Literary Guise

In this special episode, we move the discussion out of the Stardust Lounge and into the soulless void of a podcast studio... mostly to address the first three seasons' alcohol budget imbalance. We share our thoughts about the New York Times "Best Books of the 21st Century." A list which includes works by Alison Bechdel and Cormac McCarthy. (Does McCarthy PASS the Bechdel test? The answer will not surprise you.) We talk a lot about the books we've read, admit to the books we shamefully have not, and nitpick the list based on odd, arbitrary fixations we've developed over years of reading  books and then podcasting about them... but by now you would expect nothing less. 

We talk about our favorite reads in 2023 and the conversations they inspired. We discuss changes (Gordon in NYC, Zac in lawful marriage) and brainstorm tentative plans for the future of the podcast. We speculate why no one listened to our Death Wish episode (an episode no one asked for and certainly no one wanted), congratulate ourselves on some truly stellar book choices and some well received readings, and inevitably go off on tangents about Hitchcock, Steven Seagal being an absolute joke of a man, and ABC's 1991 sitcom "Dinosaurs." See if you can also catch our subtle tribute to the film, "Clue."We'll be taking a hiatus while we discuss the future and hope you'll stick with us down the road....Literary Guise Will Return!

25+ years of friendship, 3 years of co-hosting a podcast, and we finally reached the pinnacle of the craft when it comes to literary conversation: that is to say, talking about a book without really talking much about the book. We close out our third season with one of the Great American Novels-- and true to Fitzgerald's artistic vision, we use the boozy shenanigans of Jay, Nick, Daisy, Tom, Dr. T. J. Eckleburg, et al as a jumping off point for  conversations about the human condition and the state of the American dream. At least that's how we hope it turned out... there were many martinis involved. Or to put it another way: our boats were against the current, but we beat on, born back ceaselessly into gin-fueled talents. 

As a man, how often do you think about... The Civil War? Well, if you've joined us on this season three book club, the answer is likely often. Join us as we discuss the Pulitzer Prize-winning classic from author Michael Shaara, about the generals of Gettysburg and the brooding, emo moods that define them

A dramatic reading of a Halloween classic from the father of the short story, the inventory of horror, and the progenitor of the modern mystery! He also married his cousin and  died wearing another man's clothes for some mysterious reason... Edgar Allan Poe did it all

The Maltese Falcon! The Thin Man! Nick and Nora Charles, Sam Spade, The Continental Op... even Noir as a genre... so much greatness to come out of one author with such a small, but refined, body of work. Join us as we fanboy more than usual over one of our shared favorite authors. Pour your favorite style of martini into a Nick and Nora glass, and read along with us as we cover Red Harvest, Maltese Falcon, Glass Key, and The Thin Man... along with drunken asides about 1970s "Trop Rock" legend Bertie Higgins who we recently became obsessed with after watching him chain-smoke his way through all his videos. What does he have in common with the architect of the modern mystery? Perhaps that's the greatest mystery of them all (spoiler: it's just lots of drinking.)

We've caved under our own pressure for content and a few too many boozy Manhattans... here's our contribution to the ubiquitous world of ranked lists on the internet: the literary men we admire most. (It's only 10 because we'd be hard pressed to even name 15... virtue, integrity, and general self-awareness typically don't make for interesting characters). But these 10 are awesome and interesting in their own way! Enjoy!

How much can we pack into one episode? Southern race relations? Gender identity? Paragons of masculine virtue? Great literary drinking buddies? *A bonus 90 second rant on "Go Set a Watchman" WITH cursing* This episode is crammed with some of our favorite topics, suitable for our Back to School special as we both revisit this icon of American Literature. 

Wherein we discuss Death Wishes 1-5, the remake, Death Hunt, and everyone's favorite  Bronson movie, made 15 years after his passing, Death Kiss. What do these dreary, nihilistic films have to say about the role and capacity of violence in the modern man? Whatever the answer, they forgot it halfway through the plot of the original and it only went downhill from there. Join us on this love/hate exploration of 70s grit and 80s excess through everyone's favorite deadpan mustache: Charles Bronson

Another listener suggestion, giving us the chance to talk about one of the great South American writers, and indeed, one of the great writers of all-time. Why did he choose to write a Lolita clone as his swan song? Why do men struggle so much with aging? What is the best cream for rear-end itching? These questions will all be talked in one of our more challenging episodes to date. 

