Marlon and Jake Read Dead People
34 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 months ago -Marlon and Jake Read Dead People is a podcast hosted by the Man Booker Prize-winning and internationally bestselling author Marlon James and his editor, Jake Morrissey, Executive Editor at Riverhead Books. In each episode, Marlon and Jake talk about authors—specifically dead authors. Authors they like. Authors they hate. Great books, terrible books, and books they love that you’d never expect them to. As a writer and an editor, Marlon and Jake have read thousands of books between them, and they’re not shy in expressing their opinions about them. Sometimes they’ll agree, sometimes they won’t, but in every episode, they’ll tell you what they think— uncensored and with no holds barred. (That’s why the authors have to be dead.) So, listen along to hear about the spectacularly good, the hilariously bad, and the brutally honest.
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Episodes
The Beach Read
May 02, 2023 09:00 - 40 minutes - 37 MBIn the final episode of the season, Marlon and Jake weigh in on their favorite vacation reads, including the ones they started but never finished. Tune in to find out which classic novels Jake took to the beach and which ones Marlon says should have been thrown in the ocean. Subscribe to our River-herd newsletter for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content. https://sites.prh.com/riverhead-reader-newsletter The Goodbye Look by Ross McDonald War and Peace b...
The Campus Novel
April 25, 2023 20:14 - 38 minutes - 35 MBIt was the best of times; it was the worst of times—it was school. In this episode, Marlon and Jake discuss books where school is the setting or going to school is central to the plot. They debate which authors got school right and which got school wrong, what makes an inspiring teacher, and what the closed universe of a schoolyard or college campus can feel like. Tune in to hear Marlon and Jake reminisce over their own college experiences and what they were like as students. Subscribe to o...
City Settings
April 18, 2023 12:56 - 45 minutes - 41.8 MBIn this episode, Marlon and Jake talk about cities in books. Books set in memorable cities, books set in cities you're glad you've never been to and books where the city itself is nearly a character. They talk about the specificity of London of the 19th century British novel, the New York novel, entirely fictional cities in Sci-Fi and Fantasy, and don’t miss Marlon’s personal experience with Bloomsday in Dublin! Subscribe to our River-herd newsletter for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, f...
Characters Behaving Badly
April 11, 2023 12:08 - 54 minutes - 50 MBIn this episode, Marlon and Jake talk about the bad characters we’re not meant to like but do and the good characters we’re meant to like but annoy us. From Dracula to Daisy Buchanan to Oliver Twist and Bambi, the good-to-evil spectrum is vast and no character is safe from commentary. Tune in to find out which classic villain the duo unanimously hate, and which villain gives Marlon the chills and scares Jake to this day. Subscribe to our River-herd newsletter for sneak peeks of our upcomin...
Poetry FOMO
April 04, 2023 08:00 - 40 minutes - 37.1 MBThis episode, Marlon and Jake discuss a new subject for the podcast: poetry! From epic poems to sonnets to the Romantics poets to contemporary (dead) poets. They ponder over why people don’t read poetry as much as prose and recite, on the spot, lines of poetry that are forever engrained in their memories. Subscribe to our River-herd newsletter for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content. https://sites.prh.com/riverhead-reader-newsletter The Canterbury Tales...
Books Assigned in School
March 28, 2023 09:00 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MBBooks assigned in school evoke strong feelings. You either love em’ or you hate em.’ In this episode, Marlon and Jake discuss the books they wished they were assigned in school and the ones they suffered through. Accompanying the books taught in school, there are, of course, the teachers who taught them. A teacher can make or break a book read in school. As a literature teacher (as well as Booker prize winning author), Marlon acknowledges there are some novels assigned in school that you hav...
Judging a Book
March 21, 2023 13:33 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBIn this episode, Marlon and Jake weigh in on a question as old as books themselves—can you judge a book by its cover? Spoiler alert: the answer is yes! They discuss good books with bad covers and bad books with good covers, cover art trends (*cough* the woman facing away), books that were recommended to them, and books they read because of peer pressure. Tune in to hear Marlon and Jake opine the myriad ways we judge books. Subscribe to our River-herd newsletter for sneak peeks of our upcomi...
From TBR to Recently Read
March 14, 2023 13:38 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MBMarlon and Jake are back! And they’re catching up on the dead authors they’ve read since they last spoke—some of which they praise, others they don’t. From comparing Nella Larson’s Passing to the Netflix film, to discussing unsettling stories that linger with you, they cover a lot of literary ground. They also weigh in on longstanding debates like whether they read the book or watch the movie adaption first and the difference between horror and terror. Tune in for the witty book banter you k...
Season Three Announcement
March 07, 2023 14:37 - 42 seconds - 677 KBIn just one week, Marlon and Jake return with an epic new season discussing the non-living luminaries they love, hate, and will never agree on. Get ready for even more hot takes, hilarious debates, and incisive commentary on dead poets, judging books by their covers, exactly what kind of student Marlon was in college, and which classic novel Jake spoiled the ending for a colleague—among other literary gems.
Appetizer 2: Powerful Female Characters
February 25, 2022 15:09 - 41 minutes - 37.6 MBMarlon & Jake are back to discuss the most indelible and powerful female characters—those written by dead female authors and those written by dead male authors. From Sula Peace to the Wife of Bath, Scout Finch to Janie Crawford—these two gentleman celebrate some of literature’s most ferocious, complicated, guileless, unrepentant and commanding women. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard Bleak House by Charles Dickens The Palliser novels by Anthony Trollope...
Appetizer 1: Unreliable Narrators
February 18, 2022 15:10 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MBMarlon & Jake are back to discuss the narrators they love but can't trust. From the delusional to the uninformed, the sociopathic to the sympathetic, they explore the characters that charm as much as they trick, begging the question: is there such a thing as a reliable narrator? So tune in to hear if Jake has warmed to Great Expectations (spoiler alert: he hasn’t) and so much more! Select titles mentioned in this episode: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Clockwork Orange by Anthony ...
Appetizers for everyone!
February 18, 2022 15:10 - 3 minutes - 3.34 MBWe didn't ghost you, dear listeners. Marlon had a novel to finish, which Jake had to edit. But the good news is it's officially out in the world, and so before Marlon—the very living author—takes off on his whirlwind book tour, he and Jake are back together for a brief (but delicious) reunion of discussing what they love most: DEAD AUTHORS. We'll be back for season three later this spring, but until then, stayed tuned for an amuse bouche, a canapé, an appetizer—take your pick!—to the gloriou...
Dead Authors Through History
September 01, 2021 12:00 - 58 minutes - 53.7 MBPrepare for what might be Marlon & Jake’s most controversial hot takes yet, as they travel back through the last four hundred years to decide which dead authors from each century stand the test of time and which can be left to gather dust on the shelf. Where do they fall on Paradise Lost? Who triumphs in the battle of the poets v. novelists of the 18th century? How much has the 1930s Hollywood studio system shaped classic stories? Which of them stans Huckleberry Finn, and who thinks it mi...
Books to Gift
August 25, 2021 12:00 - 47 minutes - 43.5 MBThis week Marlon & Jake discuss the books by dead authors they give as gifts and the very important decision-making that goes into that selection. Whether it’s for a younger, skeptical or pretentious reader, they share the unintentionally comedic and surprisingly engaging books they choose to bestow upon their loved ones. Middlemarch by George Eliot The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson Tai-Pan by James Clavell The Godfather by Mario Puzo Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh Kidnapped b...
Our Favorite Characters
August 18, 2021 12:00 - 45 minutes - 41.7 MBThis week Marlon & Jake discuss memorable characters from books by dead authors—who they love, who they despise and everything in between. What exactly makes a character great? Who would they invite to their literary dinner party and why? From Elmore Leonard’s Raylan to Louisa May Alcott’s Jo March, Lady Macbeth to Auntie Mame—tune in to hear which fictional personalities would get a seat at the table, who would be banished forever, and who Marlon and Jake would simply ignore. David Copp...
Books We Wish We had Written
August 04, 2021 13:26 - 56 minutes - 51.8 MBLiterary speculation abounds as Marlon and Jake reveal which books they wish they had written and which they think would have been better if they’d been written by someone completely different. Listen in as they explore the questions you never knew you needed answers to. Would The Confessions of Nat Turner have been better if Zora Neale Hurston had written it? Who could have written a funnier Ulysses? Were members of the Bloomsbury Group actually total bores? And perhaps most important: Does...
