Drew and Christopher host HarperCollins' senior art director for a chat about book cover design, the hipness of text, trends in design, and more, plus how everyone has a Murakami phase, and some surprising things about the behind the scenes of book making. Also, they discuss The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek, the idiocy of war, and who should play Švejk in a movie. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com music: Disaster Magi...
Oct 09, 2018•41 min
Christopher and Drew hang out with a whiskey+tea cocktail and just give themselves over to the book chat. First: BUY YOURSELF A TOTE! The "My Other Car is a Book" tote is now available for your purchase. Then they get into vacation reading, never reading the books you mean to read, Shakespeare novelizations, professional obligations, and how many narratives one mind can hold. It's real bookish, you'll like it. tote: http://www.somanydamnbooks.com/totes/smdb-tote contribute! https://patreon.com/s...
Sep 27, 2018•37 min
Christopher and Drew bring back the One Book, One New York episode for another go, this time reading the city's choice of Jennifer Egan's Manhattan Beach . They talk its pleasures, and diving costumes, and the possibilities of New York, as well as the genre of historical fiction, and their ideal choices for next year. And of course, they recommend a lot of other things to read, as is their wont. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks....
Sep 11, 2018•37 min
R.O. Kwon buzzes in with her buzzy book, The Incendiaries , and the guys get to talk to her about stuff like campus novels, North Korea, how likely they would be to join a cult, and also Rachel Khong's Goodbye Vitamin , and how to write lightly about devastation, a re-read for D+C that inspires a chat about seeing it in a new light. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com music: Disaster Magic ( https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magi...
Aug 14, 2018•43 min
Megan Abbott returns to the Damn Library for her new book Give Me Your Hand , and Christopher cooks up a color changing cocktail to celebrate. The guys get into Megan's dual jobs as novelist and tv writer, her thriller philosophy, and how writing people who are smart rather than brawny is a challenge. They also talk Lisa Halliday's Asymmetry , its relation to Phillip Roth, and some of their own desert island discs. And lots more! contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists...
Jul 31, 2018•44 min
John Hodgman joins the gentlemen in the Damn Library to talk about all sorts of things, from a Borges scholar posing for a picture to reading rehab after being a professional literary agent. A blueberry-based beverage is enjoyed. We talk his new book, Vacationland , as well as his performance career, becoming a character, and lots of other things that will delight and surprise. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com music: Disaste...
Jul 17, 2018•1 hr 2 min
Christopher and Drew hang in the Damn Library and talk about the books they've liked so far this year, the books they are going to read next, and some of the books they are excited about that are soon to be in the world. The book titles come fast and furious, TBR piles climbing as high as the temperatures. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com music: Disaster Magic - Easy Life ( https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic ) Hosted on A...
Jul 10, 2018•18 min
Hannah Pittard drops back into the Damn Library after writing and editing and publishing an entire new novel called Visible Empire ! While drinking a cocktail featuring guava and egg white, she and the guys get way into 1962, how you need to make sure your ex knows where you got your ideas from, and how you should always kill the dog, amongst other topics. They also all discuss Ralph Ellison's classic novel Invisible Man , and how the speeches are excellent, it's devastating, but there's also ni...
Jun 12, 2018•59 min
Stephanie Danler drops by the Damn Library for a second go around, this time to talk the Sweetbitter television adaptation she created, now on Starz. We discuss the Disneyland of production, why writers' rooms are great, and how she doesn't really live in Los Angeles like her house would imply. Plus we got into Lorrie Moore's Anagrams , and its satellite stories, and the forgotten voids of the 80s. Christopher and Drew also overpromise on tote bags. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink...
May 29, 2018•53 min
For the first time ever, a graphic memoirist stops by the Damn Library in the form of Amy Kurzweil, author of the graphic memoir Flying Couch ! She also draws New Yorker cartoons! Listen as we chat about form and tone, board games and heartbreak, and more. We also get into Riad Sattouf's Arab of the Future, and why the graphic memoir is such a great medium! We hope it DRAWS you in! music: Disaster Magic - Pier 6 ( https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic ) contribute! patreon.com/smdb for drink rec...
