Book Fight Podcast

Among the many literary podcasts eking out hardscrabble lives, the Book Fight podcast has won my heart. God knows I’ve listened to a spate of book podcasters, some of them talking about the wrong books and some of them talking about the right books but doing so drearily and some of them with voices nasally enough to thwart any concentrated listening. But Book Fight’s got soul. They got moxie. Most importantly, they have opinions — informed opinions — and often diverging opinions about the books in question, which makes them entertaining and educational to listen to even when you haven’t read the book they’re discussing.

The hosts Mike Ingram and Tom Mcallister, who are editors at Barrelhouse and have a long-running joke about a blood feud with Hobart, both went to the Iowa Writers Workshop. They teach, they write. But what they have is this camaraderie,  this easygoing banter that makes it seem as though they’re oblivious to the recording device and have had a few beers (this is likely true, given the noise of knocking bottles/cans over) and have been friends forever (which is true). You can’t manufacture their synergy — no, that’s a hideous word. So corporate. You can’t manufacture their jive. Wait, that won’t work, they’re white. Let’s put it this way: they work really well with each other, digging into what the other person is saying, running with a humorous turn of phrase, unafraid to let crazy claim cascade upon crazy claim until various eccentric threats are uttered and they veer back to the book at hand. You, the listener, will probably learn things. You’ll most certainly have fun.

While some people — you know who you are — might get annoyed by the occasional rabbit trail during Book Fight, these aforementioned people must be lacking a sense of humor. Because this podcast is hilarious. I laugh out loud — no, guffaw, truly — at least 3.5 times an episode (it has been as high as 7). The humor’s always interspersed with some pretty serious discussion, though. This is a show that can veer from booger-picking to a discussion on the omniscient third and back again.

Some of my favorite episodes are the “Writers Ask” ones, in which people send in questions. The content of the replies — once they get past the obligatory joking — is good, but the best part is the manner in which they respond. It’s particularly entertaining to hear Tom get livid about National Novel Writing Month, or for both of them to decry submission fees (one of the few things they agree on).

Listen. Listen and then throw them a few bucks, or throw their sponsors a few bucks. Because they’re doing good work for the literary community. Because from keeping this blog up for the last six years I know how much time it takes to do good work. Because you want to celebrate their joy for literature. Because you want to keep listening.