I grew up reading the Choose Your Own Adventure series but it had been years — decades even! — since I’d read a game book. Then I stumbled upon the fascinating book Meanwhile by Jason Shiga and was completely sucked back into this incredible genre.
When you open Meanwhile you are a young boy on his way to an ice-cream shop. If you get vanilla? You go home. The end! But if you get chocolate? You plunge into thousands of endlessly splintering storylines. You meet a mad scientist. You jump in a time travel machine. The fate of the world is suddenly at stake!
I have no idea how someone could imagine a book this complex and yet so elegant to experience. I was sucked in. So I reach out to Jason Shiga and was grateful that he agreed to come on 3 Books.
Jason is a Japanese-American cartoonist who incorporates puzzles, mysteries and unconventional — very unconventional — narrative techniques into his work. He grew up in California and studied Pure Mathematics at the University of Berkeley.
Jason has been the ‘Maze Specialist’ for McSweeney’s Quarterly (founded by Dave Eggers, our guest in Chapter 81!), written for Nickelodeon, SpongeBob SquarePants, and much more. He’s also won a number of awards including the Eisner and the Ignatz and has written a number of additional books, including Book Hunter and Demon.
What are we going to talk about on this show? Well there is a lot to learn including: what is a Japanese chicken commune? How does children’s literature address taboos we have around death? How can a love of puzzles inform creativity? What are moral dilemmas and what can we learn from them? What is the ‘classic trolley problem’? What is the relationship between books and video games? What is the state of the game book industry? How do we think about playing with a book? And, of course, what are Jason Shiga’s three most formative books?
Let’s turn the page into Chapter 87 now …
What You'll Learn:
Why is death taboo in children’s literature?
What is pure mathematics?
How can a love of puzzles and brain teasers inform creative work?
What is elegance of form?
What is an interactive form of literature?
What can we learn from moral dilemmas and the state of humanity today?
Why are moral choices so good for game books?
What’s the classic trolley problem?
How can books and video games co-exist?
What is the state of the game book industry today?
How can we encourage our kids to get into game books?
How does one play with a book?
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/87
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co
Page 121: How the Internet makes it harder to read books
Chapter 136: 3 St. Louis Uber drivers on bullets, bruises, and babies
Page 114: A tip from an editor to editors-to-be
Page 113: Beauty standards, slut-shaming, and suicide...
Page 112: A diary to help imbue gratitude
Page 111: A book for kids who want to rule the universe
Chapter 135: Cal Newport severs cell subservience to steep slow success
Page 105: What makes an author an author?
Page 104: A book recommendation for fans of X-Men
Page 103: You are what you do
Page 102: One way to land a million-dollar book deal for your first book
Page 101: How do you find your writing voice?
Chapter 134: Susan Orlean on lusty ledes and literary lessons for life
Page 93: The most original voice in American comedy writing
Page 92: What to do before you start writing a story
Page 91: Dave Barry's advice on writing comedy
Chapter 133: Celine Song stitches sumptuous stories from Seoul to soul
Page 83: A book that tells us why people enjoy publicly shaming others
Page 82: A book to help you embrace your amateurness
Page 81: Connecting with your favorite version of yourself
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
Gulliver’s Travels
Pollyanna
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends