Ancillary Review editors Jake Casella Brookins and Misha Grifka Wander discuss Susanna Clarke's PIRANESI: epistolary realism and the novel, numinous personhood, and glimpses of utopia in rejecting capitalist expectations.
Notes, Links, and Transcript
A Meal of Thorns is a podcast from the Ancillary Review of Books.Credits:Guest: Misha Grifka WanderTitle: Piranesi by Susanna ClarkeMusic by Giselle Gabrielle GarciaArtwork by Rob PattersonOpening poem by Bhartṛhari, translated by John BroughReferences:Misha’s interviews with Sofia Samatar and Vajra ChandrasekeraExordia by Seth DickinsonArrival (Villeneuve’s adaptation of Ted Chiang’s “Story of Your Life”)Weird Black Girls by Elwin CotmanDisorientation by Elaine Hsieh ChouStarship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven’s film adaptation)The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia SamatarJonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna ClarkeThe Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. LewisThrough the Looking Glass & Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis CarrollChristopher Nolan’s MementoPhilosopher’s including John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and John RawlsAugustine’s ConfessionsHouse of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski“The Library of Babel” by Jorge Luis BorgesAnathem by Neal StephensonA Stranger in Olondria by Sofia SamatarThe Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. WellsDavid Lynch’s Twin PeaksNic Pizzolatto’s True DetectiveContactRSS feed | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | +lots of other platforms (let us know if it’s not on your favorite)You can follow A Meal of Thorns on Twitter and Bluesky.Email us at
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