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372 Pages We'll Never Get Back

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372 Pages We'll Never Get Back
Logo
Presentation
StarringMichael J. Nelson
Conor Lastowka
GenreLiterary criticism, satire
LanguageEnglish
Lengthtypically 90–150 minutes per episode
Production
Theme music composed byConor Lastowka
Audio formatMP3
No. of seasons30
No. of episodes171
Publication
Original releaseSeptember 1, 2017 (2017-09-01)
Ratings4.857142857142857/5, 4.8/5 Edit this on Wikidata
Related
Related showsRiffTrax
Like Trees Walking
Website372pages.com

372 Pages We'll Never Get Back is a podcast series created by Michael J. Nelson (of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and RiffTrax fame) and Conor Lastowka (writer for RiffTrax and novelist). Beginning in 2017 with Ernest Cline's Ready Player One (the titular 372-page book), the podcast discusses literature that the two men "are probably going to hate",[1][2][3] though they have stated they end up enjoying some books much more than others.

Episodes

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Overview of 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back episodes
Season Episodes Release dates Book Summary
1 1–8 September 1 – October 27, 2017 Ready Player OneErnest Cline Bestselling novel, set in a dystopian future where a young man immerses himself in a virtual reality world based on 1980s popular culture and partakes in a competition for fame and fortune.
2 9–16 January 26 – March 23, 2018 Armada – Ernest Cline A teenager plays an online video game about defending against an alien invasion, only to find out that the game is a simulator to prepare him against an actual alien invasion.
3 19–21 October 12–26, 2018 The Eye of Argon – Jim Theis Sword and sorcery short story about the barbarian Grignr and his adventures.
4 22–29 November 2, 2018 – January 16, 2019 TekWarWilliam Shatner and Ron Goulart A science fiction neo-noir detective novel set in 22nd-century Southern California and Mexico, centered around the fictional electronic drug "tek".
5 30–33 February 4–27, 2019 The Forensic Certified Public Accountant and the Cremated 64-SQUARES Financial Statements – Dwight David Thrash, CPA FCPA CGMA Self-published novel about a Certified Public Accountant who attempts to solve the destruction of a skyscraper by the "Cat-Burglar Terrorist" and reconstruct its financial documents.
6 34–38 March 11 – April 11, 2019 Bob Honey Who Just Do StuffSean Penn Satirical novel by the Oscar-winning actor, notorious for its "experimental" prose style.
7 39–47 May 6 – July 1, 2019 The MisterE. L. James Romance novel by the author of the bestselling Fifty Shades series about a British aristocrat who falls in love with his Albanian maid.
8 48–53 July 15 – September 3, 2019 Trucking Through Time – Charles E. Harris A self-published novel about time traveling truck drivers.
9 54–58 September 16 – October 23, 2019 The Lair of the White WormBram Stoker Edwardian-era horror novel by the author of Dracula about a mysterious monster threatening rural Derbyshire.
10 59–67 November 13, 2019 – January 30, 2020 Shadow MoonChris Claremont and George Lucas Fantasy novel serving as a sequel to the 1988 film Willow.
11 68–70 February 18 – March 10, 2020 Moon People – Dale M. Courtney Self-published science fiction romance novel.
12 71–77 April 6 – June 3, 2020 Digital FortressDan Brown Mystery/thriller novel on the theme of government surveillance and cryptography.
13 78–80 June 30 – July 24, 2020 My Immortal – Tara Gilesbie Notorious Harry Potter fan fiction in which the characters are depicted as goths and preps.
14 81–88 August 7 – November 13, 2020 Midnight SunStephenie Meyer Retelling of the young adult vampire romance Twilight from the point-of-view of Edward Cullen.
15 89–95 November 26, 2020 – February 26, 2021 Ready Player Two – Ernest Cline Sequel to Ready Player One; Wade Watts finds a new advancement in Halliday's vaults that could change the world, and battles an artificial intelligence based on Halliday.
16 96–99 March 23 – April 30, 2021 The Quilters Push Back: Miranda Hathaway Adventure #7 – Mary Devlin Lynch and Debbie Devlin Zook with Beth Devlin-Keune Cozy mystery in which a team of quilters confronts the American opioid crisis.
17 100–107 May 20 – September 17, 2021 ModellandTyra Banks and Michael Salort A young aspiring model attends a magical boarding school for models.
18 108–112 October 8 – November 19, 2021 Irene IddesleighAmanda McKittrick Ros Victorian melodrama long ridiculed for its purple prose: a young English lady marries an older man, realizes she does not love him, and then elopes to America with her tutor.
19 113–119 December 10, 2021 – March 23, 2022 Antigua: The Land of Fairies, Wizards and Heroes (Part 1) – Denise Brown Ellis and Larry Ellis Self-published children's fantasy novel in which warrior princesses fight an evil dragon.
20 120–124 April 1 – June 17, 2022 Gump and Co.Winston Groom Sequel to the 1986 novel Forrest Gump, published one year after that book's movie adaptation.
21 125–130 July 8 – October 21, 2022 Super Constitution – Charles Kim Science-fiction novel about a "troika" of college students who create a single world government by technological means.
22 131–134 November 8 – December 23, 2022 Murder in Christmas River: A Christmas Cozy Mystery – Meg Muldoon Christmas-themed cozy mystery about the murder of a man behind a pie shop during a gingerbread house building competition.
23 135–139 January 18 – March 24, 2023 Edison's Conquest of MarsGarrett P. Serviss 19th-century science fiction, considered the first space opera, in which Thomas Edison leads Earth in a war against Martian invaders.
24 140–146 April 11 – June 23, 2023 ArtemisAndy Weir Sci-fi heist adventure follow-up to The Martian about a young Saudi Arabian woman living in the titular lunar colony and plotting to get rich.
25 147–150 July 21 – September 7, 2023 The Starlight BarkingDodie Smith Sequel to The Hundred and One Dalmatians, in which dogs acquire supernatural powers and all other creatures are put into a deep sleep.
26 151–155 October 5 – November 29, 2023 The Adventures of the Teen Archaeologists: The Land of the Moepek – Larry Ellis and Denise Brown Ellis Young adult fiction about teenaged archaeologists who discover an ancient African civilization.
27 156–158 December 11–26, 2023 A Killer Christmas Affair: A Cozy Mystery (A Sunflower Farms Cozy Mystery) – Sussie Jordan Christmas-themed cozy mystery set in the fictional town of Sunflower, Texas.
28 159–164 January 30 – March 20, 2024 Kaileb's Dream – Kaileb Varney Self-published young adult novel about a 15-year-old boy whose alter ego is White Bo of the White Blades Council, a foundation protecting the world from evil.
29 165–169 April 17 – June 20, 2024 Bridge to Bat City – Ernest Cline Children's novel set in 1980s Austin, Texas, about a girl who helps a colony of Mexican free-tailed bats find a new home under the Congress Avenue Bridge.
30 170–174 July 9 – October 17, 2024 Tek KillWilliam Shatner and Ron Goulart Eighth novel of the TekWar franchise, a series of science fiction neo-noir detective novels set in 22nd-century Southern California and Mexico and centered around the fictional electronic drug "tek". Private detective Jake Cardigan's boss, Walter Bascomb, is arrested for murder, and Cardigan tries to clear his name.
31 175– November 14, 2024 – The Quilting Cruise: Miranda Hathaway Adventure #9 – Mary Devlin Lynch and Beth Devlin-Keune Cozy mystery in which a quilters' guild encounter a mystery aboard a cruise.

