American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

The second half of Charlie Brown's "Arthur Mervyn" drags a bit in my view, but there is still some nice moments and we can start to see the possibilities of a feminist interpretation of early American history in Brown's writing.

My review of the opening chapters of "The Zap Gun" by Philip K. Dick. An interesting novel exploring the relationship between the military-industrial complex and a consumer economy. In this part of the novel we meet our depressed hero with an explosive name, Lars Powderdry.

Part 2 of my review of Charles Brockden Brown's novel "Arthur Mervyn". In this section we experience the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 in stunning brutal detail.

A preview of his novel "Counter-Clock World", "Your Appointment Will be Here Yesterday" introduces us to the Hobart phase and the consequences of the rising dead.

In "Holy Quarrel", Philip K. Dick takes on big data....again. A really good story and more relevant than ever.

"Arthur Mervyn" is another strange tale by Charles Brockden Brown, although this one is a bit more down to earth. It tells the story of a young man who falls into a criminal network when he tries to go from the farm to the city. How will he end up?

In this episode I take on the 1966 short story by Philip K. Dick "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale". It has spies, aliens, and world-saving empathy.

The final episode containing my thoughts on Philip K. Dick's "Now Wait for Last Year". This novel has one of the best endings in a Philip K. Dick novel. Marriage still sucks, but maybe we need to stick with it because it is one of the areas where we can find institutionalized solidarity.

The finale of this short series on "Wieland" by Charles B. Brown. Madness or the supernatural or the machinations or a trickster?

A new series on Charles Brockden Brown. We will start with "Wieland", one of independent America's first novels, a strange story of ancestry and insanity.