Marlon & Jake weigh in on the age-old “artist versus art” debate, as they examine good books by problematic dead authors, as well as the bad and sometimes problematic books by great dead authors.  From Flannery O’Conner to Roald Dahl,  Vladimir Nabokov to the surprisingly challenging Charles Dickens, Marlon & Jake explore the thorny questions surrounding the books worth fighting for and the ones worth fighting over. How exactly do we define terrible books?  Is there a statute of limitations on being offensive? Can we enjoy a book at the same time that we recognize its failures?  Do people and ideas ever evolve beyond books?  And what does it mean to have the freedom to choose what to read? Tune in for a provocative, nuanced conversation that might just make you rethink, revisit, or totally let go when it comes to your own reading of dead authors.Selected works discussedCharlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald DahlGone with the Wind by Margaret MitchellEverything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’ConnorHeart of Darkness by Joseph ConradBear and His Daughter by Robert StoneThe Breast by Philip RothI Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom WolfeLolita by Vladimir NabokovPnin by Vladimir NabokovMoby Dick by Herman MelvilleSong of Solomon by Toni MorrisonThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark TwainThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark TwainSlapstick by Kurt VonnegutWelcome to the Monkey House by Kurt VonnegutSlaughterhouse-Five by Kurt VonnegutThe Mountain Lion by Jean StaffordThe Turner Diaries by William Luther PierceTarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice BurroughsJohn Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice BurroughsAnd the writing of:Charles DickensKnut HamsunJack LondonHP LovecraftWilliam S. BurroughsNorman MailerEnid Blyton