FBoL

Publicist and all-around fangirl of things, A.J. Feuerman (@AJFeuerman) is here to discuss her longstanding love for the weird Shakespearean sex farce, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. This bonkers play is not-so-secretly about women's choices and agency, with a nice dash of romance and sisterly bonds. It's so, so much more than Puck. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @FuckboisOfLit http://www.twitter.com/fuckboisoflit http://www.instagram.com/fuckboisoflit SUMMARY In ancient Athens, two men and two women are in a battle of love. Hermia is in love with Lysander, but her father, Egeus, wants her to marry Demetrius. Demetrius was partnered with Hermia's best friend, Helena, until Egeus offered him a different deal. Local leader Theseus, on the eve of his own wedding to the Amazon warrior Hippolyta, declares Hermia to do as her father wishes, so Hermia and Lysander escape to the woods, to travel to his grandmother's house to get married. Meanwhile, faerie king Oberon wants to play a trick on his wife, Titania, so he orders his minion Puck to drug her to make her fall in love with the first thing she sees– hopefully the monstrous Bottom, a weaver who has been turned into a donkey. In addition to drugging Titania, Puck messes up and drugs Lysander and Demetrius in succession, making them both fall in love with Helena, leaving Hermia alone and confused. The play resolves in typical Shakespearean comedy fashion– with weddings. But who will be wedded to whom? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

Writer A.R. Vishny (@AR_Vishny) is here to discuss the 1819 swashbuckling epic IVANHOE by Sir Walter Scott. This swashbuckling epic has everything: damsels in distress, a couple hundred pages discussing a knight's tournament, a swineherd named Gurth, and just piles and piles of anti-Semitism. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @FuckboisOfLit http://www.twitter.com/fuckboisoflit http://www.instagram.com/fuckboisoflit SUPPORT US ON PATREON: http://www.patreon.com/fuckboisoflit SUMMARY It's the late 1100s and the Crusades are over. The Templars are back in England and looking to rumble. Wilfred of Ivanhoe is back from Jerusalem hoping to marry the beautiful Rowena. Wilfred's dad, Cedric, isn't keen on their pairing. Meanwhile, Prince John, still in charge while Richard the Lionheart is MIA, holds a tournament where the beautiful Jewish woman, Rebecca, is making her debut on the arm of her father Isaac, who is currently in John's favor for lending the Prince money. After the tournament, Rowena, a comatose Ivanhoe, Isaac, and Rebecca are kidnapped by a pack of Templars– Bois-Guilbert and deBracy, who hope to make the women their wives or concubines. King Richard, Ivanhoe, and Robin Hood (!!!) band together to save the hostages and, eventually, Rebecca from being burned at the stake for being a witch. It's chaos.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

Screenwriter Delondra Mesa (Black Summer, Step Up: High Water, on Twitter at @DelondraMesa) is here to talk about wine, whiteness, and wealth in Rex Pickett's 2004 best-seller, SIDEWAYS.  Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @FuckboisOfLit http://www.twitter.com/fuckboisoflit http://www.instagram.com/fuckboisoflit Love FBOL? Become a Patron! http://www.patreon.com/fuckboisoflit SUMMARY Jack is getting married and his best friend and best man, Miles, is taking him for a week-long bachelor trip to the Santa Ynez Valley for some wine-tasting and relaxing. Miles, a failing writer, and Jack, a trust-fund womanizer, take to the small and sleepy area like a tornado, with Jack desirous to have as many flings as he can before he walks down the aisle. Two unlucky women, Maya and Terra, get caught up in their shenanigans.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

Bea Koch's new book, MAD & BAD: REAL HEROINES OF THE REGENCY is the subject of this week's episode! Bea owns The Ripped Bodice bookstore with her sister here in Los Angeles, and it's the only romance-exclusive bookstore on the West Coast. You can order a signed copy of Bea's book directly from her bookstore here, while supplies last: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/product/mad-and-bad-real-heroines-regency-bea-koch-signed Towards the end of the show, I mention a BBC documentary series about the inter-relationship between Africa & Britain. It's called AFRICA & BRITAIN: A FORGOTTEN HISTORY https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/n3ct5bdh   Become a Patron: http://www.patreon.com/fuckboisoflit Follow FBOL on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/fuckboisoflit Follow FBOL on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/fuckboisoflit --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

The guy who brought you CLARE DE LUNE and other tunes you use to fall asleep at night is here to whip you up into a frenzy of adultery, suicide threats, and complete and total smackdowns with other composers. Claude Debussey was a total piece of garbage. Transcript: http://bit.ly/FBoLDebussey --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

