Marlon and Jake Read Dead People

Marlon & 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 on being offensive? Can we enjoy a book at the same time that we recognize its failures?  Do people and ideas ever evolve beyond books?  And what does it mean to have the freedom to choose what to read? Tune in for a provocative, nuanced conversation that might just make you rethink, revisit, or totally let go when it comes to your own reading of dead authors.Selected works discussedCharlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald DahlGone with the Wind by Margaret MitchellEverything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’ConnorHeart of Darkness by Joseph ConradBear and His Daughter by Robert StoneThe Breast by Philip RothI Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom WolfeLolita by Vladimir NabokovPnin by Vladimir NabokovMoby Dick by Herman MelvilleSong of Solomon by Toni MorrisonThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark TwainThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark TwainSlapstick by Kurt VonnegutWelcome to the Monkey House by Kurt VonnegutSlaughterhouse-Five by Kurt VonnegutThe Mountain Lion by Jean StaffordThe Turner Diaries by William Luther PierceTarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice BurroughsJohn Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice BurroughsAnd the writing of:Charles DickensKnut HamsunJack LondonHP LovecraftWilliam S. BurroughsNorman MailerEnid Blyton

Marlon 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 MorrisonWide Sargasso Sea by Jean RhysMrs. Caliban by Rachel IngallsMiguel Street by V.S. NaipaulWe Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley JacksonTurn of the Screw by Henry JamesSong of Solomon by Toni MorrisonThe Aspern Papers by Henry JamesThe Ambassadors by Henry JamesPassing by Nella LarsenInvisible Cities by Italo CalvinoIf on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo CalvinoAnimal Farm by George OrwellThe Old Man and the Sea by Ernest HemingwayThe Quiet American by Graham GreeneThe Lover by Marguerite Duras1984 by George OrwellBlood on the Forge by William Attaway

Marlon 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 DefoeBeloved by Toni MorrisonSong of Solomon by Toni MorrisonThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan DoyleKindred by Octavia E. ButlerHarriet the Spy by Louise FitzhughGiovanni's Room by James BaldwinSteppenwolf by Herman HesseWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward AlbeeA Room with a View by E.M. ForsterA Passage to India by E.M. ForsterMaurice by E.M. ForsterJude the Obscure by Thomas HardyThe Golden Notebook by Doris LessingWise Blood by Flannery O’ConnorHeart of Darkness by Joseph ConradLord of the Flies by William GoldingTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeGo Set a Watchman by Harper LeeOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García MárquezBlood on the Forge by William Attaway

Marlon 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.

Marlon and Jake are back this summer for a second season

As 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!!

This 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 darkness of Shakespeare’s Richard III.  Their shared hatred of A Tale of Two Cities is back and stronger than ever. Will Jake re-read Absalom, Absalom!? Will Marlon let go of his Edith Wharton grudge? Should we take relationship advice from Jane Austen? Was D.H. Lawrence the 20th Century’s bridesmaid but never its bride?  Has the “Great Pirate Novel” been written? Tune in to learn the answers to these essential questions and so much more!Select titles discussed in this episode:Absalom, Absalom! by William FaulknerThe Sound and the Fury by William FaulknerThe Nick Adams Stories by Ernest HemingwayTess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas HardyJude the Obscure by Thomas HardyReturn of the Native by Thomas HardyThe Awakening by Kate ChopinFour Quartets by T.S. EliotMrs. Dalloway by Virginia WoolfThe House of Mirth by Edith WhartonWomen in Love by D.H. LawrenceEmma by Jane AustenSense and Sensibility by Jane AustenPersuasion by Jane AustenA Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee WilliamsHarvey by Mary ChaseWuthering Heights by Emily BrontëThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldVanity Fair by William Makepeace ThackerayQB VII by Leon UrisAirport by Arthur HaileyThe White Witch of Rosehall by Herbert G. de LisserThe Black Sun by Lance HornerRichard III by William ShakespeareThe Merchant of Venice by William ShakespeareJulius Caesar by William ShakespearePericles by William ShakespeareThe Merry Wives of Windsor by William ShakespeareCymbeline by William ShakespeareOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García MárquezThe Master and Margarita by Mikhail BulgakovRobinson Crusoe by Daniel DefoeTreasure Island by Robert Louis StevensonA High Wind in Jamaica by Richard HughesThis Side of Paradise by F. Scott FitzgeraldA Tale of Two Cities by Charles DickensBleak House by Charles DickensOur Mutual Friend by Charles DickensDavid Copperfield by Charles DickensThe Edwardians by Vita Sackville-WestStoner by John WilliamsThe Pearl by John SteinbeckThe Ambassadors by Henry JamesAutumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García MárquezWide Sargasso Sea by Jean RhysJane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë 

This 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 and trashy novels for men? From Peyton Place to Valley of the Dolls to the Falconhurst novels, Marlon and Jake get real about the wonderfully salacious plots, the ridiculously named characters, the gay subtexts, the surprising pathos, and all the sex. SO. MUCH. SEX. So literary snobs, be warned. For the rest of us, tune in to celebrate dead authors who have given us the gift of a shamelessly good read. Select titles discussed in this episode: The Carpetbaggers by Harold Robbins The Falconhurst Series by Lance Horner, Kyle Onstott, and Ashley Carter Peyton Place by Grace Metalious The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann Shogun by James Clavell The Executioner Series by Don Pendleton The Godfather by Mario Puzo Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell The Bad Seed by William March Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Marlon 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 disdain for all things Hobbit and Marlon points to Angela’s Ashes as an example of the phenomenon of the “well-made bad movie.”  From the atrocious attempts to bring The Great Gatsby to the big screen to the unfortunate existence of Ewan McGregor’s American Pastoral, Marlon and Jake explore great books that were made into less-than-great films as well as bad books that made excellent movies. How did the messiness of Mario Puzo’s storytelling and prose make the perfection that is The Godfather films? How did an angry-animal thriller like Jaws become a horror movie classic? From The Princess Bride to A Streetcar Named Desire, Marlon and Jake debate what goes into a terrific – and a lousy – film adaptation. So grab your popcorn and Jujubes and settle back for one wild cinematic ride. Select titles mentioned in this episode: The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt American Pastoral by Philip Roth Beloved by Toni Morrison The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson The Grifters by Jim Thompson The Hobbit by J.R. R. Tolkien Jaws by Peter Benchley The Godfather by Mario Puzo The Sicilian by Mario Puzo The Princess Bride by William Goldman A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams Babe: The Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith Watership Down by Richard Adams Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp

This 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!). Whether they’re talking about philandering playwrights or humorous newspaper columnists, Marlon and Jake prove that truth really can be stranger than fiction. Select titles mentioned in this episode: Personal Memoirs by Ulysses Grant Palimpsest by Gore Vidal The Night of the Gun by David Carr Act One by Moss Hart Once in a Lifetime by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman The Man Who Came to Dinner by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel García Márquez Rabbit Series (Rabbit, Run, Rabbit Redux, Rabbit Is Rich and Rabbit At Rest) by John Updike The Maples Stories by John Updike The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen At Wit’s End by Erma Bombeck If Life is a Bowl of Cherries by Erma Bombeck