Marlon and Jake Read Dead People

Marlon & 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 DickensClockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe Tristram Shandy by Laurence Stern Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson "Charles" by Shirley Jackson (in The Lottery and Other Stories collection)

We 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 glorious meal on the horizon.

Prepare 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 might be overrated?  Marlon & Jake answer these questions and more as they discuss the timeless work of the freaky, the rebellious and the groundbreaking. From Mary Shelley to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Paul Laurence Dunbar to Daphne du Maurier—with a healthy dose of Alexander Pope-dissing—tune in to find out where you stand with their picks. The Tale of Genji by Murasaki ShikibuThe Adventures of Amir Hamza by Ghalib Lakhnavi and Abdullah BilgramiParadise Lost by John MiltonThe Faerie Queene by Edmund SpenserThe Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer The Provoked Wife by John VanbrughFrankenstein by Mary ShelleyMathilda by Mary ShelleyThe Last Man by Mary ShelleyThe Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann RadcliffeNorthanger Abbey by Jane AustenThe Complete Poems of William BlakeRobinson Crusoe by Daniel DefoeMoll Flanders by Daniel DefoePamela by Samuel RichardsonBleak House by Charles DickensNana by Émile ZolaGerminal by Émile ZolaAdventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark TwainThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark TwainThe Complete Poems of Paul Laurence DunbarI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya AngelouThe Awakening by Kate Chopin“The Story of an Hour” by Kate ChopinA Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan DoyleForest of A Thousand Daemons by D.O. FagunwaCane by Jean ToomerTheir Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale HurstonBarracoon by Zora Neale HurstonOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García MárquezThe Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor by Gabriel García MárquezThings Fall Apart by Chinua AchebeArrow of God by Chinua AchebeNo Longer at Ease by Chinua AchebeThe Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr SolzhenitsynWar and Peace by Leo TolstoyRebecca by Daphne du MaurierA Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'EngleThe Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. TolkienGone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

This 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. BengtssonTai-Pan by James ClavellThe Godfather by Mario PuzoHarriet the Spy by Louise FitzhughKidnapped by Robert Louis StevensonThe Water-Babies by Charles KingsleyTreasure Island by Robert Louis StevensonThe Black Arrow by Robert Louis StevensonThe Gold-Bug by Edgar Allan PoeThe Radiance of the King by Camara LayeHeart of Darkness by Joseph ConradDon Quixote by Miguel de CervantesThe Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue TownsendLord of the Flies by William GoldingAnimal Farm by George OrwellNineteen Eighty-Four by George OrwellBrave New World by Aldous HuxleyThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. LewisThe History of Jamaica by Edward LongNicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. MassieOne Thousand and One Nights The Death of King Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory Oreo by Fran RossThe Stories of Breece D'J Pancake by Breece D’J PancakeThe Tale of Genji by Murasaki ShikibuLes Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 

This 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 Copperfield by Charles DickensWuthering Heights by Emily BrontëOliver Twist by Charles DickensThe Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar WildeLittle Dorrit by Charles DickensCrime and Punishment by Fyodor DostoevskyThe Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia HighsmithAnna Karenina by Leo TolstoyOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García MárquezSong of Solomon by Toni MorrisonBleak House by Charles DickensThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg LarssonPronto by Elmore LeonardLittle Women by Louisa May AlcottSula by Toni MorrisonLove in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García MárquezThe Parker novels by Richard StarkMacbeth by William ShakespeareThe Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso) by Dante AlighieriThe Merchant of Venice by William ShakespeareAuntie Mame by Patrick DennisTinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le CarréThe Palliser novels by Anthony TrollopeHamlet by William ShakespeareKing Lear by William ShakespeareThe Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor HugoMoby-Dick by Herman MelvilleThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldPride and Prejudice by Jane AustenJane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëA Tale of Two Cities by Charles DickensGreat Expectations by Charles DickensThe House of Mirth by Edith WhartonMadame Bovary by Gustave FlaubertLolita by Vladimir NabokovThe Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre DumasThe Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. LewisCharlotte’s Web by E. B. WhiteThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank BaumStuart Little by E.B. White

Marlon and Jake take on 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 fight you've definitely never come across before.Select titles mentioned in this episode:The Palliser Novels by Anthony TrollopeThe Warden by Anthony TrollopeA Tale of Two Cities by Charles DickensBleak House by Charles DickensGreat Expectations by Charles DickensLittle Dorrit by Charles DickensThe Old Curiosity Shop by Charles DickensDavid Copperfield by Charles DickensLittle Women by Louisa May AlcottLittle House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls WilderLorna Doone by R. D. BlackmoreOliver Twist by Charles DickensMaurice by E. M. ForsterStuart Little by E.B. WhiteThe Grapes of Wrath by John SteinbeckEast of Eden by John SteinbeckTravels with Charley by John SteinbeckThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldNick Adams Stories by Ernest HemingwayThe Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway by Ernest HemingwayInvisible Cities by Italo Calvino

