Georges Simenon - The Cat
In this episode, the Spine Crackers read prolific Belgian author Georges Simenon's 1967 novel of class, marriage, memory, and the nature of love and hate, The Cat. Meow.
Aug 28, 2021•2 hr 12 min
Spine Crackers
Spine Crackers is an in-depth literary analysis podcast where we discuss a different book every other week, with some jokes and goofs tossed in for good measure. Follow us on instagram, twitter, facebook, etc. and check out our patreon! We post our next read on twitter so you can keep up and read along with us if you like.
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https://www.patreon.com/spinecrackers
spinecrackerspod@gmail.com
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Episodes
Graham Greene - A Burnt-Out Case
In this episode the Spine Crackers read Graham Greene's 1960 novel of faith, colonialism, and fame A Burnt-Out Case.
Aug 20, 2021•2 hr 43 min
Nicholson Baker - The Mezzanine
In this episode, the Spine Crackers read Nicholson Baker's 1988 short novel detailing one man's mental life during a ride up an escalator. Prefiguring some of the stylistic and thematic interests of more recent postmodern, encyclopedic novels, Baker's hyper-detailed "microhistory" is powerful and hilarious.
Aug 15, 2021•2 hr 1 min
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
In this episode, the Spine Crackers dig into what is arguably the most well-known and influential American novel of all time, F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 tale of class, time, national identity, and so much more, The Great Gatsby.
Aug 06, 2021•2 hr 31 min
Virginia Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway
In this episode, the Spine Crackers read Virginia Woolf's 1925 modernist masterpiece of war, aging, social isolation, and British identity Mrs. Dalloway.
Jul 30, 2021•2 hr 13 min
Miscellaneous Book Talk
In this first episode back after an extended vacation, the Spine Crackers ease back into things with some miscellaneous discussion of literature, booktube, our reading styles, why we started the podcast, and many other topics! Check it out!
Jul 20, 2021•2 hr 8 min
T.F. Powys - Unclay
This week, the Spine Crackers read British novelist T.F. Powys' 1931 allegorical novel of Death, Love, and Vice in an English country town, Unclay.
May 28, 2021•2 hr 20 min
Philip K. Dick - Ubik
This week the Spine Crackers read science fiction legend Philip K. Dick's 1969 novel of consumerism, death, identity, and time Ubik. We get a nice little case of the giggles in this one so be sure to look out for that.
May 21, 2021•2 hr 27 min
Jean Toomer - Cane
This week, the Spine Crackers read Jean Toomer's 1923 modernist classic of the Harlem Renaissance, Cane. Alternating between vignettes of African American life in the South and the North, as well as poems, Cane is a unique achievement.
May 14, 2021•1 hr 53 min
Haruki Murakami - Killing Commendatore
This week, the Spine Crackers are joined by OG IRL friend and friend of the pod Casey to present our first ever 3-hour episode. We discuss Haruki Murakami's 2017 epic of art, trauma, family, and so much more, "Killing Commendatore!" Settle in for this one y'all!
May 07, 2021•3 hr 6 min
Vladimir Nabokov - The Real Life of Sebastian Knight
This week, the Spine Crackers read Russian-American author Vladimir Nabokov's first English-language novel (1941) of identity, memory, exile, and language "The Real Life of Sebastian Knight."
Apr 30, 2021•2 hr 32 min
Leonardo Sciascia - The Day of the Owl
This week, the Spine Crackers read Sicilian crime novelist Leonardo Sciascia's early novel The Day of the Owl. Place, community, and the realities of organized crime take center stage here. Godfather eat your heart out.
Apr 23, 2021•2 hr 16 min
Henry Miller - The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
For our first ever non-fiction episode, the Spine Crackers tackle Henry Miller's pseudo-travelogue of exile, national identity, art, and the American consciousness, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare.
Apr 16, 2021•1 hr 57 min
Raven Leilani - Luster
This week, the Spine Crackers read the highly praised "millennial fiction" novel of race, sex, and self Luster by Raven Leilani.
Apr 09, 2021•1 hr 52 min
Dubravka Ugresic - The Museum of Unconditional Surrender
This week the Spine Crackers read Yugoslavian-born author Dubravka Ugresic's strange, beautiful novel of identity, war, memory, and place The Museum of Unconditional Surrender.
Apr 02, 2021•2 hr 1 min
Ah Cheng - The King of Trees
This week the Spinecrackers read Chinese author Ah Cheng's three novellas set in and around post-Maoist China, The King of Trees, The King of Chess, and The King of Children. Join us for a tipsy daoist power hour!
