The Talking Book Podcast

Hal, an Afghan war veteran, begins to hear a voice telling him to go “home”—to a castle, in Scotland. But Hal has never been to Scotland. So whose voice is it? What does it want? And why is it calling Hal “home”? What follows is a surrealist road trip story, part Heart of Darkness and part bipolar Guardians of the Galaxy. In Farsickness, Joshua Mohr spins a picaresque, hallucinatory yarn like only he can, as Hal and the reader journey deep into the human soul. GET THE BOOK!!!! https://www.amazon.com/Farsickness-Novel-Joshua-Mohr/dp/B0C9SHFR1M/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=joshua+mohr+far+sickness&qid=1693021569&s=books&sr=1-1 “This book is like driving a Ferrari through a funhouse and then smashing through the windshield into another realm of existence. In other words, it’s what a book should be.” - BEN LOORY, author of Tales of Falling and Flying

New reading with Chase Griffin and Christina Quay. With music by M. Kilcullen... Between the pages of an ever-shifting eternal text known as the Patasphere, a coven of psychedelic fiction fanatics and a duo of agents working for a private intelligence firm known as The Geist, LLC navigate their ways simultaneously through a labyrinthian pilgrimage to the ole haunts of their favorite thoughtform, a cult classic weird fiction author named Rocco Atleby, who may or may not be both creator and destroyer of their world. Out now from Maudlin House. Get the book! https://shop.maudlinhouse.net/

Violent Candy is a collection of sixteen stories about the the depths we go to find love for ourselves and from others, the trauma we obtain in childhood and carry with us into adulthood, the desperation to find connection in a world determined to tear us all apart, and the self-inflicted violence we sometimes direct at other. There's a woman who loses her child to Disneyland fantasies, a man who learns a horribly destructive secret about his new stepdaughter, an elderly man in love with an ostrich, a wife whose husband might or might not be possessed by the devil, a man whose only cure for self-hate is drinking weed killer, and more. An emotional mix of poetic absurdity, backstabbing humor, and depressive surrealism. Lowbrow and vile, but refined. Devastating and bleak, but hopeful. GET THE BOOK>>>>>> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CJD8B1NC

A visionary evocation of contemporary Appalachian life and labor. Gray draws upon his own experiences-specifically, the effects of the 2008 financial crisis upon his hometown of Jefferson, North Carolina-while also exploring Appalachian history, country music, and the politics of rural extraction. GET THE BOOK >>> https://www.garden-doorpress.com/store/thickets-swamped-in-fence-coated-briars

A woman wants to be caught stealing people's identities, but nobody is paying attention. A suburban father becomes convinced that he's transformed into a dinosaur-shaped chicken nugget. A hitman's target collapses before he can be killed. The novella and stories in Echo Chamber reverberate, wild and beautiful. GET THE BOOK >>>> https://www.tridentcafe.com/trident-press-titles/echo-chamber

Drew Buxton is a writer and social worker from Texas. His debut short story collection So Much Heart was released in July by With An X Books. His work has been featured in Joyland, The Drift, Electric Literature, Witch Craft, and Vice among other publications. Find him at drewbuxton.com. Get the book SO MUCH HEART: https://www.withanxbooks.com/store/p/so-much-heart-by-drew-buxton In a debut collection that is absurd yet grimy, brutal but tender, Drew Buxton announces himself as an audacious, if a bit unstable, new voice in fiction. So Much Heart is full of schemes, addiction, dead bodies, and intrusive thoughts, but somehow through it all runs a thread of deep compassion. With a wicked sense of humor, Buxton steers right into mental illness, masculinity, and American mythology. Long after you turn the final page, this book will leave you buzzing with life-affirming energy or hiding in your bedroom, alone, mumbling to yourself. Either way, you won’t forget this collection.

Had a blast with 103.3 FM's Wordplay hosted by Lockie Martin. Here's the spot. Readings from the studio by Claire Hopple and Ashleigh Bryant Phillips!

Adrian Shirk is the author of HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH (Counterpoint, 2022), a personal odyssey of American utopian experiments, and AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY (Counterpoint, 2017), a hybrid-memoir exploring American women prophets and mystics, named an NPR ‘Best Book’ of 2017. Shirk was raised in Portland, Oregon, and has since lived in New York and Wyoming. She’s a frequent contributor to Catapult, and her essays have appeared in The Atlantic, Lit Hub, and Atlas Obscura, among others. She teaches in Pratt Institute’s BFA Creative Writing Program, and lives at The Mutual Aid Society in the Catskill mountains. GET THE AUDIOBOOK! https://www.audible.com/pd/Heaven-Is-a-Place-on-Earth-Audiobook/B0C6C7N82S?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp

A new reading from Alice Kaltman and her book Almost Deadly, Almost Good, out now from Word West press. Get the book! https://alicekaltman.com/almost-deadly-almost-good Alice Kaltman is the author of the story-collection STAGGERWING, the novels WAVEHOUSE, THE TANTALIZING TALE OF GRACE MINNAUGH, and DAWG TOWNE. Her new linked collection ALMOST DEADLY/ALMOST GOOD arrives November 2022. Alice’s stories appear in journals like Lost Balloon, The Pinch, Joyland, Hobart and BULL, and in numerous anthologies. She’s not thrilled by the sound of her own voice, but you might like it. If so, you can hear her read her work at Micro Podcasts, Elevator Stories, and No Contact. Alice splits her time between Brooklyn and Montauk, NY. where she lives with her husband and her dog Ollie.

Out May 15th! PURE COSMOS CLUB by Matthew Binder. https://www.stalkinghorsepress.com/product/pure-cosmos-club-pre-order-paperback/ In this biting satire, Matthew Binder takes surreal aim at the poses and pretensions of high art and fashion. With ruthless wit, Binder chronicles the struggles of Paul, an eccentric artist, and his companion dog, a disabled, quiche-obsessed terrier-mix named Blanche. Together they negotiate hilarious scenes of bad parties, bizarre couture, deranged friends, shady deals, unrequited love, sabotage, and inscrutable art. But there may be a way out for Paul when he meets James, a New Age guru and leader of a secretive cult: the Pure Cosmos Club. Yet, every time Paul believes he’s ready for the “Ultimate Level,” James raises the price of entry. Just how far will Paul go for love, for art, and to attain cosmic oneness? “Pure Cosmos Club is an inventive, antic picaresque with a satirical eye trained on spiritual and aesthetic hucksterism. Matthew Binder sets them up and knocks them down in this witty, energetic novel. Long live Blanche the dog!” Sam Lipsyte, author of The Ask.

From Joseph Fasano, the acclaimed author of 'The Dark Heart of Every Wild Thing', comes 'The Swallows of Lunetto', the powerful story of a young couple's escape from Italian fascism at the end of the Second World War. GET THE BOOK! https://shop.maudlinhouse.net/#the-swallows-of-lunetto "As essential as Hannah Arendt in understanding history and the heart." —Pietro Federico

A conversation with Christy Alexander Hallberg. We talk about her new audiobook Searching For Jimmy Page, then listen to an excerpt narrated by Melissa Connell. https://www.christyalexanderhallberg.com/searchingforjimmypage "The unraveling of eighteen-year-old Luna Kane’s haunted past begins in the winter of 1988, when her dying great-grandfather, a self-proclaimed faith healer, claims he hears phantom owls crying in the night."

An excerpt from the debut novel by Allie Rowbottom. Propulsive, dark, and moving, Aesthetica is a Veronica for the age of “Instagram face,” delivering a fresh, nuanced examination of feminism, #MeToo, and mother-daughter relationships, all while confronting our collective addiction to followers, filters, and faux realities. “This brutal tale of a teenage Instagram model teases out the ugliness of influencer culture against our rather ancient tradition of performative femininity. Under Allie Rowbottom’s patiently literary hand, this novel’s true gem lies in its central mother-daughter relationship—a reminder that our obsession with youth is never too far removed from what binds us to our lineage.” —Vanity Fair https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/709304/aesthetica-by-allie-rowbottom/ https://allierowbottom.com/

