TBC: What We Actually Read, 2021!
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Our year-end survey. What the hell did we read in 2021???
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RIP Eve Babitz (Rebroadcast: Bicoastal Season, Episode 3)
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RIP Eve Babitz. Here's her episode from September 2020.
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RIP Anne Rice (Rebroadcast: Season 2, Episode 1)
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Re-releasing this episode in tribute to our vampire queen! RIP, Anne.
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Ayn Rand Pt. 2 (Pseudonym Season, Episode 6)
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In Part 2 of our Rand investigation, we figure out what the deal is with Rand’s magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged.
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Ayn Rand, Pt. 1 (Pseudonym Season, Episode 5)
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Sifting through the life of objectivist Ayn Rand.
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Stephen King/Richard Bachman (Pseudonym Season, Episode 4)
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The man who launched a thousand screams and his alter-ego who launched a thousand "wait, who?"s. It’s Stephen King/Richard Bachman day! Happy scary season, everyone!
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Nancy Drew/The Hardy Boys (Pseudonym Season, Episode 3)
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A dive into the hiveminds behind Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.
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Alice Sheldon/James Tiptree Jr. (Pseudonym Season, Episode 2)
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Sci-fi savant James Tiptree Jr. had accolades, admirers and many, many pen pals. Problem was, he didn't exist.
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Stacey Abrams/Selena Montgomery (Pseudonym Season, Episode 1)
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Our Pseudonym Season kicks off with a look into political miracle-worker Stacey Abrams' other life as romance author Selena Montgomery.
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TBC: The Snarkroom of Damocles (& Season Preview!)
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Michael and Hannah gossip about books + preview their upcoming Pseudonym Season! We’re thrilled to be back in your ears!
info_outlineY’all might have to down some redbull (+ vodka) to keep up with vanilla suit connoisseur Tom Wolfe and his eighties brick, The Bonfire of the Vanities. It is, let’s say, equal parts energetic and problematic. We get into why, then do a juicy dive on the misguided movie adaptation starring, bewilderingly, Tom Hanks.
Books mentioned: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, A Man in Full & I Am Charlotte Simmons, Tom Wolfe; Furious Hours, Casey Cep; Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, Laura Hillenbrand; I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara; The Devil’s Candy, Julie Salamon.
A bonfire of sources:
- Tom Wolfe Obit (NYT)
- Retrospective on BoV (NYT)
- Wolfe on Fresh Air (NPR)
- Joseph Epstein on BoV (New Criterion)
- Louis Menand, Adam Gopnik and Paul Elie on Wolfe (New Yorker)
- BoV Movie Trailer
- Piece on The Devil’s Candy (LA Times)
- As always, Patricia Lockwood on Updike (LRB)
- Chuckle-slinger