Method and Madness

Melee 13The erudite investigator himself, Dexter De La Paz, joined me to talk about John Keel and his enduring book of living mysteries OUR HAUNTED PLANET. I take a little sidequest from the strictly literary and into the unknown: ultraterrestrial theory, the mystery of the North American Mounds, and much, much more.This will be on the free feed next week.Follow Dexter on twitter.Check out The Scarlet Thread SocietyCheck out Timeline Earth

Melee 12Andrew H., the mastermind behind the voluminous Pynchonian project The Exegesis of Thomas Pynchon, joined me to talk Pynchon, literature as history, the political art debate, Pynchon contra DeLillo, and more.Follow him on substack or on twitter.

In 1895, American author Robert W. Chambers released a collection of short stories entitled The King in Yellow. Four stories in this collection are connected by play called The King in Yellow and the eponymous malevolent entity. This story cycle would go on to inspire H.P. Lovecraft and many others working in the genre of supernatural horror...right down to today with eerie references to Yellow King in True Detective..

Melee 11The brilliant moonandmouth joins me to talk about poetry, magic, holes, astral travel, and her magnificent new collection of poetry CATCALYSM MOVES ME I REGRET TO SAY out now from House of Vlad.Buy the book.Follow her on substack or on twitter.

An audio recording of Richard Connell “The Most Dangerous Game.” Long considered one of the most popular short stories of all time, Connell’s thriller has influenced countless stories and at least one serial killer.

Episode 9.2In this episode, I go in depth on Ellroy’s stylistic forebears, play a little Glass Bead Game between AMERICAN TABLOID and a (not so) very different book, give the quick and very dirty history of CONFIDENTIAL MAGAZINE, and go full-on true crime telling the ‘real’ story of Chuck Rogers.

Episode 9.1The brilliant and magnanimous Jacob Everett, the mastermind behind Apocalypse Confidential, joins me to discuss AMERICAN TABLOID by James Ellroy—a masterful classic of paranoia, carnage, and the real deal behind the forces of history. We talk the potency of Ellroy’s style, crime fiction as high art, the resonance of the JFK assassination, Ellroy contra Quentin Tarantino, and figure out which more recent unsolved mystery is prime to spawn its own subgenre in the coming years.Follow Jacob on Twitter.Apocalypse Confidential is one the best literary mags out there. You should be reading it closely.x/com/bradkellySUBSCRIBE FOR EARLY ACCESS AND BONUS CONTENT

Cairo Smith is the founder and EIC of Futurist Letters, host of The Futurist Letters Show, filmmaker, and author of the forthcoming novel SCENEBUX, out September 6, 2025 from New Ritual Press.We talked about the New Wave, a certain LA literary party that made headlines, what happens when no one puts you in check, the Idaho Basque, some of the books that have been most influential on Cairo and his work, and much, much more.This will be on the free feed next week.Pre-order SCENEBUX at Cairo’s website.SUBSCRIBE FOR EARLY ACCESS AND PREMIUM CONTENTx/com/bradkelly

Menagerie #2An audio recording of Jack London’s “Love of Life” first published in McClure’s Magazine in 1905. All the classic Jack London themes are here: the Yukon, survival, the cold, and wolves.

Following down just some of the many rabbit holes in John Fowles’ THE MAGUS. Hypnotism, Magic, Cruelty, and the so-called Real World. SUBSCRIBE for full access. x/com/bradkellySUBSCRIBE FOR EARLY ACCESS AND BONUS CONTENT

Alexandru Constantin joins me to talk in depth on John Fowles’ classic 1965 novel THE MAGUS. A postmodern bildungsroman that’ll remind every former sensitive young man of himself in his cringier days—and a mind-bending trip through a beautiful labyrinth.https://substack.com/@deceneusDon’t miss Alex’s podcast, the Black Ibis Social Club: https://blackibissocialclub.substack.com/x/com/bradkellySUBSCRIBE FOR EARLY ACCESS AND BONUS CONTENT