THE ENHANCERS follows three teenage friends as they encounter the pleasures and alienation that accompany coming of age in a techno-pharmaceutical society. The Enhancers questions who we are when valued most for our ability to process information. With mental augmentation as a baseline: how do we come to know ourselves and what does it take to break free? https://meeklingpress.square.site/product/the-enhancers/36

Examining the sanctuary of the home and one of the horror genre’s most frightening tropes, Anybody Home? points the camera lens onto the quiet suburbs and its unsuspecting abodes, any of which are potential stages for an invader ambitious enough to make it the scene of the next big crime sensation. Who knows? Their performance just might make it to the silver screen. https://michaeljseidlinger.com/latest-book/

MOTHERTHING is a darkly funny take on mothers and daughters, about a woman who must take drastic measures to save her husband and herself from the vengeful ghost of her mother-in-law https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/696773/motherthing-by-ainslie-hogarth/ AINSLIE HOGARTH is the author of the YA novels The Lonely and The Boy Meets Girl Massacre (Annotated). She lives in Canada with her husband, kids, and little dog.

Please enjoy the author Bud Smith reading from his new novel TEENAGER, out now from Vintage. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/679124/teenager-by-bud-smith/ BUD SMITH works heavy construction in New Jersey. His story “Violets” appeared in The Paris Review. His new novel TEENAGER. It’s one of NPR’s best books of 2022. I read it and it’s my number one favorite book of 2022 so far.

Jordan Castro is the author of two poetry books and the former editor of New York Tyrant Magazine. He is from Cleveland, Ohio. The Novelist is his first novel. Get the book: https://softskull.com/dd-product/the-novelist/ The act of making coffee prompts a reflection on the limits of self-knowledge; an editor’s embarrassing tweet sparks rage at the literary establishment; a meditation on first person versus third examines choice and action; an Instagram post about the ethics of having children triggers mimetic rivalry; the act of doing the dishes is at once ordinary and profound: one of the many small commitments that make up a life of stability. The Novelist: A Novel pays tribute to Nicholson Baker’s The Mezzanine and Thomas Bernhard’s Woodcutters, but in the end is a wholly original novel about language and consciousness, the internet and social media, and addiction and recovery.

A reading from Maegan Poland, a fiction writer based in Philadelphia. Her debut short story collection What Makes You Think You're Awake? won the Bakwin Award at Blair Press and was featured on The Millions’ Most Anticipated for June 2021.

An excerpt from the new unabridged audiobook BODY HIGH, written and read by Jon Lindsey. Get it now: https://thetalkingbook.org/body-high

Listen to excerpts from COMMAND AND CONTROL, a new story by Sam Pink, forthcoming in the Southwest Review. Check out the author's work in the links below: https://thetalkingbook.org/audiobooks https://bookshop.org/books?keywords=Sam+Pink https://www.instagram.com/sam_pink_art/

A portrait of the artist at the brink of self-actualization, Salad Days is a vulnerable and evocative study of identity. Go get Laura Theobald's book right now. https://shop.maudlinhouse.net/#salad-days “Something about Salad Days reminds me of Emily Dickinson—if Emily were hornier and funnier. The poems have the kind of specificity that allows them to feel universal, like some beautiful, demented collective dream. Laura Theobald really is one of the best poets we have.” – Juliet Escoria, author of Juliet the Maniac and Black Cloud “I don’t usually like poetry. 98% of poetry is overwrought and academic and boring. But Laura Theobald is mad (like Sylvia Plath mad, not the other kind) which makes her poetry different, in the way a mad woman’s voice is always a little different. In a way I like. In a way that intrigues me. Listen to her.” – Elizabeth Ellen, author of Person/a and Her Lesser Work

Rooted in New Orleans, Creole Conjure is an interconnected short story collection that mixes and matches folklore and fairy tales to create a unique mythos of its own. It follows various female or female-identifying characters trying to find their way in a world built upon deception and oppression. Inspiration was taken from European fairy tales, Greek mythology, and Louisiana folklore. It comes out this year on October 31st. This piece is an excerpt from the short story, "J. Allister's Shop of Horrors." GET THE BOOK https://shop.maudlinhouse.net/ FIND THE WRITER http://christina-rosso.com or find her on Twitter @Rosso_Christina.

