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June 5, 2025 86 mins

Have you ever picked up a book, full of anticipation, only to quit 100 pages in? Or maybe you read the whole thing and were left annoyed and baffled when you reached the end? Welcome to the baked in cognitive dissonance of the bookish community. Uber hyped books can turn out to be...bad. Not just bad in your opinion but objectively bad when employing the metrics of writing skill, storytelling and production values. So why exactly are they selling millions of copies? This week, Jules and Madeleine delve into the roots of this question. Is it really a matter of opinion? Can you measure the fitness of a book based entirely on measurable considerations? Is it ever fair to call any book bad? Join the dragons as they interrogate their own beliefs on the subject.

 

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic 

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