Episode · The Joe Rogan Experience · 2026-11-03
Joe Rogan & Sam Tallent: books mentioned on The Joe Rogan Experience #2575
#2575 - Sam Tallent
Sam Tallent is a comedian, author, and host of the "Chubby Behemoth" podcast. His most recent book is "Brut.
Sam Tallent recommended Angels by Denis Johnson, discussed Queer by William S. Burroughs, Brut by Sam Tallent, and Butter by Asako Yuzuki, and criticized Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs and Life. Joe Rogan recommended The Gray Man (Netflix Movie Tie-In) by Mark Greaney, The Terminal List by Jack Carr, Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household, No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, and The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Queer
Discussed“What Burrow's book specifically? Oh man, probably Queer and Junkie. Those two for sure.”
Where to get it
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Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch by William S.
Critiqued“Naked Lunch always seemed like he was like I hated it. Really? Yeah man. It's like look I understand that you're like Jackson Pollocking and you've earned that right as like a master of the form like as a writer.”
Where to get it
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Brut
Discussed“And I decided early on with this book, it was like I can't if if people say the book is really good, which a lot of people have, I love the book.”
Where to get it
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Butter
Butter by Asako Yuzuki is a contemporary Japanese novel that explores complex themes around obsession, food, and societal expectations placed on women.
Discussed“The best literature now, best fiction comes out of Japan. It comes out of France. It comes out of Japan. Oh, dude. Japanese fiction is [ __ ] There's all these books about like women who eat each other.”
Where to get it
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Life
A Little Life is a poignant novel by Hanya Yanagihara that explores the deep, lifelong bonds and trauma of four college friends in New York City.
Critiqued“And then the stuff they do champion like a little life is the most ridiculous hyperbolic [ __ ] that's never happened to anyone.”
Where to get it
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The Gray Man (Netflix Movie Tie-In)
The Gray Man by Mark Greaney is an action-packed thriller novel following an elite assassin on the run.
Recommended“The stuff that I read other than your book and like the stuff that I actually get into that's fiction is like it's all male stuff. Like I'm really into the Greyman series and Jack Carr.”
Where to get it
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The Terminal List
The Terminal List by Jack Carr is a gripping military thriller novel that follows the harrowing journey of a former Navy SEAL navigating high-stakes conspiracy and vengeance.
Recommended“That's why it's not just that men aren't interested in reading. If you tell them about a great like Jack Carr, do you know who he is? Uh, no. Former Navy Seal. He wrote the book The Terminalist that they turned into a show on Netflix.”
Where to get it
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Rogue Male
Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household is a classic pre-World War II thriller about an English sportsman who attempts to assassinate an unnamed European dictator and subsequently becomes the target of a relentless manhunt.
Recommended“Have you ever read Rogue Mail? No, dude. Rogue Mail's a book that was forgotten. M A [clears throat] I L or L E. M A L E.”
Where to get it
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Angels
Angels by Denis Johnson is the gritty and uncompromising debut novel by the acclaimed American author, following a rootless woman whose life spirals out of control during a fateful bus journey that ultimately leads to a disastrous bank robbery.
Recommended“And Angels, if anyone out there's listening and they want to read a really good book, Angels by Dennis Johnson is about a bank robbery gone arry and it might be the most beautiful, ugly, bleak thing and it's my favorite book ever.”
Where to get it
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No Country for Old Men
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy is a bleak, suspenseful novel set along the Texas-Mexico border that follows a hunter who stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and the relentless sheriff pursuing him.
Recommended“And I mean any book you could read a book about like prairie medicine and still be like so much better off than just looking at your phone or just read No Country for Old Men.”
Where to get it
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Blood Meridian
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy is a harrowing twentieth-century novel depicting the extreme violence of the American West.
Recommended“Like get someone into Cormarmac McCarthy. Get someone into, you know, Blood Meridian or some some of the really don't start with Blood Meridian.”
Where to get it
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The War of Art
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield is a practical guide on overcoming creative resistance, procrastination, and self-doubt to achieve professional discipline.
Recommended“Have you read Presfield's book, The War of Art? Oh, yeah. For sure. Mhm. That's a great book for people that are struggling with this.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (4) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Sam, your book is [ __ ] great. Thank you. It's really good. It was surprising. Yeah. Very interesting.”
“Random House picked up Running the Light, my first novel. And they reissued it and they gave me a twobook deal”
“Butter is an insane novel. um uh uh convenience store girl or dude, Japanese fiction is still publishing stuff that used to be okay to write about”
“I love your book. It's really great. Everyone should get it. Thanks, man. Read it. Read it. It's really excellent. It's called Brute with no E.”