https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781680032550/imagine-a-death/ In the face of a slow but impending apocalypse, what binds three seemingly divergent lives (a writer, a photographer, an old man), isn't the commonality of a perceived future death, but the layered and complex fabric of how loss, abuse, trauma, and death have shaped their pasts, and how these pasts continue to haunt their present moments, a moment in which time seems to be running out. JANICE LEE is a Korean-American writer, editor, publisher, and shamanic healer. She is the author of seven books of fiction, creative nonfiction & poetry. She is Founder & Executive Editor of Entropy, Co-Publisher at Civil Coping Mechanisms, Contributing Editor at Fanzine, and Co-Founder of The Accomplices LLC. She currently lives in Portland, OR where she is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Portland State University.

https://thetalkingbook.org/mira-corpora JEFF JACKSON is a novelist, playwright, visual artist, and songwriter. His second novel Destroy All Monsters was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in Fall 2018. It received advanced praise from Don DeLillo, Janet Fitch, Dana Spiotta, Ben Marcus, and Dennis Cooper. His novella Novi Sad was published as a limited edition art book and selected for “Best of 2016” lists in Vice, Lit Reactor, and Entropy. His first novel Mira Corpora, published in 2013, was a Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and featured on numerous "Best of the Year" lists, including Slate, Salon, The New Statesman, and Flavorwire. His short fiction has appeared in Guernica, Vice, New York Tyrant, and The Collagist and been performed in New York and Los Angeles by New River Dramatists.

A reading from Mallory Smart The Only Living Girl in Chicago Zoe Clark is back in Chicago, and she already wants to run. But she can never turn her back on her monstrous hometown again. Grief, technology, isolation, and emptiness keep her up at night. Or maybe it's the coffee. Her brain feels like a mosquito trapped in amber, ready to be found in 65 million years by an enterprising paleontologist. Full of anxiety, humor, philosophy, and grief, The Only Living Girl in Chicago is a stunning coming-of-age novel, a later bloomer's bible in constant, dizzying motion. https://www.tridentcafe.com/trident-press-titles/preorder-the-only-living-girl-in-chicago-by-mallory-smart

Featured story: The Mattress Sleepovers, the debut short story collection by Ashleigh Bryant Phillips, takes us to a forgotten corner of the rural South, full of cemeteries, soybean fields, fishing holes, and Duck Thru gas stations. We meet a runaway teen, a mattress salesman, feral kittens, an elderly bachelorette wearing a horsehair locket, and a little girl named after Shania Twain. GET THE FULL AUDIOBOOK AT THETALKINGBOOK.ORG Sleepovers, written and read by Ashleigh Bryant Phillips, was recorded and produced at The Talking Book Studio in Asheville, NC.

Duncan Birmingham is a writer and filmmaker in Los Angeles. He’s been a writer and producer on numerous shows including Maron (with Marc Maron) on IFC. His book of short stories, The Cult in My Garage comes out in August from Maudlin House. https://shop.maudlinhouse.net/

Amphibians invites further contemplation of female physicality--what it means to reside in a female form. An amphibious aircraft crashes in Maine, a young girl skinny-dips with her elders, a distraught cruise ship dancer boards a water taxi in Grenada, and travelers to Dubai and Abu Dhabi long for familiar oceans; back in New England, small-town artists try to smudge out their tedium with seaside transgressions. Amphibians celebrates home in a cross-cultural way, and the sensation of feeling not quite right in one's own skin, on land and near water, at home and abroad.

