Mid Lit

Forget Jonathan Franzen, we've got Seth Corwin from W.A.S.T.E. Mailing List on this episode! Rebecca is talking one-on-one with our Instagram pal about "Crossroads." Here's the moral of the story: If you only read two Franzen books, let them be "Crossroads" and "The Corrections." Let's dig in and talk about Mister Difficult himself. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

Ya'll love you some Franzen... or at least love to listen to us talk about him! So, we're covering Jonathan Franzen's latest work "Crossroads." We're kicking it off with a big, ol' roundtable of guests new and old. In part one, we're joined by Colin McEnroe, Irene Papoulis, and Bill Yousman to talk about 70s youth groups, faith, and whether or not you can smoke enough 70s weed to hallucinate. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

We're popping in with a mini-episode to bid a fond farewell to Joan Didion, a magical thinker who depressed the hell out of us and lived an amazing life. Didion was, in a lot of ways, an inheritor of ol' Ginny Woolf's legacy, and we're paying homage by talking about the books we (sorta) read, the essays we're planning on revisiting, and why you should check her out even if high brow literature isn't your thing. And as long as we have your attention, check out "The Center Will Not Hold," the Netflix documentary about Didion. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

We're talking about John Irving again, but it's a bittersweet victory for Theresa. Why? We're diving into "The Cider House Rules," John Irving's pro-choice opus because several states are actively trying to strip women of their reproductive rights. We won't get into it right now, but the tale of an American hero, Wilbur Larch, and reluctant abortion provider, Homer Wells, seemed like the right book to be talking about at this moment in time. We discuss our feminist AF grandmas and their pro-choice rhetoric and take some detours into "If These Walls Could Talk," "Friday Night Lights" and other abortion-related media. (Poor Becky Sproles would be SOL in Texas today.) And Theresa tells us about the time some kid huffed ether a la Wilbur Larch and then tossed his cookies on her car. Goodnight, you princes of Maine, you kings of New England. Please consider supporting The Yellow Hammer Fund, a 501(c)3 abortion fund and reproductive justice organization serving Alabama and the Deep South. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

We're wrapping up our thoughts on the twisted mind, the compelling work of Gillian Flynn, and a bunch of feminist AF protagonists who are fighting for our right to be just as gross, and mysanthropic as male characters. We rank our deeply flawed heroines by how much we want to hang out with each of them (spoiler alert: Rebecca's status as a possible psychopath remains in tact), somehow American psycho Patrick Bateman makes an appearance, and Rebecca gets truly icked out by Theresa's latest description of annoying male angst. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

The movie adaptation of "Dark Places" shouldn't be as bad as it is. There's a good cast -- with Charlize Theron and Christina Hendricks carrying the drama -- and Gillian Flynn co-wrote the screenplay. But something went wrong somewhere, because this book we loved was practically unwatchable in movie form. Is it the lack of Velveeta sandwiches? You tell us. Carolyn Paine stops by to talk about why she actually had to get up and pace around the house just to finish the movie. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

Gillian Flynn's "Dark Places" is one of her lesser-known novels, but we loved it! Between the Satanic Panic of it all, Ben Day's big Damien Echols vibes, and the reminder of all the ways big banks have been screwing over regular Americans since long before the 2008 crash, there is a lot to dig into here. Is the Angel of Debt a folk hero or just another dude preying on desperate people? Is Diondra scarier than Amma? Is Lyle a creep? Tune in as Carolyn Paine makes a rare appearance to chat about an actual book! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

Amma. Adora. Camille. They're all brought to terrifying and startling life in HBO's interpretation of "Sharp Objects." Jean-Marc Vellee's vision and tour de force performances from Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, and Eliza Scanlen bring the Preaker/Crellin women to life but for some reason Theresa won't stop talking about Elizabeth Perkins as drunk Jackie. Meanwhile, Rebecca has a scandalous theory about Camille's daddy, so tune in to find out what her twisted mind has come up with this time around. But if there's one thing we've learned, it's that little girls are terrifying and not to be trusted. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

Camille Preaker has serious mommy issues, and her sister, Amma, isn't going to win any awards for being well-adjusted either. Meanwhile, the ill-behaved girls of Wind Gap are turning up dead. Tune in as we talk to Lara Bricker, author, journalist, and Crime Writers On panelist, about what Gillian Flynn's "Sharp Objects" gets right about Munchausen's by Proxy, her personal experience with malevolent mothers, the Gypsy Rose Blanchard of it all, and the reality of being a small-town reporter. Lara also dishes about living in Exeter, New Hampshire which is simply infested with writers like Dan Brown and Joe Hill. Bonus: Find out which local used to wrestle with John Irving! And when you're done listening, head over to order Lara's new book, "Dead on Deadline" from Water Street Books. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

