Book Fight
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In the final episode of our "marriage plot" season, we welcome fan favorite Dave Housley (author, most recently, of The Other Ones, and founding editor of Barrelhouse Magazine) to talk about a book that updated the 19th-century marriage plot novel for the 1990s: Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary. Dave had seen the movie version of the novel multiple times. But none of us had ever read the novel, which began as a jokey column in a London newspaper. We talk about the book's quirky voice, which of its jokes still land in 2024, and whether our culture's attitudes toward diet and body image have changed significantly in the last few decades. Plus: Dave's advice to Mike for marital harmony, and is author Matthew Quick part of the sprawling QAnon conspiracy? You can learn more about Dave, and his books, at his website: https://housleydave.com/. And keep up with all things Barrelhouse here: https://www.barrelhousemag.com/ If you like the podcast, and would like more of it in your life, please consider subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight This is the eighth and final episode in our "marriage plot" season, which means we'll be taking a break until our next season drops, sometime in the fall. But we'll continue to post new episodes every two weeks on our Patreon, including our ongoing Hunt for the Worst Book of All Time, and our deep dive into the fictional portrayal of writers in movies and TV shows. If you have ideas for Patreon episodes, please don't hesitate to reach out! And, as always, thanks for listening!
We couldn't do a season on "the marriage plot" in literature without reading the Jeffrey Eugenides novel that's literally titled The Marriage Plot. Guest Lucas Mann (author, most recently, of the essay collected Attachments, and co-owner of Riffraff Bookstore and Bar in Providence, Rhode Island) joins us to discuss Eugenides' novel, which contains a "marriage plot" while also being a kind of meta-commentary on marriage plots. Plus: Is the book's clinically depressed, bandana-wearing character meant to be David Foster Wallace? How does Lucas employ "power poses" to sell books? And is there anything worse than a cash-bar wedding? You can find more info about Lucas, including where to read his work and how to buy his books, at his website: https://www.lucasmann.com/ If you like the podcast, and would like more of it in your life--two bonus episodes each and every month--consider chipping in $5 to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight Note: This episode is the 7th of 8 in our Marriage Plot season (not that you need to listen to them in order!). After next week's episode we'll be taking a break, but we'll continue to post new episodes every other week on our Patreon feed.
Poet and novelist Beth Ann Fennelly (Heating & Cooling, The Tilted World) joins us to talk about an unconventional love story, Harrison Scott Key's How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told. We talk about learning life lessons from memoirs, how to write about difficult relationships--especially when you're still in them--and Beth Ann's experience of writing a novel collaboratively with her husband. Plus: Mike's pre-marriage angst about wedding rental companies, and why it costs so much to rent a chair.
We continue our "marriage plot" season with guest Curtis Sittenfeld (Prep, American Wife, Romantic Comedy) who talks us through one of her favorite Alice Munro stories, why she admires it, and how it's influenced her own work. Plus: Are trains romantic? Is some writing trying too hard to be sexy? And what's the ideal bathroom situation for a marriage? For more about Curtis, and her books, visit her website: https://curtissittenfeld.com/ If you like the podcast, and would like more of it in your life, consider joining our Patreon, where $5/month gets you lots of bonus content, and helps support the show more generally: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight Thanks for listening!
Our "marriage plot" season continues, but with a twist: on this episode, novelist Peter Ho Davies introduces us to "the parent plot," which he argues is a contemporary successor to all those 19th-century novels about choosing a mate. For many, becoming a parent is not only one of life's biggest choices, but also a cultural marker of adult responsibility and growing up. As an example, we dive into Ben Lerner's 2014 novel, , about a writer trying to finish his next book and also decide whether to father a child with his platonic best friend. To learn more about Davies, and his many wonderful, widely-celebrated books, you can visit his website: http://peterhodavies.com/ If you like our podcast, and want to support it--plus get access to twice-monthly bonus episodes--please consider subscribing to our Patreon, for just $5 a month: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight Thanks for listening!
Our season on "the marriage plot" continues, with author Tyrese Coleman (How to Sit) joining us to talk about the first book in the Outlander series, which is one of the most popular historical fantasy romance novels ever written. She tries to help us understand why people find it sexy, rather than tedious. We also talk about the book's relationship to various genre tropes, and Ty tells us about the time she got banned from a Facebook fan group for suggesting some of the novel's characters were a little racist. You can keep up with Tyrese, and her writing, at her website: https://tyresecoleman.com/ If you're enjoying our podcast, and want more of it in your life, consider subscribing to our Patreon, where $5 a month gets you two monthly bonus episodes, and access to our entire back catalog: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight Thanks for listening!
