Idiotprogrammer Blog

Robert’s Roundup #54 (July-August 2025)

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Robert Nagle

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MAILING LIST: I just started a mailing list for my publishing company. Will mail out every 2 months and will include excerpts from my Robert’s Roundup columns and other random stuff. MASTODON: https://booktoot.club/@nagletx.

Abbreviations: KU means Kindle Unlimited,  and APUB means it was published under an Amazon imprint.NYP means “Name Your Price” (that’s an option on Smashwords and other booksellers). If you’d like to submit an ebook to me for review or mention in this column, see my instructions here. Here is my article about methods and search queries I use to locate ebook deals.

Here is an interview I did with Texas novelist Clay Reynolds. I guess I should announce that I have put together a page listing all my interviews so far. Eventually I plan to put these things together into an ebook.

Here’s an interview with Milan Kundera by Philip Roth. I mirrored the original NYT publishing of the interview because it had an important transcription error.

The Smashwords Summer sale is taking place. Here are the discounted Personville titles. As I pointed out in late 2024, it is hard to browse through Smashwords to find cool cheap things. I put together a good list of SW publishers and another collection of SW titles.

Cool, I just discovered that St. Martin’s Press (a subsidiary of MacMillian is discounting some of their books to the 50 cent range. Try this search query on for size.

Wow, here’s a new term for me: Ergodic literature.  Genre of literature in which nontrivial effort is required for the reader to traverse the text. I have a background in this type of writing (sort of); will explore that some more.

Wow, I just learned about a new prize: the $150,000 Windham-Campbell Prizes, . They have lots of videos with interviews, lectures and readings from the winners. It’s one of these “somebody has to nominate you” kind of prices (like the MacArthur, etc) which gives the awards more freedom in setting criteria and means that judges don’t need to read 100-200 unremarkable books), but ends up being too insular. (although no more insular than the other awards which seem to come only from a few publishers). It has the perverse effect of rewarding authors who have already received some acclaim and success and possibly regular work. It also raises the selling value of works by these authors. Anyway, it’s nice that the award is substantial and can meaningfully help authors.

COMIC-CEREBRAL AUDIO PLAY ON SPOTIFY (64 minutes) A decade ago I produced “Interview with the Sphinx,” a great audio play by Ohio author Jack Matthews. So cerebral that your mind will explode midway through. Premium Spotify users can listen for free — FYI I did the intro and the narration. The actors were great too. (Spotify Link)

Indie Author Spotlight

the

Under the Radar

Prophet of Zongo Street (Stories) by Mohammed Naseehu Ali (W, ). Writer from Ghana who studied in USA and teaches at universities. Here’s a 41 minute audio of Ali reading and a 23 minute Youtube 2024 interview and a 2004 article about the inconveniences of having a Muslim name after 9/11. A NYT review said that it “deftly blends African folklore, dreams, the wisdom of elders, the pranks of children and pitch-perfect, often wry dialogue.” Kirkus “Ali shows an almost anthropological interest in his characters, and a keen eye for the humanistic detail: a richly rewarding cultural study.”

Heartbreaker: Stories by Maryse Meijer. Kirkus writes, “The edgy stories in Meijer’s debut collection cut like so many wild teeth: sharp, deep, and unforgiving . . . Meijer breaks open taboos about sex, disability, melancholy, and violence with the careful precision of a teenager egging the house of her mortal enemy. ” Here’s a nice panel discussion with Chicago’s Transgressive Authors. This looks like a fun watch. (Also, see this Chicago Public Library’s playlist Authors at CPL). Also, here’s a text interview. Here’s another interview. Here’s a list of 5 books by women Meijer recommends.

Turtleface and Beyond: Stories by Arthur Bradford.

Marriage of the Sea by Jane Allison .. (W, bio). Here’s a reading she gave . She has written Love Artist (inspired by the life of Ovid) and translated some Ovid poetry. I have been reading and really enjoying Love Artist.

Testament of Yves Gundron by Emily Barton. (bio, blog and an interview) A sort of magical fairy tale about a land of farmers devoid of technology and contact with the outside world. Probably hard to explain. Reviewed somewhat confusingly in the NYTBR, but apparently Thomas Pychon of all people reviewed it (““I found it blessedly post-ironic, engaging and heartfelt, a story that moves with ease and certainty, deeply respecting the given world even as it shines with the integrity of dream.”). Here are essays and short pieces online and an interview.

Kangaroo by Yuz Aleshkovsky.

No Saints or Angels by Ivan Klima.

Time Present and Time Past by Deirdre Madden. “Meditation of time and memory and a moving portrait of domestic and family life in Ireland.” Here’s a 52 minute YouTube interview with her where she talks about Henry James, etc.

PU0239 and other Russian Fantasies by Ken Kalfus.

Destroy all Monsters: Last Rock Novel by Jeff Jackson.

Two novels by Felicia Luna Lemus. Like Son: A Novel and Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties: A novel.

High Cotton Novel by Darryl Pinckney. Upper middle class black in Indiana grows up with awareness of how racism has shaped his society (but not him personally). “What Christopher Isherwood did for Weimar Berlin, Darryl Pinckney has done, more profoundly, for Berlin behind the wall. This haunted, rebuilt city is the perfect setting for an exploration of the artist as a young, black, gay man, unable to shake off his own troubled past. A beautiful book, witty, sophisticated, and intensely moving.” (Ian Buruma) Also wrote the essay collection Busted in New York and other essays.

Yawn: Adventures in Boredom by Mary Mann. (website) Long essay about the phenomenon of boredom, with a historical and sociological perspective. Mann is a librarian who has written about nerdy topics for national publications.

Don’t Kiss Me: Stories by Lindsay Hunter. PW wrote, “these stories land with a wet slap–messy and confrontational. They demand your horrified attention, and they reward it with exaggerated and irresistible humanity.” She hosts a long running lithub podcast called I’m a Writer But. (Here’s a long interview she did with Eva Dunsky about her later novel Hot Springs Drive) .

Blue Stars Novel by Emily Gray Tedrowe (Website and blog).

Lust: Or No Harm Done by Geoff Ryman. (W, Bio) Gay brain scientist stumbles upon an astonishing phenomenon that transforms his sex life (among other things). Ryman is a prolific Canadian sci fi author.

Wonderblood by Julia Whicker. This intriguing novel imagines a future where most humans have died from plague & remaining ones have strange views of the past. (NASA vehicles are described with reverence, etc.) One review described it as “if Blood Meridan, The Road, & Candide had a baby with a tarot deck.”

Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai by Ruiyan Xu. A businessman gets hit with a shard of glass and suddenly becomes unable to speak his native tongue Cantonese. Instead he reverts to English from his childhood, and becomes unable to communicate with his wife and family.

Wonderkid Novel by Wesley Stace. Satirical look at

Love Minus 80 by Will McIntosh.

Flanders Point a Novel by Jacquie Gordon. Writes Merle Rubin in 1997 CSM: “Gordon weaves together the interconnecting strands of her novel with understated finesse. Operating in a literary realm often marred by romantic stereotypes, she manages to endow her characters with a real sense of individuality and to handle the time-honored theme of schoolgirl infatuation with a winning blend of freshness and sophistication.” Gordon died in 2021, and she also wrote a heart-breaking memoir about her daughter who passed away from cystic fibrosis as a young adult.

Arkansas: Three Novellas by David Leavitt.

Messiah of Morris Avenue: A Novel by Tony Hendra. Satirical novel asking what would happen if Jesus Christ appeared in the US today?

Clarinet Polka by Keith Maillard (W, I) Maillard is a distinguished Canadian author. Here’s an audio interview.

Boomer 1: A novel by Daniel Torday (W, Home)

Inheritance Novel by Natalie Danford.

Galapagos Regained by James Morrow.

The New Valley: Novellas by Josh Weil

War Against the Animals by Paul Russell.

Devil Never Sleeps (Essay Collection) by Andrei Codrescu. I love anything that this Romanian-American author has written.

Tale of the 1002nd Night Novel by Joseph Roth.

Swift Thoughts by George Zebrowski. (W) Collection of cerebral sci fi stories by a man who also wrote Star Trek novels among things. Wow, he died at the end of last year. Here’s a nice tribute on SFWA. Wow, I see that Robert Sawyer wrote an Amazon review of this book: “George Zebrowski is one of the most philosophically astute writers in science fiction, and this collection of his insightful, mind-bending tales is long overdue. It’s no surprise that one of his stories is a Nebula Award nominee as I write this. If there’s a successor to Olaf Stapledon, it’s Zebrowski. Highly recommended.” Whoa! I see that I already purchased Macrolife: A Mobile Utopia in 2020.

Two works by Pamela Sargent: Behind the Eyes of Dreamers: And Other Short Novels and The Shore of Women: The Classic Work of Feminist Science Fiction.

Black Deutschland by Darryl Pinckney. “What Christopher Isherwood did for Weimar Berlin, Darryl Pinckney has done, more profoundly, for Berlin behind the wall. This haunted, rebuilt city is the perfect setting for an exploration of the artist as a young, black, gay man, unable to shake off his own troubled past. A beautiful book, witty, sophisticated, and intensely moving.” (Ian Buruma)

You Must Remember This: Poems by Michael Bazzett

The Devil’s Larder: A Feast by Jim Crace

Married Sex: A love Story by Jesse Kornbluth. Story about a couple who have a threesome and deal with the aftereffects. Kornbluth has been a journalist and taught a screenplay writing class. (Obituary, W,) Here’s a Soundcloud interview about the book and a written interview on his headbutler.com site. . NYT review: “Kornbluth’s debut novel, about a happy marriage interrupted by a ménage à trois, could easily have coasted on its promise of titillation. Instead it is a skillfully written, lighthearted and clever story that manages to be steamy but never salacious. Video interviews here and here. Here’s a famous NYT article he wrote, The Woman Who Beat the Klan.

