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The Book I Read

The Book I Read

By Michael Jarmer

a reading, writing, and listening podcast with Michael Jarmer Writer Guy
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Episode 11: Reading In Memoriam, 57 Octaves Below Middle C by Kevin McIlvoy

The Book I ReadOct 20, 2022

00:00
29:40
Episode 14: The Kudzu Queen, Reflections on a Mockingbird, and Ethna McKiernan

Episode 14: The Kudzu Queen, Reflections on a Mockingbird, and Ethna McKiernan

In this episode Michael talks about The Kudzu Queen, the new novel by Mimi Herman. By comparison, he'll also take a dip into the classic Harper Lee novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, and reflect on the continued use of that novel in high school English curriculum. He closes with a dedication to Ethna McKiernan and reads the poem "Band-Aid" from her last book of poems, Light Rolling Slowly Backwards

Feb 24, 202323:08
Episode 13: Groundhog Day Redux--Forever

Episode 13: Groundhog Day Redux--Forever

In Episode 13 of The Book I Read, Michael discusses Henry Hoke's The Groundhog Forever, a wild and brilliant take, at least conceptually, on the Harold Ramis film, "Groundhog Day," starring the inimitable Bill Murray. 

Jan 19, 202326:47
Episode 12: Late Work--An Autobiography of Love, Loss, and What I Was Reading

Episode 12: Late Work--An Autobiography of Love, Loss, and What I Was Reading

 In this episode Michael takes a close look at a new collection of essays by Joan Frank, Late Work--A Literary Autobiography of Love, Loss, and What I Was Reading.

Dec 17, 202227:19
Episode 11: Reading In Memoriam, 57 Octaves Below Middle C by Kevin McIlvoy

Episode 11: Reading In Memoriam, 57 Octaves Below Middle C by Kevin McIlvoy

In this episode of The Book I Read, Michael pays tribute to a beloved teacher and fiction writer Kevin McIlvoy by exploring his short story collection 57 Octaves Below Middle C. 

Oct 20, 202229:40
Episode 10: Frankenstein Forever!

Episode 10: Frankenstein Forever!

In celebration of the impending Halloween season, but more so in celebration of a beloved 19th century English novel, Michael talks about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein --and two other novels inspired by it: his own novel Monster Talk, and Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Tsai.  

Sep 28, 202229:08
Episode 9: Time Is Not On Our Side

Episode 9: Time Is Not On Our Side

In episode 9, the first episode in Season 2 of The Book I Read, Michael Jarmer Writer Guy discusses four books, each in a different genre, that grapple somehow with the concept of time: how much of it do with have and what will we do with it? In this doozy of a returning episode after a long break, Michael talks about Oliver Burkeman's Four Thousand Weeks (Time Management for Mortals), Michelle Zauner's Crying in H Mart, Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, and Virgina Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway by Robin Black. It's a lot! Buckle up! 

Sep 12, 202233:27
Episode 8: Charles Dickens Says What? A Christmas Carol

Episode 8: Charles Dickens Says What? A Christmas Carol

In this 8th episode of The Book I Read, published on Christmas Day, no less, Michael discusses the experience of reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens all the way through for the first time in his life. How does the reading of it compare to the countless viewings of this famous novel in film? Let's find out! 

Dec 26, 202130:21
Episode 7: I Got the Music in Me--Talking Heads '77 and Annie Kim's Eros, Unbroken

Episode 7: I Got the Music in Me--Talking Heads '77 and Annie Kim's Eros, Unbroken

In this episode of The Book I Read, Michael talks about the song that inspired the title of his podcast, a song from '77, the debut album from Talking Heads. He follows that up with by a deep dive into Annie Kim's award winning book of poems, Eros, Unbroken.  

Dec 14, 202123:43
Episode 6: I Had An Idea--The Failed Magic Mountain Reaction Videos and a Redemptive Attempt at Podcasting Instead

Episode 6: I Had An Idea--The Failed Magic Mountain Reaction Videos and a Redemptive Attempt at Podcasting Instead

In this episode of The Book I Read Michael discusses his failed attempt at a "reaction video" for literature--which evolves, a year later, into this podcast, and the discussion of this particular classic German novel, The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. 

Oct 06, 202125:04
Episode 5: Works Unfinished, Finishing the Appalachian Book of the Dead, and a Prayer for October

Episode 5: Works Unfinished, Finishing the Appalachian Book of the Dead, and a Prayer for October

In episode 5 of The Book I Read, Michael talks about attempting Moby Dick and The Magic Mountain, makes some promises to try again, and then takes the final dive into Dale Neal's The Appalachian Book of the Dead. He concludes with an exquisite October poem by David Ruekberg. 

Sep 20, 202118:40
Episode 4: Choices! More Books of the Dead! Climbing those Mountains! and The Freak Out Commencement

Episode 4: Choices! More Books of the Dead! Climbing those Mountains! and The Freak Out Commencement

In episode 4 of The Book I Read, Michael talks about the difficulty of choosing the next book and a process for doing so, the novel Appalachian Book of the Dead by Dale Neal, the abandoned but not forgotten Magic Mountain, and returning to full time in-person school in the era of the delta variant of COVID 19. 

Sep 07, 202119:11
Episode 3: Wisdom Lit, the Power of Allusion, Lincoln in the Bardo, and the President's Hat

Episode 3: Wisdom Lit, the Power of Allusion, Lincoln in the Bardo, and the President's Hat

In this third episode of The Book I Read, Michael talks about all the wisdom literature he hasn't read, the wonders of literary allusion, George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo, and a poem by Don Colburn--also about Abraham Lincoln.  

Aug 27, 202126:10
Episode 2: Books as Gifts, the Hidden Life of Fifteen Dogs, and Budgie Danger

Episode 2: Books as Gifts, the Hidden Life of Fifteen Dogs, and Budgie Danger

In Episode 2 of The Book I Read, Michael Jarmer talks about the dreaded responsibility of reading books gifted to him by friends--and then discusses one, the novel Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis. He'll also share a poem by Terri Ford, his favorite of her infamous and celebrated budgie poems from the collection, Hams Beneath the Firmament.  

Aug 14, 202115:45
Episode 1: Rock Star Fiction, Erasure, and Mother Love

Episode 1: Rock Star Fiction, Erasure, and Mother Love

In this first full episode of The Book I Read, Michael Jarmer Writer Guy talks about John Darnielle's Wolf in White Van, Jennifer Sperry Steinorth's Her Read, and Mary Lou Buschi's Paddock

Aug 04, 202116:35
Introducing: The Book I Read, a Podcast by Michael Jarmer Writer Guy

Introducing: The Book I Read, a Podcast by Michael Jarmer Writer Guy

Here is an introductory trailer for a new podcast about books, reading, writing, creativity, music, teaching and learning. Your host, Michael Jarmer, is a veteran public high school English teacher of 32 years, a fiction writer, essayist, poet, and musician. He's got an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson, he teaches in Milwaukie, Oregon, and he plays drums and sings in a band called Here Comes Everybody with his partner René Ormae-Jarmer. He also plays the drums in a cover band called the Nu Wavers and they perform in and around Portland, Oregon.  

Aug 03, 202103:16