May 15, 2018•58 min
Christopher and Drew hang out and explain themselves. They also talk their jobs, and formative reading experiences, and other subjects. music: Disaster Magic - Pier 6 ( https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic ) contribute! patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 01, 2018•33 min
Jonathan Ames, writer of novels like Wake Up, Sir and I Pass Like Night , as well as series creator of Bored to Death and Blunt Talk , sits down in the Damn Library to talk his new pulp novella, You Were Never Really Here, as well as how he wrote funny to please his mom, actors he has loved working with, and why pulp interested him. We also get to chatting about Leonard Gardner's Fat City and terrible cases of second-novel-itis. Also, stop using straws. music: Disaster Magic - Room ( https://sou...
Apr 17, 2018•51 min
Christopher and Drew talk about PEN's 2018 World Voices Festival - check out their website of events! https://worldvoices.pen.org/schedule/ music: Disaster Magic - Desert Snake and Coconut Crab ( https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic ) contribute! patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com This minisode was sponsored by PEN America - www.pen.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 13, 2018•11 min
Ruth Curry joins the guys in the Damn Library fresh off her #TOB18 judge-ship to chat about all sorts of things, like balancing her reading life and her work life, what she reads for at Emily Books, and why she has a Tiny Letter. We also get to chattin' about Sigrid Nunez's The Friend , which is a book about academia and dogs, so of course everyone has a lot to say. music: Disaster Magic - Boston ( https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic ) contribute! patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists...
Apr 03, 2018•44 min
Oh my gosh! It's over! Listen to me and Drew talk about what we thought about the Tournament this year, and also, a couple books we really wish had been in the tournament! Bok bok to you! Become a sustaining member of the Tournament! https://themorningnews.org/page/membership Visit www.somanydamnbooks.com for drink recipes, book lists, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 30, 2018•15 min
Oh my gosh it's still the tournament and we are feeling the madness! Listen to us talk about what's gone on so far, and also, some of the past tournament injustices! Become a sustaining member of the Tournament! https://themorningnews.org/page/membership Visit www.somanydamnbooks.com for drink recipes, book lists, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 23, 2018•18 min
Christopher and Drew wrestle up Gabe Habash to drink, chat, and be merry. Christopher serves everyone a very strange cocktail based on Habash's Stephen Florida , then dive right into the very strange headspace of Mr. Florida. They discuss plot points vs. follow points, Moby Dick, and more, before falling for the dual plots of Iris Murdoch's The Nice and The Good. More Murdoch and much more in general, too! music: Disaster Magic - Desert Snake and Coconut Crab ( https://soundcloud.com/disaster-ma...
Mar 20, 2018•51 min
Christopher and Drew prognosticate! The first round is still underway, but we still wanted to talk about what's gone on so far, and what might happen for the end of the round. Become a sustaining member of the Tournament! https://themorningnews.org/page/membership Visit www.somanydamnbooks.com for drink recipes, book lists, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 13, 2018•16 min
John Darnielle, lead singer of the Mountain Goats and writer of Universal Harvester and Wolf in White Van , sits down in the Damn Library for a far-ranging conversation covering everything from addiction to translated fiction. They talk about being frightened and why John writes, along with a myriad of other things. John also brings Mathias Énard's one-sentence novel Zone (translated by Charlotte Mandell) to the guys, and they discuss hypnosis and dispel some 90s nostalgia. music: Disaster Magic...
Mar 07, 2018•53 min
Even though the Tournament won't officially start until after this episode has been posted, we're champing at the bit to get some prognostications going. So, for all you other ToB diehards - this one's for you. 9 minutes of tournament talk with Christopher and Drew. Get into it (and check back next week for some recapping and further predictions)! #tob18 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 07, 2018•9 min
Rachel Lyon sits down in the Damn Library as the first guest of 2018. She presents her incredible new novel Self-Portait with Boy , and the guys ask questions about it, like about camera research, and changing DUMBO, and other New York-type things. Then they all discuss Eileen Myles' Afterglow and discuss how much of this "dog memoir" worked, and how much was just Eileen Myles-ing around. music: Disaster Magic - Get Raining ( https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic ) contribute to our patreon! pat...