What it lacks in nonsensical bear costumes, "Gone Girl" makes up for in great performances from Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tyler Perry. Tune in as Carolyn Paine joins us to talk about her possibly over-emotional response to "Gone Girl" and why she never considered Amy Elliot Dunne a feminist icon. (Score one for Carolyn not being a possibly dangerous psychopath!) Learn why putting a human face on Nick Dunne's suffering (even if it's Affleck's) helped Rebecca have some empathy for this mediocre, cheating husband. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl" is more than a book. It's a playbook for every angry wife with a neglectful, cheating husband. Get out your notepad, ladies, and make your husbands tremble in fear of what you're capable of. And also, fear Rebecca and our special guest, Blair from Unwelcome Recommendations on Instagram who maybe have a little too much admiration for psychopathic Amy. Is Gillian a feminist, a misogynist, or just a good writer with a truly terrifying imagination? We may never know but we will discuss it to death! Does any of it matter, considering what a bleak future awaits Nick, Amy, and probably all of us? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

What does "beach read" mean to you? We explore the possibly sexist term with the help of an essay from Jennifer Weiner, and then recommend some of our favorite books to read with our toes in the sand (or, if you're Theresa, while avoiding the beach like the very pale person she is). As it turns out, Rebecca may not really understand what a beach read is, but that didn't stop us from putting together a list for you to choose your next read from! So join us as we explore the joy of a leisurely beach read. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

We stumbled on a real doozy of a rant from the fist-lady of highfalutin literature, Virginia Woolf. Turns out, she haaaates "middle brows." So we knew we had to do a mini-episode in which Rebecca gets to flex her grad school skills by taking us on a very serious trip through British modernism and into ol' Ginny's life and times. Meanwhile, Theresa gest to remind us why she was a mediocre student and life-long Mid Lit fan by vaguely recalling reading "Mrs. Dalloway." --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

In this mini-episode, we revisit Cat Person, Kristen Roupenian's 2017 short story for The New Yorker. As it turns out, the characters in Celeste Ng's books aren't the only ones who don't know how to communicate. Tune in to hear Theresa advocate more violence-by-women and rail against the patriarchy that trains us not to be loud and proud about our opinions, wants, and needs. Meanwhile, Rebecca maintains a level head while reconsidering her response to the initial reading of this story. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

You've heard us gush about Celeste Ng's masterful way of depicting families, communities, and the complicated dynamics that propel them all to inevitable(?) consequences. Now hear us debate which of her books are "better," and get all of our wild predictions about Ng's next book. If we're right, send us a prize. And don't forget to visit our bookshop to get your copy (of Celeste Ng's books or any of the books we've talked about, or even just mentioned). --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

Hulu's adaptation of "Little Fires Everywhere" goes off into some weird territory, making Mia a borderline unfit mother and Elena marginally more likable by contrast. And all the while we're asking, "What is Kerry Washington smelling now?" Seriously, if we were to judge by Mia's sneer throughout the entire show, we'd have to say someone was stinking up the set. By the end of it, we're on board with the uber-privileged Richardson children and screaming, "BURN IT ALL DOWN!" Oh, Celeste Ng... what did they do to your lovely book? Tune in to hear more of our griping about this series! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

It's all right there in the title, folks! Celeste Ng's debut novel, "Everything I Never Told You," is about all the things that go unsaid in a family... and ruin the relationships as a result. The kids. The parents. The siblings. No one is talking in the Lee household! Is this kind of poor communication still a thing? Find out in our latest episode, with special guest Mel Geter from the Curlyyop Reads Booktube. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

Mid Lit is back for Season 2, and we're jumping into a book that burns the house down, literally... In Celeste Ng's "Little Fires Everywhere" you know from the very beginning that the Richardson family will lose it all by the end of the book, you just aren't sure why or how. We'll talk about motherhood, the 90s, and whether or not it's OK to ever steal a baby. Also, is this chick-lit? You decide. Want to read along? Check out our book list and get a copy of your own. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

Have you ever wondered what it's like to live with someone who is obsessed with Volvos, doesn't trust anyone who can't drive a stick, and yells about the Undertoad all the time because of a two-decade-long obsession with John Irving? Well, here's your chance to find out. In this mini-episode, Theresa interrogates her other half about that time she made him listen to "A Prayer for Owen Meany" and whether or not he thinks she is more or less obsessed with Owen than she is with "Gilmore Girls." Oh, and you'll learn how they ended up with an armadillo in their living room. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

It's time for another mini-episode, and this time we're tackling an author we think is overrated. Jonathan Franzen has received heaps of praise, prestigious awards, and plenty of backlash from women who aren't feeling the current de facto leader of the "Dude Writers." We compare Jenny Fields to Patty from "Freedom" and discuss why we'll take a pill-popping Jack Kerouac over bird-watching Franzen. But it wouldn't be a Mid Lit episode if we didn't explore some wild tangents. So please tune in to learn why we might be buying Jonathan Franzen's next book despite having no desire to actually read it (hint: it has to do with Colin McEnroe and neti pots) and how we end up talking about Kurt Vonnegut, Jennifer Weiner, Joyce Carol Oates, and a tiny restaurant on the cape called Jack's Outback where all the literati and Jim Chapdelaine used to go to be abused by the staff. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

