Authors: Carrie A.A. Frye and Yannick Murphy

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Missing, last seen packing himself into a suitcase at Dulles.

Subjects Discussed: To Kill a Mockingbird, Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle, Here They Come as autobiography, bending spoons with your mind, sleepless nights of inspiration, the similarities between surrealism and realism, hot dog vendors, points of reference as a coping mechanism, writing a New York-based novel in California, the A&P as a reflection of socioeconomic values, working with Eli Horowitz.

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[PRODUCER’S NOTE: Every effort has been made to preserve and process the audio. But keep in mind that the group was in a noisy bar and there were considerable microphones involved, which all picked up some background noise. So for those who protest the din, we note that the ambience clears out a little about twenty minutes into the podcast.]

Authors: Nicki Richesin, Meghan Daum, Erin Ergenbright, Michelle Richmond, Kimberly Askew and Heather Juergensen

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Strangely libidinous after his return from the desert.

Subjects Discussed: The strange woman on the May Queen cover, epigraphs, magazine editors hostile towards women’s issues, the “selfishness” of opting against the biological clock, mothers vs. non-mothers, Diane Keaton, Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct 2, Dolly Parton, Searching for Debra Winger, plastic surgery, agism, self-worth and body image, field trips to Planned Parenthood, sex within marriage, finding one’s place via environment, San Francisco vs. Los Angeles, the New York Times Style section, the advantages of “zero birthdays,” achievements when living in one’s thirties, the infamous “grups” article, urban vs. rural lifestyles, Mom Jeans, the divide and similarities between twentysomethings and thirtysomethings, finding a life path, women’s anthologies, the variance of opinions on aging, the chick lit controversy, the In Her Shoes film adaptation, Jhumpa Lahiri, the danger of pink covers, taking Curtis Sittenfeld to task, cognitive taxonomy, “chick” labels and the publishing industry, Marilynne Robinson, the lack of women film directors, women and work, the hesitancy to write about work, the gender income divide and how the essays were selected.

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Authors: Kassia Kroszer and Gina Frangello

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Still in the desert, deferring to Mr. Bonasera.

Subjects Discussed: Margaret Atwood, violence, Freud’s “Dora” study, Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres, psychoanalytical theories in the 90s, Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying, unreliable narrators, epigraphs, the presence of current events, hysteria, Ayn Rand, the influence of Kathy Acker, the “viciousness” of the sexuality, the influence of contemporary music, Nine Inch Nails, writing about Chicago in Amsterdam, shopping the book around, and chick lit vs. edgy fiction.

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