American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)
1,067 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 16 ratingsIn each episode I discuss around 100 pages from the works of American writers. Contact me at [email protected]
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Episodes
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 45: James P. Crow
October 28, 2017 01:22 - 31 minutes - 34.6 MBOnce again Philip K. DIck takes on segregation and race relations. But is the answer he provides in "James P. Crow" right? I worry that this is a story Richard Spencer can get behind.
Episode 65: Jack London, The Call of the Wild
October 25, 2017 11:43 - 44 minutes - 47.4 MBMy comments on Jack London's signature text, The Call of the Wild. Was the original J-Lo talking about dogs, wolves, or us?
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 44: Beyond the Door
October 25, 2017 11:40 - 19 minutes - 20.3 MBPart of a series of 1953-1955 short stories exploring marriage by Philip K. Dick. "Beyond the Door" combines a critique of clock time with a critique of the bourgie marriage.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 43: The Golden Man
October 22, 2017 16:33 - 35 minutes - 37.4 MBDick's first great story of posthumanism and mutants is "The Golden Man." Can humans coexist with Humanity+?
Episode 64: Jack London: John Barleycorn, Second Part
October 22, 2017 16:29 - 47 minutes - 50.4 MBPart two of my overview of Jack London's John Barleycorn. The focus of this episode is the "White Logic" and London's depression. Four essays by Jack London are also briefly explored.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 42: Jon's World
October 20, 2017 10:18 - 28 minutes - 30.8 MBIn "Jon's World," Philip K. Dick wrote a followup to "Second Variety." While the humans one the war, the survivors are put in a position of prefering an alterantive timeline where the war never started, even if it means the end of all they knew.
Episode 63: Jack London: John Barleycorn, First Half
October 20, 2017 10:14 - 25 minutes - 27 MBJack London's brilliant autobiography on alcohol, John Barleycorn, Or Alcoholic Memoirs, is a book about many things, including male socialibility and working class culture. One of my favorite books by London.
Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 41: The Builder
October 18, 2017 13:45 - 32 minutes - 34.1 MBPhilip K. Dick explores the Biblical story of Noah, the suburban family, and post-traumatic stress in his short story "The Builder."
Episode 62: Jack London; Martin Eden (4)
October 18, 2017 13:42 - 54 minutes - 58.6 MBThe final episode on Jack London's Martin Eden. What happens when our lonely writer finds success?
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 40: The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford
October 13, 2017 16:16 - 44 minutes - 47.1 MBIn this episode we examine the Philip K. Dick story "The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford." What does this story tell us abour family? Consumerism? Technology? Work? A silly story on first glance acually has a lot to tell us.
Episode 61: Jack London, Martin Eden (3)
October 13, 2017 16:08 - 30 minutes - 32.8 MBPart three of a series on Jack London's Martin Eden. In this part, we explore Eden's frustrations, his new friendships, and the decline of his romantic life.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 39: The Crystal Crypt
October 09, 2017 01:55 - 22 minutes - 24.5 MBIn "The Crystal Crypt", Philip K. Dick explores the arms race and the "spy v. spy" dynamic of the Cold War. But does Dick have more to say about the city and the state?
Episode 60: Jack London; Martin Eden (2)
October 09, 2017 01:53 - 40 minutes - 43.8 MBIn this episode I look at the second hundred pages of Jack London's masterpiece Martin Eden. What are the challenges of becoming a writer in the face of the impersonal publishing industry? How does an artist face poverty?
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 38: A Present for Pat
October 05, 2017 15:16 - 17 minutes - 19.6 MBIn this episode of the Philip K. Dick Club we look at "A Present for Pat", cargo cults, and alien gods.
Episode 59: Jack London, Martin Eden (1)
October 05, 2017 15:08 - 41 minutes - 44.4 MBIn this episode we meet Martin Eden and the struggles of a working class man to become a published writer.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 37: The Hanging Stranger
October 01, 2017 23:34 - 27 minutes - 28.7 MBWe look at "The Hanging Stranger," Philip K. Dick's story of lynching and state power. And it has Lovecraftian creatures in it. What happens when we story accepting the cruelities essential to the systerms we live in?
Episode 58: Jack London: The Iron Heel (2)
October 01, 2017 23:31 - 54 minutes - 59.3 MBIn the second part of The Iron Heel, Jack London takes us to the events surrounding the first uprising, or the Chicago Commune. How does the Oligarchy survive this and other threats? How much of London's novel is true to life? Are we facing our own Iron Heel today?
Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 36: Project: Earth
September 27, 2017 12:36 - 32 minutes - 35.1 MBIs creation just a failed experiment? Do children hold the key to preserving individualism in an increasingly conformist world? These are some of the questions explored in Philip K. Dick's short story "Project: Earth".
Episode 57: Jack London: The Iron Heel (1)
September 27, 2017 12:34 - 39 minutes - 41.3 MBThe first episode of two on Jack London's dystopian novel, The Iron Heel. In this work, London takes on the role of prophet as he predicts what the future of American capiatalism will be. How much of his prediction has come true?
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 35: Some Kinds of Life
September 25, 2017 00:02 - 26 minutes - 27.7 MBPhilip K. Dick takes on endless war and consumerism in his allegorical tale "Some Kinds of Life". Are wars for resources ever justifiable? What happens when we start to fight wars to keep up with the most banal consumer technologies.
Episode 56: Jack London: The Road
September 24, 2017 23:57 - 56 minutes - 59.2 MBIn this episode I explore Jack London's memoirs on his year as a hobo, The Road. This short book is a great introduction into hobo life and the economic depression of the 1890s.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 34: Planet for Transients
September 22, 2017 02:00 - 19 minutes - 20.4 MBDoes Earth belong to humans, or to the life that comes after us? Philip K. Dick asks this question in his short story "Planet for Transients."
Episode 55: Jack London, The People of the Abyss (2)
September 22, 2017 01:56 - 34 minutes - 36.6 MBPart two of my comments on Jack London's People of the Abyss, with more on his socialism and what it means for his social Darwinism.
Episode 54: Jack London, The People of the Abyss
September 18, 2017 12:52 - 32 minutes - 34.9 MBOnce again, a new series. Join me as I explore the worst in human nature with Jack London in London's East End, in The People of the Abyss.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 33: The Impossible Planet
September 18, 2017 12:49 - 14 minutes - 16.4 MBIn this episode, Philip K. Dick introduces us to some humans who remember Earth only as a myth. In The Impossible Planet, they try to find Earth to make some quick cash , but who knows what might be out there. Probably contains spoilers for the upcoming television show episode.
Philip K Dick Book Club: Episode 32: The Trouble with Bubbles
September 17, 2017 02:30 - 15 minutes - 17 MBBefore Minecraft, before World of Warcarft, Philip K. Dick imagined Worldcraft bubbles. But is it right to destroy these worlds when we build them? Are we in a simluation? If so, so we have a right to life?
Episode 53: John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men
September 17, 2017 02:26 - 31 minutes - 34.3 MBI finish up this phase of John Steinbeck's career with one of his most famous works, Of Mice and Men.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 31: Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Preview
September 15, 2017 04:32 - 21 minutes - 23.2 MBMy opening thoughts on the episodes we can expect to see on Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams. Spoilers for all the stories these episodes have been adapted from are included. All in all, it looks like a great television series that is remaining true to the stories and the themes of Philip K. Dick.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 30: King of the Elves
September 12, 2017 01:20 - 26 minutes - 28.2 MBAnother of Dick's early fantasy stories, "The King of the Elves", might just be his first great work on mental illness.
Episode 52: John Steinbeck, In Dubious Battle (2)
September 12, 2017 01:18 - 40 minutes - 43.4 MBPart two of my review of In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 29: The Great C
September 08, 2017 07:05 - 22 minutes - 23.9 MBIn "The Great C", Philip K. Dick explores a post-war world where humans sacrifice their young to a super computer. But other than that, it seems like a nice society.
Episode 51: John Steinbeck, In Dubious Battle (1)
September 08, 2017 07:02 - 52 minutes - 56.6 MBJohn Steinbeck takes on class war in his wonderful novel In Dubious Battle.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 28: Dick's Philosophy of History
September 06, 2017 01:52 - 45 minutes - 48.6 MBSomething a little bit different. How did Philip K. Dick see history? Is history eternal return or are we destined for a final frontier?
Episode 50: John Steinbeck, Tortilla Flat (2)
September 06, 2017 01:50 - 55 minutes - 58.8 MBPart two of my survey and review of Tortilla Flat. Back in Taiwan!