The incredibly talented author Andrew Edwards joins me to talk about his upcoming novel CROWBAR, his absolute banger of a novel KING OF DOGS, the philosophy of survival, and much more.Support Andrew’s crowdfunding effort for CROWBAR:https://substack.com/@goldengoatguild/p-166445394X: x.com/goldengoatguildWebsite: https://www.goldengoatguild.net/SUBSCRIBE FOR EARLY ACCESS AND PREMIUM CONTENTx/com/bradkelly

Brian Patrick Eha is a widely-published essayist, journalist, and critic. In this expansive conversation we talk Gustave Flaubert as a precursor to Modernism, the method of free indirect discourse in Madame Bovary and the madness of The Temptation of St. Anthony, as well as a few under-appreciated books from Brian’s personal canon..https://x.com/brianehaEssays by Brian that we mention:https://www.city-journal.org/article/madame-bovary-author-gustave-flauberthttps://www.city-journal.org/article/alfred-hayess-fiction-retains-contemporary-relevancex/com/bradkelly

or not), and much, much more. Get access to the full episode (and much more) via the patreon or substack feed at madmethodpod.com/subscribe. x/com/bradkelly

Jack BC of the always entertaining and enlightening podcast Book Club from Hell, joins me to talk about the singular masterpiece of Australian letters, Gerald Murnane's strange and beautiful book THE PLAINS. A book that is somehow about itself, and everything else. We talk about the many questions Murnane raises on the nature of creativity, subjectivity, and the very form of the novel.https://bookclubfromhell.substack.com/bookclubfromhell.comJack’s Twitter: https://x.com/supersquat1Jack’s novel TOWER: https://www.amazon.com/Tower-Jack-BC/dp/0645928208x/com/bradkelly

Andrew Wittstadt (@andrewwittstadt) joins me to talk about his great podcast on poetry and literature, HEAVY BORED. We also get into the problem of authority in academia and why it’s necessary as well as Andrew’s personal canon and much more. https://www.patreon.com/HeavyBoredx.com/andrewwittstadtx.com/heavyboredpodhttps://www.instagram.com/heavybored/https://www.youtube.com/@heavyboredx/com/bradkelly

An audio recording of Edgar Allan Poe’s 1840 short story “The Man of the Crowd", in which Poe’s narrator finds that he can read a man’s entire history in his expression—but some things are left better unseen. SUBSCRIBE AT SUPPORT for access to bonus content.

How Don DeLillo renders visible the invisible, the forces of history, conspiracy theory as literature, and the Discordian weirdness of the JFK assassination. SUBSCRIBE AT SUPPORT for access to bonus content.

Jack BC of the great books podcast Bookclub from Hell joins me to discuss his exceptional work of corporate surrealism, TOWER and the origins of Bookclub from Hell, as well as the legacy of literary realism, the exquisite weirdness of JG Ballard, and much much more.Jack’s podcast: https://www.bookclubfromhell.com/,https://x.com/bookclubhell666Buy TOWER: https://www.amazon.com/Tower-Jack-BC/dp/0645928208Follow Jack: https://substack.com/@jackbcSUBSCRIBE for early access and premium content.Rare Candy on SubstackRare Candy on TwitterSUBSCRIBE AT SUPPORT for access to bonus content.

Glen Rockney of Rare Candy joins me to talk about his superb Gain of Fiction bookclub show, bros reading and why they should, and I finally share what happened to the 2024 live Art of Darkness show.Rare Candy on SubstackRare Candy on TwitterSUBSCRIBE AT SUPPORT for access to bonus content.

[5 Fathoms Special} This is an in-depth presentation on the history of the Tarot, from rudimentary card games of Egypt and Persia all the way to the modern day. Thanks for joining me. Be sure to check out the video version free on youtube, substack, patreon, and twitter.

In the first solo deep dive on Method and Madness, I go into LOLITA contra CRASH, what the hell even is literary Postmodernism, theories of time, and Nabokov’s prophetic dreams.Thanks for joining me.SUBSCRIBE AT madmethodpod.com/support access to bonus content.

