Books Of Some Substance

Ah yes, Sabbath’s Theater. Perhaps you remember that one uncle of yours reading it at family Thanksgiving ’96. Or maybe you noticed a dash of judgment in the eye of your local librarian upon recently checking out a quality hardcover edition.  (Don’t worry, everyone’s just pumped that you still go to the library.) Maybe you, a literary-minded baseball fan, picked it up after reading The Great American Novel and encountered a different kind of curve ball. Is Philip Roth’s filthiest tome anything more than just that? Is it not safe for work or is it not safe for 2018? If one tallies the profanities in the book, can the felt bias against women be numerically and categorically proven? Or is this grotesque tale a warning against the inherent emptiness and damaging consequences of letting the male id run free—and thus a surprisingly topical lesson—despite the high frequency of bodily fluids discussed therein? Join David, Eric, and Stephanie as they navigate these uncomfortable territories with grace, with depth of t

For Books of Some Substance’s 25th episode, Nick is joined by San Francisco State American Literature Professor Sarita Cannon to discuss Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. Listen in for insight into 1970s politics, writing books like songs, the importance of myths and ancestry, and Morrison’s knack for asking all of the right questions while not giving any of the answers.  And, oh yeah, that whole flying thing.

In preparation for next month's reading of Song of Solomon, Nick is joined by bookclub mainstays Frida and Eric to discuss Toni Morisson's key work of literary criticism Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination.  Listen along as they discuss otherness, reading race, the inherently political, and their own confrontation with ways in which we read. 

With Nathan still motorcycling through the Americas, David and Nick are joined by Johanna, a wonderful and informative member of the Books of Some Substance bookclub, to discuss Heinrich Böll's The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, Or: How Violence Develops and Where It Can Lead. We talk Böll's style, violence in all its forms (institutional, linguistic, literal), fake news, 70s West Germany and the red scare, Amanda (Foxy) Knox(y), and, of course, like the appearance of Tlönian objects, a Borges reference is made.    Find a copy of the book, read it, and listen.  Follows us on Instagram & Twitter: @booksosubstance Check out our homepage: www.booksofsomesubstance.com 

  We don't want other worlds, but do we want mirrors? Do we need them? From the retro-futuristic, wildly open, existentially uncertainty Andrei Tarkovsky version from 1972 to the beige and blue sleekness of Steven Soderbergh's redemptive and romantic 2002 version, David and Eric discuss the two strong adaptations of Stanisław Lem's Solaris.  Watch the films; give us a listen.  Follows us on Instagram & Twitter: @booksosubstance Check out our homepage: www.booksofsomesubstance.com 

Borgesian tropes, 60's pop-psych, the comfort of an infinitesimal self within the endless cosmos, the eternal return of a drunk-dialed jukebox, and livable confusion: ah yes, another episode of the BOSS podcast.   Moving on from the fiasco of reading Fiasco, David and Nick discuss Stanisław Lem's Solaris, his most popular science fiction work of failed communication. Read the book; give us a listen.  Follows us on Instagram & Twitter: @booksosubstance Check out our homepage: www.booksofsomesubstance.com 

Communication breakdown—it's always the same...unless of course you are light years away on a spacecraft with a crew of international and seemingly indistinguishable humans, a deceptive AI system that controls every aspect of the ship, and an unknown reanimated man whose reanimation plays no part in your once in an existence mission to communicate for the first time (ever) with a different intelligent life in the universe, life that is possibly aggressive and certainly intelligent.  Welcome to a discussion of Stanisław Lem's brittle-hard science-fiction novel Fiasco. Welcome to another episode of the Books of Some Substance podcast!  Joining us from the last telephone booth in Seattle is David's bookish friend Mike.    Find yourself a copy of the book (or don't) and give us a listen.  If you are interested in joining up and receiving bad-ass artwork and hand-typed invitation letters (or if you want to see what else we have read or check out Nick's novella), go to our website: http://www.booksofsomesubstance.c

On this episode David and Eric are joined by Frida Pulido, an active and engaging member of the Books of Some Substance bookclub, to discuss Carlos Fuentes' The Death of Artemio Cruz.  David questions the value of reading about such a despicable protagonist for such an extended page count, Eric finds humanity in where we all begin and eventually end, Frida schools us in the variety and elasticity of the colloquial word "chingada," and we all find plenty of substance in Fuentes' writing and philosophizing on death, memory, pain, and time.  Find yourself a copy of the book and give us a listen.    Here is where you can find us:  http://www.booksofsomesubstance.com/  And here: INSTAGRAM   FACEBOOK    TWITTER    ☮

