Ep. 38: Now for Something Completely Different: the Great American Short Story Cycle Artwork

Great American Novel

Few literary terms are more hotly debated, discounted, or derided than the "Great American Novel." But while critics routinely dismiss the phrase as at best hype and as at worst exclusionary, the belief that a national literature commensurate with both the scope and the contradictions of being American persists. In this podcast Scott Yarbrough and Kirk Curnutt examine totemic works such as Herman Melville's Moby-Dick and Toni Morrison's Beloved that have been labeled GANs, exploring their themes, forms, and reception histories, asking why, when, and how they entered the literary canon. Readers beware: there be spoilers here, and other hijinks ensue...

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Great American Novel

Ep. 38: Now for Something Completely Different: the Great American Short Story Cycle

April 18, 2026 • Scott Yarbrough and Kirk Curnutt • Season 5 • Episode 38

0:00 | 1:57:03

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And now for something completely different. In its 38th episode, the Great American Novel Podcast throws away its foundational genre with no more regard for decorum than cats and dogs shacking up in sheer defiance of the apocalypse. In this episode we instead consider a host of short story collections held to be so coherent, so cohesive, and so excellent that they are often considered as novels.

We ponder: are these books novels? Are they greater than the sum of their parts? Are they worthy of their places in the canon?

Your hosts consider and discuss Wineberg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson; In Our Time, by Ernest Hemingway; Cane, by Jean Toomer; Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Catherine Anne Porter; Go Down, Moses by William Faulkner; Love Medicine, by Louise Erdich; and The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien.

All opinions are the hosts' own and do not reflect the points of view of their employers, publishers, relatives, pets, or accountants.

All show music is by Lobo Loco. The intro song is “Old Ralley”; the intermission is “The First Moment,” and the outro is “Inspector Invisible.” For more information visit: https://locolobomusic.com/.