Our second graphic novel exploration, taking a hard pivot from the action genre by delving into the world of LGBTQIA+ high school romance. What does Alice Oseman get right about the story of two young men falling in love? What has this work meant to the queer community? And why is paving the way for more work like this is so important? Also, Nellie the dog.... come on! When is she going to get her own MCU spin-off series?!

Revenge! Revolvers! Riverboat Gambling! We read our first graphic novel to learn about the form, experience a new level of storytelling, and indulge our mafia fascination. You can get a copy of the original comic through abebooks.com or you can read it online via a free 7-day trail at dcuniverseinfinite.com OR you can watch the stellar Sam Mendes movie to witness (*spoiler*) a balding Jude Law and Tom Hanks machine-gunning Paul Newman to death. (Best Hollywood retirement ever?)

We take a chance on one of the few non-problematic works by Kipling as we read his short poem, "If," and discuss the various "masculine" virtues it extolls. *Disclaimer: this episode was recorded during 50% off scotch night at The Stardust Lounge, so we do go off track... from Theranos's Elizabeth Holmes to Hunter S. Thompson's daily drinking schedule... how does it all relate to Kipling's poem? Your guess is as good as ours!

Get to the chopaaaaah!!! We return to the 'roid-biceped, greased-gun, day-glo fantasia of violence that was our 1980s action movie childhood... specifically this memoir about how the movie Predator has affected one American man, and in turn, so many of us. Join us for a discussion that includes gay poets, gay rock n' roll singers, and totally straight, nothing-to-see-here, bros who just like admiring each other's strength while getting sweaty in the jungle. **Our apologies to Lee Marvin for being misidentified as Lee Majors in this episode. Literary Guise: apologizing to character actors who have been dead for 36 years after misidentifying them for character actors who haven't worked in 36 years! Follow us @literaryguise for a continued discussion on the movies that made us. 

We're drinking Aperol Spritzes out of comically oversized wine glasses by the beach club for this second episode on Mike White's HBO series. Join us for an examination of father-son dynamics, toxic male friendships, and whether or not the gay mafia really is trying to murder Jennifer Coolidge. And we finally answer the question: is Quentin really Tom Ripley from the Patricia Highsmith-verse? (Yes.)

Join us for a special episode recorded in Hawai'i! We'll be discussing one of the best novels of the  decade, learning from its perspective on native Hawaiian culture, and exploring its unique relationship to "The Big Island." Did we take this opportunity to record from  white sand beaches over-looking clear-turquoise bays where sea turtles glide and dolphins play? Of course not! Instead we take a tour of some of Hilo's finest dive bars where the windows are shaded and the pu-pus are served on paper plates. Our thinking was-- hey, didn't one of the novel's characters get kicked out of the same bar where a problematic DC-universe actor was recently arrested? Let's go drinking there!

Love him or... more than likely hate him, it cannot be denied that Charles Bukowski has left this mark on the literary landscape with his singular approach to masculinity. We present a dramatic reading of one of his best known prose poems, a surprisingly sensitive and nuanced piece, and discuss it in the context of his greater oeuvre.It's a podcast sure to upset diehard Bukowski fans and we just know he'd love that. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our read of this recent, Pulitzer-prize winning novel celebrating the ennui and folly of an American abroad. Join us table-side at the Stardust Lounge as we talk about Arthur Less: a man of many facets, all of them semi-tragic. 

The Guys are binge-watching The White Lotus season 1 while getting Tiki drunk (if only to honor the season's themes of colonization and appropriation). We'll be sharing our thoughts on Armond's best dinner service ever, debating whether or not Shane did, in fact, book the Pineapple Suite; and sharing what we learned from Quinn once he stopped viewing the world through a screen.So, join us, Jennifer Coolidge-style (aka tipsy chic), at the piano bar and lets talk about this modern touchstone of a series.  

