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The History of Literature

32 The Best Debut Novels of All Time (A Conversation with the President of the Literature Supporters’ Club)

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

Arts, History, Books

4.61.3K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2016

⏱️ 60 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What makes a great first novel? Which do we prefer: the freshness of a new style (even if it contains mistakes), or the demonstration of competence (even if it breaks no new ground)? Does it matter if the book is the best (or only) novel by that author? Or do we prefer the debuts that initiated a long, distinguished career? Join host Jacke Wilson for a conversation with his friend, the President of the Literature Supporters’ Club, on the best debut novels in the history of literature.  Books Discussed:  Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Frankenstein by Mary Shelley The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Broom of the System: A Novel by David Foster Wallace Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë The Trial by Franz Kafka The Bluest Eye by...   *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy.  Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podgolomorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.

0:07.0

Hello everyone, this is Jack Wilson, the host of the History of Literature Podcast.

0:14.0

I'm so glad you're here and welcome to the show.

0:17.0

One quick note before we begin, you have found one of the oldest episodes in our archive.

0:22.0

The show doesn't discuss literature in chronological

0:25.3

order, so you won't be missing anything if you start with the more recent episodes instead

0:29.8

of the earliest

0:34.3

quite a bit since these early days.

0:36.3

But of course, where you begin is up to you and if you'd like to give this one a try,

0:41.3

please be my guest.

0:43.0

All of the episodes in the archive are yours to enjoy for free.

0:47.0

Hello, I'm Jack Wilson.

0:50.0

Today on the show we have a special guest and a special topic.

0:54.0

Mike, my friend Mike, the president of the Literature Supporters Club,

0:58.0

is going to be joining us.

0:59.4

Mike lives in Manhattan, but he was calling in from Las Vegas of all places.

1:05.2

He's here to discuss the best debut novels of all time.

1:10.1

That's today on the history of literature. Okay, excellent. Here we go. Thank you again for all of the emails and comments.

1:37.5

You really help keep me going. I enjoy reading them. I'm glad that you're enjoying the show and today frankly may

1:46.9

spark a few more we're talking about the best debut novels in history you want to

1:52.4

comment you can find me at Jack Wilson.com that's

1:56.0

J-A-C-K-E Wilson dot com or Jack Wilson author at gmail.com I look forward to hearing from you. So today we have a guest. I've known

...

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