A hardcore fan and sometime author of postmodern fiction dives deep into the world's greatest literary genre. Join me as I explore authors, books, structure, crossover with other media, influences, and more. The P is silent.
In this episode I offer the suggestion that there can exist a "degree" of postmodernism in a work of fiction, with some works being more postmodern than others. I illustrate with four examples" A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller, The Universal Baseball Association, J. Henry Waigh Proprietor by Robert Coover, If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino, and Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.
28 Sept 2026
The Garden of Forking Paths
In this episode I describe the postmodern narrative structure called the Garden of Forking Paths and give examples from Jorge Luis Borges, John Fowles, Mark Danielewski, Robert Coover, Alan Lightman, Steven Milhauser, Thomas Pynchon, and film.
21 Sept 2026
One Grand Conceit
Sometimes a postmodernist will start with a completely mind-blowing premise for a work of fiction and then will diligently tell that story as if it were the plainest of ideas. This technique, when done well, can be surprising and delightful. I explain the concept and give you examples from Gogol (The Nose), Italo Calvino (Cosmicomics), Robert Coover (Whatever Happened to Gloomy Gus of the Chicago Bears), Terry Bisson (Bears Discover Fire), Will Self (Great Apes), and China Meiville (The City and the City).
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