Episode 40 with Brandon Hobson, Author of Exquisite and Thought-Provoking Fiction, Including 2021 Blockbuster, The Removed

Show Notes and Links to Brandon Hobson’s Work and Allusions/Texts from Episode

 

On Episode 40, Pete talks with Brandon Hobson about his most recent books, Where the Dead Sit Talking, and The Removed. The conversation touches upon many topics, including the (well-deserved) buzz around The Removed, published on Feb. 2, the quiet alchemy that created these two great books, crafted in different ways but both profound, stereotypical and racist depictions of Natives in the distant past and today, ideas of loss and trauma and justice, and much more. 

Don’t miss the movie references, either!

 

Dr. Brandon Hobson is the author of the novel, The Removed, as well as Where the Dead Sit Talking, which was a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award and winner of the Reading the West Award. His other books include Desolation of Avenues Untold and Deep Ellum. He received his PhD in English/creative writing from Oklahoma State University. His fiction has won a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in such places as McSweeney’s, Conjunctions, NOON, and elsewhere. Hobson is an assistant professor of creative writing at New Mexico State University and also teaches at the Institute of American Indian Arts. He is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation Tribe of Oklahoma.

Buy The Removed Here (Bookshop) and Here (Amazon)

The Removed Featured on Oprah Magazine's 55 of the Most Anticipated Books of 2021

Brandon Hobson’s Personal Website

The Removed Featured as March 2021 Pick for Roxane Gay’s Audacious Book Club

Brandon Hobson discusses The Removed on NPR’s “All Things Considered”

The Removed: Kirkus Reviews

The Removed: Publisher's Weekly Review

The Removed: Book Review by NPR

 

-at about 3:00-Brandon talks about how he’s feeling three days after publication of his long-awaited novel, The Removed

 

-at about 10:10: Brandon discusses his book Desolation of Avenues Untold, his PhD dissertation

 

-at about 12:55: Brandon discusses his interest in being a versatile writer, one who writes in different genres and about different topics/themes

 

-at about 14:35: Brandon discusses the possible allusions in The Removed to DFW (David Foster Wallace) and Venery, a character whose name may betray his “carnal” urges, as part of a larger discussion of subjectivity in reading

 

-at about 17:05 Brandon talks about the places where he finds “fun” in writing, and where nonfiction and research enter that equation; he cites his friend David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s recent nonfiction work, and William T. Vollman as a sort of “trickster” in his work

 

-at about 20:30: Brandon discusses Where The Dead Sit Talking, his 2018 novel that was a finalist for The National Book Award, and about how “so much of the book is about communication

 

-at about 23:45: Brandon discusses the historical importance of Sequoyah, after whom the protagonist is named

 

-at about 26:05-Brandon talks about “home” and “communication” as two major themes in Where The Dead Sit Talking

 

-at about 27:15, Brandon talks about the ambiguity of events from Where The Dead Sit Talking, leading Pete and Brandon to discuss A Separate Peace and other texts full of ambiguity, which a lot of readers don’t like, but Pete and Brandon do

 

-at about 30:55, Brandon talks about creating “sympathetic”/”empathetic” characters and how his career in social work informed his writing certain characters

 

-at about 35:15, Brandon talks about the connection between Rosemary and Sequoyah in Where The Dead Sit Talking

 

-at about 41:25, Brandon reads and discusses the ending of Where The Dead Sit Talking

 

-at about 44:35, Brandon talks about his subtle and non-so-subtle depictions of Native American generalizations/stereotypes

 

-at about 45:10, Brandon talks about the background of/impetus for writing The Removed, particularly the lack of attention on police killings of Native youth and healing from trauma; Brandon draws the links between historical systematic violence against Natives, and systematic violence in modern times

 

-at about 49:35, Brandon talks about negative and outdated and lacking portrayals of Natives in cinema, mentioning Sterling Harjo, Tommy Orange (with his There, There) and Lucas Brown Eyes and many others who are fighting for equal representation in Hollywood and debunking stereotypes

 

-at about 55:20, Brandon speaks about the importance of the Echota last name in The Removed, and the significance of the name’s history as a disastrous treaty for the Cherokee people

 

-at about 58:50, Brandon describes the background of “The Darkening Land” and why he chose it for Edgar’s storyline, and Pete compares the skillful way that Brandon uses tension to Adam Sandler's similar journey in Uncut Gems (warning-the article uses explicit language)

 

-at about 1:02:25, Brandon discusses the emotional renderings in the book, particularly with regard to Maria and the whole Echota family in dealing with the trauma of Ray-Ray’s violent death, as well as the crucial scene with Maria and the police officer who killed Ray-Ray

 

-at about 1:04:20-Pete and Brandon discuss the breath-of-fresh-air that is the character of Wyatt, the “old soul” foster child who joins the Echota family

 

-at about 1:06:35-Brandon reads from the ending of The Removed

 

 

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