French composer Hector Berlioz had a little secret: he was a fucking stalker. Exacting his obsession on THREE separate women that we know of, Berlioz was most famous for one particularly hair-brained, cross-dressing, thankfully-failed murder plot. Listen now! TRANSCRIPT: https://bit.ly/FBoLBerlioz --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

What do you get when you cross approximately $200million, an aversion to monogamy, and Italian tempers? The sordid life of Giacomo Puccini, one of the world's most famous opera composers. Puccini's life was FILLED with affairs, questionable deaths, and surprisingly little VD.  TRANSCRIPT available here: https://bit.ly/FBoLPuccini --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

It's not really a sign of a life well lived when everyone accuses you of selling your soul to the Devil. Niccolo Paganini was the 1800s equivalent to Marilyn Manson, only with a lot more talent. His life was filled with debauchery, and ended on a very sour note. Listen to our first bonus ep on the Fuckbois of Classical Music now! TRANSCRIPT available here: https://bit.ly/FBoLPaganini --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

NYT/USA Today Bestselling author Cat Valente (@CatValente) is here to dish about Cornwall's biggest fuckboi-- Ross Poldark! The myth of war heroism, what to do with maturing kitchenmaids, and how to screw over unscrupulous bankers is discussed at hilarious length. To pick up a copy of Cat's books, click here: https://bookshop.org/shop/fuckboisoflit For a transcript of this episode, visit our website: https://www.fuckboisoflit.com/episodes/2020/7/22/episode-63-poldark Summary of ROSS POLDARK, the first book in the POLDARK series: Ross Poldark, son of the second son of a noble family, returns home from fighting for the British in the American Revolutionary War, to find his father deceased and his childhood love, Elizabeth, engaged to marry his good-for-nothing cousin, Francis Poldark. Ross, left with little money and a dilapidated farm and dried-up copper mine, is left to make his fortune with his own know-how. While taking out loans to furnish and fit his farm for productivity, he runs across an abused urchin girl named Demelza, whom he rescues to become his kitchen maid. Ross quickly becomes the talk of the town for his unusual habits, and his friendliness with his tenants. As the book spans several years, Demelza ages and dynamics of the Poldark family change, as Francis's land-owning father dies, Elizabeth bears the Poldark family a son, and Francis uses his family money to gamble and live a life of luxury he can't seem to afford, tempted by the wealthy, "new money" scion, George Warleggen. Demelza, upon turning 17, covinces Ross to marry her. The book ends with Demelza announcing her first pregnancy.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

Writer Justin Aucoin (@JMAucoin_writer) joins host Emily Edwards to discuss Porthos, Athos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan, also known as the most hard-drinking, wife-stealing, sword-playing French swashbucklers, THE THREE MUSKETEERS. We discuss the appeal of male ride-or-die friendships, Alexander Dumas's multi-racial approach to writing for racist readers, and wine. Lots of wine.  Buy books discussed on the show at our Bookshop.org page: https://bookshop.org/lists/fbol-subjects For a transcript of our show, visit https://www.fuckboisoflit.com/episodes/2020/7/22/episode-62-the-three-musketeers Summary of THE THREE MUSKETEERS: Coming of age in the souther, rural province of Gascony, D'Artagnan aways to Paris upon his 18th year to follow in his father's footsteps to become one of the king's guards, called The Musketeers. Upon his first day in Paris, he gets into duels with the original Three: Porthos, Athos, and Aramis. He proves himself worthy to the men, and they take him on as a fourth confidant, in their schemes to protect the King and Queen against the conniving Cardinal Richelieu. In addition to a new nemesis in the Cardinal, D'Artagnan eventually finds himself at odds with the Cardinal's lead assassin, Milady, and at the center of a kidnapping plot when the woman he loves– Constance, the wife of D'Artagnan's landlord– is taken from him in an effort to convince him to stop meddling in Richelieu's machinations.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

Writer David Avallone (@DAvallone) is back on the show to discuss another post- WWI pulpy text: Dashiell Hammett's THE MALTESE FALCON. What is it about the chaos after the first World War that led us to this cynicism? Where does a Private I stand on sex? And is there a sea change in the power binaries of male vs. female?  Summary of THE MALTESE FALCON Sam Spade and his partner, Miles Archer, are approached by a beautiful woman named Miss Wonderley, who claims her sister has been taken by a no-goodnik gangster named Floyd Thursby. Archer takes the first night of surveillance, and is mysteriously shot-- as is the prime suspect of Thursby. Thrown onto the case, Spade quickly uncovers many secrets-- that Miss Wonderley is actually a treasure-hunter named Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and that she's in bed with another court of criminals to abscond with a bird figurine made on the island of Malta by the Knights Templar that is worth millions of dollars. Spade, who was sleeping with Archer's wife and begins hooking up with O'Shaugnessy almost immediately, is being followed by the police as the lead suspect in both murders. Two other men after the falcon-- Joel Cairo and Caspar Gutman-- continually make attempts on Spade's life, as Spade tracks down the falcon and uncovers the figurine's secret, and the identity of his partner's murderer. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