Our "marriage plot" season continues, with freelance writer and podcaster Catherine Nichols joining us to talk about the "least fun" Bronte sister, and her novel about what happens when you marry a drunken frat boy (or whatever the 19th-century equivalent of a frat was). Check out Catherine's podcast, Lit Century, in which she and author Sandra Newman read through the 20th century, one year at a time: https://lithub.com/author/litcentury/ If you're enjoying our show, and would like more of it, subscribe to our Patreon for just $5 a month, which gets you two monthly bonus episodes (and access to a whole host of old episodes): https://www.patreon.com/BookFight Thanks for listening!
We kick off our new, 8-episode season on "the marriage plot" in literature with guest Adelle Waldman (The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., Help Wanted) talking to us about one of her favorite authors, Jane Austen. You can learn more about Adelle and her books at her website: https://adellewaldman.com/ If you like the podcast, and want more of it in your life, join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight Thanks for listening!
We welcome writer and editor Michael Tager (Mason Jar Press; Pop Culture Poetry: The Definitive Collection ) to talk about Mindy Kaling's essay collection Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? Tager read Kaling's book during a period when he was reading a lot of memoirs and essay collections by comedians, including books by Tina Fey and Chelsea Handler. He talks about what made Kaling's stand out, and how his usual reading habits were interrupted by fatherhood. You can learn more about Tager's writing and editing projects, including his forthcoming book, at his website: http://www.michaelbtager.com/ If you like our podcast, and would like more of it in your life, please consider subscribing to our Patreon, where $5 a month gets you two monthly bonus episodes, plus access to our entire back catalog: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight Thanks for listening!
We're joined by Sal Pane--author, most recently, of the short story collection The Neorealist in Winter (winner of the 2002 Autumn House fiction prize) to discuss a pair of novellas by Italian writer Natalia Ginzburg. Plus: writing for video games, surviving winter, and cuffing season. For more about Sal, and his books, visit his website: https://salvatore-pane.com/ If you'd like more Book Fight in your life, consider subscribing to our Patreon, where $5 gets you two bonus episodes each month, including throughout our upcoming hiatus: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight Thanks for listening!
It's a fan favorite every year: we choose a (possibly terrible) Christmas novel, and we invite some of our fellow Barrelhouse editors on to discuss it. This year the book was A Christmas Memory, by the "king of Christmas fiction," Richard Paul Evans. And our guests include Dave Housley, Becky Barnard, Chris Gonzalez, and Joe Killiany! Is this book a heartwarming autobiographical tale about a young boy's friendship with an old African-American man in late-1960s Utah? Or is it the story of a little incel boy who will eventually grow up to found a creepy men's rights organization and compare the plight of white men to Jews in Nazi Germany? Every year we try to take a "fun" trip to Christmas Town, and every year we somehow wind up mired in a terrible shit show. Feliz Navidad!
We're joined by Hannah Grieco (writer, editor, recent MFA finisher) to discuss the 2021 novel Nightbitch, by Rachel Yoder, and its depiction of an overworked mother gone feral. You can order a copy of Already Gone, the anthology Hannah edited featuring 40 stories of people running away. And if you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us by joining our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/BookFight, where $5 gets you two bonus episodes each month.
