Wagons West this week, with a guest I’ve been trying to get on the show since the early days. It’s Victor Lavalle.
I had always wanted to speak to him about The Ballad of Black Tom in the dream that we could join together to call Lovecraft names. As it turns out, that will have to wait, cos he’s brought out a brand-new novel … and it’s a Weird Western.
Cue squealing!! It’s one of my favourite sub-genres.
We talk about homesteading and wilderness, about bad neighbours and New York City, about family and fidelity to truth and the need for happy endings … and there’s an awful lot of chat about monsters.
This is one of the best episodes of the year so far. You’ll learn, you’ll laugh, you’ll almost certainly cry. Why aren’t you crying? What’s wrong with you? Are you heartless??
Books mentioned:
- The Ballad of Black Tom (2016), by Victor Lavalle
- The Changeling (2017), by Victor Lavalle
- The Devil in Silver (2012), by Victor Lavalle
- Montana Women Homesteaders: A Field of One’s Own (2009), by Dr Sarah Carter
- The Autobiography of My Mother (1996), by Jamaica Kincaid
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