Episodes
About the BookHe is a brilliant mathematics professor grappling with a unique challenge - following a traumatic head injury, he retains only eighty minutes of short-term memory. She is a perceptive young housekeeper, raising a ten-year-old son, and she is hired to provide care for him. Each morning, as the Professor and the Housekeeper reintroduce themselves to each other, a remarkable and touching relationship unfolds. Despite his limited memory span (his mind erases itself every eighty...
Published 01/16/24
About the Book Kafka on the Shore, a tour de force of metaphysical reality, is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Their odyssey, as mysterious to...
Published 01/12/24
About the Book Kafka on the Shore, a tour de force of metaphysical reality, is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Their odyssey, as mysterious to...
Published 01/09/24
2023! Complete! Our fav books! Shows! Movies! Pods! Ranked! Godspeed! ๐Ÿ’ช ๐Ÿ–– About the Show Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. In Season 4 weโ€™re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing.
Published 01/01/24
Continuing the discussion on Corrections. Mini episode ๐Ÿ  About the Book The novel centers on the Lambert family, particularly the struggles of aging patriarch Alfred and his wife, Enid, who yearns for family unity. Their adult children face personal crises, from failing marriages to moral dilemmas, reflecting the broader changes and challenges in American society. Franzen weaves a rich narrative that delves into themes of aging, capitalism, and the pursuit of happiness, offering a poignant...
Published 12/27/23
Daniel: "This is one of the funniest books I've ever read." About the Book The novel centers on the Lambert family, particularly the struggles of aging patriarch Alfred and his wife, Enid, who yearns for family unity. Their adult children face personal crises, from failing marriages to moral dilemmas, reflecting the broader changes and challenges in American society. Franzen weaves a rich narrative that delves into themes of aging, capitalism, and the pursuit of happiness, offering a...
Published 12/22/23
Mark Twain once said that "The universal brotherhood of man is our most precious possession.โ€ When he said this, he forgot to consider Nahko and Pepper ๐Ÿพ We're talking superheroes today ๐Ÿฆธ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿ’ฅ About the Week's Book Joe Kavalier, a young Jewish artist who has also been trained in the art of Houdini-esque escape, has just smuggled himself out of Nazi-invaded Prague and landed in New York City. His Brooklyn cousin Sammy Clay is looking for a partner to create heroes, stories, and art for the...
Published 12/19/23
About the Book Joe Kavalier, a young Jewish artist who has also been trained in the art of Houdini-esque escape, has just smuggled himself out of Nazi-invaded Prague and landed in New York City. His Brooklyn cousin Sammy Clay is looking for a partner to create heroes, stories, and art for the latest novelty to hit America - the comic book. Drawing on their own fears and dreams, Kavalier and Clay create the Escapist, the Monitor, and Luna Moth, inspired by the beautiful Rosa Saks, who will...
Published 12/15/23
Season four! Complete! All the books! Ranked! Godspeed! ๐Ÿ’ช ๐Ÿ–– About the Show Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. In Season 4 weโ€™re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing.
Published 10/13/23
Mark Twain once said that "The universal brotherhood of man is our most precious possession.โ€ When he said this, he forgot to consider Nahko and Pepper ๐Ÿพ About the Week's BookA classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling.The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy...
Published 10/10/23
About the BookA classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling.The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim Oโ€™Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and...
Published 10/05/23
Are reading challenges worth it? What thousand page book is Dan dying to read? And what in god's name is an "anti-library?" Enjoy! About the Week's Book Hereโ€™s the rub, The Name of the Rose is one of the highest selling books ever. Ever! It sold more copies than The Great Gatsby and To Kill a Mockingbird, and yet it is hard to fathom how. The book is extraordinarily dense, so fraught with allusions and references that 50% of the its subtext sails quietly past, like a ship in the night. On...
Published 09/28/23
About the Book The year is 1327. Benedictines in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William turns detective. His tools are the logic of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, the empirical insights of Roger Baconโ€”all sharpened to a glistening edge by wry humor and a ferocious curiosity. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and...
Published 09/25/23
Find out who's the real nihilist, and how Daniel derives meaning from his copious acting deals, not to mention one poorly thought out sports analogy. Enjoy!About the Week's Book Though most people think essays1 when talking Joan Didion, Dan and I read her best known novel for the podcast. Play it as it Lays is the story of an actor whose journey oscillates between dizzying and domestic, as her acting career slows and her personal life collapses. While running barely 200 pages, the book has a...
Published 09/22/23