We're joined by Athena Dixon (The Loneliness Files, Tin House Books) to talk about a famous novel she hated when she was first made to read it, and why it spoke to her so much more strongly when she revisited it years later. You can find links to order Athena's new essay collection via Tin House. You can sign up for Mike's Substack here: And if you like our podcast, $5/month can help us keep it going, plus give you access to two bonus episodes each month (and a whole slew of back episodes): https://www.patreon.com/BookFight
Author Adam O'Fallon Price (The Hotel Neversink) returns to talk about a great--if tough to categorize--Don Carpenter novel, Hard Rain Falling https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Falling-Review-Books-Classics/dp/1590173244. We talk about the novel's many plot swerves, and the depth and surprise in its portrayal of complicated men. Plus: an update on Tom's fancy "white glove service" desk from West Elm. For more on Adam, you can follow him on Twitter, or visit his website https://www.adamofallonprice.com/. If you like the podcast, and want more of it in your life, we're doing two monthly bonus episodes for just $5: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight
Our guest this week is the series editor for The Best American Science and Nature Writing, and author of the book The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos. She had us read an Ursula LeGuin novella about a "generation ship," a science fiction trope involving humans traversing the universe in search of a new planetary home. Did she pick this specifically to troll Mike, who is on the record as a sci fi skeptic? It's entirely possible! We talk about what drew Jaime to science writing, and why she considers herself an essayist, rather than a journalist. Also: what would be on our wish lists for a new planet? And will this LeGuin novella finally be the thing to win Mike over to the side of sci fi? You can learn more about our guest, and her work, at her website: https://www.jaimegreen.net/ And if you like the podcast, and would like more of it in your life, consider joining our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight
We're joined by novelist James Hynes (Sparrow, The Lecturer's Tale, Next) to talk historical fiction. What are we looking for when we read a historical novel, and how is that different from what we want from actual history? How can writers put themselves inside the consciousness of someone living in a different time and place? For our book this week, we read Light, by Eva Figes, a slim 1984 novel that recouts a day in the life of the artist Claude Monet. We also talked about Jim's new book, Sparrow, which tells the story of an enslaved Roman boy being raised in a brothel. For all things James Hynes, visit his website here: http://www.jameshynes.com/ And if you like our podcast, and want more of it in your life (and want to help support its creation), check out our Patreon, where $5/month gets you access to bi-weekly bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight
We're talking YA sports books with Defector Media editor/co-owner Dan McQuade, who gave us two classics of the genre to read. Hoop Crazy was written in 1950 by Clair Bee, who was also a college basketball coach of some renown. The book features a Gallant type who has to defend his school's top-ranked team from the dangers of both racism and the three-point shot. Dan's second selection was Iron Duke, a 1938 novel by New Yorker writer John Tunis, who never considered himself a children's author, despite the fact that nearly all his 24 books were marketed to children. You can find out more about Defector Media here: https://defector.com/ And find Dan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dhm If you like the podcast, and want to help support it, plus get two bonus episodes every month, you can do that on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight
We're always happy for an excuse to revisit the work of Denis Johnson, so when this week's guest said he wanted to discuss Johnson's novel Angels, we were all in. We talk to Nick about being a self-taught writer, the fine line between funny and sad, and why Johnson's portrayals of substance abuse and mental health struggles spoke to him. You can pick up a copy of Nick's first book, a collection of stories, here. If you like the podcast, consider joining our Patreon, where $5 a month gets you access to a huge treasure trove of exclusive bonus episodes.
We talk with the creators of Chill Subs, an online portal for all things literary publishing, about the state of lit mags, why finding places to submit your work is such a chore, and why they created a site that attempts to make it easier. Karina Kupp and Benjamin Davis joined us from Poland and Georgia, respectively, to chat about their own experiences in the lit world, and their ambitious plans for Chill Subs. You can check out their site here: https://www.chillsubs.com/ You can read the Roxane Gay essay we discussed here: http://htmlgiant.com/random/a-rambling-poetry-fiction-literary-magazines-are-still-dying/ (that piece also links to the Ted Genoways essay Roxane's piece was responding to). And if you like the podcast, and want to ensure it keeps existing in the world, please consider joining our Patreon, where a mere $5/month gets you access to regular bonus episodes, plus a treaure trove of past bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight Thanks for listening!
We're joined by New York Times bestselling author Edan Lepucki, whose newest novel, Time's Mouth, is out now from Penguin Random House. We talk about her recent love of Larry McMurtry, why she'll never publish a short story collection, and why people need to get over their prudishness when it comes to literary depictions of sex. You can find all things Edan at her website, including links to order her new book, and to subscribe to her Substack: https://www.edanlepucki.com/ If you like our podcast, and want to help support it, please consider joining our Patreon, where we release two bonus episodes each month: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight Thanks for listening!
