Good Scribes Only

Daniel Breyer, Jeremy Streich
  • 4.9 (35)
  • BOOKS
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY
Good Scribes Only

Good Scribes Only is a podcast featuring a novelist + venture investor (Daniel Breyer) and a novelist + founder (Jeremy Streich), who share an enthusiasm for literature. From classics to sci-fi, moderns to ancient philosophy, your hosts will ramble and banter about it all—particularly the topics they have no business discussing. Each episode dives into the craft of writing as well as questions of plot, character, theme, and philosophy in a work.

  1. #113 〽️ Alternative Takes on Classic Characters, A Dangerous Game

    3 DAYS AGO

    #113 〽️ Alternative Takes on Classic Characters, A Dangerous Game

    About The Book: A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. While many narrative set pieces of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river’s banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin…), Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

    14 min
  2. #112 🌾 James by Percival Everett

    DEC 12

    #112 🌾 James by Percival Everett

    About The Book: A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. While many narrative set pieces of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river’s banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin…), Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

    59 min
  3. #111 📿 The Spectrum of Spirituality and Rationality

    DEC 4

    #111 📿 The Spectrum of Spirituality and Rationality

    About The Book: A man starts driving without knowing where he is going. He alternates between turning right and left, and finally he gets stuck at the end of a forest road. Soon it gets dark and starts to snow, but instead of going back to find help, he ventures, foolishly, into the dark forest. Inevitably, the man gets lost, and as he grows cold and tired, he encounters a glowing being amid the obscurity. Strange, haunting and dreamlike, A Shining is the latest work of fiction by Jon Fosse, 'the Beckett of the twenty-first century' (Le Monde).

    16 min
  4. #110 🌳 A Shining by Jon Fosse (2023)

    NOV 20

    #110 🌳 A Shining by Jon Fosse (2023)

    About The Book: A man starts driving without knowing where he is going. He alternates between turning right and left, and finally he gets stuck at the end of a forest road. Soon it gets dark and starts to snow, but instead of going back to find help, he ventures, foolishly, into the dark forest. Inevitably, the man gets lost, and as he grows cold and tired, he encounters a glowing being amid the obscurity. Strange, haunting and dreamlike, A Shining is the latest work of fiction by Jon Fosse, 'the Beckett of the twenty-first century' (Le Monde). About the Author: Jon Olav Fosse was born in Haugesund, Norway and currently lives in Bergen. He debuted in 1983 with the novel Raudt, svart (Red, black). His first play, Og aldri skal vi skiljast, was performed and published in 1994. Jon Fosse has written novels, short stories, poetry, children's books, essays and plays. His works have been translated into more than forty languages. He is widely considered as one of the world's greatest contemporary playwrights. Fosse was made a chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite of France in 2007. Fosse also has been ranked number 83 on the list of the Top 100 living geniuses by The Daily Telegraph. He was awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 "for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable". Since 2011, Fosse has been granted the Grotten, an honorary residence owned by the Norwegian state and located on the premises of the Royal Palace in the city centre of Oslo. The Grotten is given as a permanent residence to a person specifically bestowed this honour by the King of Norway for their contributions to Norwegian arts and culture.

    1 hr
  5. #109 👁️‍🗨️ The Allure of Violence, Escapism, Horror, and Finding Humor in Death

    NOV 13

    #109 👁️‍🗨️ The Allure of Violence, Escapism, Horror, and Finding Humor in Death

    About The Book: 980, PASS CHRISTIAN, It is three in the morning when Bobby Western zips the jacket of his wet suit and plunges from the Coast Guard tender into darkness. His dive light illuminates the sunken jet, nine bodies still buckled in their seats, hair floating, eyes devoid of speculation. Missing from the crash site are the pilot’s flight bag, the plane’s black box, and the tenth passenger. But how? A collateral witness to machinations that can only bring him harm, Western is shadowed in body and spirit—by men with badges; by the ghost of his father, inventor of the bomb that melted glass and flesh in Hiroshima; and by his sister, the love and ruin of his soul. Traversing the American South, from the garrulous barrooms of New Orleans to an abandoned oil rig off the Florida coast, The Passenger is a breathtaking novel of morality and science, the legacy of sin, and the madness that is human consciousness. About the Author: Cormac McCarthy was a renowned American novelist and playwright, celebrated for his works in the Southern Gothic, western, and post-apocalyptic genres. He authored twelve novels, including The Road, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize in 2007. His 2005 novel No Country for Old Men was adapted into a 2007 film that won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. McCarthy's earlier work, Blood Meridian (1985), was listed among Time magazine's 100 best English-language books published between 1925 and 2005. He was also recognized as a runner-up in a 2006 New York Times poll of the best American fiction from the past 25 years. Literary critic Harold Bloom regarded him as one of the four major American novelists of his era, alongside Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, and Philip Roth, and he is often compared to William Faulkner by contemporary reviewers. In 2009, McCarthy was honored with the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for lifetime achievement from the PEN American Center.

    17 min
  6. #108🤿 The Passenger by CORMAC MCCARTHY (2022)

    NOV 6

    #108🤿 The Passenger by CORMAC MCCARTHY (2022)

    About The Book: 980, PASS CHRISTIAN, It is three in the morning when Bobby Western zips the jacket of his wet suit and plunges from the Coast Guard tender into darkness. His dive light illuminates the sunken jet, nine bodies still buckled in their seats, hair floating, eyes devoid of speculation. Missing from the crash site are the pilot’s flight bag, the plane’s black box, and the tenth passenger. But how? A collateral witness to machinations that can only bring him harm, Western is shadowed in body and spirit—by men with badges; by the ghost of his father, inventor of the bomb that melted glass and flesh in Hiroshima; and by his sister, the love and ruin of his soul. Traversing the American South, from the garrulous barrooms of New Orleans to an abandoned oil rig off the Florida coast, The Passenger is a breathtaking novel of morality and science, the legacy of sin, and the madness that is human consciousness.

    56 min
  7. #107 😗 Would You Be a Whistleblower?

    OCT 31

    #107 😗 Would You Be a Whistleblower?

    About The Book: It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church. Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers. About the Author: Claire Keegan was raised on a farm in Wicklow. She completed her undergraduate studies at Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana and subsequently earned an MA at The University of Wales and an M.Phil at Trinity College, Dublin. Her first collection of stories, Antarctica, was a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year. Her second, Walk the Blue Fields, was Richard Ford’s book of the year. Her works have won several awards including The Hugh Leonard Bursary, The Macaulay Fellowship, The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, The Martin Healy Prize, The Olive Cook Award, The Kilkenny Prize, The Tom Gallon Award and The William Trevor Prize, judged by William Trevor. Twice was Keegan the recipient of the Francis MacManus Award. She was also a Wingate Scholar. She lives in Wexford.

    12 min
  8. #106 🇮🇪 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

    OCT 26

    #106 🇮🇪 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

    About The Book: It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church. Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.

    46 min
See All (115)

4.9
out of 5
35 Ratings

About

Good Scribes Only is a podcast featuring a novelist + venture investor (Daniel Breyer) and a novelist + founder (Jeremy Streich), who share an enthusiasm for literature. From classics to sci-fi, moderns to ancient philosophy, your hosts will ramble and banter about it all—particularly the topics they have no business discussing. Each episode dives into the craft of writing as well as questions of plot, character, theme, and philosophy in a work.

Information

  • Creator
    Daniel Breyer, Jeremy Streich
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2024
  • Episodes
    115
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2022 - Good Scribes Only
  • Show Website
    Good Scribes Only

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