The History of Literature

As we all know, the text of a book can possess incredible powers, transporting readers across time and space. But what about the books themselves? In this episode, Jacke talks to author Emma Smith (This Is Shakespeare) about her new book, Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers, which provides a material history of books and the people who love them.EMMA SMITH is Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Oxford University, and the author of This Is Shakespeare (2020). She lives in Oxford, England.Additional listening: 92 The Books of Our Lives 149 Raising Readers (aka The Power of Literature in an Imperfect World) 259 Shakespeare's Best - Sonnets 129 and 130 ("Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame" and "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun") Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Jacke takes a look at the life of Herman Melville, author of Moby-Dick and many other works. Melville experienced ups and downs, from a fancy Manhattan childhood to financial ruin and back again. Once a literary celebrity, heralded for his early novels based on his experiences living on tropical islands with cannibals, he was nearly forgotten at the time of his death, only to be rediscovered a few decades afterward - and to become a household name for more than a hundred years.Additional listening suggestions: 159 Herman Melville (with Mike Palindrome and Cristina Negrón) 296 Nathaniel Hawthorne 273 The Book for Book Lovers - The Call Me Ishmael Phone Book (with Stephanie Kent and Logan Smalley) Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jacke is joined by Professor Mark Cirino, host of the One True Podcast and editor of One True Sentence: Writers & Readers on Hemingway's Art, for a discussion of Hemingway's classic short story about World War I and recovery in an Italian hospital, "In Another Country." (If you haven't read the story in a while don't worry - we read it for you!) PLUS we kick off a new series on 99 random fragments of Kafka's life.NOTE: Mark's One True Podcast is planning to run an episode on "In Another Country" later this year - subscribe now so you don't miss it!Additional listening suggestions: 432 Hemingway's One True Sentence (with Mark Cirino) 47 Hemingway vs Fitzgerald 162 Ernest Hemingway Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special episode, Jacke pays tribute to a friend, including a consideration of endings and beginnings, mystery and grace, and two powerful works: John Berger's The Shape of a Pocket and James Joyce's masterpiece "The Dead." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Jacke talks to three bestselling authors - Susan Meissner, Kristina McMorris, and Ariel Lawhon - who came together to write When We Had Wings, a historical novel about a trio of World War II nurses who waged their own battle for freedom and survival. PLUS we hear what Charlie Lovett, bibliophile and Lewis Carroll expert, would choose as the last book he would ever read.Additional listening suggestions: 362 Kurt Vonnegut (with Tom Roston) 448 Lewis Carroll (with Charlie Lovett) 308 New Westerns (with Anna North) Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Legendary anti-lynching crusader and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) is best known for her diligent research and brave and compelling journalism. But she was also a feature writer for both black-owned and white-owned newspapers, and her talents were not just limited to nonfiction. In this episode, Jacke reads and discusses a rare example of Wells's surviving fiction, "Two Christmas Days: A Holiday Story," the only romantic story Wells ever published.Additional listening suggestions: 293 Ebeneezer Scrooge 311 Frederick Douglass Learns to Read 358 The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature (with Farah Jasmine Griffin) Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since its publication in 1908, E.M. Forster's classic novel A Room with a View, which tells the story of a young Englishwoman who finds a romantic adventure during a trip to Florence, has inspired countless travelers to expand their minds and warm their hearts with a tour through Italy. In this episode, Jacke talks to historical and romance novelist Gina Buonaguro about her love for Forster's work, her own use of Italy as a setting, and her most recent novel The Virgins of Venice.Additional listening suggestions: 43 Seeing Evil (with Professor Rebecca Messbarger) 131 Dante in Love (with Professor Ellen Nerenberg and Anthony Valerio) The Distance of the Moon by Italo Calvino Help support the show at patreon.com/literature. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at historyofliterature.com or www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1886, the twenty-six-year-old Anton Chekhov was practicing medicine, supporting his family, falling in and out love, writing pieces for newspapers at a furious pace - and gradually becoming one of the greatest short story writers the world has ever seen. In this episode, Jacke talks to Bob Blaisdell, author of Chekhov Becomes Chekhov: The Emergence of a Literary Genius, about the two-year period in which Chekhov went from a virtual unknown to a promising literary star admired by Tolstoy himself.Bob Blaisdell is Professor of English at the City University of New York’s Kingsborough College and the author of Creating Anna Karenina. He is a reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Christian Science Monitor, and the editor of more than three dozen Dover literature and poetry collections, including a collection of Chekhov's love stores. He lives in New York City.Additional listening suggestions: 150 Chekhov's "The Lady with the Little Dog" "Gooseberries" by Anton Chekhov "Gusev" by Anton Chekhov 63 Chekhov, Bellow, Wright, and Fox (with Charles Baxter) 290 The Seagull by Anton Chekhov 292 Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov 294 Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov 295 The Past, The Future, and Chekhov 299 The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2022, T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land turned 100 years old - and it's hard to imagine a poem with a more explosive impact or a more enduring influence. In this episode, Jacke talks to Professor Jed Rasula about his book, What the Thunder Said: How The Waste Land Made Poetry Modern.Jed Rasula is the Helen S. Lanier Distinguished Professor at the University of Georgia. He is the author of nine scholarly books and three poetry collections and the coeditor of two anthologies. His recent books include Destruction Was My Beatrice: Dada and the Unmaking of the Twentieth Century and History of a Shiver: The Sublime Impudence of Modernism.Additional listening suggestions: T.S. Eliot | The Waste Land 438 How Was Your Ulysses? (with Mike Palindrome) 165 Ezra Pound Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When novelist Kurt Vonnegut died in 2007, the planet lost one of its most creative and compelling voices. In this episode, Jacke talks to Vonnegut scholar Christina Jarvis (Lucky Mud & Other Foma: A Field Guide to Kurt Vonnegut's Environmentalism and Planetary Citizenship) about Vonnegut's ethical, environmental, and planetary teachings. CHRISTINA JARVIS is Professor of English at State University of New York at Fredonia, where she teaches courses in sustainability and twentieth-century American literature and culture, including several major author seminars on Kurt Vonnegut. She is the author of The Male Body at War: American Masculinity during World War II, and has published in journals such as Women’s Studies, The Southern Quarterly, The Journal of Men’s Studies, and War, Literature, and the Arts. She lives near the shores of Lake Erie in Western New York. Additional listening suggestions: 362 Kurt Vonnegut (with Tom Roston) 141 Kurt Vonnegut (with Mike Palindrome) 436 The Lorax by Dr Seuss (with Mesh Lakhani) Music Credits: “Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA). Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices