48 - The Definitive Coin Locker Babies Podcast (ft. Zach Langley Chi Chi)

On this episode we bring Zach Langley Chi Chi of the I'm So Popular podcast to talk about 1980's Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami. This one is an all-timer.

We talk about:

Horror drag, the conciseness of the Japanese language, white space on the page, visceral writing, retarded people who rate this book low for being gross, Murakami’s influence on Miike and Tsukamoto, how to make a truly nasty novel through having good characters, businessmen beating off on the subway, voices that can destroy the whole world, flies with human faces, parental neglect, Tokyo as a city at war with the swamp it’s built over, unique cultural phenomena, the glamor of mass acts of terror, bullying as a love language, outlets for human violence, art as a cage for violent impulses, homophobia, enjoying freaks, Otessa Moshfegh, and real-life Datura experiences.