Intro - We find this all fun and weird. Victorian children’s novels are discussed. So is the fourth dimension.
Chapter 1: Upstairs (skip to 8:20) - Michael has died and its very disorienting. A girl gives him a tour.
Chapter 2: An Asmodeus Flight (skip to 29:12) - Michael meets the devil (well, a devil). They go on a road trip that ends with a fish fry.
Chapter 3: Rabbits (skip to 54:20) - Phyllis Painter hates ghosts, likes rabbits, and wants to solve Michael Warren.
Chapter 4: The Scarlet Well (skip to 1:10:00) - The Dead Dead Gang futz around, find shelter in a storm, get yelled at, lose track of time, and come to terms with the grinding despair of urban renewal.
Welcome to The Hashish and Superiority Book Club, a podcast where we hope to tackle the large and weighty tomes of great (or not so great) fiction we find pertinent to the modern world - heretofore to be referred to as Hell World. Each season of the podcast will tackle either one large work or one author, dissecting what makes them lasting and important to the modern hellscape.
We are Kickers of Elves (kickersofelves.com, @kickerspodcasts), a group of podcasting thirtysomething sad bastards consisting of Wade Bowen (@bogmad), James Nolen (@jamesnolen), and Hugh Crawford (@hughbotcrawford).
For Season 1, we have decided to read the entire 600,000 word, 1300pg doorstop by Alan Moore named Jerusalem (2016).
Music Used:
“Theme Song” by James and Onyx the Fortuitous
“Knee Play 1” by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson
“Up Jumped the Devil” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
“Another Green World” by Brian Eno
“I Don’t Want to Grow Up” by Tom Waits
“Hell is Chrome” by Wilco
Publisher Blurb:
Begging comparisons to Tolstoy and Joyce, this “magnificent, sprawling cosmic epic” (Guardian) by Alan Moore—the genre-defying, “groundbreaking, hairy genius of our generation” (NPR)—takes its place among the most notable works of contemporary English literature. In decaying Northampton, eternity loiters between housing projects. Among saints, kings, prostitutes, and derelicts, a timeline unravels: second-century fiends wait in urine-scented stairwells, delinquent specters undermine a century with tunnels, and in upstairs parlors, laborers with golden blood reduce fate to a snooker tournament. Through the labyrinthine streets and pages of Jerusalem tread ghosts singing hymns of wealth and poverty. They celebrate the English language, challenge mortality post-Einstein, and insist upon their slum as Blake’s eternal holy city in “Moore’s apotheosis, a fourth-dimensional symphony” (Entertainment Weekly). This “brilliant . . . monumentally ambitious” tale from the gutter is “a massive literary achievement for our time—and maybe for all times simultaneously” (Washington Post).
Some links to purchase the book:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BX7S1M2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 (We hate these robber barons, especially Jeff Bezos. Don’t use Amazon if you can help it, but we are huge hypocrites for James and Hugh both recommend reading the book on Kindle.)
Powell’s https://www.powells.com/book/-9781631494727
If you like this podcast, we hope you check out our other ongoing podcasts covering every single episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (The Rules of Acquisition ) and our highly critical struggle session with Star Trek: Discovery (A Discovery Home Companion).
Also visit us on all the social media platforms of your life:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kickersofelves/posts
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kickersofelves/
Email: james@kickersofelves.com
Curious Cat: https://curiouscat.me/kickersofelves
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Phone Number: 917 408 3898