Wes Tirey returns with his 10th record and label debut for Dear Life Records. It is a Midwestern Odyssey, borne from Tirey's childhood in Southern Ohio and from the literary traditions of Frank Stanford and Raymond Carver. Over the course of eighteen songs, Tirey explores through his characters themes of social and geographic isolation. He wanders through corn-laden and rust-covered wastelands, seeking refuge and connection in diners and dimly-lit barrooms. Tirey's poetry is elegant and unflinching, painting portraits of an American life that feel uncannily familiar. https://westirey.bandcamp.com/album/the-midwest-book-of-the-dead

A very special reading by Bud Smith called Free Bird from his collection Double Bird, out now from Maudlin House. Vivd. Odd. Hurtful. Unloved. Wet with dew. Out of its mind with joy. Get this damn book: https://shop.maudlinhouse.net/#double-bird

The poems in Mik Grantham’s debut collection, HARDCORE, are deceptively simple, darkly funny, and as unforgettable as a nagging toothache. Grantham confronts grief in myriad forms; the loss of innocence coincides with the loss of a tooth; a relationship decays and is uprooted alongside ruminative dog walks and soul-crushing waitressing shifts. It is Mik Grantham’s refusal to wallow in the dour, her embrace of the grotesque and the unfortunate situations served up to her by life, that allow the underlying love and hope in these poems to shine through. https://www.hobartpulp.com/books/hardcore

Squirting across the sunburned landscape of Southern California, Body High is a journey marked by misplaced lust, mistaken fathers, lost semen, and the kidnapping of a sperm bank daughter, whose untainted kidneys may hold the key to redemption or, perhaps, the realization of its impossibility. https://houseofvlad.bigcartel.com/product/body-high-a-novel-by-jon-lindsey Featured readers: Jon Lindsey & Allie Rowbottom Jon Lindsey lives in Los Angeles. Body High is his first book.

The follow-up to his beloved debut collection Beauty Was the Case that They Gave Me, Mark Leidner's RETURNING THE SWORD TO THE STONE is simultaneously profound and irreverent, in the same way that the world is flat as we walk and round as we live. https://fonografeditions.com/catalog/f0no10-mark-leidner-returning-the-sword-to-the-stone-print-book/

A reading by Shy Watson from her new collection HORROR VACUI, out now from HOUSE OF VLAD PRESS. https://houseofvlad.bigcartel.com/product/horror-vacui-poems-and-other-writings-by-shy-watson SHY WATSON wrote Cheap Yellow (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2018) & co-founded blush lit. Find more work at places like New York Tyrant, The Rumpus, & [PANK]. Follow @formermissNJ on Twitter for updates.

Quero-Quero deals with emotional strife and survival, a story of two adolescent girls from Brazil during a time of political oppression in their country and nearby Argentina. Avital Gad-Cykman's book Life in, Life Out (Matter Press) came out in 2014, and her second book, Light Reflection Over Blues is forthcoming this year at Ravenna Press.

<3 <3 <3 OUT NOW! <3 <3 <3 Joshua Dalton’s provocative debut is a darkly comic collection of fiction and fragments about mental illness, television satire, social media emptiness, workplace trauma, and dating in the age of “why won’t they text me back?” I Hate You, Please Read Me is a bold, sad and LOL funny literary meditation for fans of David Sedaris, Melissa Broder, Rachel Bloom and Samantha Irby. https://houseofvlad.bigcartel.com/product/i-hate-you-please-read-me-a-book-by-joshua-dalton

Sebastian Castillo is the author of 49 Venezuelan Novels (Bottlecap Press). You can find his writing in Queen Mob’s Tea House, Hobart, Peach Mag, X-R-A-Y Lit Magazine, and elsewhere. You can find him on Twitter @bartlebytaco. Go get Sebastian's book "NOT I" here: https://www.wordwest.co/online-store/not-i-p178428336

The following is a new excerpt from Brad Phillips' forthcoming novel, set to be published by Tyrant Books in 2021. Check out his book Essays and Fictions at the links below. Print store.nytyrant.com/products/essays…y-brad-phillips Audio thetalkingbook.org/essays-and-fictions

Lee Matalone weaves a moving, beautiful narrative of home, identity, and belonging. Home Making is a somber, yet hopeful, ode to the stories we tell ourselves in order to make a family. Go get this book at: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/home-making-lee-matalone

Grant Maierhofer reads an excerpt from FLAMINGOS from the collection WORKS, out now from 11:11 Press. You can get a copy here: https://1111press.bigcartel.com/product/works-by-grant-maierhofer

