Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Dolls of Our Lives
Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 1 October 2024
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Filing cabinet fans, here we go! For this Patreon episode, we are diving right into the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. This 1967 classic features the Kincaid kids, who just need a break from home — and the allure of solving an art mystery.
Whether you really love hanging files, eccentric older people, or beds in museums, this book has a little bit of something for everyone (and a chauffeur). If you’ve never dreamed about sleeping in The Met, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler still has an enduring appeal. We talk about the value of stories that center smart and funny young people, without a moralizing "parents just don’t get it" ending. So, will you accept this rose, we mean, invitation to the Met?
Original air date: June 29, 2021
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome everyone to American Girls The Podcast. This is the podcast where we're reliving the American |
| 0:15.6 | Girl series book by book except here on Patreon or we're kind of doing whatever we want and you |
| 0:21.2 | ask for that we think is within the world of our show. |
| 0:24.8 | So on this episode, we're so so excited to be bringing you one of your picks, |
| 0:30.9 | one of your requests, a true classic. On this episode we'll be talking about from the mixed up |
| 0:36.3 | files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Before I forget, I'm Mary. I'm Basil. Wow. No I'm Allison. I know how as Basil in the beginning? No you're Basil and I'm Claudia |
| 0:51.0 | Really I think that's true. Yeah true. Claudia. couple people did for us to cover. I don't know do you want to give a summary at the start? How do we want to begin, Allison? |
| 1:06.3 | I would love to. This book is a classic. It is from 1967 and I want to start actually doing something a bit different. I found various |
| 1:16.7 | publishers overviews that mentioned it's essentially two children who hide away in a museum and their encounter with this eccentric |
| 1:24.7 | woman Frank Weiler. But someone said that the opening paragraph of this book is |
| 1:30.8 | one of the finest examples of tight exposition that also introduces the whole |
| 1:36.4 | plot and I agree so I'm going to read those sentences. |
| 1:40.3 | Claudia knew she could never pull off the old-fashioned kind of running away. |
| 1:44.0 | That is, running away in the heat of anger with the knapsack on her back. |
| 1:48.0 | She didn't like discomfort, even picnics were untidy and inconvenient. |
| 1:52.0 | All those insects in the sun melting on the... even picnics were untidy and inconvenient, |
| 1:52.9 | all those insects in the sun melting on the cupcakes. |
| 1:56.2 | Therefore, she decided that her leaving home |
| 1:58.8 | would not just be running from somewhere, |
| 2:00.9 | but would be running to somewhere, |
| 2:03.0 | to a large place, a comfortable place, an indoor place, |
| 2:06.7 | and preferably a beautiful place. |
... |
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