Hello and welcome to Episode #12! For the first time on our podcast, we are discussing fiction! Today, we will talk about a short story, “Prufrock” by Terry Dubow. We were nervous about discussing this longer format, but super excited to try it out.
Hello and welcome to Episode #12 of PBQ’s Slush Pile! For the first time on our podcast, we are discussing fiction! Today, we will talk about a short story, “Prufrock” by Terry Dubow. We were nervous about discussing this longer format, but super excited to try it out.
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Dubow has been writing fiction for twenty years or so—it’s his secret identity without exciting parts. No super powers. No spy stories. No second family in Idaho.
In addition to writing 250 words a day, he works at an independent school in Cleveland and does his best to help his two daughters and his one lovely wife stay happy, healthy and fed. A story collection was a finalist for the Autumn House Fiction Prize in 2011. Currently, he’s working on his third novel. We want more, and after reading this story, we have a feeling you will, too. Read another story, “Wyoming” in Witness.
We advised our listeners to go read Prufrock first, but of course, we can’t know that they did--it’s all an experiment, right? We dove right in: raccoons and a cat and teenagers and mother-in-laws, oh my!!!
This story packs so much into thirteen pages; we laughed at moments, and while we may not have cried, we winced at all the right parts. This story made us think about fatherhood, T.S. Eliot, incapacitation, indecision, and whether we should be paid by the hour. Once again, Tim schooled us on the real habits of the wildlife of North America, and we could have discussed the story for another hour.
We had some dissension about how the piece ends and even more about what happened to Prufrock; please read, listen to this show, and cast your vote!
Marion suggested that we might provide a synopsis of the story at the beginning of episodes that discuss fiction, which sparked a discussion of recap podcasts and the ways we consume longform media. With such an overwhelming amount of media coming at us in so many ways---how do you consume? You can let us know on our Facebook event page and our twitter @PaintedBrideQ. Don't forget to subscribe and rate us on our iTunes page!
As always, thank you for listening, and read on!
Present at the Editorial Table:
Kathleen Volk Miller
Marion Wrenn
Tim Fitts
Denise Guerin
Alexa Josaphouitch
Caitlin McLaughlin
Production Engineer:
Joe Zang
PBQ Box Score: 1:1
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Episode 109: The Gigue is Up
Episode 108: #Mood (or the Murmurations)
Episode 104: Accents and Human Remains
Episode 103: Strange Complicities and Confessions
Episode 102: Aging Tantric Pornstars
Episode 101: The Anti-Efficiency Episode
Episode 100: A Steady Lub Dub
Episode 99: Greek Mythos and Labyrinths
Episode 98: The Skin is Where the Body Stops
Episode 97: Navigating Dirtbags & Oracles
Episode 96: Larissa‘s Philly Hoagie Mouth
Episode 95: Sweet! Poems by Hillary Adler
Episode 94: Two Authors, One Episode
Episode 93: Go Away & Come Home
Episode 92: American Literature
Episode 91: Daydream Believer
Episode 90: Je Recuse! The Poems of Charlie Clark
Episode 89: Bloomwards & Eggsome
Episode 88: Life on Screen, or “Podcats”
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