our campus season (officially) wraps up with teenager by bud smith, which follows the first how to win the lottery field trip. after serge gainsbourg drops by, we talk about elvis, the “lovers on the run” template, and how the book dissects american systems failing people. we talk about the novel’s underlying darkness, its cinematic nature, and how it demystifies grand american myths. our podcast finds a new villain, we imagine teenager as a movie (and a video game), and we talk about “famous cuck ned carson.”
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
either/or by elif batuman, 6/2
teenager by bud smith, 6/16