Season 3* kicks off with full book episodes released on the first Monday of every month. First up, we return to the cocaine novels of the 1980s and one of the literary brat pack's brightest works. This novel has everything: Cocaine, Bolivian Marching Powder, Peruvian Pink (and also some really salient things to say about masculinity within the meat grinder of 1980s publishing.) You could watch the Michael J. Fox movie adaptation, but then you'd miss out on a rare novel told in the 2nd person POV.*Our Season 3 format will feature new episode on the first and third Monday of the month, with longer, full novel discussions on the first followed by special readings, road trips, interviews, and general pop culture discussions on the third. As always, you can join the discussion on Instagram: @litguise

Announcing the line-up for Literary Guise: Season 3, returning March 6th.  We  also preview our new format. All our monthly novels will be tackled in one long-form episode on the 1st Monday of the month. The third Monday of the month we will reserve for dramatic readings/discussions of classic short stories, literary field trips, and general tom-foolery. 

Just two guys, in that gray twilight between Christmas and New Year's Eve, sipping Seagrams Escapes in a mostly empty bar.. talking about all the books we've read this year with you, our loyal listeners. We also talk about a book so bad that it's gotten a mention in TWO seasons' worth of recaps. Literary Guise will return in March with all new episodes!And a new episode announcing our line-up (with more listener input than ever before) will be airing in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. We won't really be gone. We'll just be suffering through dry Janurary.

As an end of the year gift to ourselves and the Literary Guise community, we read one of our favorite short stories and analyze its themes over drinks at the Stardust Lounge.

One of our favorite episodes: where we get to talk about literary greats like Cormac McCarthy, Annie Proulx, Colson Whitehead, and Amor Towles... along with discussions of masculine nature vs the reality of male nurturing. We also try to get to the bottom of why it is so important for men to navigate ventilation vents with shower rods or why it is paramountto always check your loose cash for transmitters.

"What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss?"In conjunction with Cormac McCarthy's first novel released in 16 years, we're reviewing one of his all-time classics (and the brilliant Coen Bros film it inspired) "No Country for Old Men." The unconventional typographical choices, odd plotting, hyper-violence, and deep life philosophy inherent in its pages are all covered in this episode (along with a behind the scenes peek at which members of the podcast have mustaches and which among us have a deep appreciation for the startlingly homo-romantic Zegna commercials string Javier Bardem and Dev Patel)

We finish up our Listeners' Choice for 2022, "All Quiet on the Western Front," on a bright note as things are looking up for our German boys in the trenches... just kidding, this novel just gets unrelentingly bleak right up until the soul-voiding ending (probably one of the most memorable closing lines in literary history). Although it does say something about the nature of humanity that we have to nearly destroy ourselves before we can begin to understand the nuance of our condition. Ugh, even that thought depressed us. Friends, we need some more cheery fare to read! What's our final book of the year? Cormac McCarthy? ...crap.

What does it say about men that it took war, in many cases, for our emotional barriers to finally breakdown? Why did it take months in a foxhole being bombarded day and night before men could form true, meaningful friendships and even express platonic love for their fellow man?Why are the men who brag the most about patriotism and personal bravery also the men who never served during war?And what can we do to better understand the sacrifices of those who served?We ask these questions and far less insightful ones as we continue to explore Erich Maria Remarque's all-time classic.

Our listeners' choice for this season is one of the most famous novels of all time, the first true anti-war novel, the bleak, the unrelenting: All Quiet on the Western Front. Tune in for conversations about men in war --  a very different picture of masculinity than anything we've read before. Read along with us or watch the just released Netflix film. And if you pick up the e-reader version, you're in for a treat, as we discover mid-episode. 

We wrap up our month-long look into the career of a distinctly American author. His collected works are further summarized. Natural comparisons to another Literary Guise favorite, Chuck Palahniuk, are made. Drinks are consumed; business cards are exchanged. 

