Backlisted - The Dream Songs by John Berryman

The Dream Songs by John Berryman

10/04/21 • 77 min

1 Listener

Joining us on Backlisted this week is novelist and memoirist Susie Boyt (My Judy Garland Life, Loved and Missed). The book Susie has chosen for us to discuss is The Dream Songs (1969) by John Berryman, the publication of which briefly made its author the most famous poet in America but also, unfortunately, hastened his decline and ruin. But the work shines on. Also in this episode Andy is struck by the contemporary resonance of Vivian Gornick's The Romance of American Communism while John drinks in Public House: A Cultural and Social History of the London Pub edited by David Knight and Cristina Monteiro. Please note, this episode contains references to suicide.

Timings: (may differ due to variable advert length)

08:06 - The Romance of American Communism by Vivian Gornick

15:27 - Public House: A Cultural and Social History of the London Pub edited by David Knight and Cristina Monteiro

20:24 - The Dream Songs by John Berryman

*To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops

*For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm

*If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted

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Timings: (may differ due to variable advert length)

08:06 - The Romance of American Communism by Vivian Gornick

15:27 - Public House: A Cultural and Social History of the London Pub edited by David Knight and Cristina Monteiro

20:24 - The Dream Songs by John Berryman

*To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops

*For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm

*If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Previous Episode

Elizabeth Costello by J.M. Coetzee

We are joined by novelist Mary Costello for a special episode recorded live at Galway International Arts Festival in Ireland on September 10th 2021. The book we're debating is Elizabeth Costello (2003) by South-African born Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee, a novel that politely asks the reader to consider, amongst other matters, animal rights, the power of faith and the limits of fiction itself. Also in this episode, new books by two Irish authors: Sally Rooney's novel Beautiful World, Where Are You and John Moriarty’s The Hut at the Edge of the Village, a collection edited by Martin Shaw and published by the Lilliput Press.

Timings: (may differ due to variable advert length)

40:06 - The Hut at the Edge of the Village by John Moriarty

09:09 - Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

16:04 - Elizabeth Costello by J.M. Coetzee

*To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops

*For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm

*If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Next Episode

Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker

Our guests are publisher Alexandra Pringle and Simon Thomas, editor and co-host of the Tea or Books? podcast. They are here to discuss Cassandra at the Wedding, the fourth and final novel by Dorothy Baker, first published in 1962 by Houghton Mifflin in the USA and Victor Gollancz in the UK. What is it about this darkly funny tale of two devoted sisters that continues to appeal to generations of readers? Also in this episode John enjoys Notes from an Island by Tove Jansson and Tuulikki Pietila, newly reissued by Sort Of Books, while Andy returns to early 1980s London via Michael Bracewell's new book Souvenir (White Rabbit).

Timings: (may differ due to variable advert length)

15:36 - Souvenir by Michael Bracewell

20:49 -Notes from an Island by Tove Jansson

27:07 - Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker

*To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops

*For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm

*If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices