City Settings

In the final episode of the season, Marlon and Jake weigh in on their favorite vacation reads, including the ones they started but never finished. Tune in to find out which classic novels Jake took to the beach and which ones Marlon says should have been thrown in the ocean. Subscribe to our River-herd newsletter for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content. https://sites.prh.com/riverhead-reader-newsletterThe Goodbye Look by Ross McDonaldWar and Peace by Leo TolstoyAnna Karenina by Leo TolstoyMoby Dick by Herman MelvilleThe Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre DumasChances by Jackie CollinsThe Year of the French by Thomas FlanaganAll Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria RemarqueThe Golden Bowl by Henry JamesThe Ambassadors by Henry JamesPortrait of a Lady by Henry JamesPronto by Elmore LeonardHowl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne JonesSmallbone Deceased by Michael GilbertThe Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot by Robert Arthur, Jr.Persuasion by Jane Austen 

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times—it was school. In this episode, Marlon and Jake discuss books where school is the setting or going to school is central to the plot. They debate which authors got school right and which got school wrong, what makes an inspiring teacher, and what the closed universe of a schoolyard or college campus can feel like. Tune in to hear Marlon and Jake reminisce over their own college experiences and what they were like as students.Subscribe to our River-herd newsletter for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content. https://sites.prh.com/riverhead-reader-newsletterTom Brown’s School Days by Thomas HughesThe History of Tom Jones, A Foundling by Henry FieldingBrideshead Revisited by Evelyn WaughDecline and Fall by Evelyn WaughVile Bodies by Evelyn WaughScoop by Evelyn WaughThe Crime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel SparkA Separate Peace by John KnowlesLook back in Anger by John OsborneTess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas HardyJude the Obscure by Thomas HardyReturn of the Native by Thomas HardyAbsalom, Absalom! By William FaulknerLove Story by Erich SegalThe Miracle Worker by William GibsonStoner by John WilliamsZuleika Dobson by Max BeerbohmThe Corn is Green by Emlyn Williams 

In this episode, Marlon and Jake talk about cities in books. Books set in memorable cities, books set in cities you're glad you've never been to and books where the city itself is nearly a character. They talk about the specificity of London of the 19th century British novel, the New York novel, entirely fictional cities in Sci-Fi and Fantasy, and don’t miss Marlon’s personal experience with Bloomsday in Dublin!Subscribe to our River-herd newsletter for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content. https://sites.prh.com/riverhead-reader-newsletterUlysses by James Joyce Ulysses by James JoycePortrait of the Artist by James JoyceDubliners by James JoyceThe Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom WolfeThe Age of Innocence Edith Wharton The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell HammettPalace Walk by Naguib MahfouzPalace of Desire by Naguib MahfouzSugar Street by Naguib MahfouzInvisible Cities by Italo Calvino Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred DoblinIn Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor HugoInterview with a Vampire by Anne Rice Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy TooleThe Master and Margarita by Mikhail BulgakovThe Young Unicorns by Madeleine L’Engle

In this episode, Marlon and Jake talk about the bad characters we’re not meant to like but do and the good characters we’re meant to like but annoy us. From Dracula to Daisy Buchanan to Oliver Twist and Bambi, the good-to-evil spectrum is vast and no character is safe from commentary. Tune in to find out which classic villain the duo unanimously hate, and which villain gives Marlon the chills and scares Jake to this day. Subscribe to our River-herd newsletter for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content. https://sites.prh.com/riverhead-reader-newsletterThe Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia HighsmithA Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee WilliamsThe Flashman series by George MacDonald FraserTom Brown’s School Days by Thomas HughesKing Solomon’s Mines by Sir H. Rider HaggardRaiders of the Lost Arc by Campbell BlackDracula by Bram StokerFrankenstein by Mary ShellyOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken KeseyEast of Eden by John SteinbeckThe Awakening by Kate ChopinMadame Bovary by Gustave FlaubertHouse of Mirth by Edith WhartonCrime and Punishment by Fyodor DostoevskyThe Idiot by Fyodor DostoevskyThe Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor DostoevskyThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldGood Morning Midnight by Jean RhysBambi by Felix SaltenWatership Down by Richard AdamsOliver Twist by Charles DickensMiddlemarch by George EliotThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerThe Lord of the Flies by William GoldingRailway Children by E. NesbitPeter Pan by J.M. BarrieThe Jungle Book by Rudyard KiplingTreasure Island by Robert Louis StevensonVanity Fair by William Makepeace ThackerayEmma by Jane AustenMansfield Park by Jane Austen