Episode 49: John Steinbeck, Tortilla Flat (1)
September 03, 2017 01:52 - 35 minutes - 38.2 MBIn this episode we meet the paisanos of Montery as we look at Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 27: The Commuter
September 03, 2017 01:50 - 27 minutes - 29.7 MBIn this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club we look at urban planning and suburbia in "The Commuter". (This story will be adapted in Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams)
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 26: Out in the Garden
August 29, 2017 05:36 - 16 minutes - 18.3 MBMy thoughts on "Out in the Garden," one of Dick's earliest essays on the broken American family. It will not be his last. A fun fantasy story.
Episode 48: John Steinbeck, To a God Unknown (2)
August 29, 2017 05:33 - 41 minutes - 45 MBPart two of my reading of "To a God Unknown," an underappreciated novel by John Steinbeck. Let me know what you thought of this novel, if any of you have read it.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 25: The Cosmic Poachers
August 25, 2017 02:38 - 15 minutes - 16.4 MBAnd we are back to looking at Dick's early short stories. In this episode on "The Cosmic Poachers", we get an alien tale with the most banal invasion strategy.
Episode 47: John Steinbeck, To a God Unknown (1)
August 25, 2017 02:36 - 28 minutes - 30.3 MBIn this episode we take a look at the quitessential American rural mystic in John Steinbeck's underappreciated To a God Unknown.
Philip K. Dick Book club: Episode 24.6: Solar Lottery, Part 6
August 20, 2017 08:32 - 30 minutes - 32.9 MBIn this final episode on Philip K. Dick's Solar Lottery, I take a closer look at some of the themes of the novel and give my final thoughts. Thanks for listening to this series. It has been fun getting into one of Dick's most thematically rich novels.
Philip K. Dick Book club: Episode 24.5: Solar Lottery, Part 5
August 20, 2017 08:28 - 22 minutes - 24.4 MBIn this episode, we finish up with the chapter summaries for Solar Lottery. What will happen to this world when the crisis passes? Dick does not give us easy answers (or really any answers). Like the frontier, the future is unwritten.
Philip K. Dick Book club: Episode 24.4: Solar Lottery, Part 4
August 20, 2017 08:26 - 16 minutes - 18.1 MBI am back from the USA! Thanks for waiting. Here is the next part on Solar Lottery. It is a very action and plot-heavy section, but still has some great Philip K. Dick themes to explore.
Episode 46: John Steinbeck, Pastures of Heaven (2)
August 08, 2017 01:05 - 30 minutes - 32.8 MBIn this episode, I look at the second half of John Steinbeck's Pastures of Heaven. Sorry for the delays in publishing these episodes. I am enjoying my summer in Wisconsin. Things will get more regular when I get back to Taiwan.
Philip K. Dick Book club: Episode 24.3: Solar Lottery, Part 3
August 08, 2017 01:02 - 23 minutes - 26.1 MBPart three of Philip K. Dick's Solar Lottery.
Philip K. Dick Book club: Episode 24.2: Solar Lottery, Part 2
August 08, 2017 01:00 - 24 minutes - 26.2 MBPart two (Chapter 4-6) of Philp K. Dick's Solar Lottery. In a world based on randomness, anything can happen.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 24.1: Solar Lottery, Part 1
July 31, 2017 16:20 - 26 minutes - 28.5 MBAnd we come to Dick's first novel, Solar Lottery. In this episode we will look at the first three chapters of the book, which does a lot to set up the setting and the world.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 23: The Indefatigable Frog
July 28, 2017 01:58 - 9 minutes - 10.4 MBPhilip K. Dick takes on Zeno's paradox in "The Indegatigable Frog".
Episode 45: John Steinbeck, Pastures of Heaven (1)`
July 27, 2017 21:36 - 25 minutes - 25.8 MBIn this episode we start a new series on John Steinbeck, beginning with his novel of short stories The Pastures of Heaven.
Philip K. Dick Book Club: Episode 22: The Variable Man
July 22, 2017 16:57 - 39 minutes - 40.5 MBIn this episode of the Philip K. Dick Book Club we take on one of my favorite early Dick stories (novella to be honest), "The Variable Man". (I mention that Hollywood never took on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, but I was wrote. There was a 1944 adaptation. I stand by that my claim that this could make a good movie if revisted.) Let me know what you think? Does "The Variable Man" deserve more love?