Mar 26, 2021•2 hr 13 min
Michel Houellebecq - Submission
This week, for their 20th episode, the Spine Crackers read French author Michel Houellebecq's controversial 2015 novel of religion, meaning-making, politics, and literature, Submission.
Mar 19, 2021•2 hr 28 min
Hervé Guibert - To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life
This week the Spine Crackers read Hervé Guibert's brutally intimate and by turns hilarious and tragic semi-autobiographical account of AIDS and the early days of the crisis in the gay community in France. To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life. Cameos by Michel Foucault and Isabelle Adjani.
Mar 12, 2021•2 hr 10 min
Evan Dara - Flee (feat. Morgan)
This week the Spine Crackers are joined by enigmatic friend of the pod Morgan to discuss the almost-as-mysterious author Evan Dara and their 2013 novel of community, capitalism, and economic destitution Flee.
Mar 05, 2021•1 hr 54 min
Hiroko Oyamada - The Factory (feat. Scott Thomas)
This week the Spine Crackers are joined and dramatically upstaged by the inimitable Scott Thomas of The Infinity Podcast and And the Best Picture Is... to read Hiroko Oyamada's lonely, evocative corporate dreamscape The Factory (2013).
Feb 26, 2021•2 hr 15 min
Nathaniel Mackey - Bass Cathedral
This week the Spine Crackers read Bass Cathedral, the fourth volume of Nathaniel Mackey's epic ongoing, beginning and end-less epistolary work of jazz, history, and identity (among many other things) From a Broken Bottle Traces of Perfume Still Emanate.
Feb 19, 2021•2 hr 11 min
Helen DeWitt - The Last Samurai (feat. Viva La Dude)
This week the Spine Crackers, along with OMEGA SPECIAL GUEST Daniel from the Viva La Dude podcast, tackle Helen DeWitt's genre and form-bending chonky boi novel about family and the nature of genius The Last Samurai (no not that one you rubes).
Feb 12, 2021•2 hr 26 min
Guido Morselli - Dissipatio H.G.: The Vanishing
This week the Spine Crackers read Guido Morselli's 1977 post-apocalyptic meditation on memory and selfhood Dissipatio H.G.: The Vanishing. If you have ever wanted to hear us sing, well boy howdy this is the episode for you!
Feb 05, 2021•1 hr 38 min
Anna Kavan - Sleep Has His House
This week the Spine Crackers read Anna Kavan's surrealist pseudo-autobiographical novel Sleep Has His House. This episode lives up the podcast's name, as disagreements were had, bones were broken, and feelings were hurt. Drama! Intrigue! Books!
Jan 29, 2021•1 hr 54 min
John Crowley - Great Work of Time
This week the Spine Crackers head to British colonial Africa at some point in the flat circle of time with John Crowley's 1989 time-travel novella Great Work of Time!
Jan 22, 2021•1 hr 42 min
Georges Simenon - Dirty Snow
This week the Spine Crackers read Dirty Snow, an existential pseudo-dystopian novel of life during World War II, by prolific Belgian noir specialist Georges Simenon. Listen to this episode in your happy place because this is not a fun read (though it is excellent and enjoyable in other sorts of ways).
Jan 15, 2021•1 hr 44 min
Ursula K. Le Guin - The Lathe of Heaven
This week the Spine Crackers dig into a very unrealistic and not-at-all timely-or-an-exact-mirror-of-our-crumbling-reality novel The Lathe of Heaven by legendary science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin. Alien turtles, dream realities, and psychological malpractice abound!
Jan 08, 2021•1 hr 46 min
Jakov Lind - Soul of Wood
This week the Spine Crackers break into the strange and slightly (though understandably) misanthropic world of Jakov Lind, reading his 1962 novella Soul of Wood and a selection of his other short stories, most of which are centered around WWII and its aftermath.
Jan 01, 2021•2 hr 12 min
Charles Dickens - The Chimes & The Haunted Man
This week the Spine Crackers celebrate the most wonderful time of the year (in the case of one co-host, perhaps a bit too much) by talking through two of Charles Dickens' lesser known Christmas novellas: "The Chimes" and "The Haunted Man"
Dec 25, 2020•1 hr 17 min
Natsume Sōseki - The Miner
This week the Spine Crackers read noted Japanese author Natsume Sōseki's proto-modernist novel The Miner (1908).
Dec 18, 2020•1 hr 53 min
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