Our guest from our Greek Mythology episode is back! Kerri Kearse (@_iamlivingcolor) is here to get theater nerdy with us about THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA by Gaston Leroux! We talk about diverse casting, social ostracizing, and Ramin Karimloo's abdominal muscles. Listen, we're just covering all the bases of this WILD book/play.  Summary of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA While attending a landmark performance at the Paris Opera, Vicomte Raoul de Chagny is pleased to find that his childhood playmate and lifelong love, Christine Daaé, is onstage as the understudy for the female lead who has suddenly taken ill. A star-making performance, Christine gives her all during her solo and collapses onstage. Raoul rushes to her side and they re-kindle a friendship and romance that is squelched by mysterious happenings at the opera-- the Opera Ghost is making demands, murdering stage-hands, and even goes so far as to kidnap Christine. Raoul, with the help of a mysterious man only known as The Persian, must venture forth into the bowels of the Opera House to save Christine, though the Opera Ghost will do everything in his murderous powers to stop them.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

For our sequel on THE SHINING, Dave Child (@MrDaveChild) tackles the sequel to THE SHINING, the book-turned-movie, DOCTOR SLEEP. How does generational trauma get healed? How do you tackle having written a racist text? Can Ewan McGregor save even the worst film ever written? Summary of THE SHINING by Stephen King A young family is moved to an isolated hotel after the father, Jack Torrance, has taken a position there as a winter caretaker. His wife, Wendy, is concerned for her husband but is desperate to create a functioning family unit for them and their son, Danny, who is five. Jack has seen several speed bumps in the past few years– a stagnation of his writing career, a termination of his employment at a posh private school for boys, a drinking habit, and several moments of unhinged abuse focused on his son, one time even going so far as to break his son's arm. Danny, who has often had psychic visions courtesy his "imaginary friend," Tony. Tony has warned Danny about the hotel, as does the departing chef of the hotel, Dick Hallorann, who teaches Danny about his gift, or "shining," in a fleeting few minutes before Dick leaves the family at the hotel for winter. Danny's Shining ability lends him to having a psychic connection with the hotel, and all of its malevolent spirits who are taking control of Jack Torrance, who inevitably loses his tether to reality and eventually goes on a destructive tear against his family, to be saved in the end by Danny's psychic connection to all those who have the Shine. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

Happy Belated Father's Day, fellow Quarantine-Americans. We're talking about one abusive dad's descent into madness and what it teaches us about racism on this week's FBOL. Brilliant friend and frequent guest Dave Child (@MrDaveChild) joins host Emily Edwards to impart some empathy and perspective on a typically midcentury American tale of dread. Summary of THE SHINING: A young family is moved to an isolated hotel after the father, Jack Torrance, has taken a position there as a winter caretaker. His wife, Wendy, is concerned for her husband but is desperate to create a functioning family unit for them and their son, Danny, who is five. Jack has seen several speed bumps in the past few years– a stagnation of his writing career, a termination of his employment at a posh private school for boys, a drinking habit, and several moments of unhinged abuse focused on his son, one time even going so far as to break his son's arm. Danny, who has often had psychic visions courtesy his "imaginary friend," Tony. Tony has warned Danny about the hotel, as does the departing chef of the hotel, Dick Hallorann, who teaches Danny about his gift, or "shining," in a fleeting few minutes before Dick leaves the family at the hotel for winter. Danny's Shining ability lends him to having a psychic connection with the hotel, and all of its malevolent spirits who are taking control of Jack Torrance, who inevitably loses his tether to reality and eventually goes on a destructive tear against his family, to be saved in the end by Danny's psychic connection to all those who have the Shine. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message

Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz), author of three novels and host of the NOBLE BLOOD podcast (http://noblebloodtales.com/) joins host Emily Edwards to discuss her book THE WHITE MAN'S GUIDE TO WHITE MALE WRITERS OF THE WESTERN CANON. Who is the subject of the criticism? What's "punching up"? And can dudes please stop already?  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fuckboisoflit/message