"Graham Greene helped edit Titus Groan into publishable form. Elizabeth Bowen and Anthony Burgess both thought highly of the book and Harold Bloom considered the Gormenghast trilogy the most accomplished fantasy work of the twentieth century." blackgate.com/2021/03/05/a-w…

Mervyn Peake: illustrating with words AND with...illustrations. Here's more! mervynpeake.org/novelist.html

"There is an urge to view fiction of this kind as a simple allegory – for Britishness, perhaps, or for the class system – but...like a surrealist poem, it becomes its best and most powerful self when taken utterly literally." - Neil Gaiman on Gormenghast pressreader.com/uk/the-daily-t…

Our December reading list is here!

Another, different, ahem:

This week on the pod

Ep 624 - Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee overduepodcast.com/episodes/2023/…

"The answer is confidence. It’s the confidence I don’t have when I begin something. I have so much insecurity about the stuff that I don’t know, and by the time I finish my research I’m, like, Bring it." - Min Jin Lee newyorker.com/culture/the-ne…

probably even more so now that he's read it, tbh

"It starts in 1910 and it goes until 1989, which is actually the year that I learned about the Koreans in Japan. So it's kind of a personal point of stopping...I ended it when I started." Hear Min Jin Lee talk about "Pachinko" here: youtube.com/watch?v=lvb4-u…

If you watch, remember: subs not dubs youtube.com/watch?v=i_ssxN…

This week on the pod

Ep 625 - Her Night with Santa by Adriana Herrera Happy Hornydays, one and all! overduepodcast.com/episodes/2023/…

From the Smith-moan-ian — I mean, Smithsonian smithsonianmag.com/history/world-…

'Tis (still) the season: when you're done with Her Night with Santa, revisit Hornydays past: overduepodcast.com/episodes/2022/…

Blowing the dust off this account for your periodic reminder that you can find us elsewhere at this same handle — no invitation needed.

A momentous occasion and an excellent opportunity for you to join us at The Other Place, where we’re hanging out these days.