'Cat's Cradle' and our favorite satire

MashReads Podcast

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we read and discuss Kurt Vonnegut's book Cat's Cradle, a novel that defies description partially because of how absurd the plot is.

The book follows a journalist John (who at the beginning of the novel requests to be called Jonah) as he investigates the inventor of the atomic bomb. It's this investigation that leads him to discovering Hoenikker's eccentric children, the mysterious substance Ice-nine, the secluded island San Lorenzo, a new religion called Bokononism (whose basic tenant is that everything in the religion is a lie), all of which ultimately lead to the end of the world.

Sound crazy? We know!

Join us as we talk about Vonnegut's absurd storytelling, how Vonnegut writes bout science vs. religion, whether this is book is satire and the genius of Cat's Cradle.

And as always, we close the show with recommendations.

• Aliza recommends the new Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone movie La La Land. "It was beautiful and moving and amazing and I loved everything about it."
• Peter recommends Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think About Art, Pleasure, Beauty and Truth by New York Times critic A.O. Scott. "It is just a very, very deep, extremely readable and fascinating book. I really recommend it."
• MJ recommends GQ's completely bonkers profile of Tom Ford "Tom Ford on Sex, Death, and Penetration." "Talk about absurdism. This profile is crazy...it's just hilarious and phenomenal."

Next week we are reading and discussing Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. We hope you'll join us.