Reception

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Michael J. Nelson, photographed in 2011.

In 2017, Marc Hershon of Vulture praised the first season of the podcast as a "comedically brutal thrashing" of Ready Player One.[4]

The A.V. Club's Mike Vanderbilt interviewed Nelson and Lastowka in 2018.[5]

In 2019, Alice Nuttall of Book Riot wrote, "Nelson and Lastowka spin bad books into gold. Listening to an episode is like sitting in on a reading group run by people who are much funnier than you are."[6] In 2020, Emily Martin compared 372 Pages to the film podcast How Did This Get Made?.[7]

In 2020, E. A. Henson of Biff Bam Pop! praised the podcast, saying, "372 Pages manages to avoid those common podcast pitfalls and hilarious [sic] transcend the source material...these books are so amazingly bad that they almost seem like some kind of outsider art."[8]

References

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  1. ^ "'Ready Player Two' Tried to Kill Our Love of the '80s. It Didn't Work". www.yahoo.com. December 3, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  2. ^ "Ready Player One represents the worst in modern pop culture fandom". The Comeback. March 26, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  3. ^ Roberts, Synovia (April 13, 2020). "Podcasts That Will Replace Book Club". bookstr.com. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  4. ^ Wright, Megh (October 12, 2017). "This Week in Comedy Podcasts: Larry Wilmore and Michael Bennett on 'Black on the Air'". Vulture.
  5. ^ Vanderbilt, Mike (March 30, 2018). "Exclusive: It's game over when RiffTrax alums take on Ernest Cline and Ready Player One". News.
  6. ^ Book Riot
  7. ^ Martin, Emily (May 11, 2020). "Science Fiction Podcasts: 15 You Can Listen to Right Now".
  8. ^ Henson, E. A. (April 22, 2020). "Heroes & Villains: Archie vs Predator II, 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back". biffbampop.com.
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