Gateway Books
July 28, 2021 14:29 - 49 minutes - 45.5 MBMarlon and Jake share their "gateway" books by dead authors, the first books they read that that turned them on—or off—the rest of an author's work. From John Steinbeck to Dorothy Parker, Umberto Eco to Norman Mailer, Ayn Rand to Carson McCullers, Marlon and Jake don't hold back in discussing the imprints, footprints, and thumbprints these books left on them. They also ponder the long-lasting consequences of the high school lit class, whether a gateway book can be assigned, and the enduring ...
Best Last Books
July 21, 2021 12:00 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MBIn this episode Marlon and Jake ponder the tricky question of the last books by authors who’ve … um … left this mortal coil. Which last books are actually worth reading? (Not many, it turns out.) From Roberto Bolaño to Penelope Fitzgerald, Sylvia Plath to Eudora Welty, Marlon and Jake discuss how an author's last book compares to their previous ones, how success and age changed how and what they wrote, and the wistfulness that comes when some last books are actually good and you wonder what ...
Our Second Favorite Books by Dead Authors
July 14, 2021 12:00 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBWe've heard them rave about their favorites and rant about their least favorites, but Marlon and Jake reveal in this episode their second favorite books by dead authors: the books they love that are the runners-up to the #1 spots in their hearts. From Amos Tutuola to Gabriel García Márquez to John le Carré and more, Marlon and Jake explore why one's favorite book by an author might not always be their best book, what separates an intellectual vs. an emotional response to a book, and the impo...
Good Books By Terrible People
July 07, 2021 13:35 - 41 minutes - 37.7 MBMarlon & Jake weigh in on the age-old “artist versus art” debate, as they examine good books by problematic dead authors, as well as the bad and sometimes problematic books by great dead authors. From Flannery O’Conner to Roald Dahl, Vladimir Nabokov to the surprisingly challenging Charles Dickens, Marlon & Jake explore the thorny questions surrounding the books worth fighting for and the ones worth fighting over. How exactly do we define terrible books? Is there a statute of limitations ...
Short Novels and Novellas
June 30, 2021 12:00 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MBMarlon and Jake talk short books they love, syllabus staples to skip (Hemingway die-hards, consider yourselves warned), and their first-ever real-time joint read, Blood on the Forge by William Attaway. What does Marlon consider the closest thing to a perfect novel? Tune in to find out! Sula by Toni Morrison Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls Miguel Street by V.S. Naipaul We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson Turn of the Screw by Henry James ...
We’re Baaaaack!
June 23, 2021 12:41 - 41 minutes - 37.7 MBMarlon and Jake reunite to discuss the books that got them through the pandemic, classics they wish they had written, and whether Lord of the Flies needs a sequel. Select titles mentioned in this episode: A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe Beloved by Toni Morrison Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle Kindred by Octavia E. Butler Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin Steppenwolf by Herman Hes...
Season Two Trailer
June 14, 2021 12:00 - 49 seconds - 769 KBMarlon and Jake are back with a sizzling new season of the dead authors they love, hate, and will never agree on. Get ready for even more heated (and hilarious) debates, unexpected insights, and—of course—brutal honesty. Dead authors never felt so cool.
Season Two Teaser
May 27, 2021 14:15 - 28 seconds - 444 KBMarlon and Jake are back this summer for a second season
Goodbye for Now, but We'll Be Back!
March 17, 2020 04:00 - 9 minutes - 8.84 MBAs Marlon and Jake wrap up Season 1 of Reading Dead People, they take a moment to reflect on what they've learned and what dead books and authors they want to discuss when they return for season two. So Marlon and Jake will be on a hiatus--they have some reading to do!--but fear not, they will be back soon to discuss the good, the bad and the everything in between. Until then, go read some dead people!!
Questions, Questions
March 09, 2020 05:00 - 46 minutes - 43.1 MBThis week Marlon and Jake answer some of the questions that listeners have asked. What dead author or book did they initially hate but have come around to love? What is the best book by the worst dead author? And who is the most annoying character by a dead author? (Spoiler alert: Heathcliff. Obviously.) Along the way Jake confesses a lack of enthusiasm for William Faulkner and, yes, Virginia Woolf, while Marlon bemoans the insufferably boring Thomas Hardy and makes a plug for the poetic dar...
