Upper Middlebrow

Bagg and Dukes haven’t read this 2003 bestseller, and confess to a little snobbishness about a book that is ubiquitous at airport books stores. But…it's really good! Despite being impressed by the novel’s depiction of a childhood event that impacts our protagonist’s entire life, the UMBs wonder if the novel’s narrative physics are a bit TOO perfect.

The UMBers tackle Ray Bradbury’s 1950s classic novella and are impressed by how much influence this book has had on other writers and the intellectual landscape. The lads rattle off at least five or six other works they’ve read that owe Fahrenheit an allusive debt. Both find the prose and dialogue somewhat clunky, but in a role-reversal it’s Dukes this time that thinks Bradbury may have intended t...

The lads marvel at Margaret Atwood’s delicate prose and “lighter than air” narrative, in which sparse poetic writing conveys an alternative future vividly. But is the ending a bit of a deus ex machina, and if so, is that a problem? Or does that serve to reinforce the ideas at the heart of the book? Dukes and Bagg have a spirited but generally glowing read of Atwood’s 1985 masterwork.

The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a speculative near future that feels disturbingly familiar. The lads marvel at Atwood’s ability to vividly describe a speculative world without any obvious expository passages. Offred’s observations, musings, and memories effectively build the world, without ever taking the reader away from her point of view.

Bagg and Dukes finally get around to reading Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, and both are impressed by Morrison's craft, purpose, and ability to keep both functioning at a high level while delivering an eminently readable yarn. They stop to smell the dandelions and begin discussing why and how this book has ended up on banned and challenged lists all over the United States.

We spend a few final minutes with Steve Zaillian's Ripley, wondering if the resemblance between Inspector Ravini and Peter Seller's Inspector Clouseau is intentional, and considering what the overall effect of the luscious high-contrast black and white footage has for viewers. Dukes posits that this style is a new way of shooting, rather than a throwback, but Bagg thinks that there is a disconnect...

Dukes and Bagg wonder if Tom Ripley’s “disguise” (as himself) is meant to be as clumsy as it appears and if the show is wandering too close to the (admittedly wonderful) Pink Panther series. Nonetheless, the omniscient desk clerks, grumpy dog walker, and appearance of a delightful fellow “art dealer” provide the second half of the Netflix series enough delightful moments to make it worth the time.

Bagg and Dukes return to the source material that launched Upper Middle Brow, in the production of Ripley, directed by Steve Zaillian and (quixotically) available on Netflix. The mini-series is unspeakably beautiful to look at and, as we analyze in this episode, listen to. We think it may rise to the level of cult classic, but wonder if Netflix is the right space for this deliberate psychological...

Dukes and Bagg are taking a break from books to talk about Netflix’s Ripley created by Steve Zailian. Having watched the first episode, it’s obvious the series is beautiful, and stark. It’s NOT a remake of the 1999 Anthony Minghella movie; Zailian is going back to the 1955 Patricia Highsmith novel as his source material. But can his adaption hold our attention for eight episodes?

Arionne Nettles joins to talk about her new book We Are The Culture: Black Chicago's Influence On Everything, as well as to recommend a couple of novels she thinks Upper Middlebrow listeners would particularly enjoy. Jesse and Ari talk about their sadness over the recent news about layoffs at their former employer, WBEZ in Chicago, and explore the idea of a common thread between African culture, a...

On our FOURTH EVER episode, Dukes and Bagg explore why they have different emotional responses to Tom Ripley, and how Patricia Highsmith might have raised the stakes more effectively in the second half of the book. Our (Fall of 2022) discussion has been back on our minds in the wake of Netflix’s new Ripley series. Tom Ripley is a persistent character in our day and age, and the new Netflix series...

Netflix’s new Ripley series has critics musing on why Tom Ripley is such a persistent character in our day and age. Patricia Highsmith created a character that has endured and appeared in many (excellent) film and now TV adaptations. We thought we’d share our THIRD EVER episode, in which we consider the first half of Highsmith’s 1955 novel, which introduced Tom Ripley to the world.

