There are a lot of new people here for the Paradise Lost slow read, so allow me to (re)introduce myself!

My name is Carson, alias GlutenbergBible. I was named in part after the author Carson McCullers, and was born on the same day as her!

I have a PhD in English, with a specialty in early modern English lit. I wrote my dissertation on representations of dysfunctional hospitality in English drama from 1587-1642; basically, my research field can be described as “very bad dinner parties on stage.”

In between undergrad and grad school I spent about 3 years working as a baker, making sourdough bread and bagels and hundreds of croissants every day. During this time I was also in a folk band with my sister and cousin; there were at least a couple of nights when I was at an open mic until 12am and then went home to grab an hour of sleep before clocking in for my 3am bake shift. On a related note, when I started grad school I made a commitment to myself to never ever pull an all-nighter for work.

When I started my Master’s degree my intention was to focus on food in early modern literature. My love for food and literature, and food in literature, is the inspiration behind my username! Bread and books – GlutenbergBible. If you have any recommendations for books of any genre that heavily feature food, by the way, give me those recommendations please!

Some of my favorite pieces of classic literature outside of my field of specialty include Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, and The Master and Margarita.

I started talking about literature on the internet four years ago when I was prepping for the qualifying exam that would allow me to move to the dissertation stage of my PhD. I had just moved somewhere new and was working from home, alone, making my way through a reading list of about 120 texts; basically, I was going a little stir-crazy and wanted an outlet for all my thoughts and feelings about literature. There’s only so many hours in a week you can spend telling your loved ones about cannibalistic banquets on the early modern English stage, ya know?

So, I started talking to my camera. I ended up documenting the final years of my PhD through social media: explaining my working routines on TikTok, sharing photos of my desk setup on Instagram, talking through my writer’s block on YouTube. Along the way, I found a lot of people who share my love of literature and my willingness to talk and talk (and talk) about books.

And now, a few thousand of us (!!!) are getting ready for this Paradise Lost slow reading adventure together!

I’m so happy you’re here talking about books with me.