Papal Glow is the time between centuries, that little dust mote trailing in the sun’s glare between folds of the partition that separates the public from true knowledge. It is the preventative strain keeping the powers-that-be at bay while the world swirls by unnoticed. Get the book here: https://papalglow.maudlinhouse.net/

A new reading from Claire Hopple's novella Tell Me How You Really Feel. Go and get the book and enjoy your life: https://tellmehowyoureallyfeel.maudlinhouse.net/ Uncle Errol throws a funeral for himself. Bootsie spies on her own husband. Joe's band dresses in costumes and plays instruments from elementary school music class. Marco is tired of people shouting “Polo!” over his shoulder. Mallory unlocks the doors between hotel suites in case the person beside her is also searching and alone. Denise eats crayons and goes missing. Gary tries to legally change his name to get back at his sworn enemy. Tell Me How You Really Feel is the only novella set in the municipality of Murrysville, Pennsylvania.

The following is an excerpt from Brad Phillips' forthcoming novel, set to be published by Tyrant Books in 2021. Check out his book Essays and Fictions at the links below. Print https://store.nytyrant.com/products/essays-and-fictions-by-brad-phillips Audio https://thetalkingbook.org/essays-and-fictions

A reading from the novel True Love by Sarah Gerard. Out now from Harper. https://www.harpercollins.com/products/true-love-sarah-gerard Nina is a struggling writer, a college drop-out, a liar, and a cheater. More than anything she wants love. She deserves it. From the burned-out suburbs of Florida to the anonymous squalor of New York City, she eats through an incestuous cast of characters in search of it: her mother, a narcissistic lesbian living in a nudist polycule; Odessa, a single mom with even worse taste in men than Nina; Seth, an artist whose latest show is comprised of three Tupperware containers full of trash; Brian, whose roller-coaster affair with Nina is the most stable “relationship” in his life; and Aaron, an aspiring filmmaker living at home with his parents, with whom Nina begins to write her magnum opus.

Brad Phillips is a well-known artist and is author of Essays and Fictions from Tyrant Books. Listen to him read an excerpt from his new novel, then go to thetalkingbook.org, and get his audiobook. https://thetalkingbook.org/essays-and-fictions

Alex Higley reads his story Parkway, which was originally published here: https://bluestemarchive.wordpress.com/parkway Alex Higley is the author of Cardinal and Old Open, which is also an audiobook from The Talking Book. Check out his work at https://alexhigleywriter.com

NICOLETTE POLEK is a writer from Cleveland, Ohio. She is a recipient of the 2019 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award. Imaginary Museums is her debut collection and you should get it here: https://softskull.com/dd-product/imaginary-museums/ As always thanks to Keegan Grandbois, Holler Boys, and Alec Sturgis for the fantastic music. <3

A reading from Dreams of Being by Michael J. Seidlinger. https://dreamsofbeing.maudlinhouse.net/ A writer walks New York City searching for a story, inspiration, anything to give him some direction. While navigating the busier blocks of Times Square, he stumbles upon a restaurant opening and an enigmatic man named Jiro protesting the grand opening. Believing it’s the only way to maintain Jiro’s interest, he claims to be a director, someone interested in developing a project that reveals to the world Jiro’s unseen culinary talent. Eventually, the truth comes out, and he comes face-to-face with what it means to be creative in a passionless world.

I talked to Big Bruiser Dope Boy before everyone had to stay inside all the time. We had a nice chat. HIs reading at the end is great. Go get his books. Please! https://www.clashbooks.com/new-products-2/big-bruiser-dope-boy-foghorn-leghorn https://www.amazon.com/Your-First-Boyfriend-Other-Poems/dp/1944866485

Something cool! Kris was lucky enough to go on WPVM 103.7 and chat writing and The Talking Book. Kris reads a story and plays a clip from Everday Ubuntu by Mungi Ngomane. Jazz On A Summer's Day is a radio show hosted by Sebastian Mathews. You can listen to every Tuesday from 3-5pm on 103.7, Asheville. Thanks so much again to Sebastian Mathews and the station for having us on!

