The Drunken Odyssey with John King: A Podcast About the Writing Life

In this week’s episode, I share a recording of a Halloween show in Jesse Bradley's prose reading series, There Will Be Words, in which I was a reader. The There Will Be Words Fourth Annual Flash Fiction Spooktacular featured KAREN BEST KEITH GOUVEIA MATT PETERS JOHN KING WHITNEY HAMRICK BRETT PRIBBLE TEEGE BRAUNE JARED SILVIA Karen Best (Photo by Leslie Silvia).

In this week’s episode, I interview the poet Vincent Cellucci, Plus Robert Wallace writes about reading The Grapes of Wrath. TEXTS DISCUSSED A Ship on the Line"> The Grapes of Wrath 75th Anniversary Edition"> NOTES On October 22, if you are in the City Beautiful (that is Orlando), come see the Kerouac House receive its own historical marker. This is the house that Jack lived in when On the Road came out, where he lived when he wrote The Dharma Bums. The French novelist Patrick Modiano has won the Nobel Prize (The New York Times). According to The Guardian, Dario Agenta and Iggy Pop are crowdsourcing a movie adaptation of ETA Hoffmann's The Sandman. Check out the new podcast by Sherman Alexie and Jess Walter, A Tiny Sense of Accomplishment.

In this week’s episode, I talk about Douglas Glover's Attack of the Copula Spiders with Vanessa Blakeslee, plus Sam Slaughter writes about how Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son changed his life. Photo by Oxley Photography 2014 TEXTS DISCUSSED Attack of the Copula Spiders: Essays on Writing (12 Edition)"> Jesus' Son: Stories">

Episode 118 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download. In this week’s episode, I interview The verse novelist Holly Thompson, Plus Laryssa Wirstiuk writes about how Jonathan Saffron Foer's Eating Animals changed her life. TEXTS DISCUSSED The Language Inside"> Eating Animals"> NOTES Check out Functionally Literate Radio, which on the latest episode features my essay, "I Heart Smokey and the Bandit." From the Facebook page of Bob Lamb (episode 40), in regard to his informal "Worst First Sentence of a Bad Novel Contest": Okay, final verdict is in. First place--John King, although one of the judges worried that it was so funny that it could be used as the first sentence of a comic masterpiece rather than a bad novel. Yet, its originality, the sudden twists and turns of inspired lunacy, and the supermarket imagery cleverly woven into a surreal scene so impressed the judges that it really was no contest. Second place went to Steve Edwards--his economy, precision, and repetition of really bad metaphors obviously made his entry a powerful one, and the final metaphor of the peach pit as a tiny wooden brain had a certain je ne sais quois that evoked a peal of delightful revulsion. Third place went to Bob Lamb--although an unoriginal mockery of standard noir detective fiction a la Hammett, the judges felt that it's his goddamned contest and he ought to get some sort of a prize, especially given his fragile psyche and penchant for violence. The judges also awarded a distinguished parody prize to Eric Link for his brilliant satire of Hemingway writing a zombie novel. Although not technically a bad first sentence of a bad novel, and even though the judges could see this turning into a great parody of Hemingway and zombie fiction, they felt it was more appropriate for the old "Bad Hemingway" contest that used to run annually. Another entry, by Elizabeth Stuckey-French, was simply way too interesting and good to fit a bad first sentence contest. This often occurs when a real writer tries to write a bad sentence--their talent turns it into a sentence with potential. The judges found themselves wanting to read more, which is always a sign that your first sentence is not truly bad. The gutless wonder award goes to Mike Cocchiarale, who caused Bob Lamb to write concluding sentences to his bad novel, and then did not even participate. The judges felt that although Mr. Cocchiarale is an avid sports fan from Cleveland, and thus hopelessly trapped in a world of pain and confusion, he should have at least tried and failed, not unlike his beloved Browns. Lou Hickman and Tim Reynolds have been disqualified for cheating, and have received a five-year ban from participating in the contest. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Kip Robisch, for his disruptive actions on this thread, and we expect to have him in custody shortly. We are working with law enforcement and immigration to have him deported. And here was my winning entry: When the were-pigs, gibbering in their porcine poetry and slapping the ground with their by-now clawed hooves, overran the supermarket, heaving their fleshy forms over the aisles of Cel-Ray sodas and bread and chick-peas, Clem knew that he better put down his inventory forms and drag the crossbow out of the safe again, but an icy sliver of revulsion, fear, and longing penetrated his spine, and he stood in front of the office window, watching the sounder below careen over the black and white tiles, demolishing the glass doors of the frozen food aisles, before their leader jumped onto the conveyor belt of check out line #7, and stared directly at him with wolf-like eyes, as if the giant porker was preparing to speak. _________ Episode 118 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week’s episode, I interview Pat Rushin, who authored the screenplay for the new Terry Gilliam film, The Zero Theorem, which opens in the U.S.A on September 19th, Pat Rushin and his wife Mary on the set of The Zero Theorem. Plus Craig-Paul Moreau writes about Randy Shilts's And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic. Photo by Demian Rosenblatt. TEXTS DISCUSSED And the Band Played on: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic"> NOTES Check out where The Zero Theorem will be playing in the U.S.A. here. Check out "My parents helped me to lose my virginity,” the new personal essay in The Guardian by Boris Fishman (Episode 107).

