how to win the lottery s21e4 – antkind by charlie kaufman
our second “unadaptable” novel this module is antkind by charlie kaufman, which is in (somewhat) rarified air: we’d both already read it. after talking about whether this book is designed to disappoint you, to not satisfy the reader in any way, we talk about how kaufman said he wrote this to be unadaptable. did he succeed? joey reads some of the wikipedia plot summary to demonstrate the novel’s surreal world before we explore the complexities of b. rosenberger rosenberg and praise kaufman for the most successful installment of “joke watch” we’ve had to date.
we discuss brainio, unseen puppets (and the many, many other ideas kaufman puts into the text), and the novel’s profound sadness. we do our best to not routinely compare this book to charlie kaufman’s films, but we also use the comparison to discuss his aesthetic, as well as what we’d want out of future novels.
there’s one footnote in the book, so we have to talk about that. joey briefly discusses this piece about amy wallace. is kaufman one of “our guys”? what do we think about the title?
reading list for season twenty-one
the odyssey by homer, translated by emily wilson
the sugar frosted nutsack by mark leyner
detransition, baby by torrey peters
antkind by charlie kaufman
the chain by adrian mckinty
your name here by helen dewitt and ilya gridneff
the memory police by yoko ogawa, translated by stephen snyder
the catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger
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