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Every book Jonathan Lethem recommended on podcasts
Jonathan Lethem appeared on The Book Review to discuss tyranny in Rome and the representation of fake drugs in fiction, referencing several notable novels. Jonathan Lethem cited Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano, observing that the mescal the main character constantly drinks acts as a gateway into the stream-of-consciousness, supercharged dark night of the soul depicted throughout the book. Jonathan Lethem then identified a pivotal shift in fictional drugs, pointing to Don DeLillo's novel White Noise, which introduces a substance born from the experimental pharmacology of scientific interventions into the human psyche. Additionally, Jonathan Lethem discussed David Means's novel Hystopia, praising it as an amazing, dark, fantasmagorical, and trippy historical novel that is difficult to characterize yet accomplishes truly marvelous things. Through these literary examples, Jonathan Lethem provided listeners with a compelling analysis of how altered states and fictional pharmaceuticals function as powerful narrative devices in modern literature.
Books recommended by Jonathan Lethem
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Hystopia
Discussed“oh boy troid in David mean's book hystopia which is really just an amazing dark dark sort of fantasmagorical trippy historical novel really hard to characterize but it does really marvelous things”
Where to get it
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Under the Volcano
Discussed“I mean if you read Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano That Mescal that he's constantly drinking is in a way it's a Gateway into the stream of Consciousness super charged Dark Knight of the soul that the the main character undergoes through that book”
Where to get it
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White Noise
White Noise by Don DeLillo is a celebrated postmodern masterpiece that examines consumer culture, academic life, and airborne toxic events through sharply stylized dialogue.
Discussed“and then you definitely get the shift and I think that the the pivotal fictional drug in my scheme anyway is the one that Don delilo introduces in White Noise which is a very much from an experimental pharmacology of interventions you know by science into the human psyche”
Where to get it
Books Jonathan Lethem wrote
- Gun, with occasional music
- The Arrest
- The Fortress of Solitude
- The Peanuts Papers
- The Feral Detective
- You Don't Love Me Yet
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyranny in Rome and Fake Drugs in Fiction | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 3 |