This week we're unlocking one of our bonus episodes, usually available only to Patreon subscribers. This is the inauguaral episode in our Summer of Shorts season, in which we're discussing both short stories and short pants. In this episode we take on a Ling Ma short story and also a pair of "conspiracy shorts" that are supposed to protect you from electromagnetic fields. If you like the episode, and want to hear the rest of the Summer of Shorts season, you can subscribe to our Patreon for just five bucks: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight You can also read the Ling Ma story we talked about here, via the New Yorker site (if you have free articles left this month, or are a subscriber): https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/07/11/peking-duck
We're joined by the author of SINK to talk about difficult memoirs, how various kinds of privilege play out in workshop, and why he likes writing that forces you to get a little lost. Check out more from Joseph--and buy his book--via his website: https://www.josephearlthomas.net/ You can learn more about Blue Stoop Philly, including local literary events and course offerings, here: https://www.bluestoop.org/ And if you like our podcast, and want more of it in your life--including two bonus episodes each month--join our Patreon for just $5: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight
We're joined by Irish author Mark O'Connell (A Thread of Violence, Notes from an Apocalypse, and To Be a Machine, which won the 2019 Rooney Prize for Irish literature) to discuss a John Banville novel, The Book of Evidence, a fictionalized account of a famous Irish murder. O'Connell's newest book is actually a nonfiction exploration of that same murder, which took place in the early 80s and made headlines around the country, in part because the murderer was a well-known Dublin socialite. We talk to O'Connell about why he became so obsessed with that murder, his approach to writing and researching nonfiction, and why he's not worried about AI taking any of our jobs. You can find more about O'Connell--and his books--at his website: https://mark-oconnell.com/ If you like our show, and want to support it, we're offering two bonus episodes each month for only $5. Most recently those include our ongoing Summer of Shorts, in which we read short stories and talk about short pants: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight
We're joined by Sebastian Castillo--author, most recently, of SALMON--to discuss a very strange, and strangely funny, novel.
We're joined by Libby Cudmore--author of the "hipster mystery" novel The Big Rewind--to talk about her experiments in flash fiction, her relationship to genre, and why she loves Dave Housley's LOONEY. You can find Libby on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/LibbyCudmore And if you like our show, please consider joining the Patreon. Just five bucks a month gets you access to bonus episodes, including our special Summer of Shorts season: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight
We're joined by fiction writer Sarah Anne Strickley (Incendiary Devices) to talk about what it's like to be one half of a literary power couple. Plus a strange Brian Evenson novella, Sarah's path toward weirdness in her own fiction, and whether the Iowa Writers Workshop will live inside our heads forever.
We're joined by the founding editors of Great Place Books--Emily Adrian and Alex Higley--to talk about why they started a new press, and the kinds of books they're hoping to publish. We also discuss Rivka Galchen's short story, "How I Became a Vet," from a recent issue of The New Yorker. You can learn more about Great Place Books here: https://www.greatplacebooks.com/ You can read "How I Became a Vet" here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/13/how-i-became-a-vet Alex on Twitter: https://twitter.com/higley_alex Emily on Twitter: https://twitter.com/adremily Join our Patreon, support the show, and get access to fun bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight
We're joined by Nic Brown, author of several books, most recently the memoir Bang Bang Crash, about his life as a rock drummer. Nic was also a grad school classmate of ours at the Iowa Writers Workshop, so we decided to revisit Stop-Time, the famous memoir by Frank Conroy, who was in his final years of running the program when we were students there. You can find Nic (and his book) here: https://www.nicbrown.net/ If you like the show, and want more of it, you can Subscribe to our Patreon for $5 a month and get exclusive bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight
We're joined by John Cotter, author of the memoir Losing Music, out this week from Milkweed Editions. The book is about an incurable inner-ear disorder that came on suddenly, and inexplicably, and how John has had to reckon with the gradual loss of his hearing, and the host of other issues that brings with it. John picked a famous Maxine Hong Kingston essay for us to read, one that offers an interesting model for writing about what we know. You can learn more about John, and find links to purchase his book, here: https://johncotter.net/ If you like the show, and would like to exchange five of your hard-earned dollars for monthly bonus content--including access to the Book Fight Book Club--you can sign up for our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight
Return guest Christopher Gonzalez (I'm Not Hungry But I Could Eat) joins us to talk about the difference between gay stories and queer stories, writing long, and how not to be a creepy weirdo on Twitter. You can read Alejandro Varela's story, "Carlitos in Charge," here, via Harper's: https://harpers.org/archive/2019/10/carlitos-in-charge-alejandro-varela/ Learn more about Chris and his work here: https://chris-gonzalez.com/ If you want to support the podcast, you can join our Patreon for just $5: https://www.patreon.com/BookFight