Seven Pleasures: Essays on Ordinary Happiness by Willard Spiegelman. Prolific Texas English professor and poetry expert. Essays here and here.

Language and the Rise of the Algorithm by Jeffrey M. Binder

Bleak Liberalism by Amanda Anderson

The Wild Colonial Boy: A Novel by James Hynes

The Black Prince: And Other Stories by Shirley Ann Grau

The Recipe for Revolution by Carolyn Chute

Wonderblood: A Novel by Julia Whicker. (Author website)

Lying in Bed by Mark Edward Harris

A Girl Walks Into a Bar: Your Fantasy, Your Rules by Helena S. Paige.

The House on Prague Street by Hanna Demetz

Her Body Knows: Two Novellas by David Grossman

Gravity’s End: Hard Sci-fi Novel in Space by T.Y. Schweid.

What have you done to our ears to make us hear echoes?: Poems by Arlene Kim.

The Cracks in Our Armor by Anna Gavalda

Artist’s Wife Novel by Max Phillips. “An elegant reimagining of the life of Alma Mahler, the lovely, aristocratic fin-de-siècle composer who abandoned her own art to become the inspiration and collector of geniuses.” Writes book reviewer friend Mary Whipple, “this is a fascinating study of the way one woman managed to liberate herself from some of the social restrictions of her day. The intellectual and artistic worlds Phillips recreates pulse with life; the political changes from empire to post-war socialism and the rise of Hitler are smoothly integrated into the story; and the book, overall, is a remarkable portrait of a place and time rarely chronicled in American fiction.”

Something frivolous: Comet Cruise by Niska Morrow. Labeled a “spicy polyamorous novel,” it’s about a woman who joins a sinful space cruise for the sex orgies. (website and an interview with her).

Limbo Novel by Melania Mazzucco. (W,) A moving but unsentimental examination of one woman’s life as she navigates life after war It’s Christmas Eve and twenty-seven-year-old Manuela Paris is returning home to a seaside town outside Rome. Apparently her prize-winning Vita novel is the best known.

Four Fingers of Death Novel by Rick Moody.

Walking West Novel by Noelle Sickels. (Author & Book site). Historical novel about a band of farm families from Indiana who go to California in 1852.

Two wonderful books on music history by Andrew Grant Jackson. 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music and 1973: Rock at the Crossroads. See also the book’s website.

How to Listen to Great Music by Robert Greenberg. 1.99 Delightful intro to classical music by famed musicologist. I loved his classes for the Great Courses.

Essays One by Lydia Davis. Surprised that I haven’t bought it already. Here’s a lovely essay by Lydia Davis about poetic inspiration and John Ashbery. (not in this collection). Here’s an interview with Lydia Davis . I enjoy reading Lydia Davis, but somehow I haven’t read as much by her as I would have wanted. Update: I bought Essays Two which on sale the following week.

Encounter: Essays by Milan Kundera. Stupidly, I bought an ebook version of a book I already own. No matter. It was 1.99, and I prefer ebooks anyway. These look more essay fragments than full-fledged essays, but this is Kundera after all.

Language of Climate Politics by Genevieve Guenther. This ebook (on sale for $3.64) dissects climate change disinfo & summarizes the latest research in climate change policy & economics. Unusually in-depth for a nonscientist. This was my favorite book I read last year!

Library Purchases/Printed books

the

Creative Commons/Freebies

When Robert Sawyer invoked Olaf Stapledon, I couldn’t help thinking, who the hell is that? Here’s his wiki page and fadedpage download. I’ve downloaded Star Maker, Sirius and Last and First Man. Arthur C. Clarke considered Star Maker to be “probably the most powerful work of imagination ever written.”

Literary Articles and Essays

Robert Walrod on Ray Bradbury’s short fiction (substack)

A ranking of all Thomas Pynchon novels by John Keenan. Mason & Dixon was ranked as the best.

Rant

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Capsule Book Reviews

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AI Research

Okay, I added a section for bookmarked AI queries. (I do it so often that it’s now a habit).

AI: Children’s books published in 1965

Authors who died in 1965

Multimedia/Podcasts, Etc

Personville Press Deals

 I run Personville Press, a small literary book press where all the ebooks cost less than $4. Prices normally appear highest on Amazon, Apple, Kobo and BN, somewhat lower on Google Play Books and lower on the two DRM-free stores which are Smashwords and Payhip. Personville Press is committed to selling DRM-free ebooks and audio files directly from the Personville Press payhip store or from Smashwords. The prices listed here are the non-discounted price on Amazon. Check the links to see if they are discounted at the moment (it happens often).

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