Show notes
You could spend an entire podcast unpicking the bizarre circumstances that found a working-class kid from Grimsby on a business class flight to Las Vegas, reading a book about an American ex-marine growing up in poverty-stricken Bacon County, Georgia.But this is not that podcast.Still, 30,000 feet above the Atlantic is where I found myself recently reading Harry Crews’s fascinating memoir A Childhood: The Biography of a Place.I’d never heard of the book before, nor—to my shame—Harry Crews.Thankfully, I have now. And it’s all thanks to the brilliant writer Adelle Stripe, who picked Crews’s terribly overlooked book to discuss for the latest episode of the show.Indeed, welcome to The Library of Lazy Thinking Podcast, with me, your host, Glenn Fisher.As you may well know by now, in each episode, I'm joined by a guest from the world of books and culture to talk about a specific book they'd like to put in the library.There's no plan and no agenda, just two people lazily thinking about literature.If you enjoy the show and would like to help us (and get your hands on a coveted Library of Lazy Thinking bookmark, sticker, and pin badge), you can become a supporter of the library by upgrading your subscription.But either way, please do like and share the show—it all helps.In this episode, as I say, my very special guest is the writer Adelle Stripe, author of several excellent books, most recently Base Notes: The Scents of a Life, published by White Rabbit Books. We discuss her pick for the library, the 1978 memoir A Childhood: The Biography of a Place by Harry Crews.About AdelleAdelle Stripe is an author and journalist whose writing explores working-class culture, hidden histories, popular music, and small-town life. Adelle’s debut novel, Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile, was based on the life and work of Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar. It was shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and Portico Prize for Literature. A new edition was recently republished by Virago Press. Her second book, Ten Thousand Apologies, was shortlisted for the Penderyn Music Book Prize. Co-written with Lias Saoudi, the biography charts the rise, fall, and eventual salvage of one of the UK’s most controversial bands. It was a Rough Trade book of the year and a Sunday Times bestseller. Told through a prism of vintage perfumes, Base Notes is her poetic, poignant, and bleakly comic coming-of-age memoir set in the closing years of the late 20th century. It is a Telegraph book of the year. As a journalist, Adelle has contributed to The Quietus, Yorkshire Post, Tribune, Record Collector, TLS, and many more. She was a Burgess Fellow at the University of Manchester in 2023 and holds an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing. She lives in West Yorkshire, UK.About HarryHarry Crews (1935–2012) was an American novelist, essayist, and University of Florida professor known for his gritty, darkly comic portrayals of Southern life. Raised in rural poverty, he channeled hardship into raw, violent, and deeply human stories exploring obsession, survival, and the grotesque underbelly of the American South.Links to obscure (and not so obscure) things mentioned in this episode* Order A Childhood: The Biography of a Place by Harry Crews and Base Notes: The Scents of a Life by Adelle Stripe from my local independent bookshop in Sheffield here.* Watch one of the documentaries—The Rough South of Harry Crews—that Adelle mentions.* Find Adelle Stripe on Instagram here.* Find Glenn Fisher on Instagram here.* Find The Library of Lazy Thinking on Instagram here.About the LibraryThe Library of Lazy Thinking is a place to hang out and learn more about books. If you’d like to support the library and get access to everything here, you can become a paid member (and get an exclusive The Library of Lazy Thinking bookmark, sticker, and pin badge). All support goes back into the library, helping to organize live events, exclusive merchandise, and more podcasts.About GlennGlenn Fisher is a writer—wait, Glenn Fisher is me. I’m the one writing this. Let’s drop the third-person act. My writing has been published in Lunate, The Paris Bitter Hearts Pit, 3am Magazine, Dogmatika, and Litro Magazine. I write about books and interview other writers and artists here in The Library of Lazy Thinking. I live in Sheffield and work as a freelance copywriter. I have had a best-selling non-fiction book published on the subject called The Art of the Click. It was published by Harriman House and shortlisted for Business Book of the Year. It has been translated into Simplified Chinese and Korean. I also have a dog called Pablo. He is harder to translate. Indeed, most of my life revolves around trying to understand his often unreasonable demands. Meanwhile, I am currently working on my first novel, Still Nothing. Brave/bold agents: hit me up. Get full access to The Library of Lazy Thinking at lazythinking.substack.com/subscribe