Capote's MUSIC for CHAMELEONS and Toole's "Confederacy of Dunces" are discussed.Jonah discovers after the fact that he is wrong about much of Toole's biography. This well written article is probably worth more than his words. https://www.newyorker.com/books/second-read/the-uneasy-afterlife-of-a-confederacy-of-duncesYet the virtue of the medium allows for the display of ignorance-par-excellance. Pretty breezy discussion with perhaps a touch too many personal stories, but hey, we're not getting paid.Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

Western Thought

Episode 27: Truman Capote, John Kennedy Toole

With a dash of irony I'm going to set up a false dichotomy: this is either the worst show we've ever done or it's the best. Jonah laments not having it more prepared like a lecture - yet what would a lecture bring that reading Sontag's work in her own words would not? Perhaps this mess is preferable. In fact this is part of Sontag's themes in The Aesthetics of Silence. She argues for the spoken word rather than the written.Which, by the way, like any difficult or messy work of art, you the listener is probably going to need to bring something to this in order to get anything out of it. Just google Sontag really quick and get a sense of her style if you're not familiar. Again, could probably do so much more on her, but this is it for now.Will pointed out to me today that all of Sontag's work is out of print, while all of Camille Paglia's work is still in print. You'll have to listen to the episode to get the context. But I guess we're into another exploration of a writer's work who is considered passe. At least, to me, their is value in that. Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

Episode 26: A Susan Sontag Reader

Could probably fill up multiple podcasts with this author. An American and Western writer of first order. Unlike our first episodes we don't really deviate much into other authors - though Will gives some interesting personal accounts. Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

Episode 25: Cormac McCarthy or The Evening Redness in the West

Shorter episode where we discuss the short stories of Murakami. Perhaps the most famous Japanese writer translated into English? Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

Episode 24: Haruki Murakami

You may recognize this name from Jon Krakauer's book Into the Wild which featured a chapter on Everett. Painter, poet, vagabond for beauty. Also victim of a mysterious disappearance in 1934. Though he lives on as a figure onto whom the artistic soul can commune. The book we mainly discuss is authored by David Roberts. Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

Finding Everett Ruess

We start with a discussion of Rossetti's poetry and potential meanings. Soon though we move onto a secret that Jonah's been keeping under his hat. Once A Fool! by Boye de Mente. A journey from Tokyo to Alaska by Amphibious Jeep. A story perfect for a screenplay but would need 15 million dollars and a director with the nascent hutzpa to try and film on the ocean. Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

Christina Rossetti

Tripping through some passages of this cultural mish-mash of a book there is a lot of laughter. We're joined by Pam, a helping hand for giving us everyman context. Also discussed is Albert Camus whom I hope to discuss more in a future episode .... though to be honest I doubt we'd do better than The Partially Examined Life #4 on Camus. Check that one out if you want as good a philosophical starter course as any you'd get at university.

James Joyce FINNEGAN'S WAKE

Two non-fictional pieces on tap for this episode. One is what I should've lead off with to start this whole podcast. It's a character piece I did on Will Peterson. The second piece is an article I wrote about strippers in Reno (back in 2018). This episode is brought to you by The Town of Books. Jonah's audiobook with professional reader Tom Strah, instead of Jonah's weedy voice.

Spring Non-Fiction

Jonah and Will end up talking a decent amount about drinking and fighting. Surprise surprise. You guys, don't think of writing as your dream. Don't fantasize this shit. Your neighbor who's going to work to afford the lease on a mustang is closer to pursuing a dream than you are. You are grub in a vast universe of time. Don't try ... write only when you are risking being hated, hated for saying you think you see the world how it is.

Eps 19: Charles Bukowski PORTIONS FROM A WINE-STAINED NOTEBOOK

A jaunty Russian novel that is one of Will's favorites. We get to really dig our teeth into some big topics in this one. Meaning! Yes, what is the meaning of meaning? Listen and be as confused as when you started (though hopefully amused for an hour).

Episode 18: THE MASTER AND MARGARITA by Mikhail Bulgakov

Touch a few bases of Kafka's oeuvre in this episode. As always we fall down a few separate rabbit holes. Fun though. I've always loved thinking and talking about Kafka. Definitely a fundament of Western Thought.Does our podcast need music? Intros or outros? Personally I like just getting straight into the talking but any feedback is welcomed.Still looking for submissions if you got em. In the spring Will mentions that he's going to do a Crater's of the Moon anthology. Take a shot at writing something.Send to jonah.andrist@gmail.com

Episode 17: Franz Kafka and the Logic of Literature

This episode's discussion begins with a reading from Kundera's THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING.I cannot stress this enough - if you go out and get one of Kundera's middle period novels (and you should, right now) you need to get the Aaron Asher translations. He worked closely with Kundera in the 90's and they really are superior in every way.We get pretty french this week.

Episode 16: Milan Kundera and Michel Houellebecq

Will and Jonah are on their game for this one. Unfortunately for you we shut off the recorder and talked for another two hours, but I like to think that it's burying peat, fertilizing the soil for future episodes.

William Gibson's PATTERN RECOGNITION

Doing something different this week. Taking 'the bones' of a novella idea that Will had some years ago and riffing off its theme. Will gave Jonah the book to possibly edit and Jonah thought that this would be much effort with little reward. But talking candidly for you here is pretty fun. Anyway, who wants to read expertly crafted sentences when they can just listen to a couple whiskey drinking yahoos bullshit on the main topic of the book. Called, by the way, KHAMSIN. A story of a lonely lost German tank in the North African desert.

Edits and Improv on a Novel Idea - Part 1?

When Will and I first conceived of Western Thought we pictured it as a literary magazine. Obviously there were practical roadblocks to this and I thought a podcast would be more fun. But I've maintained interest in doing something with more fiction. If you or anyone you know has a piece of fiction that they think is solid and would be good as audio I encourage you to submit. Will and I do this podcast cause we like reading and will read most anything.Submit to my email jonah.andrist@gmail.comIf we like it I'll find an actor and we'll record something like this.Regarding this specific story titled INNOCENCE. It's a story I drove up to Alaska to do research for. It's a true story about my great uncle. While the prose does have some youthful indulgences I think the essential core of the story still comes through. Read with emotion by the actor Stanton Pavlichek. I edited this purposefully with some flubs cause I think including outtakes in your art can be fun.Finally, this episode is sponsored by the superior audio product, my novella, The Town of Books.https://www.amazon.com/The-Town-of-Books/dp/B082WYBXFC

Fall Fiction

From the Walrus and Carpenter bookstore in Pocatello ID, two self-published yokels discuss literature, life, philosophy. Conversations are stimulated by a different book or author every week.

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Western Thought

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