We’re joined by Elisa Gabbert (The Unreality of Memory) to discuss Benjamin Labatut’s When We Cease to Understand the World, a book that is mostly nonfiction–about scientists whose discoveries pushed them in the direction of madness–with some fictional flourishes. We talk about genre distinctions, reading works in translation, and why fall is the best season.
We also rope Elisa into helping us answer a couple questions from the NaNoWriMo forums about naming cars and what life is like under the sea.
If you like the show, and would like to have more of it in your life, you can subscribe to our Patreon for $5 a month and get access to our entire catalog of bonus episodes, including our new Hunt for the Worst Book of All Time, which has forced us to read books by Tucker Max, Danielle Steel, Sean Penn, and–most recently–Morrissey.
Stream or download Episode 385 here:
Book Fight! 