The Rhetorizer

Cautiously Pessimistic
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The world's greatest book show. Each season, we do a deep dive into one topic. For season 2, we're covering the gritty world of Noir, filled with murder, betrayals and schemes gone wrong. Season 1: Philip K. Dick.

  1. 07/26/2024

    NOIR: Songs About Schemers and Losers

    After spending a year with scoundrels, schemers and various other losers, we're wrapping up our noir season. We share some noir-themed songs and discuss some of the highlights of our reading list. Jacob's playlist: One Way or Another - Blondie Wicked Game - Chris Isaak Money Money Money - ABBA Kevin's playlist: Psycho - Jack Kittel Goodbye Earl - The Chicks The Girl on Death Row - Lee Hazlewood and Duane Eddy

  2. 07/12/2024

    NOIR: Crook Manifesto (Colson Whitehead)

    When the Jackson 5 come to town, furniture salesman Ray Carney slips back into the criminal underworld to secure tickets for his daughter. We return to two-time Pulitzer winner Colson Whitehead for the follow up to Harlem Shuffle. Now, it's the 70s, the city is in turmoil, and Ray Carney and his friends are older than ever.

  3. 06/21/2024

    NOIR: The Many, Many Talented Mr. Ripleys (Patricia Highsmith et al)

    With the arrival of Netflix’s Ripley, we revisit Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley, about a charming murderer’s European vacation. Hollywood can’t get enough of this scoundrel! What's the deal with that? Plus, Roxane provides the DEFINITIVE list of HOTTEST RIPLEYS. And Kevin gets a lift from Alain Delon’s alleged SECRET LOVE CHILD. TUNE IN to hear it all!!!

  4. 06/07/2024

    NOIR: Harlem Shuffle (Colson Whitehead)

    A furniture salesman keeps getting pulled into the criminal underworld of 50s and 60s Harlem. It's part heist, part revenge plot and part social satire, filled with characters who don't usually get the spotlight in crime books, like the fence, the ageing muscle, and the crooked banker. Note to you, dear listener: after reading this book, we decided do an episode on its sequel, Crook Manifesto. Stay tuned for that.

  5. 05/24/2024

    NOIR shorts: Harlan Ellison's sci-fi crime thriller

    One of science fiction's greatest bastards, Harlan Ellison, brings us a story of a telepath's encounter with a serial killer on death row. The story is called "Mefisto in Onyx." You can find it in The Best American Noir of the Century Anthology.

  6. 05/10/2024

    NOIR: The City and the City (China Miéville)

    Worlds collide in this fantastical police procedural that's as much Borges as CSI. A detective who lives in a city that shares physical space with a different city finds himself at the centre of a case that puts him in grave danger, at risk of crossing the shapeless secret police known only as Breach. Our hosts are divided on this one!

  7. 04/26/2024

    NOIR: Out (Natsuo Kirino)

    Four women who work the night shift at a factory in Tokyo get pulled into the criminal underworld after one of them murders her husband. The most gruesome and bleak novel we've covered this season, Out was first published in Japanese in 1997 and later became Kirino's first book translated into English.

  8. 04/12/2024

    (Film) NOIR: Cutter's Way (1981)

    Is it a secret prequel to The Big Lebowski? A "sunshine noir"? The last gasp of New Hollywood? Cutter's Way is a grimy adaptation of Cutter and Bone, starring Jeff Bridges (AKA The Dude) and John Heard (AKA Mr. McCallister) as two dysfunctional lowlifes who get caught up in a blackmail plot. Check out our previous episode, where we talked about the novel Cutter and Bone.

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About

The world's greatest book show. Each season, we do a deep dive into one topic. For season 2, we're covering the gritty world of Noir, filled with murder, betrayals and schemes gone wrong. Season 1: Philip K. Dick.

Information

  • Creator
    Cautiously Pessimistic
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2024
  • Episodes
    44
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Cautiously Pessimistic
  • Show Website
    The Rhetorizer