The Sympathizer is brought to a powerful, if occasionally puzzling conclusion, with the narrator returning to his home country for a series of misadventures. The meaning of Ho Chi Minh’s slogan “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom” is turned around and around in our narrator’s brain, until nothing comes to mean something.

Jason Herbert, from the Historians at the Movies community and podcast, joins us to talk about favorite baseball films. We share an uncomfortable moment when Chris learns who Jason’s favorite team is (hint: pinstripes), but settle into a rollicking, nostalgic, nerdfest. We discover a surprising shared affection for a certain Charlie Sheen film from the late 80s, and both Jesse and Chris hurl their...

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s narrator tells us right off the bat that he’s a sympathizer. He can see any issue from “both sides,” he claims, a dubious virtue in the chaotic Vietnamese history following the fall of Saigon. Nguyen’s narrator faces situation after situation in which that quality of sympathizing with everybody, including his enemies, proves to be both a strength and a weakness. This wild novel...

Theologian Beatrice Marovich reacts to our discussions of Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, exploring the relationship between theology and fiction. We talk about her book Sister Death: Political Theologies for Living and Dying, and consider personifications of death in literature and pop culture.

The second half of The Sellout does feature a MacGuffin and resolution of sorts, although the plot is minimal compared to the satire and world building. The UMBs struggle to understand the book, but ultimately conclude The Sellout is a takedown of the post-racial ideal of the 2010s. The brilliance of the prose is stunning, but does the structure of the book feature the same brilliance?

Chris and Jesse are thrown into Paul Beatty's 2015 Man Booker Prize Winner The Sellout, because this novel seems to try to take the upper hand with its reader. Our two heroes agree that it's beautiful, but is it a mess or not? We marvel at Beatty's prose, quickly sum up all of epic poetry, and finish with trivia about child actors from The Little Rascals and ovoid/cuboid watermelons.

A rebroadcast of our Live recap and discussion of Alexander Payne’s Sideways (2004). The UMB’s admire Miles’ Saab, la costa perdida, and enjoy the rustically simple cinematography, and marvel at the chemistry and performances of Paul Giamatti, Thomas Hayden Church, Sandra Oh, and Virginia Madsen. Was there ever such an acting quartet?

Writer Joshua Mohr joins us to talk shop about his recent book Farsickness. The idea began with watching his daughter and her friends create short dramatic productions for his neighborhood, during COVID. He talks about the virtues of supposedly “hapless” protagonists, collaborating with his daughter, and how COVID should have taught us to pursue the art we crave the most. 

The UMBs went in expecting a quietly great film, and their expectations were exceeded. Big Night is at times BIG and LOUD, even though the characters spend much of the film not saying what they mean. Big Night combines excellent kitchen scenes (especially the memorable timpano preparation) with family drama and the central dilemma of all artists: When to compromise vision for the sake of practical...

On Thursday, January 11th, we'll watch Sideways (streaming, on your own) at 4:05PM PST, and then join a live discussion at 6:30PM, compete with a public rundown, and audience participation. Streaming details will be available at upppermiddlebrow.com on Thursday morning.

Sandra Nettlebeck’s 2001 film is beautifully shot and carries its narrative in a bucket effectively, following its fiery protagonist into the thickets of surrogate parenthood. Martha is a brilliant chef who struggles to take both compliments and criticism, and she’s been dragooned into therapy by her boss. This unstable stability is complicated by the arrivals of Martha’s niece, Lina, and a charis...

Ang Lee’s 1994 family drama/comedy is a sprawling epic, set in 1990s Taipei, about an aging chef, his three daughters, and the big themes of love, loneliness, loss, and togetherness. It’s full of gorgeous intimate images of cooking, and the film is punctuated by occasional family dinners. We wonder if Ang Lee has a discernable style, and whether this counts as a “foodie film.”

Juzo Itami’s brilliant 1986 film combines elements of Greek theater, the American Western, vaudeville, silent movies, French Noir, and other eclectic elements as it explores the myriad relationships with food humankind can experience. The central stem tells the story of a widow’s attempt to serve sublime ramen at a small roadside stop, aided by two truckers, and a ragtag posse of helpers. The film...