More LOLITA. Aaron walks us through the deep narratology behind the concept of the ‘unreliable narrator’ and how Nabokov keeps the reader at just the right distance to make this book a masterpiece. SUBSCRIBE AT madmethodpod.com/support access to bonus content.

In this Melee episode, the brilliant Dustin Cole joins Brad to discuss his new poetry collection AFTER SUNSTONE, writing poetry versus writing novels, what social media does for/to a writer, and W.G. Sebald’s singular book THE RINGS OF SATURN. BUY AFTER SUNSTONE: https://farthestheaven.com/products/after-sunstoneSUBSCRIBE AT PATREON AND SUBSTACK for access to bonus content.

The brilliant writer Kat Rosenfield joins us to talk LOLITA and misreadings thereof, the new (and past?) censoriousness in books discourse, love versus terror, and much, much more. SUBSCRIBE AT madmethodpod.com/support for access to bonus content.

In this Melee episode we discuss the recent revival of GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS and some of the very questionable reviews. https://www.thedailybeast.com/review-kieran-culkins-glengarry-glen-ross-is-dangerously-offensive-and-dated/SUBSCRIBE AT PATREON AND SUBSTACK for access to bonus content.

Ep. 4.3. A [PREVIEW] of our exclusive MADNESS episode on NCFOM for paid subscribers ONLY. We go in-depth on the history of Moss's unit in Vietnam, the metaphysical and poetic implications of the title, and try to figure out just what the hell genre this book is anyway.

Part 2 of our in-depth series on Cormac McCarthy’s NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. We talk about what makes NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN so effective, the subtleties of its structure, McCarthy’s masterclass in visual storytelling, how this book plays at the edges of genre, and much more.x.com/americangwynx/com/bradkellySUBSCRIBE AT PATREON AND SUBSTACK for bonus content.

Part 1 of our in-depth series on Cormac McCarthy’s NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. We’re joined by Ben Avery of the legendary Lemonparty podcast. linktr.ee/benaveryisgoodx.com/benaveryisgoodSUBSCRIBE AT PATREON AND SUBSTACK for immediate access to main episodes like this.

In part 3 of our in-depth episode on William Gibson's NEUROMANCER. In the MADNESS portion of this series, we talk hacking in the ‘80s, what this book has in common with Djuna Barnes’ strange 1930s arthouse novel NIGHTWOOD, Rastafarianism, and where AI might be headed.SUBSCRIBE AT PATREON AND SUBSTACK for early immediate access to our entire NEUROMANCER conversation

In part 2 of our in-depth episode on William Gibson's NEUROMANCER, Aaron and Brad go METHOD talking about what makes this book tick, how to write something ‘timeless’, and living in alternate realities.SUBSCRIBE AT PATREON AND SUBSTACK for early immediate access to our entire NEUROMANCER conversation

We talk with the great Ewan Morrison about his new novel FOR EMMA, a cyber thriller par excellence, about the influence of Gibson, hyperstition, and the runaway processes of AI development that have writers on edge. PREORDER EWAN'S NEW BOOK: https://www.ewanmorrison.com/ and follow him at x.com/@mrewanmorrison.com and untopia.substack.com

We talk Aaron’s recent Tolkien “controversy,” where the Borges meets the road, the importance of plot, the looming and forgotten catastrophes of human history, Nathanael West, and what C.G. Jung thought about UFOs.

We discuss the mysterious mastery of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s “My Struggle,” go on a crash tour of the history of the memoir/autobiography, and examine the other book from which Knausgaard borrowed his title. Finally, the great Jarvis Best joins us to talk about just how powerful this book is in a world where so many of us find it much easier to hide. Follow Jarvis: x.com/jarvis_best

Lynch, Loneliness, and Larry

In our first episode of method and Madness, we leave a white and turbid wake: the focus is MOBY-DICK. In our Method segment, we discuss Melville’s techniques and how you can deploy them in your own writing. And then Brad goes Mad, finding astrological correspondences and falling through the yawning abyss of H.P. Lovecraft.