In this week’s episode, I interview Stephen Corey, Editor-in-Chief of The Georgia Review, Photograph by William Walsh. Plus August Evans writes about Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping. TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES Margaret Atwood if the first entrant into the Future Library Project, with work to be printed in 2214, from trees in a forest planted this year (reported in a Guardian story by Alison Flood). Congrats to Bookmark It‘s first six months! In Orlando, check it out at theEast End Market.

On this week’s show, I answer some mail with my friend, David James Poissant, Plus Clint Peters writes about how reading Montaigne changed his life. NOTES Check out David James Poissant's wonderful story collection, The Heaven of Animals. According to NPR, Robert Hass has won the Wallace Stevens prize. According to The Guardian, Doris Lessing willed 3,000 books to a library in Harare, Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, Florida Polytechnic is opening with a library that has zero print books (Guardian). Also according to The Guardian, Martin Amis's controversial new book, Zone of Interest, is having some publishing difficulties. I incorrectly called Bullets and Burgers a shooting range, when according to The Times, Burgers and Bullets is the name of the tour guide service that brings people to a shooting range about 25 miles outside of Vegas, in Arizona, where a nine year-old girl accidentally shot her shooting instructor with an Uzi after he set the gun to repeater action.

On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer and ghost writer extraordinaire, Maya Sloan. TEXTS DISCUSSED Rich Kids of Instagram" target="_blank"> High Before Homeroom" target="_blank"> NOTES Learn more about the Kerouac House here.

On this week’s show, I talk to the poet Sarah Grieve, plus Rose Tran writes about what Sherman Alexie taught her about humor. TEXTS DISCUSSED Dearest Creature">

On this week’s show, I talk to Vanessa Blakeslee about what Aristotle's Poetics can teach us about fiction writing today, Plus Kevin Bray writes about reading John Gardner's On Becoming a Novelist. TEXTS DISCUSSED Poetics (Penguin Classics)"> High Before Homeroom"> The Blind Assassin">Success"> On Becoming a Novelist"> NOTES This new project--discussing relevant books about the craft of storytelling--is a continuation of a long defunct feature of the show. Two years ago, Jaroslav Kalfař and I discussed Stephen King's On Writing on episode 6 and John Gardner's The Art of Fiction on episode 2. Quoting George Orwell in an shockingly Orwellian way, Amazon has undertaken a weird counter-compaign to the Authors United movement, according to David Streitfield in The Times. Check out the statement from Authors United that led to this counter-campaign.