Trashy Novels To Die For
March 02, 2020 05:00 - 37 minutes - 35.2 MBThis week Marlon and Jake dive into one of life’s great guilty pleasures: the trashy novel. Do such books provide intellectual stimulation or lessons on morality? Of course not. Nevertheless, Marlon and Jake extol the virtues of these irresistibly low-brow novels that they can’t get enough of, in the process asking: What makes a novel trashy and what makes it literary? If a book holds up a mirror to society, can it qualify as trash? What are the differences between trashy novels for women an...
Movies Made From Books by Dead People
February 24, 2020 05:00 - 41 minutes - 38.1 MBMarlon and Jake put on their Hollywood sunglasses as they discuss the films adapted from books by dead people. What makes a good movie adaptation? What translates from the page to the screen and what most definitely does not? Jake admits that The Exorcist is the most shocking novel and movie he’s ever encountered, and Marlon celebrates the unparalleled brilliance of Die Hard—which yes, was adapted from a novel, and which yes, Marlon has actually read. Jake (yet again) offends Marlon with his...
Memoir and Autobiography
February 17, 2020 05:00 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBThis week Marlon and Jake delve into the very real lives of very dead writers. From Gore Vidal to Frank McCourt, Ulysses S. Grant to Gabriel García Márquez, they discuss how memory compares to history and whether the trustworthiness of a memoir really matters if the book is a compelling read. Their discussion about WASPy realism leads them to debate whether John Cheever or John Updike is the better writer, and Marlon poses the scandalous question of whether Jane Austen lacked passion (gasp!)...
Myths, Legends and Fables
February 10, 2020 05:00 - 44 minutes - 41.2 MBThis week Marlon and Jake go back in time-way, way back-and revisit the myths and legends that have terrified and tantalized us for centuries. Gods and monsters. The powerful and the petty. The shape-shifting and the rampantly naked. From ancient Greece and Africa to Jamaica and Ireland, Marlon and Jake explore the world's myths and legends-how they persist and how we absorb, sanitize and subvert them. Whether it's Jason and the Golden Fleece, the trickster Anansi, or the non-consenting kis...
Epic Fantasy
February 03, 2020 05:00 - 41 minutes - 38.9 MBThis week Marlon and Jake venture into fantasy: the imagined worlds of dead writers—from quests and dragons to magic carpets and pregnant kings. As they dive into the works of the giants of traditional fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, they discuss the influence both writers had on Marlon's own fantasy epic, Black Leopard, Red Wolf, which was inspired by the epic traditions of Africa and writers like D.O. Fagunwa and Amos Tutuola. They debate how reading fantasy as a child differs from...
Dead Authors for a Desert Island
January 27, 2020 06:01 - 46 minutes - 42.7 MBMarlon and Jake are back-this time to discuss which dead author they'd take with them to a desert island to reread over and over again-as well as which ones they'd happily leave lost at sea. From the Jamaica of Wide Sargasso Sea to the lonely New England of Shirley Jackson, Marlon and Jake get fired up over the books they vehemently love and the ones they equally hate. Marlon explores his complicated love for James Clavell and the underappreciated wisdom of Pride & Prejudice's Charlotte Lu...
Literary Grudge Match
January 27, 2020 06:00 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBMarlon and Jake kick off the first episode by taking on some literary giants in a grudge match for the ages. This time it's Charles Dickens vs. Anthony Trollope and Louisa May Alcott vs. Laura Ingalls Wilder in a no-holds-barred royal rumble. The two of them pull no punches, whether they're talking about racism or Edith Wharton's snobbery, colonialism or Hugh Grant's hair. So get ready to cheer on your favorite dead author and literary warrior as Marlon and Jake go mano a mano in a street fi...
Marlon and Jake Read Dead People Trailer
December 18, 2019 17:10 - 55 seconds - 997 KBMarlon and Jake Read Dead People is a podcast hosted by the Man Booker Prize-winning and internationally bestselling author Marlon James and his editor, Jake Morrissey, Executive Editor at Riverhead Books. In each episode, Marlon and Jake talk about authors—specifically dead authors. Authors they like. Authors they hate. Great books, terrible books, and books they love that you’d never expect them to. As a writer and an editor, Marlon and Jake have read thousands of books between them, a...