Book Fight!

Tough love for literature


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Episode 34: Cory Doctorow, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

Would you like to hear us talk about Disney World for thirty minutes? If so, this is the episode for you! Also, we dig into Cory Doctorow’s debut novel, in our continuing quest to broaden our reading horizons and check out some work outside our usual genre comfort zones.

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Want to read the book? You can download it for free (legally!) from Doctorow’s website. You can even get an audiobook version. Or, if you’re old-fashioned, you can buy the paperback from Powell’s here: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.

Talking points for this episode include: the defeat of death, Facebook likes as currency, problematic premises, the Haunted Mansion, Mike’s childhood propensity for tears, carnival food, the Gravitron, and Battlestar Galactica (which you should really watch, because it is great; do you not like things that are great?)

Want to take a class with one of us? We’re each teaching an online workshop through Barrelhouse Magazine, starting June 1 and running for eight weeks. Get more info., and register, here.

As always, you can stream the episode here on our site, or you can download the mp3 file directly. Or check us out in the iTunes store, where you can subscribe (for free) and never miss another update.

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Writers Ask: Off With Their Heads

This week, we offer tips on how to organize your files, deal with your MFA classmates, and Highlander your enemies. Also: what books did we love and hate as high-school students?

If you’ve got questions for us, send us a message. Or tweet your question at us: we’re @Book_Fight. Or check out our page on Goodreads, where you can keep up with our reading schedule, ask us questions, and discuss the episodes.

As always, just click on the little player thingy below to stream the episode, or download the mp3 file and do with it whatever you will. Or visit us in iTunes, where you can subscribe to the show (for free) and never miss another episode.

Thanks for listening! Tell your friends!

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Episode 33: Ernest Cline, Ready Player One

We’ve got a very special episode for you this week, Book Fighters. We’re joined by Tom’s college roommate, Kevin Greway, an avowed non-reader who agreed to give Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One a try. Will he like it? Or will he spit it out, like a surly child forced to eat spinach? Will we convince him to become a regular reader, or at least pick up a book more frequently than once every three or four years?

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Also this week, Mike talks about the time he helped recreate scenes from popular 80s movies; unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) his Princess Bride acting job is no longer extant on YouTube. Though you can watch a recreation of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off here, starring Mike’s former roommate and several other friends.

We’ve also got some special recommendations from TV Guide, and a “where are they now” piece on two of the stars from The Beverly Hillbillies.

As always, you can stream the episode below, or check us out in the iTunes store, where you can download our whole back catalog for free, and subscribe so that you never miss another update. Please also consider visiting our sponsor, Powell’s Books. If you click through any of the Powell’s links on our site–like the book cover above, or the button over there on the right–any purchase you make will help to support the show.

Thanks for listening!

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Download Episode 33: Ernest Cline, Ready Player One


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Writers Ask: M.E.N.T.O.R.

We’re back in the basement this week, talking heartbreak at church lock-ins and awkward encounters in rest stop bathrooms. Also we manage to answer some questions about writing. How does one go about finding a mentor? Do a few acceptances ease the sting of rejection? And what’s the deal with book trailers?

Got questions for a future episode of Writers Ask? Just click on the ‘Fight Back’ tab at the top of the page, or you can tweet at us. We’re @Book_Fight on your Twitter machine. Or just run up onto Tom’s lawn and shout your question while shaking your fist at the heavens. Whatever works for you!

Here’s a link to the story Mike mentioned during the episode, Last Days, which would be a lot crappier if not for Charles D’Ambrosio’s careful notes and suggestions.

If you’re interested in taking an online workshop with either of your friendly Book Fight hosts, now’s your chance: Barrelhouse is offering workshops starting June 1, with Mike teaching fiction and Tom doing nonfiction. Money raised from the workshop will help Barrelhouse stay in business, and keep paying contributors. Space is limited, so register now. We can also vouch for Stan Mir, our coworker at Temple, who will be teaching a poetry workshop for Barrelhouse this summer.

As always, you can stream the episode here, just by clicking on the little player thingy below:

Download Writers Ask: M.E.N.T.O.R. (right-click, save-as)

You can download all our episodes for free in the iTunes store, where you can also subscribe, so you never miss another update. Finally, please consider visiting our sponsor, Powell’s Books. If you click on any of the Powell’s links on our site, then shop as you normally would, a small cut of the purchase price will come back to the show.


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Episode 32: J.M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians

Book Fight road trip! We recorded this episode in a car (Tom’s) while driving to the annual Conversations and Connections conference in Washington, D.C. The book this week is Tom’s pick, and boy is it a bummer. Though a very well-written, culturally important bummer.

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Not to worry, though. We found plenty of stuff to joke about, including bears, Tom’s driving skills, Nancy Grace, sharks, and Jay Leno’s quest for love and approval. We also talked about the book, the upsides and downsides of allegory, and whether Coetzee’s narrator is a creep.

As always, you can stream or download the episode here, or click through to the iTunes store, where you can get all past and future episodes for free. While you’re over there, we’d love it if you left us a quick review.

This week’s music is “Reasons to Quit” by Phosophorescent, which you can find on the album “To Willie.”

Stream the episode:

Download Episode 32: J.M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians


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Writers Ask: Hurtin’ Feelings and Burnin’ Bridges

To MFA or not to MFA: That is the question. Or, one of the questions for this week’s episode of Writers Ask. With the proliferation of graduate creative writing programs, does the degree bring diminishing returns? How important is it to attend a “top tier” program? What can you expect to get out of the experience of devoting 2-3 years to writing? Will it help you build a career?

Also, we explain our beef with flash fiction, and share our pet peeves about writers and social media. Plus, Tom burns a bridge, and Mike tries to find some life lessons in past failures.

As always, you can stream the episode here, or download the mp3 file. Or, check us out in the iTunes store, where you can download past episodes for free and subscribe, so you never miss another update. While you’re there, please consider leaving us a quick review, which helps us reach new listeners.

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Please consider helping to support the show–and a great independent book store–by shopping at Powell’s Online. Just click on any of the Powell’s buttons on the site, like the one over in the right-hand column, then shop as you normally would. Anything you buy will throw a little money back our way. Win win!


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Episode 31: Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim

Well, we’ve officially been doing this show for a year. And so far it seems like a … success? Let’s go with success. Thanks to all of you for listening, for sharing your feedback, for tweeting/emailing things at us that make us laugh, for donating money to keep us going, and for helping to spread the word to new folks. Seriously, it’s been great.

This week is a Mike pick: Kingsley Amis’s debut novel, Lucky Jim, which he’s taught several times in a class on comedy and literature. Will Tom properly love it? Will Mike have to punch him in the face? Only one way to find out.

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Talking points include: British wit, funny hats, possible misogyny, Jenga, Tom’s abs, and ballet. A cornucopia of delights!

As always, you can stream (or download) the episode below, or find us in the iTunes store, where you can subscribe (for free) and never miss another episode. While you’re over at iTunes, how about leaving us a quick review? They help us reach new listeners and make us feel better about ourselves.

Stream the episode:

Download Episode 31 (right-click, save-as)

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