Got yourself a case of originality-sickness? You know, the kind that wishes for the new, the always new, that fashionable illusion that speaks only of death when pretending to be nothing but birth?  Well, kiddo, you are not alone. But you are not loved. Fuentes sees you clinging to originality and he laughs. He sees the anxiety you have about your influences and shakes his head. Give it up, he says, embrace what has come before. Bathe in the aura of influence.  Join David, Eric, and Nick as we discuss Carlos Fuentes' creative essay "On Reading and Writing Myself" in which he breaks down the influences, allusions, and experiences that helped create his short novel Aura.  We talk authorial intent, the death of the author, the Eternal Return; we try to pronounce names correctly and struggle with words only read; we discuss creativity and expectation and change in perception.  So, then. Here is a link to the essay under discussion:  https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/sites/default/files/static/docs/archive-iss

  It is as cold in the new world as it is in the old.  And on this episode Nathan tries to work with Nick and David as they come to terms with just how cold James Baldwin's novel Giovanni's Room has left them.  Can a character you neither love nor hate be compelling? Can an ending that resembles a bad music video from the 90's ruin a book? Can Nathan properly imitate the old-timey voice of a shocked news-bulletin? Can too high of expectations sour a reading? Is there any escaping our slow degradation till death? Find yourself a copy of the book, read it, and join us!  FIND US ON:  INSTAGRAM    FACEBOOK    TWITTER   To receive bad-ass artwork and hand-typed invitation letters (or if you want to see what else we have read (or check out Nick's novella)), go to our website: http://www.booksofsomesubstance.com/  

Do you drink from the cup of trembling? Do you sup those dregs of hopelessness? Welcome back B.O.S.S. listeners. We continue our journey into the work of James Baldwin by reading the story "Sonny's Blues," a narrative about addiction, artistic creation, communion, destruction, existential dread, music's universal power, poetic prose, pragmatism, siblings, suffering, the trap of home, race, redemption, and what we leave behind. Once again, David and Nick find themselves trying to convince Nathan of the "substance" of the narrative. Does Nathan have his come-to-Jesus moment? Or, does he drink from the very cup of trembling?  Find yourself a copy of the story, read it, and join us!  To receive bad-ass artwork and hand-typed invitation letters (or if you want to see what else we have read (or check out Nick's novella)), go to our website: http://www.booksofsomesubstance.com/  FIND US ON:  INSTAGRAM    FACEBOOK    TWITTER        

With Nick out for a little R&R, David and Nathan are joined by B.O.S.S. Boocklub mainstay Eric Heiman for our inaugural supplemental episode.  On this episode, in preparation for further episodes on James Baldwin's literary work, we read one of his most famous essays "Notes of a Native Son" and discuss the recent documentary I Am Not Your Negro. We discuss Baldwin's struggle to shake off his father's bitterness in the face of racial oppression, his love for humanity, and his pristine analytical prose of the personal.  Find a copy, watch the documentary, and give us a listen.  If you are interested in joining up and receiving bad-ass artwork and hand-typed invitation letters (or if you want to see what else we have read or check out Nick's novella), go to our website: http://www.booksofsomesubstance.com/  FIND US ON:  INSTAGRAM    FACEBOOK    TWITTER  

你好 (Ni hao) Comrades! Join us,  kan-pu Nathan, Nick, and David, for another full length episode of Deep Cultural Propaganda from American Imperialists (aka The Books of Some Substance Podcast). Dystopian literature and discussions of authoritarianism abound, and few things were more dystopian than living under the slow-crushing boot of authoritarian Maoist China. On this episode, witness the true confessions of Nick's Obscure Relations with straight-edge militant punk bands, Nathan's deviant modes of Thought Mobilization, and David's Disgorging of Bitter Fluid.   We highly recommend you find yourself a copy of Eileen Chang's Naked Earth, give it a read, and listen along. If you are interested in joining up and receiving bad-ass artwork and hand-typed invitation letters (or if you want to see what else we have read or check out Nick's novella), go to our website: http://www.booksofsomesubstance.com/    FIND US ON:  INSTAGRAM    FACEBOOK    TWITTER  

Time to dust off your favorite huqin record. As the gramophone spins, the huqin's wail tells a story too desolate for words-oh! why go into it? Well, on this episode we explore Chang's desolate story "Love in a Fallen City" and parse why we think she bothers going into it. Join us as we discuss war, freedom, the deception of twice-over whoredom, sandflies, and the subtleties of love and Chang's narrative.    If you are interested in joining up and receiving bad-ass artwork and hand-typed invitation letters (or if you want to see what else we have read or check out Nick's novella), go to our website: http://www.booksofsomesubstance.com/    FIND US ON:  INSTAGRAM    FACEBOOK    TWITTER     Eileen Chang (張煐) [1920-1995] may now be most known for her novella Lust, Caution after Ang Lee adapted it into a popular film, but her two novels critical of the communist society that she fled The Rice Sprout Song and Naked Earth are becoming more widely read. B.O.S.S.'s next book will be Naked Earth.   

A Chinese home built upon the structure of an Iron Maiden riff. Reincarnation unbound by Time. The ultimate truth of Hermann Hesse as the Tony Robbins of European symbolism.  The trio is back on this full length episode. Join us as we work through Hermann Hesse's often frustrating but certainly substantial masterwork The Glass Bead Game. As always, give the novel a read and listen along.    Join the B.O.S.S. Book Club for cool artwork and to get in on the conversation: www.booksofsomesubstance.com On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BooksOfSomeSubstance/ On Twitter: @BooksOSubstance  Check out B.O.S.S. Underground Press and our first release: PWR VOL written by our very own Nick Scandy, illustrated by Aaron Zonka, and scored by mini and the Bear. 

Go forth into the dark corners of thyself! Hail doom!  With David out on a doctor's order to investigate an existential crises, Nathan and Nick explore Hermann Hesse, his place in contemporary readership, and his short work "Klingsor's Last Summer." On this short(ish) episode you will also hear Nick fail to hum a Steppenwolf tune, Nathan come close to admitting a dark secret, and some general discoursing on self-exploration.  As always, give the story a read and listen along.    Join the B.O.S.S. Book Club for cool artwork and to get in on the conversation: www.booksofsomesubstance.com On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BooksOfSomeSubstance/ On Twitter: @BooksOSubstance   Check out B.O.S.S. Underground Press and our first release: PWR VOL written by our very own Nick Scandy, illustrated by Aaron Zonka, and scored by mini and the Bear.   

Greetings and Salutations! Welcome to another full length episode of the Books of Some Substance Podcast. On this episode: Nathan finds in Babbitt a flapper-ite hipsterish cesspool of nihilism; David allows a groan (or seven) of tedium to escape him, as he finds “substance” to have escaped from the novel itself; and Nick, having enveloped himself in far more Lewis than Zenith's house-call doctor would recommend, finds the realism, clever vernacular, and biting satire not only lasting in historical interest but entirely relevant to today’s vapid excesses. Dive in. The world is yours!  Links:   Our website: http://www.booksofsomesubstance.com/ Our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BooksOfSomeSubstance/ Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/booksosubstance  Nick’s book PWR VOL: http://www.booksofsomesubstance.com/imprint-list/pwr-vol and https://www.amazon.com/pwr-vol-Nick-Scandy/dp/0998188808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481669327&sr=8-1&keywords=PWR+VOL   David’s story: https://tahomaliteraryreview.com/cur

Welcome back! The B.O.S.S. Podcast returns! As we gear up for Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt, we open up a forgotten time capsule to read about the rise of white collar work at the beginning of the 20th Century, a world looking to sell you on pep! vim! zip! and zing! but ultimately dreary. Nothing really changes.    On this shortened episode, and more so than usual, Nick guides Nathan and David through the stories "Snappy Display" and "Way I See It." ALSO! We are happy to announce the beginnings of B.O.S.S. Underground Press and our first release: PWR VOL written by our very own Nick Scandy, illustrated by Aaron Zonka, and scored by mini and the Bear.  Episode Music: "chemical.static.hum" by mini and the Bear   Join the B.O.S.S. Book Club for cool artwork and to get in on the conversation: www.booksofsomesubstance.com On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BooksOfSomeSubstance/ On Twitter: @BooksOSubstance Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) was the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. His most popular novels

The mountain grumbles, Shingo mumbles. But it is hard to hear him over the sound of the dishes. On this full length episode we discuss Yasunari Kawabata’s The Sound of the Mountain and try to come to terms with the dying patriarch’s aimless drift towards the end. Is it apathetic existentialism? Good old-fashion failure? The culture of post-war Japan? Personal defeatism? Idiocy? Anger? Or an odd replication of nature’s non-action? As always, read the novel and give us a listen. Join the B.O.S.S. Book Club for cool artwork and to get in on the conversation: www.booksofsomesubstance.com On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BooksOfSomeSubstance/ On Twitter: @BooksOSubstance Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972) is a Japanese novelist who won the Nobel Prize in 1968. His most famous novels are Snow Country, Thousand Cranes, and The Sound of the Mountain. His work is often poetic, lyrical, and melancholic.