Literary 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 Marlon’s mom still have his Tom Jones fan-fiction and if so, how much is Jake willing to pay for it? Tune in for all this and more, including a lively discussion about plays that are as enjoyable to read as they are to see on stage. (And spoiler: Jake is not a fan of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.)Select title discussed:Tom Jones by Henry Fielding Dubliners by James JoyceTai-Pan by James ClavellWide Sargasso Sea by Jean RhysBefore Night Falls by Reinaldo ArenasThe Quiet American by Graham GreeneA Bend in the River by V.S. NaipaulAirships by Barry Hannah Joseph Andrews by Henry fieldingPamela by Samuel RichardsonThe Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace ThackerayShōgun by James Clavell Trent's Last Case by E. C. BentleyThe Moonstone by Wilkie Collins The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins Middlemarch by George EliotA Tale of Two Cities by Charles DickensThe Obscene Bird of Night by José DonosoThe Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron Barracoon by Zora Neale HurstonTerrorist by John UpdikeJane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëA Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf Ulysses by James Joyce Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt Orlando by Virginia WoolfMrs. Dalloway by Virginia WoolfThe Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-WestThe Age of Innocence by Edith WhartonHouse of Mirth by Edith WhartonHighland Fling by Nancy MitfordHeart of Darkness by Joseph ConradDon Quixote by Miguel de CervantesThe Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare The Two Gentleman of Verona by William ShakespeareA Midsummer Night’s Dream by William ShakespeareAs You Like It by William ShakespeareRomeo and Juliet by William ShakespeareAn Ideal Husband by Oscar WildeHis Girl Friday by Charles Lederer (screenplay), adapted from The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (play)Sleuth by Anthony Shaffer Amadeus by Peter Shaffer Endgame by Samuel Beckett 

Marlon 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 power of dullness in a novel, no matter the century.  Listen for this and more, including what Marlon and Jake think of The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara, edited by one Toni Morrison.  The Pearl by John SteinbeckThe Red Pony by John SteinbeckCannery Row by John SteinbeckEast of Eden by John SteinbeckGrapes of Wrath by John SteinbeckEthan Frome by Edith WhartonThe Old Man and the Sea by Ernest HemingwayThe Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-ExupéryMrs. Caliban by Rachel IngallsThe Ballad of the Sad Café by Carson McCullersSula by Toni MorrisonFor Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake ShangeNight of January 16th by Ayn RandThe Fountainhead Ayn RandAtlas Shrugged by Ayn RandA Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le GuinOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García MárquezChronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García MárquezNews of a Kidnapping by Gabriel García MárquezLove in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García MárquezThe Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García MárquezEnough Rope by Dorothy ParkerThe collected poetry of Dorothy ParkerThe Name of the Rose by Umberto EcoFoucault’s Pendulum by Umberto EcoThe Island of the Day Before by Umberto EcoIn the hand of Dante by Nicholas ToschesAncient Evenings by Norman MailerLady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. LawrenceMiami and the Siege of Chicago by Norman MailerHarlot’s Ghost by Norman MailerAn American Dream by Norman MailerWhy Are We In Vietnam? by Norman MailerThe Executioner’s Song by Norman MailerLook Back in Anger by John OsborneLoot by Joe OrtonWhat the Butler Saw by joe OrtonSaturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe"The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" by Alan SillitoeAnna Karenina by Leo TolstoyJude the Obscure by Thomas HardyTess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas hardyThe Return of the Native by Thomas hardyAlready Dead by Denis JohnsonThe Salt Eaters by Toni Cade BambaraThe Lesson by Toni Cade BambaraGorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara

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

We'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 importance of being a promiscuous reader. (That’s right, promiscuous.) And what is the next book by a dead author Marlon and Jake will be reading together for the first time? Tune in to find out!Select Titles Discussed:Hamlet by William ShakespeareMacbeth by William ShakespeareA House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. NaipaulDarkness Visible by William GoldingLord of the Flies by William GoldingShardik by Richard AdamsWatership Down by Richard AdamsThe Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos TutuolaMy Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Amos TutuolaOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García MárquezLove in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García MárquezUnder the Volcano by Malcolm LowryShōgun by James ClavellAirport by Arthur HaileyThe Moneychangers by Arthur HaileyThe Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John le CarréTinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le CarréThe Honorable Schoolboy by John le CarréSmiley’s People by John le CarréA Perfect Spy by John le CarréPersuasion by Jane AustenPride and Prejudice by Jane AustenSula by Toni MorrisonSong of Solomon by Toni MorrisonPnin by Vladimir NabokovThe House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel HawthorneThe Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel HawthorneMiddlemarch by George EliotTom Jones by Henry FieldingGreat Expectations by Charles DickensBleak House by Charles DickensBarchester Towers by Anthony TrollopeGone with the Wind by Margaret MitchellBlood on the Forge by William AttawayMy Life and Hard Times by James Thurber