Good Scribes Only

Find out who's the real nihilist, and how Daniel derives meaning from his copious acting deals, not to mention one poorly thought out sports analogy. Enjoy!About the Week's Book Though most people think essays1 when talking Joan Didion, Dan and I read her best known novel for the podcast. Play it as it Lays is the story of an actor whose journey oscillates between dizzying and domestic, as her acting career slows and her personal life collapses. While running barely 200 pages, the book has a quality of being adrift to it that connects directly to Didion’s belief that who we are is affected by where we are. It’s clear that her reputation is well earned, and I appreciate what’s regarded as Didion’s “Hollywood” book, but I can’t say I’ll be returning to it any time soon. Like her essays, the novel is fragmented in a way that creates an aspect not of closure but its opposite, a kind of frantic recognition that all stories have holes and flaws and will collapse, eventually. The story mirrors LA’s mix of grimness and glamour, and echoes one of her core beliefs: all of us are in some essential fashion, “working” in the dark. We hope you enjoy this discussion on Joan Didion’s Play It as It Lays. About the ShowHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. In Season 4 we’re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Episode Though most people think essays1 when talking Joan Didion, Dan and I read her best known novel for the podcast. Play it as it Lays is the story of an actor whose journey oscillates between dizzying and domestic, as her acting career slows and her personal life collapses. While running barely 200 pages, the book has a quality of being adrift to it that connects directly to Didion’s belief that who we are is affected by where we are.It’s clear that her reputation is well earned, and I appreciate what’s regarded as Didion’s “Hollywood” book, but I can’t say I’ll be returning to it any time soon. Like her essays, the novel is fragmented in a way that creates an aspect not of closure but its opposite, a kind of frantic recognition that all stories have holes and flaws and will collapse, eventually. The story mirrors LA’s mix of grimness and glamour, and echoes one of her core beliefs: all of us are in some essential fashion, “working” in the dark.Which is why Dan sleeps with a nightlight on, to this day.We hope you enjoy this discussion on Joan Didion’s Play It as It Lays.About the ShowHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. In Season 4 we’re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing.Episode Notes0-5 min — Intro5-10 min — Casting the movie10-15 min — Plot summary15-20 min — On creative nonfiction20-25 min — Writing fiction vs nonfiction25-30 min — Self destructive characters30-35 min — Finding meaning as a parent35-40 min — Nihilism vs purpose40-45 min — Following our parents45-50 min — The landscape of Los Angeles50-55 min — Purpose during success55-65 min — Conclusion WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

In the main episode for Stoner, Jeremy and Daniel discuss John Williams' uminous and deeply moving novel is a work of quiet perfection in which William Stoner emerges not only as an archetypal American, but as an unlikely existential hero. In this episode we discuss passion, academia, stoicism, and profundity in ordinary life. To get the inside scoop and much more, don’t just take a hit and pass but stay with us to the end of the episode. As always, thanks for listening and enjoy. on point by discussing another theme they have no credibility to discuss: politics. If you haven't already heard enough uninformed political drivel, this mini may just turn you off from political chatter for a good while. If we can do that, it's a job well done — time's better spent reading, or listening to the Good Scribes Only podcast.Enjoy!About the ShowHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. In Season 4 we’re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Episode Welcome back, folks, to Good Scribes Only. Today we’re discussing Stoner by John Williams, and no, despite the title, this isn’t about our escapades with Cannabis. John Williams’s luminous and deeply moving novel is a work of quiet perfection in which William Stoner emerges not only as an archetypal American, but as an unlikely existential hero. In this episode we discuss passion, academia, stoicism, and profundity in ordinary life. To get the inside scoop and much more, don’t just take a hit and pass but stay with us to the end of the episode. As always, thanks for listening and enjoy.About the ShowHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. In Season 4 we’re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing. Episode Notes0-5 min — Introduction5-10 min — Praise for Stoner10-18 min — GuessGPT and casting the movie18-25 min — Plot summary25-35 min — The evolution of film and books35-40 min — Plot continued40-45 min — On control and surrender45-50 min — On academia50-55 min — Plot wrap up55-60 min — Ranking and conclusion WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Episode In the main episode this week, Dan and Jeremy discussed John Steinbeck's  East of Eden. While they enjoyed the read, it did not stand up against a few of Steinbeck's other works, and thus pushed Dan and J to discuss the oeuvre of a literary career. How the heck can someone expect to follow up Grapes of Wrath?! We hope you enjoy the always meandering discussion inspired by East of Eden.About the BookSet in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. A masterpiece of Steinbeck's later years, East of Eden is a powerful and vastly ambitious novel that is at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis. About the ShowHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. In Season 4 we’re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Episode In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden “the first book,” and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. A masterpiece of Steinbeck's later years, East of Eden is a powerful and vastly ambitious novel that is at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis.Please enjoy our discussion about East of Eden by John SteinbeckAbout the ShowHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. In Season 4 we’re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing. Episode Notes0-5 min — Introduction and biblical allusino5-10 min — Initial feelings about the novel10-25 min — Plot and casting the characters25-30 min — On Nature vs nurture30-35 min — Plot continued35-45 min — Inner narratives and Dan’s acting gig45-50 min — Religion in fiction and reality50-55 min — Is free will an illusion?55-60 min — Final thoughts and ratings WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

In the main episode for Native Son by Richard Wright, Dan urged Jeremy to watch the West Wing. In the mini, Jeremy and Daniel stay on point by discussing another theme they have no credibility to discuss: politics. If you haven't already heard enough uninformed political drivel, this mini may just turn you off from political chatter for a good while. If we can do that, it's a job well done — time's better spent reading, or listening to the Good Scribes Only podcast...Enjoy!About the ShowHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. In Season 4 we’re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Episode To honor our watching of Back to the Future for the first time… we went back to 1940s Chicago with Richard Wright’s Native Son which deals with racial and social inequality. It’s a powerful novel and an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America. Wright is one of those exceptionally intelligent writers and it shows. We learned a lot from this book and think it’s an important read for a variety of reasons that you’ll hear about in this episode.Please enjoy our discussion about Native Son by Richard Wright.About the ShowHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. In Season 4 we’re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing.Episode Notes0-10 min — Intro and a brief discussion of race10-15 min — Casting the movie15-25 min — Plot first third25-35 min — On Richard Wright and communism35-40 min — Plot second third40-45 min — Chicago in the 1940s45-55 min — Plot final third55-60 min — Conclusion   WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

Set in the French Riviera in the late 1920s, Tender Is the Night is a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald about the tragic romance of Dick and Nicole Diver and young actress Rosemary Hoyt. Dick is a brilliant young psychiatrist who marries his mentally ill patient, Nicole, who also happens to be an heiress. The novel explores themes of social class, mental illness, sexual abuse, and codependent love and is considered one of the best books of the 20th century. Tender Is the Night was Fitzgerald's fourth and final novel, and was based almost entirely on his relationship with Zelda. Enjoy!About the ShowHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. In Season 4 we’re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing. WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the Episode Set in the French Riviera in the late 1920s, Tender Is the Night is a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald about the tragic romance of Dick and Nicole Diver and young actress Rosemary Hoyt. Dick is a brilliant young psychiatrist who marries his mentally ill patient, Nicole, who also happens to be an heiress. The novel explores themes of social class, mental illness, sexual abuse, and codependent love and is considered one of the best books of the 20th century. Tender Is the Night was Fitzgerald's fourth and final novel, and was based almost entirely on his relationship with Zelda. Enjoy!About the ShowHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. In Season 4 we’re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing.Episode Notes0-5 min — Introduction5-8 min — Casting8-12 min - Ryan Gosling, Alan Tudick, Hugh Jackman, Charlie Day12-20 min — Plot summary begins20-25 min — Alcoholism and writing25-30 min — How mental illness is portrayed30-35 min — Writing what you know35-40 min — James Joyce vs Scott Fitzgerald40-45 min — Plot continued45-50 min — Wrapping up the story50-55 min — Conclusion and ranking WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website