Book Fight!

Tough love for literature


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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.

LuckyJim

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.

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Writers Ask: Making Lemonade

This week we tell you how to deal with overzealous editors, how to reject your friends, and which lit mags we’re not so crazy about. Plus: Tom shares a story about nipple bleeding during an important editorial meeting. A must-listen!

If you’ve got questions for our Writers Ask segments, you can email them to us, or tweet at us, using the hashtag #WritersAsk. As always, you can stream the episode here on our site, or download the mp3 file. Or, visit us in the iTunes store, where you can download past episodes and subscribe (for free) so you never miss another installment.

Want to buy some books? Check out Powell’s huge online store for both new and used books. Click on any of the Powell’s links on our site, and any purchase you make will send a couple bucks our way.

Thanks for listening!

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Episode 30: Tove Jansson, The True Deceiver

This Finnish novel won the 2011 Best Translated Book award, and our special guest this week, Matt Jakubowski, was one of the prize’s judges and a strong advocate for the book. We talk to Matt about his work as a frequent reviewer of translations, as well as the art of translating more generally. He also helps us navigate The True Deceiver’s spare, mysterious, Nordic world.

TrueDeceiver

Talking points include: snow, Nordicness, the anger of quiet people, gender disparities in translation, rabbits, and Mitt Romney. Plus, make sure to stay tuned for our final segment, during which Mike has a few choice words about Tom’s recommendation, in episode 29, of a fancy grilled cheese sandwich.

As always, you can stream the episode by clicking on the little player thingy below, or download the mp3 file. Or check us out in iTunes, where you can download back episodes and subscribe so you never miss a new one. Also, please support our sponsor, Powell’s Books, a great indie bookstore in Portland that also sells tons of new and used books online. If you click through on any of the Powell’s links on our site, a portion of any money you spend will come back to us. Win win!

If you have feedback on the show, feel free to leave a comment here, or you can send us an email. We always appreciate hearing from listeners, as it makes us feel less like we’re doing the show in a vacuum.

Thanks for listening!

Stream:

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Writers Ask: The Waiting Game

How long is too long to wait for a journal or press to read your submission? How much can writers get paid for a short story? What are the worst writerly affectations? Once again we’re here to tackle your most pressing queries about writing, publishing, and the vagaries of the human experience.

Talking points for this episode include: therapy dogs, AWP, jaunty hats, clove cigarettes, adult-film scripts, and writing in coffee shops.

Got a question for us? Want to tell us we’re wrong? Drop us a line! Your questions fuel the show; without them, we’ll wither and die.

As always, you can stream the episode right here on our site, or download the file and do with it whatever you wish. Or, check us out in the iTunes store, where you can download individual episodes or subscribe (for free) to make sure you never miss another installment of podcasty goodness.

Special shout out this week to all the listeners we met at AWP. It was really gratifying to hear how many of you are enjoying the show. And to new post-AWP listeners: welcome! We hope you’ll stick around, and tell all your writerly friends.

Stream the show by clicking on the little player thingy:

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Please help support the show by buying books from our sponsor, Powell’s, which features a robust online store of both new and used books. Click on any of the Powell’s links on our site, then shop as you normally would. A percentage of your purchase will come back to us, to help keep us making the show and offering it each week for free.

Thanks for listening!


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Dispatches from the Writing Industrial Complex: AWP 2013

Hey, listeners! We’ll be posting regular brief updates from the AWP conference in Boston. To get them as soon as they post, you can subscribe (for free) in the iTunes store. Or just check back here, where you’ll be able to stream each new mini-ep.

Dispatch #1 (3/6/13, 7:30 pm)
We’re here! After a relaxing train ride filled with people we guessed were poets, we arrived in Boston and realized we weren’t quite psychologically prepared for AWP. Luckily, our hotel had a free beer waiting for us. VIP!

Stream:

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Dispatch #2 (3/7/13, 5:45 pm)
Our first day in the belly of the beast. We actually recorded this update from the conference floor, so you can experience the aural thrill of several hundred (thousand?) writers talking about writing.

Stream:

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Dispatch #3 (3/8/13, 9:30 am)
Hello, morning! A little groggy, but there’s important conferencing to be done. Talking points include: popping and locking, the guy in the newspaper hat, rejection notices.

Stream:

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Dispatch #4: Panel challenge (3/8/13, 7:00 pm)

The results of our panel challenge: Tom endures 75 minutes on creative writing as therapy, while Mike learns about the connections between history and poetry.

Stream:

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Dispatch #5: Podcast Synergy

Tod Goldberg and Julia Pistell, of the Literary Disco podcast, stop by for a quick chat, here on the last day of AWP. Talking points include: Bedouin poetry tents, Val Kilmer as Mark Twain, writer costumes, and bad paneling.

Stream:

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Episode 29: Lynn Coady, The Antagonist

This might come as a shock, listeners, but Tom actually had a reason for picking this book. Miracles can happen! Lynn Coady’s 2013 novel The Antagonist is written as a series of emails from a man who’s recently discovered that his former friend mined the intimate details of his life for fiction.

The-Antagonist

Talking points include: epistolary novels, aggrieved exes, Canadian rock, SARS, grilled cheese, and whether writers can have friends.

Here’s a link to purchase James Boice’s short story “Pregnant Girl, Smoking,” which we mentioned in the episode. Closing music for the episode is by The Tragically Hip.

Stream the episode right here on our site:

Download Episode 29 (right-click, save-as)

You can find us in the iTunes store, where you can download individual episodes or subscribe (for free) to make sure you never miss anything. Also! Please visit our sponsor, Powell’s, for all your book-buying needs. Just click on the widget at the bottom of this post, or any of the Powell’s banners on our site, and anything you purchase will send a little coin our way (at no additional cost to you).

Thanks for listening!


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Writers Ask: The Children Are Our Future

A very special episode this week, listeners! We’re fielding questions from a creative writing class at Tom’s high school alma mater, La Salle College High School in Philadelphia. It’s time for some serious mentoring. Changing lives!

But there’s plenty in here for the adults, too. In fact, despite our best efforts, there might be more cursing than is ideal for a high school class. Sorry for the swears, pre-adults! But we hope our answers are helpful: on revision, mining stories from Facebook, how to craft a good piece of literary nonfiction, and more.

Stream the episode here:

Or download the episode (right-click, save-as).

Or, as always, you can find us in the iTunes store, where you can subscribe (for free) and never miss another episode.

Thanks for listening! Tell your friends! Sorry about the swears!

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