“I was never much of a fan of Literary Guise, at least not until the 31st episode of their 2nd season, a hyper-pop EDM new disco fantasia entitled, “Bret Easton Ellis: American Genius (Part 3: ‘American Psycho')” Before that I had always found their sound a little too niche, a touch too twee. But on Part 3 they really hit their mainstream sensibility stride. The rich, sonorous baritone of Zac Kellian blends exquisitely with Gordy Macallan's delectable wordplay and the crisp timbre of Eric Bennett's sound mixing really brings out the ebullience of the duo's chemistry that had always been lurking, just beneath the surface. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go return some videotapes.” —Patrick Bateman**Yes, we're doing a full episode on American Psycho. The novel. The movie. The Sequel: American Psycho 2: All American Girl. Yes, there are going to be in-jokes and easter eggs galore. This is the work that solidified our nascent friendship and one that continues to inspire debate on the nature of masculinity and the best way to secure reservations at Dorsia. 

Disappear here. (Into our podcast talking about one of the seminal works of the 1980s, Bret Easton Ellis's disaffected debut novel about an LA populated by narcissists and drug-induced zombies.) We will also touch a little bit on its sequel, 2010's "Imperial Bedrooms," where we learn the characters' futures are all far sadder than we ever could have imagined. Is this a novel about vain privilege, or is it a novel slyly trying to dismantle privilege? Could it be both? Join us for this discussion and more in part 2/4 of our exploration on the career of Bret Easton Ellis. 

We are dedicating an entire month to Bret Easton Ellis's work! Join us live from the Stardust Lounge in Seattle, WA as we discuss the author, his influences, and the zeitgeist defining bibliography he's produced over five decades. In this episode we'll be providing some insight into why we chose Ellis for this deep dive, exploring the author's background, and teasing out some of the more prevalent themes from his body of work. We will also be making a half dozen snide references to American Psycho, because how can you not? 

Who records a podcast 48 hours into a limo-chauffeured, bachelor party-fueled, drinking tour of Las Vegas? We do. Join us at some of our favorite off-Strip bars and literary haunts as we talk about Las Vegas, its innate masculine themes, and our deep, heretofore undisclosed, love of Tiki. Excuse the word salad and the janky edits, we really are on a Bachelor party and we really did lose a member of the crew during the recording. 

We wrap up one of our most listened to book discussions of the season with a bleak examination of the death of the American dream and a needless 2020-lensed exploration of a character's sexuality. Is this novella "pro-George" or "anti-Lenny," and other drunken debates to follow...

Get ready to coat the inside of your glove with vaseline, because we're going deep into... wait... let us rephrase. When it comes to this Steinbeck classic, we are going so far inside... nope. Okay, real talk, no one is 100% sure why Curly's glove is filled with petroleum jelly, but that's not going to stop us from speculating nor discussing it ad nauseam. We'll also touch on the tragic falsehood of the American Dream as it pertains to working class men and we finally give "Curly's wife" some due, even if she's never given a name in the narrative. 

We're going back to school this month! Specifically back to our collective High School curriculum as we explore some of the novels of our student days through the lens of adulthood. Up this season: Of Mice and Men, one of the all-time American classics. We'll analyze what it meant in the 1930s, and what it means today, all while unraveling its male characters' complicated masculinity. No mice, rabbits, or ranch hand's wives were harmed in the making of this episode. 

We get blitzed on martinis and talk about our favorite books from this year so far... and we re-write the high school comparative literature curriculum while we're at it. Tune-in for a preview of what's to come this season and marvel at how fast our bartender delivers those martinis to us. 

A little sympathy for the devil in this one as we try to get into the core mechanics of this novel's horrible protagonist. What does this narrative have to say about our society as a whole and what impression did Nabokov really wish to leave us. We promise we'll have some lighter episodes from here on out, but we're grateful to all of you for joining us on this exploration of one of the great works of the English language. 

We get more entangled in the uncomfortable themes of Lolita, while also uncovering more of the brilliant wordplay baked-in by Nabokov... which is, exactly what the author intended. We also stopped drinking "Pins" altogether because while we okay tackling challenging subject matter on this podcast, drinking terrible drinks is just not something we are willing to do. 

