The Spouter-Inn

33. W, or the Memory of Childhood. 04.08.2020 55:29 ↓

George Perec's curious novel braids together a story of a sport-obsessed island with an autobiographical attempt to remember a childhood haunted by loss.

32b. Bonus: David Hadbawnik on the Aeneid. 20.07.2020 40:05 ↓

We’re joined by David Hadbawnik, poet, translator, and scholar, to talk about his exciting translation of the Aeneid.

32. The Aeneid. 13.07.2020 52:58 ↓

Virgil’s epic poem about the founding of Rome (and a day of sports on the beach).

31. Beyond a Boundary. 24.06.2020 52:29 ↓

C.L.R. James's book discusses cricket, but it's also an autobiography, an analysis of colonialism, and an inquiry into aesthetics.

30b. Bonus: Reading During Crisis, Part Two. 12.06.2020 54:50 ↓

We check in with more friends to ask how the months of social isolation and the recent activism against police violence are affecting them and their reading habits.

30. Vanity Fair. 02.06.2020 54:18 ↓

William Makepeace Thackeray massive novel about two intertwined lives: sweet and pure Amelia Sedley, and cunning and manipulative Becky Sharp.

29b. Bonus: Lee Maracle on Great Expectations. 18.05.2020 34:54 ↓

Lee Maracle, author of Memory Serves, joins us to discuss Great Expectations (and much more).

29. Great Expectations. 11.05.2020 59:00 ↓

Charles Dickens's novel about a young blacksmith’s apprentice who is unexpectedly given the means to become a gentleman of leisure.

28b. Bonus: Jess Henderson on Emma. 29.04.2020 43:46 ↓

Jess Henderson recently led a virtual reading group on Emma, so we asked her to join us to share some hot takes.

28. Emma. 25.04.2020 53:26 ↓

Jane Austen’s novel about a young woman determined to use her powers of matchmaking to do a little good in the world.

27b. Bonus: Reading During Crisis. 03.04.2020 59:56 ↓

Checking in during the early days of the pandemic.

27. The Decameron. 01.04.2020 52:01 ↓

Giovanni Boccaccio’s collection of 100 short stories told during a plague.

26b. Bonus: Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi on Persepolis. 27.03.2020 39:17 ↓

Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, Professor of History and Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto, on Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis and modern Iran.

26. Persepolis. 19.03.2020 56:03 ↓

Marjane Satrapi's comics memoir about growing up in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution.

25. The Jungle. 03.03.2020 57:27 ↓

Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel takes place around the slaughterhouses of Chicago.

24b. Bonus: Lesley S. Curtis on Stella. 21.02.2020 43:01 ↓

We talk with Lesley S. Curtis about Stella, Émeric Bergeaud’s allegory of the Haitian Revolution and the first Haitian novel.

24. The Black Jacobins. 14.02.2020 49:49 ↓

C.L.R. James’s history of the Haitian Revolution.

23. Memory Serves. 22.01.2020 49:46 ↓

Memory Serves is a challenging and compelling collection of oratories by author, activist, and Elder of the Stó:lo Nation Lee Maracle.

22. Beloved. 19.12.2019 57:28 ↓

Toni Morrison's difficult and stunning novel Beloved.

21. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 27.11.2019 57:49 ↓

Roald Dahl’s classic work of children’s literature.

20b. Bonus: Irina Dumitrescu on Food Writing. 18.11.2019 46:34 ↓

Irina Dumitrescu is a professor of medieval literature at the University of Bonn, but she also has a secret life as a food essayist.

20. How to Cook a Wolf. 15.11.2019 54:55 ↓

M.F.K. Fisher’s book about food, written during World War 2.

19b. Bonus: Simone de Rochefort on Ernest Hemingway. 04.11.2019 51:01 ↓

Simone de Rochefort from Polygon joins us to share her enthusiasm for Hemingway.

19. A Moveable Feast. 01.11.2019 57:04 ↓

A Moveable Feast is Ernest Hemingway’s memoir of being a young and often hungry writer surrounded by the writers, artists, and waiters of 1920s Paris.

18b. Bonus: Liza Blake on Margaret Cavendish. 21.10.2019 47:07 ↓

Liza Blake, Margaret Cavendish scholar, joins us to give a bit more context to The Blazing World and its glittering glories.