The Dove Hunter is a four-part series about a man going to his family's hunting ranch in west Texas during different stages of his life. This episode is called Spring: The Young Child Peeks Through The Cracks. It was written and recorded by Joe Kamm. He is a writer and musician, and also runs The ZeroPoint Fiction Podcast.

Claire Hopple stopped by to read from her book TIRED PEOPLE SEEING AMERICA. She lives in Asheville, NC, though she is quick to claim her Western Pennsylvania roots. She is also the author of TELL ME HOW YOU REALLY FEEL (forthcoming from Maudlin House, 2020). She's cool! https://dostoyevskywannabe.com/originals/tired_people_seeing_america Thanks so much to Keegan Grandbois, Holler Boys and Alec Sturgis for the amazing music, as always.

A reading by Joseph Grantham, from his new collection Raking Leaves. Raking Leaves is the second book of poetry by the American writer Joseph Grantham. Get it for that special someone today: https://www.amazon.com/Raking-Leaves-Joseph-Grantham/dp/0983258910

Laura Theobald grew up in the Florida Keys and lives in the South. Her first book of poetry is What My Hair Says About You. She has an MFA in poetry from LSU and makes books for OOMPH! And BOAAT. Her website is lauratheobald.tumblr.com The Beach Boys sang, “Off the Florida Keys there’s a place called Kokomo. That’s where you wanna go to get away from it all.” But KOKOMO is also the name of Laura Theobald’s newest collection of poems. It’s a book where we wanna go to get away from it all. https://disorderpress.com/store/kokomo

Brad Phillips visited us in our dreams last night and gave us a reading from his new book The True Story of John Lang and The Hollywood ESP Cult. Thanks, Brad. And thanks to Holler Boys and Alec Sturgis for the awesome music. You can get Brad Phillips' recent book ESSAYS & FICTIONS from Tyrant Books right here: https://store.nytyrant.com/products/essays-and-fictions-by-brad-phillips

A couple of months ago, we produced the audiobook for Eleanor Or The Rejection of the Progress of Love by Anna Moschavokis. Anna Wrote an essay addressing the writing and publishing of the novel. It was originally published on The Paris Review, but now it’s been recorded for The Talking Book Podcast. It’s called The Capacity to Be Alone. It's awesome. Enjoy. The Audiobook: http://thetalkingbook.org/eleanor Here is the original: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/08/16/the-capacity-to-be-alone/

A reading from Juliet The Maniac by Juliet Escoria. Ambitious, talented fourteen-year-old honors student Juliet is poised for success at her Southern California high school. However, she soon finds herself on an increasingly frightening spiral of drug use, self-harm, and mental illness that lands her in a remote therapeutic boarding school, where she must ultimately find the inner strength to survive. https://www.mhpbooks.com/books/juliet-the-maniac/

Joseph Rathgeber reads an excerpt from his new book Mixedbloods. Get it now from Fomite Press. The Ramapough Lenape, a destabilized people—origins uncertain, debated and mythologized—are struggling to survive in the face of an ecological devastation visited upon them by the neighboring Ford plant, which has dumped paint sludge in abandoned mines for decades. Mixedbloods is a story of identity, of a cultural history under attack, and of destructive—often violent—behavior. https://www.amazon.com/Mixedbloods-Joseph-Rathgeber/dp/1944388869/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Mixedbloods+joseph+rathgeber&qid=1560023758&s=books&sr=1-1

Drug-addled yard workers. Black-marketeering militiamen. Aimless celebrity impersonators. Narcotized puffer fish. And at the center of it all, a pair of glue-huffing cousins who attempt to cope with the relentless disasters of their lives by building giant trash monuments that attract their own strange fanatics. Welcome to The Great American Suction, a frenzied portrait of struggle and collapse - and occasional resuscitation - in the ruts and nooks of a beleaguered heartland. Get the book here: https://store.nytyrant.com/products/the-great-american-suction-by-david-nutt

Sebastian Mathews stopped by The Talking Book house and read from his new work The Life and Times Of American Crow. You can get the book here. https://sebastianmatthews.com/american-crow-graphic-novel/

“Yes, God heard, I know He heard.” is a word and sound project by Ashleigh Bryant Phillips and Sam Leidig. It was inspired by the life and work of North Carolinian visionary artist, Annie Hooper. At the time of her death, Annie had created over 5,000 sculptures depicting Bible stories throughout her home. She made them out of mud, sticks, and seashells. She lived in Buxton, North Carolina.

