September 16, 2016

Podcast: “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis, Episode 2

Posted by in Book Reviews, Podcasts
Podcast: “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis, Episode 2

Here we continue our September podcast of the Amazon/Audible audiobook, “It Can’t Happen Here,” with thanks to Amazon, Blackstone Audio, Inc. and the excellent narration by Grover Gardner. In this segment we see how Senator “Buzz” Windrip insidiously works toward becoming president from the perspective of Doremus Jessup, editor of a small-town Vermont newspaper. In case you missed last Friday’s first episode, it’s here. If you have any concerns about the sentiment of the American people or their feelings about the current presidential candidates, you owe it to yourself to listen to, or read, this novel. The Audiobooks version is available here on Amazon for a very reasonable price, or free if you take a one-month subscription.

Continue reading →

September 9, 2016

Podcast: “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis, First Episode

Posted by in Book Reviews, Podcasts
Podcast: “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis, First Episode

In 1935, a well regarded novelist named Sinclair Lewis published a book entitled It Can’t Happen Here.  The story concerns a senator who is perceived as a man of, for and by the people. But when elected president, he reveals himself as a dictator and turns the United States into a totalitarian police state. This is a story which, 81 years later, still makes Americans cringe. Yet as we look toward the 2016 presidential elections, it’s hard to escape the fact that the Republican candidate frequently rings this bell. For further evidence of this view, read this op-ed from the Boston Globe by Joan Wickersham, “An eerily familiar fiction.” Once a stage play, the novel was never made into a movie. Fortunately, it was made into an Audible Audiobook, which we are excerpting here with…

Continue reading →

August 26, 2016

Podcast: “Confessions of a Troll” Part 4

Posted by in Podcasts
Podcast: “Confessions of a Troll” Part 4

Here’s the last excerpt from Artemis Greenleaf’s delightful coming-of-age novel/podcast. If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve listened to over the past four weeks, please visit Podiobooks to download the entire novel [or the remaining chapters – you get to choose!]. When you visit Artemis’s site or podcast, please remember to praise and reward the author’s work with a review and a tip. Thank you. We really do appreciate it. Please click on the arrow below to listen to Part 4 of “Confessions of a Troll.”

Continue reading →

August 5, 2016

Our First YA Podcast: “Confessions of a Troll” by Artemis Greenleaf

Posted by in Podcasts
Our First YA Podcast: “Confessions of a Troll” by Artemis Greenleaf

Enter the world of Mordecai “Cai” Peterson, a regular ole everyday teenager who is about to fall down a social media rabbit hole. This is one heck of a fun podcast, whether you’re a young adult or an old one, like me. You can watch a well done video preview of “Confessions of a Troll” on Artemis Greenleaf’s website here. It’s a novel that’s been turned into a podcast from our friends at Podiobooks.com. Artemis Greenleaf, she of the lovely name, is indeed a real person and this is her real name. She lives in a small town near Houston, Texas. And if a woman writing in the first person as a 16-year-old boy isn’t enough for you, it’s read by an Englishman whose first name is Andrew. And very well read, I might add….

Continue reading →

July 29, 2016

Podcast: How To Save The World From Itself

Posted by in Podcasts
Podcast: How To Save The World From Itself

As the Firesign Theater once said, “You know, this is the midst of the disillusionment and heartbreak season and with the recent outbreak of that suicidal strain of despair up in Boston [Philadelphia? Cleveland?], well, you’d better keep a close watch on your emotions.” Yes, friends, irrespective of the turmoil between The Donald and Hillary, the madness of ISIS, our police shooting people of color, we live in a desperate world. How can things be made right? A long-time surmise is an attack on earth by aliens might bring the peoples of the world together and unite our squabbling against a common enemy: little green creatures from Mars. The basic plot probably came from the most-prescient English author, H.G. Wells [also featured in last week’s Podcast of “The Time Machine”], and was aptly titled The War of the Worlds, published in…

Continue reading →

July 22, 2016

Podcast: “The Time Machine” by H.G. Wells

Posted by in Podcasts
Podcast: “The Time Machine” by H.G. Wells

H.G. Wells was a true science visionary, as well as an accomplished fiction writer, exploring ideas such as burrowing into the heart of the earth, flying to the moon, and traveling through time. His novel The Time Machine was published in 1895 and has subsequently been adapted to radio, TV and film versions for over a hundred years. What you’re about to listen to is perhaps the finest adaptations I’ve experienced, created by the Alien Voices production company. Their production was released as a Simon & Schuster abridged audiobook, but I heard it on Mystery Play Internet Radio, one of my Old Time Radio [OTR] Internet radio stations. Here it is, and it is done well in two parts, each about an hour in length. Please click on the arrows below to listen to “The Time Machine” parts 1…

Continue reading →

July 15, 2016

“Call Me,” a Podcast by Alain Bezançon

Posted by in Audio Arts, Podcasts
“Call Me,” a Podcast by Alain Bezançon

I assure you this is a simple coincidence but as some of you know, I recently returned from a six-month writing sabbatical in France, where I wrote the complete first draft of my latest novel, Anarchy, the third Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers novel. My head and heart are still in France, so finding a podcast by a French novelist and podcaster might seem like the dog who can’t help but walk into the path of an oncoming car…. In any event, herewith meet Alain Bezançon, a technology entrepreneur by day, a very busy writer by night, and “Call Me.” Although this is a short work – perhaps a novella in print and about 40 minutes of well produced audio – I recommend you pay close attention to the details as you begin listening, for it all comes together at…

Continue reading →

July 15, 2016

Science Fiction Podcast Month!

Posted by in Audio Arts, News, Podcasts
Science Fiction Podcast Month!

Tonight we begin the July podcasts and an all-science fiction series. We have a special treat for you: Each is a complete audio presentation so you can listen to the whole thing and won’t have to wait a week for another installment. It’s kind of like, um, going to the movies! So, watch out for monsters and instead watch your email tonight or tomorrow for the first sci-fi podcast from your friends here at the Fictional Café! Cheers, Jack  

Continue reading →

June 24, 2016

Podcast: David Foster Wallace’s “Infiinte Jest” at 20 Years of Age

Posted by in Book Reviews, Interviews, Podcasts
Podcast: David Foster Wallace’s “Infiinte Jest” at 20 Years of Age

The world is divided into two groups: those who have read the late David Foster Wallace’s masterpiece, Infinite Jest, and those who have not. Tipping in at just over a thousand pages, and described on Amazon as “A gargantuan, mind-altering comedy about the Pursuit of Happiness in America set in an addicts’ halfway house and a tennis academy,” it’s not for everyone. I confess I bought it with high enthusiasm. Couldn’t wait to read it. Now, twenty years on, it’s still resting on my bookshelf, unread. Yet after hearing the people in this New York Times Book Review podcast discuss it, upon the occasion of the 20th anniversary edition being published, I’m ready. Sometimes books are like that, aren’t they? You just have to wait until you’re ready to read it. This podcast was originally netcast…

Continue reading →