So Many Damn Books

Drew and his wife Dani are sheltering in place, so it's their turn to record an episode (without Christopher) about their happy history exchanging gifts on St. Jordi Day, and their relationship in books. Drew shares the story of how Lauren Groff bless/cursed them at a book signing, they discuss how their senses of humor aren't always aligned on the page, and they get into their lives as members of...

Christopher and Drew read a little something from the public domain, by Christopher Morley and Mark Twain, respectively, then recommend a couple of things. for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com music: Disaster Magic ( https://soundcloud.com/disaster-magic )  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nozlee Samadzadeh hosted Christopher and Drew for her "Zoom After Hours" discussion of The Morning News' 2020 Tournament of Books, and it was such a nice time that we are putting it out for all of you to listen to. They discuss that final, get into the tournament's history, Andrew Womack shows up for some surprising Super Rooster Tournament Revelations, and other commentariat join in the fray. It'...

Christopher and his wife Sarah are social distancing/self-isolating, so they record an episode (sans Drew) about Jenny Offill's oddly prophetic Weather . They discuss the grim, fascinating distance of Offill's voice, and can't stop drawing parallels from her muted disaster/emergency to our own. Plus, they get a little bit into how books are the foundation of their relationship. Stay safe and sane,...

Longtime friend Jordan Kisner drops into the Damn Library for everyone to celebrate the release of her debut essay collection Thin Places ! We discuss the term "thin places" and many of its permutations, not wanting to write about your mom, being able (or not) to recognize your own mind, the joy of an egg white cocktail, and whether or not it's okay for Harriet the Spy to've broken into all those...

Christopher and Drew talk about the Tournament of Books this year, explain why they like it and also why lots of things have changed since they started following it, make some predictions, and also talk about beer drinking and weird superstitions. Need it be said? Ca-caw! contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, book lists, and more, visit: somanydamnbooks.com music: Disaster Magic...

Emily Nemens, author of The Cactus League , editor of The Paris Review , stops by The Damn Library, and everyone gets to talk about all things baseball, including Emily's story of a harrowingly long game. Christopher makes a bonkers cocktail and gives a slight history lesson with his recipe. Plus, Emily goes into some of the best things involved with writing about/watching baseball, as well as cut...

Christopher and Drew decide to catch up with things that have been adapted from books and made into movies. Alternate universe Weber adaptations are supposed upon. The future of adaptation form and delivery is discussed. They also rage against the machine by telling you which books to pre-order from the machine, and suggest some possible adaptations at the end. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb...

What better way to start the year than looking back at the stuff that we liked from last year? This episode, we talk about our top 8 books of the year. Like the top 8 for Myspace, only Tom isn't involved! It's a lot of nonfiction, which is crazy! Listen in, and also get in touch to tell us what your top books of the year were. We love to hear it! contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink reci...

All of this audio is from Christopher and Drew recording the SMDB holiday album! They even included some actual tunes: three seasonal classics with a bookish twist plus one original Christmas tune. They did end up discussing books amongst the singing, finding time to talk about some of their favorite books of the decade, and the merits and drawbacks of such lists, as well as give each other presen...

Kate Racculia stops into the Damn Library and she brings lots of laughter. We all talk about how her new novel is her Indiana Jones novel, and how it's a Westing Game novel too, and maybe a couple other novels. The details of Boston and creating her own Holmes character are also up for discussion. Plus, all three talk about details of Ling Ma's Severance with reverence. And more! contribute! https...

Helen Phillips jumps right into the surreal and strange place that is the Damn Library. She's well used to it, since she's the person who wrote The Need , which we all talk about, and its depiction of motherhood, and the weird, and many other vague details that we dance around since we really don't want to spoil anything. We also talk about Samanta Schweblin's Fever Dream , which has no baseline o...

Christopher and Drew hang out and talk books. You know, like they usually do. They invite you to their 5th Birthday Party for the podcast (!!!) which is at King Tai Bar, in Brooklyn, on November 13th, at 7pm, and you're invited. They also talk some Harry Potter, some Stephen King, a honeymoon vacation reading disaster, and dreams in books. Plus, other things. Thanks for listening! Here's to 5 more...

Jami Attenberg is in the midst of starting of her book tour when she drops into The Damn Library to discuss her new novel, All This Could Be Yours . We talk about New Orleans, and time, and being a writer online, and how it feels to be on her seventh book, and running a writing prompt in the summer, amongst other things. She brings us Sarah M. Broom's The Yellow House and we talk about New Orleans...

Lisa Brennan-Jobs drops into the Damn Library to discuss Small Fry , her coming-of-age memoir about growing up the daughter of Christian Brennan and Steve Jobs. We get into the slipperiness of memory, the selfishness of memoir, and the loneliness of childhood, as well as whether her book is actually "California Gothic." She brings us Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping and of course the unconvention...

Courtney Maum drops into the Damn Library to imbibe a tequila and mezcal cocktail and talk about her new novel Costalegre . She gets into her past as a tequila promoter, we talk about how Peggy and Pegeen Guggenheim ended up fictionalized in her novel, and we discuss the travails of the social media side to writing. We also dive into The Age of Disenchantments by Aaron Schulman, discovering the Pa...

Christopher and Drew enjoy a fall-tinged cocktail and get wistful about going back to school. Christopher's mom's new library prompts a discussion of all types of books you read for school, from the chores to the books from the canon that meant something to the books we ought to call our anti-canon. Chime in! Please tweet, instagram, email us, and tell us your own personal additions to the canon....

Random House Copy Chief Benjamin Dreyer stops into the Damn Library to talk to Christopher and Drew about his new utterly correct style guide, Dreyer's English , as well as working as a copy chief, the reading life of someone dedicated to books as he is, and which editorial meetings leave him floating. Also, we discuss what his next book will be! Then we get into Shirley Jackson and The Haunting o...

The night before Toni Morrison passed away, Mira Jacob came by the Damn Library to discuss her new graphic memoir Good Talk and Morrison's Sula . Fueled by tequila and champagne, we get into how playing with paper dolls felt like freedom when compared to writing an essay, and how her son feels about being not-famous, and trying to heal her family through her work. Plus: why Mira reads Sula all the...

Christopher and Drew get into one of Christopher's dear favorite novels, Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove , and why Drew just couldn't finish. They also touch on what type of books you want to read in front of an air conditioner, the satisfying design of the NYRB and Spurl Editions, and Drew explains his method for getting rid of 100 books from his shelves. contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for d...

Christopher and Drew are in the Damn Library just on their lonesome to talk the city's One Book, One New York choice, Patti Smith's Just Kids. They get right into how it describes a lost New York, and how you might be too old for it at one point, and just old enough for it at another. They also discuss their Top 6 books of the year so far! contribute! https://patreon.com/smdb for drink recipes, bo...

Mona Awad drops by the Damn Library to discuss her new novel Bunny with Christopher and Drew. They get into fairy tales, and making magic real, and the horror potential of the MFA workshop. Plus, Mona brings an old favorite of hers, Rebecca Godfrey's The Torn Skirt, which feels like a fever, and Mona talks about how some books feel like home. Plus other stuff! It's a good one, bunny! contribute! h...

Alternative comics legend Seth drops into the Damn Library on his tour for his career-defining Clyde Fans . He and the guys get into the medium of comics itself, and the things it's good at expressing in the realm of human emotion, as well as why you don't really draft a comic page like you think. The joy of designing a book is touched upon, and channeling Charles Schulz. Plus, Seth brings Virgini...

Erin Somers stays up with the Damn Library to talk her new novel, Stay Up With Hugo Best . Everyone gets into phantasmagoric Late Night universe making, and then into how there's meaning in melancholy, and sometimes it's better to buckle down even when things aren't going right. And then they talk Dorothy Baker's Cassandra at the Wedding , and the melodrama, and the pianos, and the slapstick witho...

Myla Goldberg drops by the Damn Library and immediately gives Christopher and Drew two new business ventures. And that's before they even start talking about her new book, Feast Your Eyes , and its museum catalog form, where she got the photographs, how geniuses shouldn't be assholes, and the photographer as subject for fiction. Plus, she brought Jesse Ball's novel Census , and it leads to a discu...