real life by brandon taylor continues our journey through the campus semester of our podcast and marks our most recent release in this module. after another seamless opening to the podcast, we dive into the “largely autobiographical” novel and discuss how how quickly brandon taylor wrote it (which bob likens to “a guy puking, in the best way”). we compare the novel to the works of bret easton ellis and edward albee and admire taylor’s descriptions of science and tennis. we talk about the novel’s take on racism, homophobia, and misogyny. joey stumbles in recalling an ambrose bierce story (“the coup de grace,” which you can read here). we discuss the classic tv programs “baggage” and “elimidate.” bob describes how he picks books for the show. we take a ride in a time machine to cast an adaptation.
reading list for season two
the bell jar by sylvia plath, 11/4
prep by curtis sittenfeld, 11/18
the art of fielding by chad harbach, 12/2
nickel boys by colson whitehead, 12/16
the virgins by pamela erens, 12/30
my education by susan choi, 1/13
giles goat-boy by john barth, 1/27
end zone by don delillo, 2/10
loner by teddy wayne, 2/24
the secret history by donna tartt, 3/10
sweet days of discipline by fleur jaeggy, 3/24
college novel by blake middleton, 4/7
real life by brandon taylor, 4/21
the instructions by adam levin, 5/5
the idiot by elif batuman, 5/19