One of the upsides of getting to interview authors is having early access to their books. The downside, however, is that sometimes I want to talk spoilers as soon as I finish, and I can’t because no one I know has read the book yet! That’s why I am so grateful that all-around brilliantly funny guy, Dennard Dayle, was willing to indulge my theories about his new Civil War satire, How to Dodge a Cannonball (Henry Holt, 2025). THIS CONVERSATION CONTAINS SPOILERS. If you are a “no spoiler” kind of person, check out our conversation at the New Books Network, where we talk literary craft and US history, and I keep my hot takes to myself.
In this conversation we reference:
G.K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (1908)
Mat Johnson’s New York Times review of How to Dodge a Cannonball (June 16, 2025). Johnson is the author of the book Incognegro: A Graphic Mystery (2008).
Krazy Kat comic strip
CMT (Country Music Television)
Paul Beatty, The White Boy Shuffle (1996)
Joseph Heller, Catch-22 (1961)
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)
George Schuyler (who wrote the satire Black No More in 1931), aligned with political conservatism, as does US Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas.
Nathaneal West, Miss Lonelyhearts (1933)
Before you go, the most fitting tribute to Dennard’s work I could think to end this post with (other than you clicking the link to purchase his book), is a video of the 2025 FEI Dressage World Cup winning Freestyle routine (sound on). If this does not raise morale, I’m not sure what will.
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