Bowie Book Club Podcast
- Episodes
- 100
- Released
- monthly
- Latest episode
- Oct 26, 2026
About the podcast
Two friends have had a book club for a very very long time. It was mostly an excuse to drink and gossip. In January of 2016, they found renewed purpose in their sadness over the death of David Bowie. They decided to stop mucking around and actually get some reading done - from the list of books that he loved.
Episodes 100
Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko
Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko Bowie Book Club Podcast Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned …
Show notes
Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko Bowie Book Club PodcastWelcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This month, we read Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko, a short novella with only a few characters and settings (just kidding, it's huge and there's literally a cast of thousands!)
Subscribe! Follow us! (Not in a creepy way) Our BookshopVisit our lists on bookshop.org and help support the podcast (and independent bookstores too!)
Stuff We Talked About What Are We ReadingKristianne:
- Record of a Spaceborn Few - Becky Chambers
- Angel Down - Daniel Kraus
- Queer As Folklore - Sacha Coward
Greg:
- Nonesuch - Francis Spufford
- The Disappearers - Marlon James
- The Castle - Jon Ronson
- The House with a Clock in Its Walls - John Bellairs
From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
V. by Thomas Pynchon
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wildspeculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books hasreigned supreme since 2016. This time we read the story of...the story of...we'll …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild
speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has
reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read the story of...the story of...we'll we're not entirely sure. It was called V. by the very publically visible Thomas Pynchon and it was a lot of fun anyways!Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Bowie Book Club Podcast Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since …
Show notes
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Bowie Book Club PodcastWelcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time, we read Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, a book that has launched a thousand dorm room conversations.
Subscribe! Follow us! (Not in a creepy way) Our BookshopVisit our lists on bookshop.org and help support the podcast (and independent bookstores too!)
Stuff We Talked About- Kurt's appearance in Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield*
- He's in a coffee ad with Bowie too!
- excerpt from On Vonnegut's Karass vs. Granfalloon
the kids who read Jack Kerouac and listened to David Bowie and smoked cigarettes behind the bleachers, where they hung out on the way to protesting the Vietnam War
What Are We Reading?Kristianne:
- The Enchanted Life: Unlocking the Magic of the Everyday - Sharon Blackie
- If Women Rose Rooted - Sharon Blackie
- The Centaur's Wife - Amanda Leduc
- Proust, of course
Greg:
- Stay Alive - Ian Buruma
- Pale Horse, Pale Rider - Katherine Anne Porter
- The Plotinus - Rikki Ducornet
- Pattern Recognition - William Gibson
V by Tommy Boy Pynchy
Basquiat - The Notebooks
Bowie Book Club Podcast - Basquiat - The Notebooks Bowie Book Club Podcast Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has …
Show notes
Bowie Book Club Podcast - Basquiat - The Notebooks Bowie Book Club PodcastWelcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Basquiat - The Notebooks edited by Larry Warsh - just like the ones you used in grade school, but probably worth a lot more!
Subscribe! Follow us! (Not in a creepy way) Our BookshopVisit our lists on bookshop.org and help support the podcast (and independent bookstores too!)
Stuff We Talked About- Bowie's art collection - including Basquiat!
- Interview with Bowie and Julian Schnabel on Charlie Rose
- "New Art, New Money" article in the NY Times Magazine
Kristianne:
- The River Has Roots - Amal El-Mohtar
- Wild Life - Amanda Leduc
- Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space - Amanda Leduc
- A Closed and Common Orbit - Becky Chambers
- started the third Proust book! The Guermantes Way
Greg:
- Vineland - Tommy Pinchy
- Here Where We Live is Our Country - Molly Crabapple
- The Murmuration - Carlos Labbe
- Affliction - Russell Banks
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Cheap Novelties by Ben Katchor
Cheap Novelties by Ben Katchor Bowie Book Club Download Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since …
Show notes
Cheap Novelties by Ben Katchor Bowie Book Club DownloadWelcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Cheap Novelties by Ben Katchor about one man's eternal search for Herbert Water, or a Grape Bosphorus, at least. All you have is cans?
Subscribe! Follow us! (Not in a creepy way) Our BookshopVisit our lists on bookshop.org and help support the podcast (and independent bookstores too!)
Stuff We Talked About- Ben Katchor with Fran Leibowitz
- Bowie writes about NYC
- John Maggiore of "Maggiore on Bowie" does a tour of Bowie's NYC
- Passenger Pigeon - Another New Low - a new-ish record worth a listen!
- The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn - we're still talking about this book!
Kristianne:
- Kalpa Imperial - Angelica Gorodischer
- Red City- Marie Lu
- The Celestial Seas - T.A. Chan
- Wife Shaped Bodies - Laura Cranehill
Greg:
- The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
- City on Fire - Garth Risk Hallberg
- Gods of New York - Johnathan Mahler
- True Grit - Charles Portis
- Watershed - Percival Everett
Basquiat - The Notebooks - edited by Larry Warsh Jean-Michel Basquiat - 40th Edition
The Immoralist by Andre Gide
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Immoralist by Andre Gide …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Immoralist by Andre Gide, about a guy who spends a lot of time telling his friends how immoral he is. Almost as good as Maldoror!
The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Last Temptation of Christ by …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis, which turns out to be more than just a vehicle for the majestic acting of Harry Dean Stanton!
Grendel by John Gardner
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read a book about a muppet (?) monster …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read a book about a muppet (?) monster and his tour of the philosophical hot spots, Grendel by John Gardner.
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Savage Detectives by Roberto …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano - a far-ranging tome about poets who never seem to write any poetry, but do a lot of other crazy stuff.
Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, which …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, which tells the tale of arch-fixer Thomas Cromwell without a mention of turkey legs.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Left Hand of Darkness by …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin, a story of hot beer and cold nights (and many, many other more important themes and ideas!)
