we’ve progressed into 1991 to talk about mao ii by don delillo, and joey has finally done his due diligence and brought some 90s facts. we start things off by talking about whether or not it’s important to have historical context for the events covered in the text, how dull (complimentary) and realistic delillo’s writing is, and the death of the novelist as a cultural touchstone/celebrity. we talk about art in delillo’s books as an avenue of compulsion for its creators, how nice it is to return to an author you love, and whether the andy warhol-inspired title is fitting for the text. egg writes in a short email. we talk about the cult psychology of fandom, learning “how” to read delillo (or any author), and the first three episodes of alien: earth.

reading list for season seventeen

vineland by thomas pynchon
mao ii by don delillo
all the pretty horses by cormac mccarthy
trainspotting by irvine welsh
notes of a crocodile by qiu miaojin
sabbath’s theater by philip roth
the atlas by william t. vollmann
i love dick by chris kraus
the poisonwood bible by barbara kingsolver
from hell by alan moore