She was a crotchety southern belle with a problematic history and love of the grotesque, but Flannery O'Connor made us laugh. Join us for a quick talk about "Good Country People" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find," arguably O'Connor's most famous works. Is there a little bit of Hulga in you? Do you find yourself sympathizing with the Misfit instead of that annoying family? Then you've come to the right place. Tune in to take a dive into the Southern Gothic world of Flannery O'Connor. And check out our Freethinking Women list on Bookshop.org. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

You can't talk about Mid Lit without talking about Stephen King. "The Stand" is a King classic, but only a sadist would ask a guest to read that weighty tome. Instead, we asked Kevin Flynn from "Crime Writers On" and "These Are Their Stories: The Law & Order Podcast" to spend roughly 9 hours of his life watching the latest mini-series based on the book and then chat with us about his thoughts and feelings. Take a deep dive into the perplexing economy of New Vegas and ponder the mystery of the new ending and why King took this opportunity to double-down on the problematic Mother Abagail character. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

We've come to the end of Season 1, but before we set the bears free forever, we have some great personal John Irving stories to share. From one friend's profound experience with a John Irving commencement speech to writer Rand Cooper's bromance with Irving that spans two continents and at least a decade. (Salman Rushdie and Erica Jong also make cameos!) Theresa and Rebecca also get into everything from their favorite characters to which book Rebecca should read next. And there are plenty of tangents to be explored, so don't miss a minute. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

The World According to Garp was a huge hit way back in the early 80s. People went to the theaters in droves to see Robin Williams in a wrestling uniform. But one of our special guests got to hop on a boat and head to the set of the film long before anyone else saw the movie. Hear all about Colin McEnroe's trip to the movie set, why Carolyn Paine felt the presence of the undertoad all through the film, and why Jim Chapdelaine will only watch basketball these days. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

The World According to Garp changes John Irving's life, turning him into a full-time writer and best-selling author. This book was, perhaps, ahead of its time, even if Irving worried that his novel about "sexual hatred" (or the politics of sex, sexuality, and gender) would be outdated by the time it came out. Sadly, it's more relevant than ever, but that doesn't mean Garp didn't have an impact on the world. Tune in to hear from Colin McEnroe, host of WNPR's Colin McEnroe Show, and rockstar Jim Chapdelaine, to hear about how they felt about Garp when the book came out and how they feel about it now. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

Rob Lowe. Jodie Foster. Beau Bridges. Tiny baby Seth Green. With a cast like that it had to be a hit, right? Not quite. Apparently, the American public didn't embrace Susie the Bear and Sorrow the taxidermied dog in this film adaptation of John Irving's novel. Tune in to find out what our resident movie critic Carolyn Paine thinks of this movie that Rob Lowe thought would be "his Dirty Dancing" (shut your mouth, Rob Lowe... there's only one Swayze and only one Johnny Castle). Be prepared for bears...lots of them. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

Come visit The Hotel New Hampshire where you can choose whether you want to stay on the violent radical floor or the floor with the very noisy sex workers. There's something for everyone! Tune in as we talk about this surrealist romp that spans two continents, one Freud (but not that Freud!), and two bears. Irene Papoulis, Principal Lecturer in the Allan K. Smith Center for Writing and Rhetoric at Trinity College, joins us to talk about what John Irving's post-Garp novel is saying, or isn't saying, or is maybe kind of saying... and what exactly a writer has to do to become part of "the canon." And bears... we'll also talk a lot about bears. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

Whether you love "A Prayer for Owen Meany" and hate "Simon Birch," or you've never read the book but love the movie, or somehow, inexplicably, love both, we've got you covered. Tune in to hear how our resident movie critic, Carolyn Paine, felt about this wild Hallmark meets Chicken Soup for the Soul version of John Irving's beloved novel; learn why Rebecca Lavoie will never (NEVER!) watch this movie; get a deep dive into the merits or lack thereof from our hosts. Also, take a slight detour into The Gilmore Girls, Friday Night Lights, Northern Exposure, and the story of Rebecca's neighbors' attempts to convert her. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

We're kicking off Season 1 by diving into Theresa's favorite book of all time, "A Prayer for Owen Meany." This 1988 John Irving novel also happens to be a favorite for Rebecca Lavoie from Crime Writer's On, so she was gracious enough to stop by and talk to us about Owen, the nature of John Wheelright's love for his diminutive friend, and just what we're supposed to think about the nature of faith by the end of this book. Tune in for a deep dive into Irving's best-selling book of all time. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support

Mid Lit is part book club and part lit class, but 100% in praise of unpretentious books! Tune in as Rebecca & Theresa of Big Little Podcast fame tell us why they're turning their attention to books, and why they're focusing on popular books that they can't put down instead of the books we're all "supposed to read." And find out which author they are deep diving into first (*Hint: He is really into bears and wrestling!) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlit/support