11 episodes
The Joy of Serious Literature Bryant Alan Davis
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- Arts
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4.9 • 11 Ratings
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The internet's last best hope for the cultural redemption of literary criticism.
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Episode 10 | The Literature of Celebrity | Frank Sinatra has a Cold and Other Essays by Gay Talese
When we think about literature, the last thing that comes to mind is the celebrity interview. Yet in the hands of the journalist Gay Talese, the lives of the famous are laid bear with all the insight, rhetorical verve, beauty, and tragedy of the best of short stories.
Join our wayward host as he examines the writing of Gay Talese, contemplates the minute examination of the famous, and basks in the glory of the greatest essay ever written about losing.
Frank Sinatra has a Cold on This American Life: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/574/sinatras-100th-birthday -
Episode 9 | The Old Bureaucrat and the Goose | Freeing a Migrant Goose by Bai Juyi
The internet's last best hope for the cultural redemption of literary criticism.
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Episode 8 | The Genius of Decadence | The Wings by Yi Sang
The internet's last best hope for the cultural redemption of literary criticism.
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Episode 7 | One Single Haiku by Richard Wright | Haiku #31 by Richard Wright
The internet's last best hope for the cultural redemption of literary criticism.
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Episode 6 | The Wages of Ugliness | The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima
The internet's last best hope for the cultural redemption of literary criticism.
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Episode 5 | What Makes a Genius Writer a Genius? | Report on the Thing by Clarice Lispector
The internet's last best hope for the cultural redemption of literary criticism.
Customer Reviews
A Rewarding and Enriching Podcast
The Joy of Serious Literature is an informative and in-depth podcast. Davis's eloquent commentary deepens my understanding of writers, like Clarice Lispector and Richard Wright, who I already admire and exposes me to new writers that I can't wait to read.
Essential literary listening
Authoritative discussions of world literature from an explicitly aesthetic perspective. Bryant Davis works a wonderful alchemy that fuses critique and reading into short but comprehensive analyses of fascinating works. You'll finish each episode dying to read the work in question, but feeling like you already have in case you never do.
keep it up kiddo
The Joy of Serious Literature is a series about literature that features history lessons, social commentary, and a catchy theme song - it's basically an adult version of the hit children's show, Reading Rainbow and everybody loved that show so everyone will love this.