The Library of Lazy Thinking Podcast

Can you ever paint a complete picture of a person on the page? The often-overlooked German writer Christa Wolf figured she’d give it a damn good go. The result? A strange, sad, and in some ways challenging book that was “half banned” by the German Democratic Republic. Why was it deemed so provocative? Did Wolf manage to capture the whole of someone in her book? And why did my GCSE German teacher s...

Write drunk, edit sober. That was Hemingway’s formulation. But given Patrick Hamilton is said to have been on three bottles of whisky a day by the time he wrote The Slaves of Solitude , I can’t imagine he gave much attention to the second part of Ernie’s advice. Yet the most miraculous thing—aside from even being able to see his notebook after three bottles of the good stuff—is that Hamilton appea...

I love this book. I love Susanna Crossman for recommending it. And I love you, my bookish friend. Because why not? Indeed, I’m filled with book love to have discovered both Susanna and John’s work recently and it’s a pleasure to feature them both on the podcast. When Susanna recommended reading John D’Agata’s About A Mountain , I’d never heard of it. To my shame, I’d never heard of John D’Agata. I...

At just 176 loosely-fonted pages and ostensibly about a woman who has a holiday romance with a grizzly, you might think the appropriately titled Bear sounds somewhat “throwaway.” A bit weird. A bit surreal. Even a bit pervy. You probably wouldn’t think it serious literature. But there you’d be wrong. The book works on several levels, raising thought-provoking questions about male violence, patriar...

Strap in. We’re leaving the known world behind to explore the strange ecstatic visions of a little-known but hugely influential French writer, a fascinating chap called Gérard de Nerval. We’re going to the edge of perception… and we’re going to peek over it. Will we return changed? Enlightened? Alive? Who knows? Welcome to The Library of Lazy Thinking Podcast , with me, your host, Glenn Fisher. In...

Sometimes the best place to begin a story is at the end. Sometimes, a whole story is about an end. (That certainly seems to be the case with Lydia Davis’ only novel, The End of the Story .) But sometimes, the end is not an end at all and is in fact the beginning of a new story. It’s a confusing business. Thankfully, we have the brilliant novelist and writer Olivia Sudjic on hand to help determine...

Getting into someone’s mind is a dangerous business. Consider poor Kylie Minogue who, as far as I know, has never managed to get an unnamed “Boy” out of her own. She’s tried, but she just can’t—he’s now literally all she ever thinks about. Given the clear risks, I was worried about reading Eimear McBride’s The Lesser Bohemians , a book that attempts to get into the mind of an 18-year-old Irish gir...

Do we all go through a Will Self phase? Maybe. But only one writer I know turned their enjoyment of Will Self into a brilliant, mildly mind-bending, and wholly entertaining detective-ish novel. Enter Sam Mills. And welcome to The Library of Lazy Thinking Podcast , with me, your host, Glenn Fisher. In each episode, I'm joined by a guest from the world of books to talk about a specific book they'd l...

As the frontman of the band Fat White Family, you might know Lias Saoudi as an exciting, confrontational, and spanx-wearing rock phenomenon. You might also know him as a great writer, as evidenced by Ten Thousand Apologies: Fat White Family and the Miracle of Failure , which he co-authored with Adelle Stripe (news on the Stripe front coming soon). But you probably don’t know him as a Warhammer-col...

Sexy frogmen are sneaking around and clowns are being run over in Belfast. What’s going on? Well, you’re about to find out. Welcome to Episode Two of The Library of Lazy Thinking Podcast , with me, your host, Glenn Fisher. In each episode, I'm joined by a guest from the world of books to talk about a specific book they'd like to put in the library. There's no plan and no agenda, just two people la...

It’s here. And you came. Hurrah! Imagine me, standing at an elaborate entrance to a grand hall, wearing a tuxedo, bowing deeply, and welcoming you to The Library of Lazy Thinking Podcast . I’ll be your host, Glenn Fisher (though I’m going to change into something more casual now). So—what’s it all about? In short, it’s a new series of book-based wonder-chat. In each episode, I'm joined by a guest...