The Literary Hall of Shame

In our last episode of the season, Marlon and Jake take on the worst books by the best authors—or at least, authors they usually love. They discuss why a journalist’s instincts can be both a gift and a curse when writing fiction, the importance of a great editor, writers who seem more interested in ideas than people, and novels that try so hard to be current they end up aging badly. Tune in for a conversation about literary misfires and wasted genius. Subscribe to our River-herd digital newsletter and our print newspaper, The Eddy, for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content: https://sites.prh.com/the-eddy-newspaper The Devil and Sonny Liston by Nick Tosches In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches  The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe  Orlando by Virginia Woolf Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing The Golden Bowl by Henry James My Son’s Story by Nadine Gordimer Quicksand by Nella Larsen The Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Fleming The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth Hotel by Arthur Hailey Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins The Carpetbaggers by Harold Robbins Peyton Place by Grace Metalious Whirlwind by James Clavell Gai-Jin by James Clavell The Breast by Philip Roth Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth Humboldt’s Gift by Saul Bellow Mr. Sammler’s Planet by Saul Bellow A Small Town in Germany by John le Carré The Little Drummer Girl by John le Carré A Perfect Spy by John le Carré The Continental Op by Dashiell Hammett The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee Until August by Gabriel García Márquez Heartburn by Nora Ephron Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer  The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer India: A Wounded Civilization by V. S. Naipaul The Power Broker by Robert Caro Terrorist by John Updike