On this week’s show, I talk to the Trio Award-winner Iris Jamahl Dunkle, plus Jeffrey Ethan Lee reads his essay, "The Poet's Mother's Deathbed Conversion" at Fergie's Pub in Philadelphia. Books Discussed Gold Passage"> London: Novels and Social Writings (Library of America)"> NOTES If in Philly, check out the Moonstone Poetry Series, at Fergie's Pub. My friends Jared Silvia and Ryan Rivas are new hosting a new show, Functionally Literate Radio, on WPRK.

On this week’s show, I talk to Ryan Rivas and Nathan Holic about the publication of Forget How You Found Us: 15 Views of Orlando, Volume III, plus I share readings from stories by Karen Best, Matt Peters, and Jonathan Kosik from the collection. TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES Learn about the great youth programs offered by Page 15 in Orlando. Amazon is having a bad quarter, according to The New York Times. Next month, Third Man Books, the new print publishing wing of Third Man Records, will release an anthology called Language Lessons, Volume 1. Quentin Tarantino will be filming The Hateful Eight after all, according to Kurt Russell and the L.A. Times. Check out the amazing surf rock revival of The Bambi Molesters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=expdxldXIa4

On this week’s show, I talk to writer, teacher, and advocate Pauline Hawkins, plus Caitlin McDonnell writes about discovering her urge to teach, from a night spent in jail, in "The Capacity of Language to Make Us Less Alone." NOTES Harper Lee has contested any participation or approval in Marja Mills's new biography of her, according to The Guardian. To learn more about Pauline Hawkins' radical way of teaching George Orwell's Animal Farm, read her blog here. This episode proudly features the music of The Intoxicators.

On this week’s show, I talk to the publisher of Beating Windward Press, Matt Peters, Plus Stephen Scully writes a memoir essay about meeting two baseball legends. TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES The British children's book author Allan Ahlberg refused a lifetime achievement award due to its being sponsored by Amazon, according to The Guardian.

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer Boris Fishman, Photo by Rob Liguori Plus Lisa Korthals shares her essay about reading Lolita as a child. TEXTS DISCUSSED A Replacement Life"> Lolita">

On this week’s show, I talk to the poet and essayist Nicole Callihan, plus Maureen Vance writes about Jane Eyre. TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES According to The Guardian, British publishers and the Society for Authors (a trade union for UK writers) are trying to push back against Amazon’s fierce demands for more power in the book industry. They liken Amazon's terms to a form of "assisted suicide." According to The Times, Barnes and Noble will spin off its Nook division as a separate company from its traditional bookseller endeavors. Carlton Melton's "Spiderwebs" accompanies Maureen Vance's "Jane and Me." This song is available on the album Always Even. The Tequila Worms have generously offered their album Cantina as a free download.

On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer and memoirist-extraordinaire Alden Jones, plus Peter Demarco writes about discovering Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. TEXTS DISCUSSED Unaccompanied Minors" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> The Blind Masseuse: A Traveler's Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> To Kill a Mockingbird" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> Orientalism" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> NOTES According to The Guardian, Salman Rushdie has won the PEN/Pinter award for 2014. Also according to The Guardian, Quentin Tarantino and Matt Wagner will collaborate on a Django/Zorro crossover comic book.

On this bonus episode, I guide listeners through a lovely tour of Ulysses on today, which is Bloomsday. TEXT DISCUSSED Ulysses (Vintage International)"> NOTES Check out Black 47's music here, or wherever you buy music. "I Got Laid on James Joyce's Grave" appears on Trouble in the Land.

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer and poet Alan Michael Parker, Plus Andrew Gretes offers his "Ode to Zorba." TEXTS DISCUSSED The Committee on Town Happiness"> Long Division"> Zorba the Greek"> NOTES Davis Sedaris talked about the Amazon/Hachette battle to Parnassus Books, a bookstore in Tennessee.

