So Many Damn Books
A blessing, a curse, a podcast, since 2014.
Christopher (@cdhermelin) invites folks to the Damn Library to talk about reading, literature, publishing, and trying to make it through the never-dwindling stack of things to read. All with a themed drink in hand. Recorded at the Damn Library in Brooklyn, NY.
For show info, book lists, and drink recipes, follow @somanydamnbooks and visit somanydamnbooks.com
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50: Teddy Wayne & "The Bed Moved"
Christopher and Drew invite Teddy Wayne to the Damn Library, and he brings along his new "zeitgeist-y" novel, Loner, as well as Rebecca Schiff's short story collection The Bed Moved. The literary reader's intelligence is praised, the drink is overtly...
38 min
177
49: Alexandra Kleeman & "Pricksongs and Descants"
Christopher and Drew are joined by returning guest Alexandra Kleeman. They all drink a cocktail named after a character who moonlights in both her short story collection "Intimations" and, maybe, within Robert Coover's "Pricksongs and...
42 min
178
48: Episode Forty-Eight and the Cursed Child
Christopher and Drew drink Firewhiskey Juleps and get feisty about the new story in the Harry Potter-verse. Fan fiction, Sherlock Holmes, and second Death Stars are amongst the subjects mentioned. No one gets hurt. 15 seconds of a song: Harry and the...
31 min
179
47: Backlist: Donna Tartt ("The Little Friend")
Christopher and Drew sit down with a whiskey drink sweetened with the blood of maraschino cherries, and discuss Donna Tartt's marginalized sophomore novel, The Little Friend. Unjustly pushed to the side? Or lesser entry in the Tartt Canon? They also...
20 min
180
46: Evan Hanczor & "Their Eyes Were Watching God"
Evan Hanczor, chef at Egg in Williamsburg, drops by the damn library with Tortilla Espanola and the tale of serving a meal inspired by Zora Neale Hurston's classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The connection of food and fiction is discussed. Drew...
39 min
181
45: Top Six of 2016 (so far)
Christopher and Drew decide it's never too early for list making, and choose six favorites from the year to date (2016). Then they get out their crystal ball and look forward to books coming out for the rest of the year. Summertime reading,...
16 min
182
44: YA feat. "Stargirl" & "Bone Gap"
Drew and Christopher tackle YA through the 2001 classic Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli and the 2016 Printz Award Winner, Bone Gap by Laura Ruby. Grand theories are posited, the state of YA is considered, the line between YA and regular lit is blurred. No...
29 min
183
43: Stephanie Danler & "Bluets"
Stephanie Danler, author of the highly recommended Sweetbitter, joins the guys in the Damn Library for a chat about anything and everything. Food, identity, sex - you name it, they talk about it. TWO cocktails are imbibed and Maggie Nelson's...
43 min
184
42: Alexander Chee & "What Belongs to You"
Alexander Chee stops into the Damn Library for a Lilliet and a discussion of his novel The Queen of the Night. Drew and Christopher ask after pop culture parallels and fidelity to nonfiction. They also discuss Garth Greenwell's What Belongs to...
33 min
185
41: "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72"
Drew and Christopher see if they can draw any comparisons between the current election and Hunter S. Thompson's other Fear and Loathing book. Not the one that he goes to Las Vegas. Gonzo journalism is discussed, but sadly, not Gonzo from the...
27 min
186
40: #TOB16 Wrap-Up with Nozlee Samadzadeh and W...
And that's a wrap! What a tournament of books that was! Tournament of Books producer Nozlee and former contestant (with his book A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall) Will Chancellor stop by the Damn Library to talk believability, tooth truths, good tourney...
42 min
187
39: #TOB16 Chatter
Drew and Christopher talk their brackets and re-reading. They wax nostalgic on the week past and dive deep into the remaining match-ups as we head into the finals. Plus, a bookish wager on who will take the Rooster home. 15...
23 min
188
38: Katy Waldman & More #TOB16
Katy Waldman stops by the Damn Library to drink "The Rooster" and prognosticate. Jane Austen keeps getting updated, the trio relives the first round of the TOB's ups and downs, and then a deep dive into Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff somehow...
31 min
189
37: Angela Flournoy & #TOB16
Angela Flournoy, author of the Turner House, stops by the Damn Library, fresh off her Tournament of Books win in round one against Ban en Banlieue. She and the guys talk where she was when her novel published, whether or not she believes in ghosts,...
41 min
190
36: Maris Kreizman & "The Invaders"
It's tournament time!! Christopher drinks a Slaughtering Mary, Drew and Maris Kreizman don't. They all discuss Maris' book/blog Slaughterhouse 90210 and Kickstarter, and then delve into the complexities of The Invaders by Karolina Waclawiak. There's...
38 min
191
35: Mark de Silva & "Less than Zero"
Over a round of Dark and Particularly Stormys, Drew and Christopher have the pleasure of chatting, friendly-like, with Mark de Silva, author of Square Wave, out now from Two Dollar Radio. Jazz is discussed! So is Donna Tartt! And Misogyny! And how...
44 min
192
34: Laura Van Den Berg & "The Naked Eye"
Laura Van Den Berg stops by the Damn Library to talk about her novel Find Me and Yoko Tawada's The Naked Eye. We also find out what tv show she can't stop repeating, and discuss a lot about getting lost, both physically and in translation. Plus,...
40 min
193
33: The 2016 Tournament of Books Shortlist
Christopher and Drew can't contain their excitement - the short list for the Morning News' ToB 2016 is here, and they are discussing every title. They also explain this whole tournament business, talk snubs and loves, and teach you a new cocktail to...
22 min
194
32: "The Pickle Index"
Drew and Christopher talk about what books they were given for Christmas, 2016 reading goals, experimentally designed books they love, and then Eli Horiwitz's The Pickle Index which they tried to experience it every which way it came out....
23 min
195
31: Christopher and Drew's Top 6 of 2015
The damn hosts choose 4 books they loved in 2015, and one book each that the other didn't read/love. Also, one to grow on. Bye-bye, 2015! You were a year. 15 seconds of a song: The Jackson 5 - Never Can Say Goodbye
10 min
196
30: Marie-Helene Bertino & "A Little Life"
Marie-Helene Bertino stops by the deck hall'd Damn Library in full seasonal good cheer to talk about her novel, 2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajamas. Holiday music is played. A Little Life is discussed. Butter is pondered. Gifts are given! A very happy holiday...
46 min
197
29: Ryan Britt & "Star Wars: Heir to the Empire"
Ryan Britt stops by the Damn Library to explain the deeper meanings of why Luke Skywalker Can't Read (which is also the title of his new essay collection). The guys then discuss a classic Star Wars novel - Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn...
35 min
198
28: Alexandra Kleeman & "The Blind Owl"
Alexandra Kleeman takes So Many Damn Books down the rabbit hole as Drew and Christopher discuss her novel, You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine, as well as the novel The Blind Owl. Everyone gets unsettled. 15 Seconds of a Song: Lucy Rose - Middle of the Bed
44 min
199
27: "Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl"
The two nonmaj/muggles discuss Harry Potter spinoffs, whether or not they listen to music when they read, and Carrie Brownstein's memoir Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl. ~15 seconds of a song: Sleater-Kinney "The Fox"
32 min
200
26: "City on Fire" & "Purity"
Christopher institutes a new buying books rule for himself, Drew likes scary books, and they both have very different opinions on City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg and Purity by Jonathan Franzen.
42 min