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Today on Get Lit we are finishing William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying.

In the second half of the novel we finally get to hear from Addie, and learn that she was a deeply neurotic and disturbed woman who deserved the terrible family she had and sent them on this quest out of pure malice. We also hear from Jewel’s real father, and the deranged math by which Addie “made it up” to Anse for having a son by another man. The odyssey reaches its tragic conclusion, with Darl going insane and getting sent to Jackson, the crippling of Cash, and the rape of Dewey Dell. However, in a surprise ending that is hard to make sense of, everything seems to work out for Anse, who continues his streak of always getting the help he doesn’t deserve.

We hope you have enjoyed spending time in this most gothic South. Faulkner has certainly shown readers the grotesque.

Next week, we will be doing the first two sections of Émile Zola’s Germinal, his masterpiece about striking coal miners in 1870’s France, which will give us an entirely different view of the depravity of poverty, something which seems to be becoming an unintended theme on this podcast.

— Brad Pearce

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Today on Get Lit we are finishing William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying.

In the second half of the novel we finally get to hear from Addie, and learn that she was a deeply neurotic and disturbed woman who deserved the terrible family she had and sent them on this quest out of pure malice. We also hear from Jewel’s real father, and the deranged math by which Addie “made it up” to Anse for having a son by another man. The odyssey reaches its tragic conclusion, with Darl going insane and getting sent to Jackson, the crippling of Cash, and the rape of Dewey Dell. However, in a surprise ending that is hard to make sense of, everything seems to work out for Anse, who continues his streak of always getting the help he doesn’t deserve.

We hope you have enjoyed spending time in this most gothic South. Faulkner has certainly shown readers the grotesque.

Join us at 4:30 PM ET today on:

Substack

Rumble

YouTube

You can also find us on X, @mtaibbi or @waywardrabbler. See you soon!

Next week, we will be doing the first two sections of Émile Zola’s Germinal, his masterpiece about striking coal miners in 1870’s France, which will give us an entirely different view of the depravity of poverty, something which seems to be becoming an unintended theme on this podcast.

In the meantime, catch up on the “Get Lit” Book List:

See you next week!

Link Here: How to Listen to subscriber-only audio in your podcast app

Automated transcripts can be found on the web browser or app version below the byline.

Share the Free Episodes of Get Lit:

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Get Lit continues today with William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, a novel that, far more even than Cash Bundren’s coffin above, involves a significant amount of craftsmanship. The story of a dead matriarch and her family’s 40-mile journey of dubious necessity to bury her is told through fifteen narrators across over sixty sections. The means are unconventional, the end controversial, and Brad and I will discuss it this afternoon, hopefully with many of you.

Get Lit continues today with William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, a novel that, far more even than Cash Bundren’s coffin above, involves a significant amount of craftsmanship. The story of a dead matriarch and her family’s 40-mile journey of dubious necessity to bury her is told through fifteen narrators across over sixty sections. The means are unconventional, the end controversial, and Brad and I will discuss it this afternoon, hopefully with many of you. Join us at 4:30 PM ET at:

Substack

Rumble

YouTube

You can also find us on X, @mtaibbi or @waywardrabbler. See you soon!

Link Here: How to Listen to subscriber-only audio in your podcast app

Automated transcripts can be found on the web browser or app version below the byline.

Share the Free Episodes of Get Lit:

Watch Get Lit on YouTube below:

Brad Pearce and I will finish up with two stories from Stephen Crane today, “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky,” and “The Blue Hotel.” Also, some general thoughts on short story writing. Join us at:

Substack

Rumble

YouTube

You can also find us on X, @mtaibbi or @waywardrabbler. See you soon!

Brad Pearce and I will finish up with two stories from Stephen Crane today, “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky,” and “The Blue Hotel.” Also, some general thoughts on short story writing. Join us at 12:30 PM ET at:

Substack

Rumble

YouTube

You can also find us on X, @mtaibbi or @waywardrabbler. See you soon!

Up Next: Live Show Thursday 8/26/26: Stephen Crane’s “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky,” and “The Blue Hotel”

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Reminder that Brad Pearce and I will be back to discuss Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” this afternoon. Join us at 4:30 PM ET at:

Substack

Rumble

YouTube

You can also find us on X, @mtaibbi or @waywardrabbler. See you soon!

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Having finished Dostoyevsky’s “The Demons,” Brad Pearce and I will be starting a new book today, a Stephen Crane collection that begins with the story, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The tale is sometimes described as a pioneering work of American naturalism, sometimes called a satire, sometimes grumbled about as social commentary minus the solutions part. What do we think? Join us at 4:30 PM ET at:

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You can also find us on X, @mtaibbi or @waywardrabbler. See you soon!

Link Here: How to Listen to subscriber-only audio in your podcast app

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Share the Free Episodes of Get Lit:

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Join us at 4:30 PM ET at:

Substack

Rumble

YouTube

You can also find us on X, @mtaibbi or @waywardrabbler. See you soon!

Link Here: How to Listen to subscriber-only audio in your podcast app

Automated transcripts can be found on the web browser or app version below the byline.

Share the Free Episodes of Get Lit:

Watch Get Lit on YouTube below:

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With this outburst at a provincial fête, Stepan Verkhovensky — one of the main characters of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Demons — seals his fate as the enemy of political progress, in the eyes of a movement he’s loved all his life. It’s one of a list of comic twists in a critical portion of the novel, which Brad Pearce and I will be back discussing today.

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