On this week’s show, my friends Teege Braune of In Boozo Veritas fame, Sean Ironman of Heroes Never Rust fame, Jeff Shuster, who is the Curator of Schlock, and Dianne Turgeon Richardson join me for a roundtable discussion of Donald Duck on his 80th birthday. TEXTS DISCUSSED The Best of Plimpton">

On this week’s show, I talk to the poet Erica Dawson, Plus Nicole Callihan reads her memoir essay, "The Week in News." TEXTS DISCUSSED Big-Eyed Afraid"> Venetian Vespers"> Nicole Callihan's "The Week in News" originally appeared on The Well and Often Press. Nicole Callihan's poetry collection, Superloop. NOTES Jeremy Greenfield, in an article for The Atlantic, has explored the continuing struggle between Amazon.com and the Hachette publishing group. The Peyton James Freeman Prize for nonfiction essays is now accepting submissions. There is no reading fee, and the contest is being judged by Cheryl Strayed. Horoscopes penned by my signature character Guy Psycho are now available online at The Newer York's site. On this show, I eulogized Bunny Yeager and Maya Angelou.

On this week’s show, I answer some mail with my friend, David James Poissant, Normal 0 0 1 15 86 1 1 105 11.1539 0 0 0 plus Rose Tran shares a memoir essay about her unpleasantly Proustian relationship to Florida weather.

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer Kseniya Melnik, Plus Matt Berman writes about Jean Craighead George's My Side of the Mountain. TEXTS DISCUSSED Snow in May: Stories"> The Lazarus Project"> My Side of the Mountain (Puffin Modern Classics)">

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer Kelly Luce, Plus Nicole Callihan meditates on motherhood, sustenance, autism, and language in "Notes Toward: Babies, Bananas, Boxes." TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES Nicole Callihan's "Notes Toward: Babies, Bananas, Boxes" first appeared on River and Sound Review. According to The Guardian and Publishers Weekly, some members of South Carolina's state legislature is trying to punish its state universities that support gay and lesbian culture. For more information about the protest over this, check out the website of Writers Speaking Out Loud. Congratulations to Laura Van Den Berg for her story O-Pah-Locka (published in the southern review), and for Dylan Landis for her story, “Trust” (published in Tin House) for winning O'Henry Prizes for 2014. Laura was my guest on episode 91, and Dylan was my guest on episode 48.

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer and historian of Florida attractions Lu Vickers, Plus Joe Marchia writes about Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood. TEXTS DISCUSSED Breathing Underwater"> Weeki Wachee Mermaids: Thirty Years of Underwater Photography"> Cypress Gardens, America's Tropical Wonderland: How Dick Pope Invented Florida"> Weeki Wachee, City of Mermaids: A History of One of Florida's Oldest Roadside Attractions (Florida History and Culture)"> Norwegian Wood (Vintage International)"> NOTES Check Out our new videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7Cg6lFnfl4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH1nXs9hWeY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2jeezvsixU Check out this indiegogo crowd-sourcing effort to bring St. Mark’s Bookshop to a new home in the East Village. Sheman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is given away to students in an Iowa district in which the novel is banned from schools. On May 13th, I will participate in The Best of There Will Be Words 2013 show. If you're in Orlando, join us.

Episode 96 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature, is available on iTunes, or right click here to download. On this week’s show, I present Rick Moody's recent reading at the University of Central Florida. TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES Check out this indiegogo crowd-sourcing effort to bring St. Mark’s Bookshop to a new home in the East Village.

On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer and one-time memoirist Rick Moody, Rick Moody at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Photo by John King. Plus I share his prose reading "Metal," with music by One Ring Zero. TEXTS DISCUSSED Read Rick Moody's 14,000 word essay about David Bowie's The Next Day here. John Lee Hooker, putting The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton, in their places, when he was 72 years old. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrPBUr0cAlg This soundtrack with John Lee Hooker playing with Miles Davis is deliciously good. Check out Episode 39, with my first interview with Rick, here. NOTES R.I.P., Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Check out this indiegogo crowd-sourcing effort to bring St. Mark’s Bookshop to a new home in the East Village.

