For episode two, Mike and Tom take on Michael Ondaatje’s 1976 debut novel Coming Through Slaughter. The book provides a fictionalized account of Buddy Bolden, a jazz pioneer in turn-of-the-century New Orleans, who at the age of 30 suffered a mental breakdown and was institutionalized. He spent the remaining years of his life in a state-run insane asylum, and was buried in a pauper’s cemetery.
Topics for discussion include the line between fact and fiction, the romanticism of mental illness, how hard it is to write well about music, and why teenagers continue to think Jim Morrison was a hero, rather than a giant asshole.
You can listen to the episode here, by clicking on the little music-player thingy below, or you can download the file (right click, save as) for listening in iTunes, or on any mp3 compatible music player.
As always, if you’d like to suggest a book for a future episode, you can email us at bookfightpod(at)gmail(dot)com.