The Talking Book Podcast

New reading from Kevin Maloney for your listening pleasure...From cult author of The Red-Headed Pilgrim, Kevin Maloney delivers a vision of the world that is hysterical, terrifying, and true. A cuckolded husband finds a new identity as a ghost. A homeowner has a nervous breakdown while building a pergola. An angst-ridden teenager finds his spiritual equal in the mosh pit of an Alice in Chains concert. GET THE BOOK! https://kevinmaloney.net/horse-girl-fever/

New episode with Richard Chiem! Seven years after its most recent release, You Private Person now returns in a brand-new edition by With an X Books. Named one of Publisher's Weekly's 10 Essentials Books of the American West, these stories are sharp, romantic, and heartbreaking to the core. A beloved collection, a cult classic, and a perfect pop song, You Private Person is your favorite writer's favorite book. https://www.withanxbooks.com/youprivateperson

Did Vivienne Volker Kill Wilma Lang? This question has dogged Vivienne ever since Wilma jumped from a window to her death shortly after Volker stole her lover, the visionary artist Hans Bellmer, in the 1970s. Once a famous artist and fashion icon, Volker is now in her eighties and spends her days in religious contemplation in rural Pennsylvania alongside her daughter Velour Bellmer, her granddaughter Vesta Furio, her much younger boyfriend—a garbageman named Lou—and Franz, the family dog. Their quiet lives are disrupted when Vivienne’s work is selected for inclusion in a high-profile retrospective called "Forgotten Women Surrealists" at the prestigious NAT Museum. However, when rumors of her past misdeeds begin to circulate and she is dropped from the show, a gallery curator enters the picture hoping to capitalize on the buzz generated by the controversy, sending the family's tensions, hopes, and dreams to a dizzying peak. Set over the course of a fateful week, Vivienne deftly weaves surreal prose with a Greek chorus of internet comments and text messages, to ask the questions: what is the cost of vision, what is the price of art? What connects creation and procreation, a life and an afterlife? https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781648210648/vivienne/

NDA is a collection of revealing poems and exchanges between Lily and their clients as they navigate the dark bohemia of NYC and LA as a nonbinary sex worker. Spiral upward, downward, and side to side. From the safe words of New York to the alleys of Los Angeles....and all the flights in between. https://www.farwestpress.com/far-west-books/p/nda-lily-lady

A new reading from Mallory Smart. Step into Stevie's world, a 26-year-old musician on the brink of fame. A tour offer catapults her into an existential voyage through life's intricate maze. Within this tense spiritual journey, Stevie confronts the age-old dilemma of fame versus the safety of a simpler existence, all while searching for her elusive tribe. https://www.withanxbooks.com/store/p/i-keep-my-visions-to-myself-by-mallory-smart