Book Fight

This week we're talking about a short story that traces the end of a long-running affair. Plus literary gossip, dating advice, and more!

We welcome special guest Dave Housley (Barrelhouse founding editor and author of several books, most recently Massive Cleansing Fire, a story collection). Dave chose this week's book, the bestselling Station Eleven, a book that posits a life after a flu pandemic has killed more than 99% of the human population. Dave also brought with him some interesting fan fiction that he reads in the episode's second half. For more, you can visit us online at bookfightpod.com. If you'd like to support the show, we've recently joined Patreon, where for $5 a month you can get access to a monthly bonus episode we're calling Book Fight After Dark. So check that out, too!

Look, these episodes can't all be winners. Sometimes we're tired, and easily distracted, and for some reason we talk about onions a lot? But this week's book--a collection of graphic short stories by Adrian Tomine--is definitely worth checking out.

This week we're discussing an A.M. Homes story about an adolescent boy who starts "dating" his sister's Barbie. Also, we revisit the time Robert Olen Butler went viral for the wrong reasons (losing his wife to Ted Turner), we remember HBO's Real Sex, and Mike gives some dating advice, this time on "ghosting." For more, visit us online at bookfightpod.com.

This week kicks off another special seasonal series: Spring Fling! We'll be reading stories about romance, sex, and affairs of the heart. This week we discuss Mary Gaitskill's story, "The Secretary," which some people may know as the source material for Secretary, the 2002 Maggie Gyllenhaal / James Spader film. But while some of the fundamental DNA is the same, the story and the resulting film are actually quite different. We've also got stories this week of H.G. Wells's sexual proclivities, as well as an exploration of the science behind springtime lust. Plus a new feature in which we give you dating advice. Thanks for listening!

This week we're talking about the new George Saunders book, Lincoln in the Bardo, about a bunch of spooky ghosts who hang out in a graveyard with Abraham Lincoln's son. Also: Cheers fan fiction. Get excited, listeners!

Hey, listeners! Due to a death in Tom's family, there's no new episode this week. But we're reposting this one from the archives (first released in April 2013) in which Tom's old college roommate joined us for a discussion of Ernest Cline's Ready Player One. We hope you enjoy it! And we'll be back with a new joint next Monday. As always, thanks for listening!

We welcome special guest Lauren Grodstein (author of, most recently, the novel Our Short History) to discuss a 1959 novel that's become something of a cult classic, one which never earned its author widespread acclaim but which is consistently mentioned as a favorite by other writers. We also talk about Lauren's new book, her love of plot, and how she manages to get so much writing done while being a working mother. For more, visit us online at bookfightpod.com. Thanks for listening!

We travel back to 1866 to read "The Case of George Dedlow," a story about Civil War amputees (and a seance!) written by Silas Weir Mitchell, the physician who would later become famous for "the rest cure." Also this week: debates over reconstruction; the sex lives of mermaids; racist medical practices; conspiracies about Lincoln's assassination; and a man who was sued for $100k by the woman he failed to marry. For more, including links to further reading, visit us at bookfightpod.com.

We talk to Lyz Lenz (writer and managing editor of The Rumpus) from inside a wind tunnel at AWP 2017 in Washington, D.C. Topics include: New York pizza vs. Chicago pizza, misandry, Little House on the Prairie, religious faith, and how to not be a creep at a literary conference.