The boys (sans Friedrich) wrap Season 3 by talking about the perfect capstone book: John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. They take one last gander at form (picaresque? satire?), discuss Fortuna's wheel, and think through what it means to be a political and artistic outsider in the vein...

The boys hop on their three person tandem bike to pedal their way through the spinning wheels of Flann O'Brien's dark comedy The Third Policeman. They debate the novel's genre (sci fi? fantasy? existential tragicomedy?) and explore its fascination with particle physics, theology, and, of course,...

Back at full strength, the boys discuss the first entry of the final cycle of the season, "Mirth" -- Friedrich's selection of Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus. They discuss the book's strange format as a work that blends fiction and pseudo-philosophy, and Carlyle's unique brand of satire. They...