Episode 30: John Wray with Jon Verno and Tom Gigliotti

In this episode, John Wray talks about his brand-new novel, ‘Gone to the Wolves’, which author Raven Leilani describes as “a love letter to metal that captures both its brutal kinetics and its nearness to the sublime.” In the last segment, Jon Verno, from the Metal Mayhem ROC podcast, and Tom Gigliotti, co-host of Shout It Out Loudcast, school me on several subgenres of metal mentioned in ‘Gone to the Wolves’, including death, thrash, black, and glam metal.

Episode 30 Promo

John Wray

John Wray/Photo credit Julio Arellano/Courtesy of Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

John Wray is the author of ‘Godsend’, ‘The Lost Time Accidents’, ‘Lowboy’, ‘Canaan's Tongue’, and ‘The Right Hand of Sleep’, and has written about music for ‘The New York Times Magazine’, ‘Esquire’, and ‘Spin.’ The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Award, a Cullman Fellowship from the New York Public Library, and a Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellowship from the American Academy in Berlin, he was named one of ‘Granta’s Best Young American Novelists in 2007. His most recent novel, ‘Gone to the Wolves’, was published in May 2023 by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.

‘Today’ show, May 26, 2023: Isaac Fitzgerald reviews ‘Gone to the Wolves’

Jon Verno and Tom Gigliotti

Jon Verno is the host of Metal Mayhem ROC, a weekly podcast dedicated to the culture of heavy metal music. The show presents a blend of feature interviews with heavy metal legends and stars of tomorrow.

Tom Gigliotti, from Shout It Out Loudcast, is a lifelong KISS fan as well as a fan of all genres of music, but specifically all types of rock and metal. Shout It Out Loudcast is a KISS podcast by two friends—Tom and Zeus—who share a love for the band. Laugh and listen along as they talk all things KISStory.

Jon Verno

L-R: Tom, Gene Simmons, Zeus

About the Episode

John Wray

EPISODE SUMMARY:

Calling all metalheads out there in podcast land. Have I got the novel and episode for you. John Wray is here to talk about his brand-new novel, ‘Gone to the Wolves’, which author Raven Leilani describes as “a love letter to metal that captures both its brutal kinetics and its nearness to the sublime.”

The novel follows Kip, Kira, and Leslie Z, three teenagers living on Florida’s Gulf Coast in the late 1980s. All three come from unhappy homes, of one sort or another, but forge a friendship centered around their love for metal.

If you’ve been waiting for a novel to come along that treats metal with respect rather than parody, your wait it over. But even if you didn’t grow up watching ‘Head Bangers Ball’ or hoarding Metallica or Slayer records, there’s something in this novel for everyone.

In the last segment, Jon Verno, from the Metal Mayhem ROC podcast, and Tom Gigliotti, co-host of Shout It Out Loudcast, school me on several subgenres of metal mentioned in ‘Gone to the Wolves’, including death, thrash, black, and glam metal.

MEDIA AND MUSIC IN THE EPISODE IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:

• Clip from the ‘Today’ show from May 26, 2023—book review by Isaac Fitzgerald of ‘Gone to the Wolves’

• Royalty-free Doom Metal Instrumental “The Witch”

• “Wunderbar” by Tenpole Tudor

• “Kickstart My Heart” by Mötley Crüe

• “Denial of Life” by Death

• “Transmission” by Joy Division

• “I Want You” by Hanoi Rocks

• “Thus Spake the Nightspirit” by Emperor

• “Ace of Spades”by Motorhead

• “Witches’ Dance” by Mercyful Fate

• “Breaking the Law” by Judas Priest

• “Fade to Black” by Metallica

• “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath

• “Hammer Smashed Face” by Cannibal Corpse

• “Deathcrush” by Mayhem (Dead on vocals)

• “Seasons in the Abyss” by Slayer

LINKS:  

Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Goodpods: https://goodpods.com/podcasts/rock-is-lit-212451

Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rock-is-lit/id1642987350

Video of Tenpole Tudor’s song “Wunderbar”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bx7QFFlV9M

John Wray’s ‘Gone to the Wolves’ playlist for Largehearted Boy: https://largeheartedboy.com/2023/05/22/john-wrays-playlist-for-his-novel-gone-to-the-wolves/

John Wray’s website: http://www.johnwray.net/

John Wray on Twitter: @John_Wray

John Wray on Instagram: @thejohnwray

John Wray on Facebook: @JohnWray 

Shout It Out Loudcast website: https://www.shoutitoutloudcast.com/

Metal Mayhem ROC website: https://www.metalmayhemroc.com/

John Wray in his basement

The finished book next to a doodle John Wray drew several years ago, before the book was written

Whiskey a Go Go on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles

Lemmy’s Lounge in the Rainbow Bar & Grill on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles

L-R: Dead and Euronymous from the Black Metal band Mayhem

Norwegian church burning