We take on one of the most controversial novels ever put to print this month, Nabokov's "Lolita." It's the novel you've always thought you should read, but for understandable reasons you've avoided it until now. In this episode we go into detail on the author (who he was and why he wrote this) and touch on some of the literary craft on display. A work of genius or a troubling tale of immorality? Perhaps both.We also answer the age old question: What do Snoop Dogg and Humbert Humbert have in common? (A: they love gin and juice)

Your co-hosts travel to a neighborhood used bookstore to supermarket sweep three must reads for the other person. This is our chance to get out of the dim, boozy, somehow still smokey (?) confines of the Stardust Lounge and share some books that fall outside of the typical Literary Guise fare. Join us for this experimental romp through bibilichor and organized chaos that is: the neighborhood bookstore!

A sad ending to a sad novel, we talk about the way inaction and not living authentically can misshape the soul. How sometimes the greatest tragedy in a man's life, can be the truths left unspoken; the glory never sought. Yukio Mishima is one of the best authors of all-time, and his resounding effect on the co-hosts of this podcast is a testament to that. Oh, also, there's a kamikaze porn star story, so stick around for that.

Over cocktails we go deep into psychoanalyzing our own sexuality (same old, same old with this podcast) all the while exploring in more detail some of the dynamic prose that has made Confessions of a Mask a timeless classic. Oh, and we talk about that time the author randomly tried to overthrow the Japanese government. 

Co-host Zachary Kellian introduces one of his favorite authors to Gordon Macallan who in turn lends even more personal insight into the text... just what book clubs are all about! Join us for a frank exploration of closeted sexuality in post-war Japan and learn a little bit about one of the world's most enigmatic, outrageous, and talented writers to ever put pen to paper.

Was this podcast just a long and needlessly complex excuse to eventually discuss H.P. Lovecraft? Maybe... we're big fans of the grandfather of horror's cosmic approach to terror (even if we cringe at some of his more heinous personal beliefs). Join us for a dramatic reading followed by an in-depth discussion of the story.

We wrap up this season's foray into the world of Stephen King with an in-depth discussion on "the coming of age tale" and the unique rites of passage (or lack thereof) within American culture past, present, and future. Or at least that's what we thought we were talking about... full disclosure, we discovered a very real liquor brand called "Redrum" and it was too perfect for a Stephen King podcast to not down a whole bottle.  *Listener Warning: this episode contains  offensively bad Maine accents*

We continue to drink some corpse revivers as we read one of the master of horror's non-horror novellas, "The Body." In this episode we share some tips about  how to talk your twelve-year-old friends into seeing a dead body and explore the reason why boys (and men) so often play "at war."

We're drinking Corpse Revivers and reading Stephen King all month! What's a literary podcast doing examining the master of horror? If you're asking yourself that, you've not read enough King. The Body is his exploration of 12 -year-old boys, a subject he approaches with enough humanity and empathy to rank among the best of literary fiction. We hope you'll join us, King-aficionados and new-comers alike! (Don't worry, we'll get plenty nerdy when it comes to the King-metaverse, too). So grab your best friends, pack an overnight bag, make up some B.S. excuse to your folks, and let's go on an adventure!

We take a field trip for our second remote recording session, this time to New York City, NY! We sip some drinks just barstools away from where Dylan Thomas drank his last pint and marvel at the building's plumbing mishap that put Jack Kerouac in jail. There's Bob Dylan graffiti in the bathroom and an overall air of bohemian artistic freedom to be had at The White Horse Tavern, one of the most legendary literary locations in all of the United States. Join us for this journey into history and marvel at the patience of the staff who let us record well past 4am. 

Lasers! Poison darts! Miss Gladys Stephens of Omaha, Nebraska! We talk about the climax of The Andromeda Strain as well as get a glimpse behind the scenes of the movie it later inspired.   Thanks for joining us on this journey back to our collective bookworm adolescence!

Our love of ASCII art graphs reaches its zenith with this novel. Today we're talking about Crichton's famous "Odd Man Hypothesis" wherein only unmarried men are deemed capable of making key decisions.  Do we agree? As two (at least as of this recording) single men ourselves, we speak to our own decision-making acumen, albeit over many, many cocktails. We also question the "beard science" behind this novel.