 1)

Part one of my review of the underrated novel THE GILDED AGE, by Mark Twain and another guy. It is one of the most sturdy investigations into America's political and economic culture. Sellers and Hawkins got something for you to buy.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 31: Goldish Bowl

"Goldfish Bowl" by Robert A. Heinlein is almost a H. P. Lovecraft story. One of his best pieces of short fiction that I read from him.

Episode 583: Mark Twain: Following the Equator

With this final episode on FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR, I finish up with Mark Twain's travel literature. Coming up is THE GILDED AGE and his later novels.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 30: Beyond this Horizon (Part 2)

There is a lot happening in the second half of BEYOND THIS HORIZON by Robert A. Heinlein, but I skip over most of that to talk about Heinlein and the gun culture.

Episode 582: Mark Twain: Following the Equator (Part 3)

At the halfway point of Mark Twain's FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR, we shift our focus to British India and the cultural changes and continuities in India under British rule.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 29: Beyond this Horizon (Part 1)

BEYOND THIS HORIZON by Robert A. Heinlein came out in early 1942 in ASTOUNDING. It is one of the best early Heinlein books and explores various themes he had been developing up to this time, including his vision for a post-scarcity society and a broadly available genetically engineered society. It is also famous for its commentary on gun culture.

Episode 581: Mark Twain: Following the Equator (Part 2)

The part of Mark Twain's FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR that I discuss in this episode explores the British colonization of Australia and carries on many of the themes from the first part of the book. It is a brutal and honest look at forced migrations, ecological change, and genocide.

Episode 580: Mark Twain: Following the Equator (Part 1)

In this episode I begin the final Mark Twain travelogue FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR. It is one of the greatest anti-imperialist texts of the 19th century, an excellent travelogue, and an example of Twain's most bitterly charged satire.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 28: Elsewhen

"Elsewhen" (also known as "Elsewhere") by Robert A. Heinlein is another borderline fantasy story that explores the unrealized potential of human beings. It also introduces the multiverse to his writing (a theme he will take up later).

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 27: And He Built a Crooked House

"... And Be Built A Crooked House" is a solid and fun story by Robert Heinlein, exploring the geography of four dimensions through the device of a tesseract house.

Episode 579: Mark Twain: A Tramp Abroad (Part 4, Conclusion)

A bit of fatigue with these travelogues by Mark Twain hits me in this (one of my shortest) episodes. A TRAMP ABROAD descends into more simple tourism at the end, sadly. Hopefully, I will have more to say in FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 26: By His Bootstraps

Well, this one is a doozy. BY HIS BOOTSTRAPS is one of the best Robert A. Heinlein stories yet. A perfectly constructed time travel story that begs the question: Can you lift yourself by your own bootstraps? Answer: Maybe?

Episode 578: Mark Twain: A Tramp Abroad (Part 3)

Part 3 of my review of Mark Twain's A TRAMP ABROAD tried to take a big picture look at this book and its significance among Twain's travel literature.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 25: Sixth Column (Part 2)

The second part of my review of SIXTH COLUMN by Robert A. Heinlein. It is a fascinating a troublesome book about race, religion, resistance, and technology.

Episode 577: Mark Twain: A Tramp Abroad (Part 2)

I continue to work my way through the works of Mark Twain with A TRAMP ABROAD. Mark Twain seems to be coming to terms with European nationalism and folklore as he makes his deep dive into the German land, culture, and people.

Episode 576: Mark Twain: A Tramp Abroad (Part 1)

We go back to the travel writings with Mark Twain's 1880 A TRAMP ABROAD. These are some of the funnest to read and some of the hardest to talk about books I have ever one on this podcast. In any case, let's see what Mark Twain thinks of Europe now that he is not innocent anymore.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 24: Sixth Column (Part 1)

This one (Robert A. Heinlein's SIXTH COLUMN) certainly leaves us with lots to talk about, including Pan-Asianism, technology, religion, and race. This is episode 1 of 2 exploring this short novel, originally published in 1941.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 23: Lost Legacy

Let's explore some Super science and posthumanism with Robert A. Heinlein's LOST LEGACY, a novella about the untapped potential of humanity and infiltrating The Boy Scouts.

Episode 575: Mark Twain: The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Part 4)

In this episode I finish another book (Mark Twain's PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF JOAN OF ARC) and another volume of the Library of America. At this rate, I will finish in about the time it took for France to win the 100 Years War!