Jessica Jacobs stopped by and read from her new book Take Me With You, Wherever You're Going, out now from Four Way Books. Get it now here: https://fourwaybooks.com/site/you-youre/

Nickole Brown stopped by and read from her new chapbook To Those Who Were Our First Gods. It was a recipient of the 2018 Rattle Chapbook Prize. It's awesome! Copies are available at Rattle.com

Kris talks to Mark Leidner about what he should do with his life.

First episode of The Talking Book Podcast w/ Scott Mclanahan chatting about his life and The Sarah Book. Music by Keegan Grandbois and Alec Sturgis.

In this episode we talk to actor Kasi Hollowell about narrating books and doing voiceover for anime.

Episode #21 of The Talking Book Podcast featuring the genius that is Joseph Grantham and his book of poems TOM SAWYER from Civil Coping Mechanism. Go check out the book: http://copingmechanisms.net/portfolio/tom-sawyer-by-joseph-grantham/

Kris and Dani talk about their relationship, working, having kids and type b parenting.

Episode #19 of The Talking Book Podcast featuring the amazing Amy Fusselman and her book IDIOPHONE from Coffee House Press. Go check out the audiobook right flippin now! www.thetalkingbooks.com/idiophone

Episode #18 of The Talking Book Podcast featuring the amazing Elle Nash and her book Animals Eat Each Other from Dzanc Books. Go check out the audiobook right flippin now! www.thetalkingbooks.com/animals-eat-each-other

Episode #17 of The Talking Book Podcast features TB's very own Kris & Dave on 103.3 Asheville FM's Wordplay. We're famous now. Go check out the radio show! https://www.ashevillefm.org/show/wordplay/

Episode #16 of The Talking Book Podcast featuring Alex Higley and his book Old Open from Tortoise Books. Go check out the audiobook right now! www.thetalkingbooks.com/old-open

In this episode we threw a party with live readings from Bud Smith, Michael Bible, Ashleigh Bryant Phillips, Devin Kelly, Nickole Brown, Jessica Jacobs!

Episode #14 of The Talking Book Podcast featuring Sebastian Mathews and his book Beginner's Guide to a Head-On Collision from Red Hen Press. Go check it out! https://www.thetalkingbooks.com/head-on-collision

Episode #13 of The Talking Book Podcast featuring Noah Cicero and his book Blood-Soaked Buddha/Hard Earth Pascal from Trident Books. Go check it out! https://www.thetalkingbooks.com/bloodsoaked-buddhahard-earth-pascal

Episode #12 of The Talking Book Podcast featuring Barbara Browning and her book The Gift from Coffee House Press and Emily Books. Go check it out! https://www.thetalkingbooks.com/the-gift

Episode #11 of The Talking Book Podcast featuring Tiffany Scandal and the anthology NASTY! from Kingshot Press. All proceeds go to Planned Parenthood. Go buy the book! http://www.kingshotpress.com/product/nasty

Episode #8 of The Talking Book Podcast featuring Liska Jacobs and her debut novel CATALINA, out now from MCD BOOKS!

Episode #7 of The Talking Book Podcast featuring Myriam Gurba and her book "Mean."

Episode #5 of The Talking Book Podcast featuring Deb Olin Unferth and her book "Wait Till You See Me Dance."

Episode #4 of The Talking Book Podcast featuring Ben Loory and his book "Tales of Falling and Flying."

Episode 3 of the Talking Book Podcast featuring Bud Smith and his book "Work."

Episode 2 of the Talking Book Podcast featuring Brian Alan Ellis and his book "Something to do With Self-Hate" featuring special guest Mary Moore who narrated the audiobook.

Episode 1 of The Talking Book podcast featuring the author of The Sarah Book (6/20/2017) Scott McClanahan, and excerpt of his new book.