This episode, Marlon and Jake discuss a new subject for the podcast: poetry! From epic poems to sonnets to the Romantics poets to contemporary (dead) poets. They ponder over why people don’t read poetry as much as prose and recite, on the spot, lines of poetry that are forever engrained in their memories.Subscribe to our River-herd newsletter for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content. https://sites.prh.com/riverhead-reader-newsletterThe Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey ChaucerThe Faerie Queene by Edmund SpenserWar Music by Christopher LogueThe Gift Outright by Robert FrostEmily DickinsonW.H. AudenT.S. EliotSamuel Taylor ColeridgeWilliam WordsworthRupert BrookeJohn DunnThe Spanish Needle by Claude McKayThe Iliad by HomerThe Aeneid by VirgilOmeros by Derek WalcottThe Arrivants by Kamau BrathwaiteRiddyn Ravings (The Mad Woman's Poem) by Jean “Binta” BreezeAnne SextonDr. Maya AngelouThe Tyger by William BlakeFire and Ice by Robert FrostGwendolyn BrooksJune JordanAudre LordeToni MorrisonOgden NashDorothy ParkerTales From Ovid by Ted HughesInferno from Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Books assigned in school evoke strong feelings. You either love em’ or you hate em.’ In this episode, Marlon and Jake discuss the books they wished they were assigned in school and the ones they suffered through. Accompanying the books taught in school, there are, of course, the teachers who taught them. A teacher can make or break a book read in school. As a literature teacher (as well as Booker prize winning author), Marlon acknowledges there are some novels assigned in school that you have to work to understand that are really good, but sometimes those novels are not good and if it weren’t for being assigned in school, we wouldn’t still be reading it.Subscribe to our River-herd newsletter for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content. https://sites.prh.com/riverhead-reader-newsletterPride and Prejudice by Jane AustenThe Republic by PlatoJude the Obscure by Thomas HardyTess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas HardyThe Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey ChaucerInfinite Jest by David Foster WallaceTom Jones by Henry FieldingMiddlemarch by George EliotCall of the Wild by Jack LondonBleak House by Charles DickensGreat Expectations by Charles DickensThe Pickwick Papers by Charles DickensDavid Copperfield by Charles DickensThe Warden by Anthony TrollopeWashington Square by Henry JamesThe Turn of the Screw by Henry JamesThe Aspern Papers byHenry JamesThe Ambassadors by Henry JamesDaisy Miller by Henry JamesEthan Frome by Edith WhartonThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark TwainThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark TwainThe Bondsman’s Narrative by Hannah CraftsGuerillas by VS NaipaulMiguel Street by VS NaipaulA Bend in the River by VS NaipaulA House for Mr. Biswas by VS NaipaulDog Soldiers by Robert StoneThe Godfather by Mario PuzoShogun by James ClavellTia-pan by James ClavellKing Rat by James ClavellWhirlwind by James ClavellJulius Caesar by William ShakespeareKing Lear by William ShakespeareThe Tempest by William ShakespeareKing Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider HaggardThe Radiance of the King by Camara LayeHeart of Darkness by Joseph ConradTarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice BurroughsThe Lady, or the Tiger? by Frank R. StocktonThe Discourager of Hesitancy by Frank R. Stockton 