On this week’s show, I talk to the poet Eleanor Lerman, Plus Alden Jones writes about her time working in Cuba. TEXTS DISCUSSED The Blonde on the Train"> The Sensual World Re-Emerges"> Our Post-Soviet History Unfolds: Poems"> Check out episode 48 to hear Eleanor Lerman's essay about Leonard Cohen's Spice Box of Earth. NOTES Check out the indiegogo crowd-sourcing effort to bring St. Mark’s Bookshop to a new home in the East Village. Endorsed by this show and Anne Waldman. I recommend Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s production of Julius Caesar, playing until April 20th. Check out Beating Windward Press’s call for essays for its forthcoming essay collection, The Things They Did For Money: How Writers, Artists, and Creatives Support the Habit.

On this week’s show, I talk to Bob Contant and Terry McCoy, the owners of St. Mark's Bookshop, Plus Dan Lauer writes about identity and New York City. NOTES Check out the indiegogo crowd-sourcing effort to bring St. Mark's Bookshop to a new home in the East Village. Endorsed by this show and Anne Waldman. I recommend Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s production of Julius Caesar, playing until April 20th. Check out Beating Windward Press’s call for essays for its forthcoming essay collection, The Things They Did For Money: How Writers, Artists, and Creatives Support the Habit. Episode 93 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

On this week’s show, I talk to the multidisciplinary wonder that is J. Bradley, Plus Molly Gleeson writes about reading Anthony Trollope while teaching in Saudia Arabia. TEXTS DISCUSSED He Knew He Was Right (Penguin Classics)"> Hear J. Bradley read his "You + Me = Awwwwwww Yeah" + "Pussycat Interstellar Naked Hotrod Mofo Ladybug Lust Blaster" by Derrick Brown on the second erotic poetry live show of The Drunken Odyssey. He Knew He Was Right (Penguin Classics)"> Chronic City (Vintage Contemporaries)"> NOTES I recommend Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s production of Julius Caesar, playing until April 20th. Check out Beating Windward Press’s call for essays for its forthcoming essay collection, The Things They Did For Money: How Writers, Artists, and Creatives Support the Habit. In England, authors are protesting a new measure that prohibits inmates from getting access to books in the mail (BBC). Beckett once directed his own plays, in performances featuring San Quentin inmates. Here's an image of the Chronic City finale poster.

On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer Laura Van Den Berg, Plus Will Dowd reads two poems. TEXTS DISCUSSED The Isle of Youth"> What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us"> Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace">Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point"> Three Thousand Dollars"> The Art Fair"> NOTES I recommend Orlando Shakespeare Theater's production of Julius Caesar, playing until April 20th. Check out Beating Windward Press's call for essays for its forthcoming essay collection, THE THINGS THEY DID FOR MONEY: HOW WRITERS, ARTISTS, AND CREATIVES SUPPORT THE HABIT.

On this week’s show, my friends Teege Braune of In Boozo Veritas fame, Matt Peters, Jared Silvia, and my brother James King join me for a wooly discussion of St. Patrick's Day. Much was consumed. Jared and James watch Teege do his miraculous pouring technique. The foot of good cheer. How can it be possible Teege is only a quarter Irish? Creamy toasty goodness. Eventually, the peer pressure was too great for sweet Matthew. My red face was sunburn. The angle of my head, weariness.

On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer David James Poissant, Plus Max Bakke writes about Nick Hornby's High Fidelity. TEXTS DISCUSSED The Heaven of Animals: Stories"> High Fidelity"> Read David James Poissant's "I Want to be Friends with Republicans" here. NOTES OST's William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar can be seen from March 19 - April 20, 2014. Go here for more details. Anne Hering, Esau Pritchett, Paul Bernardo, from Orlando Shakespeare Theater's forthcoming production of Julius Caesar.

On this week’s episode of the world's greatest writing podcast, I talk to fiction writer John Henry Fleming, Plus James Sanders writes about reading The Autobiography of Malcom X. TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES The VIDA count for 2013 is now available. Orlando now has a new independent bookshop: Bookmark It, at the East End Market in Winter Park (3201 Corrine Drive). Find Burrow Press’s releases here, & check out the discounted subscription rate. If you live in Orlando, do come to Vanessa’s book release party.

On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer Vanessa Blakeslee, And Anthony Seidman writes about James Thompson's The City of Dreadful Night. TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES If you live in NYC, check out this wonderful event with my friends Gilbert King (episode 60) and my fellow NYU alum, Maaza Mengiste. RSVP is required. Find Burrow Press’s releases here, & check out the discounted subscription rate. If you live in Orlando, do come to Vanessa's book release party.

On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer and memoirist Kevin Sampsell, Photo by Ellis Christopher. Plus Kevin Bray writes about finding Men on Divorce. TEXTS DISCUSSED This Is Between Us"> A Common Pornography Signed Edition"> Creamy Bullets"> Men on Divorce: The Other Side of the Story"> NOTES Find Burrow Press's releases here, & check out the discounted subscription rate.

On this week’s show, I talk to the musician Rich Millman from the band Carlton Melton, Plus Kelsey Liebenson-Morse writes about reading Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome. TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES The Florida Writers’ Conference goes from February 13th-15th, ending with the Florida premiere of Terry Giliam’s new film, written by Pat Rushin, The Zero Theorem. Click here to learn how to register for the conference. Read Beating Windward’s call for essays for its forthcoming anthology, The Things They Did for Money: How Writers, Artists, and Creatives Support the Habit. The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his book, which is wonderful reading. Episode 84 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

On this week’s show, I talk to the journalist Lynn Waddell, Plus D. S. Jones writes about how the Charles Bukowski's Post Office changed his life. NOTES The Florida Writers’ Conference goes from February 13th-15th, ending with the Florida premiere of Terry Giliam’s new film, written by Pat Rushin, The Zero Theorem. Click here to learn how to register for the conference. TEXTS DISCUSSED

On this week's show, I talk to the poet Susan Lilley, Plus Anthony Jacobson writes about how the books of Irvine Welsh changed his life. Irvine Welsh is on the left, Tony on the right. NOTES Quentin Tarantino vows to shelve his upcoming film project, The Hateful Eight, after the screenplay's first draft was leaked (according to Deadline). The Florida Writers' Conference goes from February 13th-15th, ending with the Florida premiere of Terry Giliam's new film, written by Pat Rushin, The Zero Theorem. Click here to learn how to register for the conference. Carlton Melton's "Smoke Drip," from their album Photos of Photos, accompanied Anthony Jacobson's "Hang-Up at the Gorgie Venture Hostel for Exceptional Young Men." TEXTS DISCUSSED Night Windows

On this week’s show, I answer some mail with my friend, David James Poissant, Plus Dan Lauer writes about "standing straight." NOTES According to The Guardian, the short list for the Hatchet Awards has been announced. The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his book, which is remarkable fucking reading. TEXTS DISCUSSED What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> You Shall Know Our Velocity!" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;">

On this week’s show, I present my interview with the memoirist Melanie Neale, plus Andrew Simpson Guthrie shares his memoir essay-in-verse, "The Weighty Page." TEXTS DISCUSSED Boat Girl: A Memoir of Youth, Love, & Fiberglass" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;">Boat Kid: How I Survived Swimming with Sharks, Being Homeschooled, and Growing Up on a Sailboat" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> Last Exit to Brooklyn" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> NOTES Check out the Transit Interpretation Project here, or read Ryan Rivas's essay, "Rider's Block," here. Amiri Baraka, author of Dutchman, dies at 79. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI6XmBX9-po http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIvhWdJUBxU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-aNmrJcI7Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE3aXAAAdvs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n319tlJdKe8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlxH6o-a_GU Read Kip Robisch's "Fun Dads, Loss, and 'Saving Mr. Banks.'" The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant (my co-host of the mailbag episodes), is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of this stellar story collection.

On this week’s show, I present my interview with Sharon Olds, and my interview with Robert Pinsky, plus I share Robert Pinsky and Laurence Hobgood's performance of Creole. TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES I am in the running for the "Best of 2013" show of Jesse Bradley's reading series, There Will be Words. The current poll is here until midnight, January 6. The Drunken Odyssey now has a youtube channel. In the New York Times's Bit blog, David Steitfield has wrung his hands about the analytics coming out of subscription services for ebook libraries. There is a nice still photo of Keria Knightly from the film of Pride and Prejudice. Amiri Baraka seems to be recovering after his hospital visit last week, according to The New York Daily News. The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant (my co-host of the mailbag episodes), is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of this stellar story collection.

On this week’s show, I present my interview with Edwidge Danticat, and my interview with Koren Zailckas, plus Samantha Stemler writes about Neil McKenna's The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde. TEXTS DISCUSSED Claire of the Sea Light" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> Mother, Mother" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> Fury: A Memoir" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> Secret Life of Oscar Wilde" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> NOTES http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5I_3co-6Dw The Drunken Odyssey now has a youtube channel. According to the Kids' Right to Read Project, 2013 has been a record year for attempts to ban books in libraries in schools. The Diary of Anne Frank, you know, is too pornographic for American children to be exposed to. This was reported in The Guardian. The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his book, which is wonderful reading.

On this week’s show, my friends Teege Braune of In Boozo Veritas fame, Ryan Rivas of Burrow Press fame, Nathan Holic of American Fraternity Man" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;">American Fraternity Man fame, and MFA candidate Dianne Turgeon Richardson join me along the monorail line for a pub crawl across the Magic King resorts at Walt Disney World. Ryan Rivas, Diane Turgeon Richardson, moi, Nathan Holic, and Teege Braune on the Polynesian's monorail station. A stanchion at the Polynesian Resort, this tiki appears to be licking its torch. TEXTS DISCUSSED The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> The Devil's Race-Track: Mark Twain's "Great Dark" Writings" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> Celebration, U.S.A: Living in Disney's Brave New Town" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> Bright Lights, Big City (Vintage Contemporaries)" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> NOTES http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANlOFyhZJSI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f100XgX2apY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLCHg9mUBag http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV24-cU4wz8

On this week’s show, I present my interview with the poet Richard Blanco, John King interviewing Richard Blanco (photograph by Tammy Taylor) Plus Kenneth Nichol's writes about reading Tom Perrotta's Joe College. TEXTS DISCUSSED Looking for the Gulf Motel (Pitt Poetry)" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural Poet's Journey" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> Joe College" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;">

On this week’s show, I present TDO’s Repeal Day party, starring Robert Cassanelo, Mark Pursell, Hunter Choate, Leslie Salas, Anna King, Dan Lauer, and Teege Braune! The venue (photo by Leslie Salas) Robert Cassanello, preparing to read the opening piece (photo by Leslie Salas) Mark Pursell on his long ago teetotaling days (photo by Leslie Salas) Ah (photo by Leslie Salas) Hunter reads a ghost story told over vodkas (photo by Leslie Salas) City Fish was a wonderful location (photo by Leslie Salas) Anna King versifies on drinking Granadas at the Marriot Marquis (photo by Leslie Salas) Dan Lauer about a binge with the owner of the Murder Museum (photo by Leslie Salas) On my third drink, I am finally smiling (photo by Leslie Salas) Madison Bernath contemplates a world in which the repeal never happened (photo by Leslie Salas) Teege takes it home (photo by Leslie Salas) NOTES The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his book, which is wonderful reading.

On this week’s show, I interview the legend Nikki Giovanni, plus Peter Biello writes about reading Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. NOTES Peter Biello’s essay on The Road featured “Found Children” from Carlton Melton’s Pass it On. The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his book, which is wonderful reading.

On this week’s show, I interview fiction writer Matt Bell, plus Rose Tran writes about encountering Matt Bell's How They Were Found. TEXTS DISCUSSED In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> How They Were Found" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"> NOTES On December 5th, at 7 P.M., The Drunken Odyssey will host a live reading in honor of Repeal Day, which marked the signing of the 21st amendment, thus ending prohibition. See the facebook event. The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his book, which is wonderful reading.