Book Fight

Our short story this week is called "Here I Am," about a man who goes on living after his head is separated from his body. We also talk about artistic failures: in particular, the story of Poe's vengeful nemesis, and why those treacly lists of "famous failures" bug us so much. For more, visit our website at bookfightpod.com.

We're joined this week by Gina Myers (poet, reviewer, recent transplant to Philadelphia) to discuss Mark Binelli's examination of Detroit. Binelli grew up in and around the city, and returned to live in its Eastern Market neighborhood, meet some locals, and investigate what was going right, and wrong, in the city that's become America's favorite allegory.

This week we're reading Kevin Sampsell's essay "I'm Jumping Off The Bridge" and talking about failed utopias: shakers, fruit-lovers, dangerous cults, and more. For more, visit us at bookfightpod.com.

This week's book is a Tom pick, and was also the runner-up in last year's listener poll, narrowly losing out to The Silver Linings Playbook. Also: it's November, so we're once again talking about National Novel Writing Month, delving into the NaNoWriMo forums to see what this year's participants are struggling with.

This week's essay is a Tom pick, an essay by Eula Biss called "Time and Distance Overcome," which is about, among other things, early telephone technology, resistance to telephone poles, and the widespread lynching of black men in early 20th century America. We're also talking about failed amusement parks this week: parks that were proposed but never built, and some that probably shouldn't have been built, including a wild-animal safari in New Jersey and Dickens World in the UK. For more, visit us online at bookfightpod.com.

This week we're discussing a novel that hit an awful lot of Best of 2013 lists, about a man who puts his young daughter into a Mini Cooper and runs away from his wife and--in a certain sense--himself. Also: Another installment of Raccoon News, plus Sticks & Stones. For more, check out our website, bookfightpod.com.

This week we're talking about the story "Strawberry Lipstick" from Kseniya Melnik's debut collection, Snow in May, published this spring by Macmillan. We're also, in keeping with our Fall of Failure theme, talking about failed dog breeds, including the "turnspit," a dog people used to put in the oven, because humans are garbage monsters. Talking points include: long stories, post-Stalin Russia, class warfare, eugenics, and why The Melting Pot is a ripoff. Find more at our website, bookfightpod.com.

This week we're reading Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. We talk about stream-of-consciousness narration, and whether the book should be considered a comedy. Also lots of other stuff. For more, including links to our weekly recommendations, check out our website at bookfightpod.com.

Our first-ever live episode, recorded at The Spiral Bookcase in Manayunk, just outside Center City Philadelphia and a few blocks from Tom's ancestral home. We're joined by Ann Tetreault (owner of the bookstore in question), Joey Sweeney (writer, musician, founder of Philebrity.com), Katherine Hill (fan favorite, author of The Violet Hour) and Lee Klein (author of Thanks and Sorry and Good Luck, and The Shimmering Go-Between). We talk publishing, book-selling, offensive mascots, Philadelphia's culture of protest, Kickstarter annoyances, street fights, rejection, and rebounding from failure. Plus there's live music, audience interaction, and a cat (spoiler: you can't hear the cat). For more, visit us online at bookfightpod.com.

This week we're talking about an excerpt from Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir Fun Home. We discuss the ethical issues raised by writing about one's family, and what makes a memoir compelling. We're also talking about the VCR format wars of the late '70s and early '80s. What can we learn from the failure of Betamax?