The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan
The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan The Bowie Book Club Podcast Download Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books …
Show notes
The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan The Bowie Book Club Podcast DownloadWelcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Medium is the Massage by Marchall McLuhan, a stew of images, aphorisms and (maybe unfounded?) optimism that will loosen up those tired media muscles.
Subscribe! Follow us! (Not in a creepy way) Our BookshopVisit our lists on bookshop.org and help support the podcast (and independent bookstores too!)
Stuff We Talked About- Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan
- New Dark Age by James Bridle
- Bulldog News magazines, newspapers and ice cream in Seattle's U District!
- AdBusters
- The Stranger Seattle's only newspaper
- Sabotage Noise zine
- Laura Cannell's Bandcamp
- Omicron, the Nomad Soul - it's a video game! With Bowie as a character!
- Bowie's 1999 BBC Interview
- Blank Check podcast
Greg:
- The Thin Man - Dashing Dashiell Hammett
- Frankisstein - Jeanette Winterson
- Measuring the World - Daniel Kehlmann
- No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
- Barton Fink / Miller's Crossing - Joel and Ethan Coen
Kristianne:
- Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum
- The Warm Hands of Ghosts - Katherine Arden
- Brigands and Breadknives - Travis Baldree
Left Hand of Darknessby Ursula K. LeGuin
Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley, which (much to our surprise) is not Chronicles of Narnia fan-fic despite the appearance of a Big Lion who solves everything. Also features drugs that are fiended after throughout.
The Spear of Destiny by Trevor Ravenscroft
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read (or maybe just encountered on the …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read (or maybe just encountered on the Astral Plane?) The Spear of Destiny, Trevor Ravenscroft's minimally factual tale of the occult and its hallucinatory hold on Adolf Hilter.
Backstage Passes by Angela Bowie
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books hasreigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Backstage Passes by Angie Bowie, a …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has
reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Backstage Passes by Angie Bowie, a tell-all that includes flying saucers, devil-haunted pools, and John Bonham's breakfast. Oh, and David Bowie too.
Egon Schiele - The Paintings
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Egon Schiele - The Paintings, a …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Egon Schiele - The Paintings, a collection of works by a very proflic narcissist who packed a lot of splayed figures and elongated fingers into his brief life!
The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Man Who Fell to Earth by …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis, a story of large glasses of gin, otherworldly chemistry and, why not, fake eyebrows too.
The Gift by Vladimir Nabokov
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Gift by Vladimir Nabokov, a …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Gift by Vladimir Nabokov, a multi-level marketing scheme to get you into an emigre's state of mind.
Nova Express by William Burroughs
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books hasreigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Nova Express …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has
reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Nova Express (https://bookshop.org/a/105/9780802122087) by William Burroughs - maybe it's science fiction? Maybe it's a spell to thwart mind control ? Maybe it's just not meant to be read?
Dancing in the Streets by Barbara Ehrenreich
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Dancing in the Streets by Barbara …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Dancing in the Streets by Barbara Ehrenreich, a survey about how people have collectively let their hair down over the past few centuries.
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Strangers on a Train by Patricia …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith, which is about how awful it was to travel before you could use noise-canceling headphones to eliminate any possibility of getting into a conversation with someone about murder.
The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Flamethrowers by Rachel …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner, which turns out to be about much more than Iggy Pop's satin pants.
The Idiot by Fydor Dostoevksy
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky, which suprisingly ISN'T about Iggy Pop!
The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi, which might be the most Bowie of the Bowie books we've read so far, in some ways.
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol a …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol a picaresque novel of a grifter being grifty in Old Russia.
Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Hollywood Babylon a cruel and …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Hollywood Babylon a cruel and carnal compilation of old Hollywood tragedies written by Kenneth Anger, who apparantly shares our disdain for thorough research!
Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Roadside Picnic by Boris and …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, a hard-boiled story of mysterious realms, stiff drinks and super-powered artifacts. Apologies for the jingling sounds in the background - we had a very active feline collaborator on this one.
Psychic Self-Defense by Dion Fortune
Psychic Self-Defense by Dion Fortune The Bowie Bookclub Download Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned …
Show notes
Psychic Self-Defense by Dion Fortune The Bowie Bookclub DownloadWelcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read a book mostly about conferences on the astral plane, Psychic Self-Defense by Dion Fortune.
Subscribe! Follow us! (Not in a creepy way) Our BookshopVisit our lists on bookshop.org and help support the podcast (and independent bookstores too!)
Stuff We Talked AboutSane Occultism by Dion Fortune
Angie Bowie's Backstage Passes
Bowie: A Biography by Mark Spitz
The Demon Slayers by Sam Kestenbaum
The Roadside Picnic video game IS REAL
Greg:
- Moonbound by Robin Sloan
- This Must Be the Place by Jesse Rifkin
- This Rancid Mill by Kyle Decker
Kristianne
- Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher
- HIM by Geoff Ryman
- The Modern Craft by Askew and Tarbuck
Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Orlando by Virginia Woolf, a book …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read Orlando by Virginia Woolf, a book that essentially proves that David Bowie and Tilda Swinton are one person.
A Grave for a Dolphin by Alberto Denti (and the end of Season One!)
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read (sort of) A Grave for a Dolphin …
Show notes
Welcome to another episode of the Bowie Book Club, where wild speculation and grasping for straws about Bowie’s favorite books has reigned supreme since 2016. This time we read (sort of) A Grave for a Dolphin by Ally Teeth (or Alberto Denti, Duke of Pirajno, if you must), a story about a manic pixie dream fish and the marine biologist (at least that's what AI thinks) who loved her.
These are the latest 40 of 100 episodes. You’ll find older episodes in the podcast’s feed.
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