Feb 20, 2018•58 min
Katherine Faw drops into the Damn Library to talk about things like drugstore sushi, writing about women with ambition, and nail art. Then they all chat about Fleur Jaeggy's Sweet Days of Discipline and how it subverts the expectations of the normal boarding school novel. Tequila is consumed. music: Disaster Magic ( https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic ) contribute! pateron.com/smdb look for book lists, drink recipes, and more! somanydamnbooks.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...
Feb 06, 2018•51 min
Christopher and Drew chat about their Top 6 books of 2017 - the 4 books they both agree on, and then 2 that only one of the guys puts on the top of the pile. They also pontificate on the book that'll win the 2018 Tournament of Books, and list some things they are looking forward to this year. music: Disaster Magic - Room ( https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic ) contribute over at patreon.com/smdb book lists, drink recipes and more over at somanydamnbooks.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...
Jan 30, 2018•29 min
Uli Beutter Cohen (Subway Book Review), Bianca Bosker (Cork Dork), and Nozlee Samadzadeh (TMN's Tournament of Books) join Drew and Christopher in the Damn Library for a holiday-tinged book club discussion of Tom Hanks' Uncommon Type. Hanks' status as America's Dad is discussed, as well as Christopher's status as a father, amongst other subjects like, do happy people get to make art? Can happy people make good art? And why does Tom Hanks get to write a book? visit somanydamnbooks.com for book lis...
Dec 19, 2017•56 min
E. Lockhart settles into the Damn Library for a long chat about Genuine Fraud , her new novel, as well as touching on her other works, like Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks , and We Were Liars . Then John Green's new book, Turtles All the Way Down is considered, along with his depiction of a mental spiral, and what he taught us this time around, amongst many other topics. 15 seconds of a song: France Gall - Teenie Weenie Boppie support the show! patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, bo...
Dec 05, 2017•59 min
So Many Damn Books heads to the movies and sees Kenneth Branagh's (mustache's) Murder on the Orient Express , based on the Agatha Christie novel. What you want in an adaptation is discussed, as well as dream adaptations, and adaptations the guys are looking forward to seeing. But, you know, books are better. 15 seconds of a song: Beck - Broken Train contribute if you'd like: patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit somanydamnbooks.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...
Nov 21, 2017•31 min
Carolyn Murnick joins the guys in the Damn Library to discuss her memoir, The Hot One: a memoir of friendship, sex, and murder . Along with discussing that subtitle and the cover, the trio discuss Pop Culture's helpfulness in navigating murder and courtrooms, as well as whether we had that friend that went down a path we couldn't follow. Claire Dederer's Love and Trouble: a Midlife Reckoning is also on the table which prompts the question: how do you interact with authors whose lives you know in...
Nov 07, 2017•50 min
New to Brooklyn (having moved here from Spain), Edgar Cantero drops by the Damn Library with some Meddling Kids and discusses with Drew and Christopher his detective phase, coming up with his style, and why it's easier to write car chases in English. They all discuss which Enid Blyton Famous Five book they read and why the 40's British teen sleuth adventure series never quite made a splash in the States. A cocktail with a Mountain Dew ice cube is consumed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy ...
Oct 10, 2017•46 min
To celebrate the 75th episode of So Many Damn Books, Christopher and Drew bring the Damn Library to the FSG offices to talk to Robin Sloan about his novel Sourdough and Eugene Lim's Dear Cyborgs . Food vs tech, analog vs digital, specific pop culture details vs vague description, and many other divergences are all discussed. Robin Sloan makes a very important proclamation about art projects within novels. Don't miss this one. And thanks for being here for episode 75! 15 seconds of a song: The Go...
Sep 26, 2017•45 min•Ep. 75
When Amelia Gray stops by the Damn Library, Christopher turns a drink blue again, and they discuss her new book, Isadora. Particularly: what it was like to write a book about a dancer during a time when she wasn't dancing. A quote about dancing is misattributed. Plus, we get into Nell Zink's fearlessness in her novel, Nicotine , about activists and squat housing. Also: Amelia Gray starts an exquisite corpse in our iTunes reviews. book lists, drink recipes, and more over at somanydamnbooks.com co...
Sep 12, 2017•45 min
