So Many Damn Books

Christopher and Drew are joined in the zoom hysperspace universe with writing duo Laura Blackett & Eve Gleichman, creators of the inventive rom-com thriller, The Very Nice Box. They all get into how Gleichman and Blackett's partnership started, the joys of creating a sideways satire, and the desire to create warmth in the pages even as the book becomes a thriller. Then, they sink their chompers into Kristen Arnett's With Teeth, and how it makes you feel on the edge of a panic attack the whole time.contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic)Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rosecrans Baldwin drops into the Damn Library's online zoom space to chat all about Los Angeles, the subject of his new book, Everything Now: Lessons from the City-State of Los Angeles. We get into many of the things that make up Los Angeles, how it's different from Paris, and how the book's structure was inspired by Wittgenstein. He also brings along Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul: Memories and the City, and we all talk about melancholy before we talk about hot tubs and granola bars. Get right in, the water's fine.contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christopher and Drew finally conquer Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley novels, talking (and mildly spoiling) all five of the novels concerning Highsmith's most famous creation. They get into why he's a charming character, and also why reading all five in a row might be needlessly punishing. Plus, a lot of Dune by Frank Herbert talk at the end! Books! You can talk about them a lot!for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Loan Le is hanging in Zoom Hyperspace with the guys, and since she's a triple threat (writer, editor, reader) there is tons to cover. First, the pleasures of the food writing in A Pho Love Story, and writing teenagers on the brink. Then, what it's like to go from professionally editing books to writing and back again. And finally, with her reader hat on, she brought John Searles' Help for the Haunted, and we talk slippery time and why Loan believes in ghosts.contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When A.E. Osworth drops into the Damn Library to talk about their novel We Are Watching Eliza Bright, that means we get to really talk about the Internet, since that's where their novel is largely set. This is also how we talk about video games, and epistolary novels, and the process of getting a couple different choruses on the page. Plus, we talk about Patricia Lockwood's No One is Talking About This, another Internet novel, getting very into the megabytes of how these two books treat their online spheres.contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spring has sprung and we're in the mood for adventure, so we asked K.M. Szpara to join us in the Damn Library for as close to an adventure as we can get these days: chatting about adventure novels! We talk about Kellan's new novel First, Become Ashes, and BDSM, and cults -- and then everybody geeks the hell out about Jurassic Park, because it's worth a re-read (or three, or seven). Isn't comfort reading nice?contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic) countdown timer by Rainbow Timers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Herein, Christopher and Drew discuss how video games and assigned reading can help get the reading going, possible reading themed architectural additions to Drew's house, and how Spring reading is here! Plus some fun recommendations from Patreon listeners!contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's March again, which has a different meaning this year but it also still means that it's TOURNAMENT OF BOOKS TIME! With a ca-caw to you, and to you too, the guys do a bit of prognostication that will almost certainly prove to be wrong. But what's a sports-adjacent literary experience without a little bit of ridiculous superstition to go with it?PS if you don't know about the ToB, check out the primer at TheMorningNews.org!contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It happens to all of us, at one point or another, and there's no shame in admitting it: Christopher's in a reading slump. So the guys talk about it, about the latest pandemic wall, about finding joy whenever and wherever a person can. It's a reading snapshot, but sometimes that means there isn't any reading! There isn't even a regular cocktail this time, which you know means we're getting down to Business.contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic) Thank you to this episode's sponsors:Get 25% off your first two orders on Literati Kids at literati.com/smdb.Mulholland Books presents Joe Ide's new thriller, Smoke Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jenny Offill, author of Weather (now out in paperback) joins the Damn Library through the internet tubes. Christopher makes a second drink for the book (after he and his wife Sarah discussed it during one of the early pandemic eps), there's talk of How Things Have Changed and the writing process, and Jenny sends us to warmer climes with her book club pick: Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea!contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The guys get caffeinated, distantly, with Mateo Askaripour to talk about his fantastic debut novel, Black Buck. They chat about telling your own story even if someone else is telling a similar one, about weaving life into art, and about how fiction is more fun than non-fiction. Plus, an out-of-print classic for Book Club that deserves to be brought back: Sam Greenlee's The Spook Who Sat by the Door. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic) This episode is brought to you by Betterhelp. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/SMDB. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guess who zooms in this time? It's George Saunders himself, certified MacArthur Genius, launching his new book about writing and Russian short story masters, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life. Christopher and Drew ask him about what teaching taught him about writing, how he keeps the world fresh, and what he'd like to do if he weren't a writer, along with what a master Tolstoy was. Na Zdorovie!contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic) This episode is brought to you by Betterhelp. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/SMDB. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christopher and Drew hash out their agreed upon top 5 of the year, and then throw out two additional titles each. Lists are weird.contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic) This episode is sponsored by Amazon Publishing, publishers of the new Faraway Collection; and Betterhelp. Get 10% off your first month by visiting BetterHelp.com/somanydamnbooks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christopher and Drew hang out and talk what they got up to for the holiday, open their annual presents to one another, and talk about why Goodreads is probably fine, amongst other bookish subjects.visit somanydamnbooks.com for book lists and recipes!support us on patreon! patreon.com/smdbThis episode is sponsored by Amazon Publishing, publishers of the new Faraway Collection Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Instead of doing a big holiday episode and taking a break, the guys decide to celebrate by putting out some little tidbits to keep everyone company through these darkest, shortest days! First up: Stocking Stuffers from the Public Domain! Drew reads A.A. Milne's request for a standardization of Christmas gifts and Christopher dives into a mini history of Christmas tree innovations.It's a hoot and a half.This episode is sponsored by Amazon Publishing, publishers of the new Faraway Collection; and Betterhelp. Get 10% off your first month by visiting BetterHelp.com/somanydamnbooks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emily Temple drops into the Damn Library via webcam, and we all chat about calendars, and the dreams of being a writer as well as the dream of online book recommendation, and knowing you'll rewrite your first draft. Of course we also discuss her novel The Lightness, and how summer camps are kind of proto-cults, and how you end up putting everything into your debut, because of course there will be more. Plus, she brought us the anti-beach read Kōbō Abe's The Woman in the Dunes, and we can still taste the sand.contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic) This episode is sponsored by Amazon Publishing, publishers of the new Faraway Collection. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s the big 1-5-0 and since it also happens to be the holiday season, we opened the phone-lines to some of our Patreon supporters to help recommend some books for their wishlists or to pick up for their loved ones! Imagine Christopher and Drew in a big ol’ telethon studio, with phones ringing off the hook and the number flashing across the bottom of the screen… except they’re in their respective homes, doing this on Zoom.Feat. appearances by Patrons Moti, Jacob, Bonnie, Erin, Chris, Lee, Charlie, Veronika and Michael! Our thanks to them for joining and to all of our listeners.We are glad we made 150 of these, and we are excited to make more!contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One Story managing editor, creative writing teacher, and writer of her own work: Lena Valencia wears many hats. She zooms on in to the Damn Library and Drew and Christopher pick her brain on writing scary things, what makes a good One Story submission, and how she tries to listen to the advice she gives her students. And we talk about her recent publications in Catapult's Tiny Nightmares and Epiphany lit mag. Plus, we discuss Megan Cummins' If the Body Allows It, and the underground world of the university/small press ecosystem. Hooray for short stories!contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christopher and Drew discuss House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski at 20 years, Drew returning to the house and Christopher there for the first time. Plus, the pleasures of ergodic fiction, 3-D fiction, discussions of the Internet and how it fails us, and horror films and horror novels. It's spooky season, and the episode is bigger on the inside.contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rumaan Alam zooms around into the online void paradox that is the Damn Library to talk about his new novel, Leave the World Behind. Grocery shopping, writing a glue trap, personal detail, hypertext, and careful language choices, all populate a very far-ranging conversation that veers from teeth to AirBnB foibles. Plus, Rumaan brought Want by Lynn Steger Strong along, and we talk about why it's like a ripe fruit, and that opens up even further avenues, like literary friendships and books as dreams.Get ready to hear a podcast about reading!contribute! https://patreon.com/smdbfor drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.commusic: Disaster Magic(https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.