Robert Stark is joined with Matt Pegas and Dan Baltic to discuss his new novel, Vaporfornia. Vaporfornia is a surreal dark comedy, a coming of age story set in California, and is the sequel to Robert’s first novel, Journey to Vapor Island. This show is a simulcast with Matt and Dan’s dissident, counter-culture, literary podcast, New Write. Vaporfornia is available for purchase on Lulu publishing. Also check out Matt’s review of Vaporfornia.
Topics:
Contrasting Vaporfornia with Journey to Vapor Island, and how both novels capture the zeitgeists of their respective eras
The niche genre of the satirical moving adventure story
Literary comparisons to a Confederacy of Dunces, William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch, Lucky Jim, Voltaire’s Candide, and Gulliver’s Travels
The situational humor and dramatic irony
Vaporfornia as a satire of the themes in Robert’s Substack that delve into California’s social, political, class, and demographic dynamics
Vaporfornia as a travelogue for California
Allegories and symbolism in the book Saudade, a longing for what could have been or nostalgia for lost futures Gio Pennacchietti’s video about how Robert’s literary fiction and visual art complement each other
The protagonist’s personal and political journey
The politics of the “Chad Centrist” presidential candidate Roger Blackstone
Whether Robert Stark will run for California Governor or have a Vaporfornia tour some day
Robert Stark talks to Matt Forney about life in Mexico, social and political trends, and upcoming books from Terror House. Matt Forney is an author, journalist and founder of Terror House Press, whose mission is to publish outsider literary fiction, literary nonfiction, and cultural criticism/analysis. You can also follow Terror House publishing on Twitter and Instagram.
Topics:
Why Matt decided to relocate to Guadalajara, Mexico
The overall quality of life, cost of living, and misconceptions about Mexico
Mexico’s more laxed covid lockdown
Class structure, demographics, and urbanism of Mexico Jalisco as the cultural center of Mexico
The absence of woke culture in Mexico and the Right softening their stance towards Mexico
How the pandemic has exacerbated the worst social trends of the 2010s
Political trends: breakdown in institutional trust, political and economic bifurcation, neoliberalism’s loss of soft power, and transformation of the Democratic Party into a Woke Tea Party
Matt’s reviews of The Pussy by Delicious Tacos and Letters from a Heartbroken Pervert by Richard Power
Upcoming books from Terror House Press: Dragon Day by Matthew Pegas, The Columbine Pilgrim (Audiobook) by Andy Nowicki, and Welcome to Hell by “Bad” Billy Pratt
