Best Last Books

In 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 the authors might have written next, if, you know, they hadn't died. Tune in for this and more, including Marlon and Jake’s surprising thoughts on James Thurber's humorous memoir, My Life and Hard Times.

Select titles discussed:

Maurice by E. M. ForsterGo Set a Watchman by Harper LeeTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeNorthanger Abbey by Jane AustenPride and Prejudice by Jane AustenWe Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley JacksonWide Sargasso Sea by Jean RhysThe Blue Flower by Penelope FitzgeraldLolita by Vladimir NabokovThe Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño2666 by Roberto BolañoExercises in Style by Raymond QueneauA Room with a View by E. M. ForsterPassage to India by E. M. ForsterSomething Happened by Joseph HellerThe Bell Jar by Sylvia PlathAfter Leaving Mr. Mackenzie by Jean RhysOne Writer’s Beginnings by Eudora WeltyThe Robber Bridegroom by Eudora WeltyThe Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty“Where is the Voice Coming From?” by Eudora WeltyMy Life and Hard Times by James ThurberTypee by Herman MelvilleWar and Peace by Leo TolstoyUncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher StoweThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark TwainThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark TwainWuthering Heights by Emily BrontëThe Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara