Literary Guise: A Book Club for Modern Men

We kick off our first Listeners' Choice! (Thanks, David). "I Am Legend" by the great and woefully underrated Richard Matheson. Q: What does a man do when the world around him is totally beyond his control? A: He Drinks! He drinks and fires guns.

A full reading of the pioneering work of American Naturalism that kicked off the Old West literary craze: "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" by Bret Harte. Followed by a discussion of its themes and an examination of its main character.

Will Tom get away with it all? (Spoiler, he will, because the Italian Police are inept AF... but not for the reason you may think). Stick with the episode until the end to hear one of the best dog flatulence anecdotes ever told!

Tu vuo' fa' l'americano cocktail: 2oz Gin .75oz Cocchi Americano 0.5oz Bruto Americano 0.5oz Grand Marinier 1oz fresh squeezed orange juice spoon of Pedro Ximenez Sherry When the episode description starts with a drink recipe, you know it's going to be a doozy of a podcast. We continue to talk all things Tom Ripley, casually confusing the novel and the film along the way. 

We follow Tom to Italy and deconstruct his true relationship with Dickie Greenleaf... and ice boxes... and a weird Johnny Walker Blue Label tie-in commercial series that came out a half-century after the novel. What role does attraction play in male relationships: gay or straight, romantic or platonic? Just one of the many questions we'll try our best to answer, but will still fall short of t...

We tackle one of the most interesting fictional men ever written about. (Just ask Tom Ripley himself, he'd agree). This episode has it all: deep discussions on sexuality (both human and icebox), deconstructing over-elaborate / under-productive IRS schemes, and we take a look at the margin notes of a used copy of Ripley we once found; wherein a very confused individual tries to make sense of a...

We wrap up the epic that is Middlesex. Our favorite bartender is back and serving us drinks that may include... salamander venom? We talk about all things Milton and debate if Cal's journey is ultimately a satisfactory one. In addition, we engage in a not at all fun but always  necessary conversation about toxic male behavior, particularly when it comes to sexual assault in both the straight...

What would a series discussion of the intersex narrative in this Pulitzer Prize winning novel be without some divergence into early Genesis albums and inappropriate High School plays? In this episode: we talk to some experts, explore the problematic (and reoccurring) fictional character of Dr. Luce, and really get to the heart of our reason for this podcast/bookclub-- what does it mean to identify...

We celebrate Motown in this episode and explore Eugenides's love letter to the Motor City. We also get really deep into the coming out experience, race relations, and  "white rage." You know-- light, casual cocktail conversation! Stick with all the soul-bearing and challenging debate to hear our pick for "best Detroit athlete." Men can talk about their feelings AND still o...

Deep breath. We're diving into our longest novel yet and dipping our toe in the waters of gender theory. Yes, it's a lot; this is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel so there's a lot to unpack. Join us with our favorite Detroit cocktail (The Last Word: equal parts Gin, Green Chartreuse, Luxardo Liqueur, and Lime Juice) and be sure to participate in the lively discussion online. 

Is this the end of a (very brief) era? The last Literary Guise brunch is at hand and we're wrapping up our discussion of the themes explored in Chuck Palahniuk's  Fight Club . We acknowledge the movie's existence at last and get brutally honest about the roots of homophobia in our society. So, a little bit of bro talk, and a little bit of real talk. It's what we do best.

Happy Father's Day! We start off the episode sharing some stories about our Dads (and speculate if, as adults, we could finally take them in a fight). We then move beyond fight club and enter the strange world of Project Mayhem. We touch on everything from the "men's rights" movement to the intricacies of artisanal soap; masculine self-actualization to Stephen Sondheim's l...

It's a month of brunch at The Stardust Lounge and we're talking Fight Club. This week we  discuss the mystery of Marla, death wishes (not the Bronson movie series... although we really should at some point) and the rise of anti-commercialism and the male psyche. We also hear some stories of Gordon's flag football glory and Zac shares a misguided anecdote of his time spent at morning...

We're breaking the first and second rule: we're talking about Fight Club! Specifically the debut novel from author Chuck Palahniuk and the inspiration for the movie that woo'd frat bros everywhere: Fight Club.  In this episode we talk about therapy groups, men coping with emotions in unorthodox ways, and of course: getting punched in the face. So mix up a Bloody Mary, pop off your s...

A special bonus episode to celebrate our incredible listeners and all the support they've given us to get Literary Guise off the ground. A dramatic reading, in full, of one of Ernest Hemingway's earliest stories, followed by a brief discussion of its weighty themes by the literary guys of Literary Guise.  *Some of the material read this episode will contain remarks insensitive to both ra...

We give the amazing chapter titles within "From Russia with Love" their due homage. We rank the movie Bonds. We finish our Martinis. We do just about everything BUT talk about the plot. Because, well... Bond got homophobic. But at least homosexuality is being addressed in the 1950s? Maybe that's progress?? This concludes our 4 episode series on James Bond... But... Literary Guise Wi...

Trigger Warning! (No, not the name of the next Bond movie) It was bound to happen, but this novel from the 1950s gets racist and sexist, who knew? We tackle some of the problematic sections of Fleming's novel head-on and examine what our responsibility as men in 2021 is to combat these toxic behaviors and mentalities. But we promise it won't be a drag. Literary Guise is a place for good...

Full Moon Killers! Asexual Soviet Torture Experts! Chess Champions! What won't this Bond novel throw at us?  We continue to dissect JFK's favorite novel, Ian Fleming's "From Russia with Love." We discuss the improbability of a sex scandal really bringing down the United Kingdom (spoiler, it won't... also maybe a clue why Kennedy loved it so much?) The difference betwe...

Bond... James Bond! We're exploring one of the Western world's premier archetypes for masculinity in Ian Fleming's "From Russia with Love."  We talk about how to properly massage an assassin, what makes a good Vesper Martini in the modern-era, and what Ian Fleming was going through when he wrote this gem.  Did you know this was intended to be the last Bond novel? (Thank go...

In this episode we wrap up Amor Towles' epic and  over-indulge on drinks: which may explain the  Gremlins and Flintstone's references... but doesn't nearly go far enough to explain the highly questionable Hulk Hogan impression.  We also answer the age-old question: In which Las Vegas Hotel would you want to raise your surrogate daughter?

Does The Count suck? Or does Zac just not understand the gentlemanly "rules of civility?" (Amor Towles call-back!) In this episode *spoiler* we're still in the hotel, but there's another relationship with a young girl that honestly isn't weird, but by now people in the Metropol are for sure talking. Also there's a gun fight, but it's told in backstory. 

This episode we talk about male agency... and caviar. Gordon talks a lot about caviar. Convenient plot devices! Random hook-ups! Potentially problematic relationships with young girls! Part 2 of Amor Towles modern classic has it all.

Stock up on your vodka, because for the next two months we're going to Russia!  For the month of April, we're reading Amor Towles's 2016 best-seller: "A Gentleman in Moscow." In this episode we introduce the novel and talk of great mustaches, caviar, and the Russian Revolution. But mostly, mustaches.

"Air." We finish our exploration into the Korean War with the heartbreaking final section of James Michener's "The Bridges at Toko-Ri." We also get really excited about one scene in particular. Two Words: Catapult Room. You know we're going to talk a lot about a scene with that much razor-sharp machismo. We also discuss the feasibility of constructing a catapult room...

"Land." We continue with our discussion of Michener's "The Bridges at Toko-Ri," tackling some serious subjects: misogyny, racism, hetero-normative thinking, the sacrifice men have been asked to make over the centuries, etc. We also talk about a bar with a flying cocktail cart and an elevator band. This episode/chapter has it all.