In this episode, Marlon and Jake weigh in on a question as old as books themselves—can you judge a book by its cover? Spoiler alert: the answer is yes! They discuss good books with bad covers and bad books with good covers, cover art trends (*cough* the woman facing away), books that were recommended to them, and books they read because of peer pressure. Tune in to hear Marlon and Jake opine the myriad ways we judge books.Subscribe to our River-herd newsletter for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content. https://sites.prh.com/riverhead-reader-newsletterOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia MarquezHotel du Lac by Anita BrooknerThe Latecomers by Anita BrooknerThe Joy of Sex by Alex ComfortEverything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex: But Were Afraid to Ask by Dr. David R. ReubenGeek Love by Katherine DunnAncient Evening by Norman MailerMiami and the Siege of Chicago by Norman MailerThe Naked and the Dead by Norman MailerThe Railway Children by E. NesbitBallad of a Sad Café by Carson McCullersConfederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy TooleThe Bridges of Madison County by Robert James WallerAngela’s Ashes by Frank McCourtThe Hound of the Baskerville by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleAtlas Shrugged by Ayn RandThe Night of January 16th by Ayn RandWinesburg, Ohio by Sherwood AndersonRebecca by Daphne Du MaurierJamacia Inn by Daphne Du MaurierDon’t Look Now by Daphne Du MaurierThe French Lieutenant’s Woman by John FowlesDune by Frank HerbertStoner by John WilliamsOne is Not Enough by Jacqueline SusannValley of the Dolls by Jacqueline SusannHollywood Wives by Jackie CollinsChances by Jackie CollinsPeyton Place by Grace MetaliousEarthly Powers by Anthony BurgessAbsalom, Absalom! By William FaulknerButterfield 8 by John O’HaraA Rage to Live by John O’HaraGrendel by John GardnerMickelsson’s Ghosts by John GardnerOctober Light by John GardnerFreddy’s Book by John GardnerThe Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr SolzhenitsynThe Longest Journey by E.M. ForsterA Passage to India by E.M. ForsterHowards’ End by E.M. ForsterMaurice by E.M. ForsterSoldier’s Pay by William FaulknerEverything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’ConnorWise Blood by Flannery O’Connor

Marlon and Jake are back! And they’re catching up on the dead authors they’ve read since they last spoke—some of which they praise, others they don’t. From comparing Nella Larson’s Passing to the Netflix film, to discussing unsettling stories that linger with you, they cover a lot of literary ground. They also weigh in on longstanding debates like whether they read the book or watch the movie adaption first and the difference between horror and terror. Tune in for the witty book banter you know and love. Subscribe to our River-herd newsletter for  sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content. https://sites.prh.com/riverhead-reader-newsletterThe Letters of Thom Gunn by Thom GunnPassing by Nella Larsen A View From a Hill by Montague Roads JamesThe Turn of The Screw by Henry JamesFrankenstein by Mary Shelly The Birds by Daphne Du MaurierRebecca by Daphne Du MaurierThe Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris The Exorcist by William Peter BlattyJesus’s Son by Denis JohnsonAirships by Barry Hannah Lost Illusions by Honore de BalzacMadam Bovary by Gustave Flaubert The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Savage Detectives by Roberto BolanoHell House by Richard MathesonThe Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring

In just one week, Marlon and Jake return with an epic new season discussing the non-living luminaries they love, hate, and will never agree on. Get ready for even more hot takes, hilarious debates, and incisive commentary on dead poets, judging books by their covers, exactly what kind of student Marlon was in college, and which classic novel Jake spoiled the ending for a colleague—among other literary gems.

Marlon & Jake are back to discuss the most indelible and powerful female characters—those written by dead female authors and those written by dead male authors. From Sula Peace to the Wife of Bath, Scout Finch to Janie Crawford—these two gentleman celebrate some of literature’s most ferocious, complicated, guileless, unrepentant and commanding women.The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey ChaucerRum Punch by Elmore LeonardBleak House by Charles DickensThe Palliser novels by Anthony TrollopeTo Kill A Mockingbird by Harper LeeDouble Indemnity by James CainThere Eyes Are Watching God by Zora Neale HurstonDubliners by James JoyceKindred Octavia ButlerThe Sound and the Fury by William FaulknerTwo Serious Ladies by Jane BowlesSula by Toni Morrison