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I’m in literary hero territory again … at least this time it’s sunny!
My guest is Scarlett Thomas, the groundbreaking writer of PopCo, Oligarchy, The Seed Collectors and the (post)modern speculative classic, The End of Mr Y. She’s one of my favourite writers, who has never seen five or six separate genres she can’t mash together.
This time around we are talking “Hot Gothic” in The Sleepwalkers, a darkly playful tale of a vacation–and a marriage–gone horribly wrong.
We cover accidentally arriving at a structure, the many ways to build characters from scratch, the dark consequences of sex and desire taken too far – and we agree on how hotels are just inherently creepy.
Great book. Great guest.
Enjoy!
The Sleepwalkers was published on April 9th by Simon and Schuster
Other books mentioned:
The End of Mr Y (2006), by Scarlett Thomas
The Seed Collectors (2015), by Scarlett Thomas
Oligarchy (2019), by Scarlett Thomas
Open: An Autobiography (2009), by Andre Agassi
The Woman in White (1860), by Wilkie Collins
The Moonstone (1868), by Wilkie Collins
Gone Girl (2012), by Gillian Flynn
The Talented Mr Ripley (1955), by Patricia Highsmith
Hangsaman (1951), by Shirley Jackson
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