Nettie Jones — Fish Tales with Hannah Eko

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First published in 1983 after being championed by Toni Morrison, Nettie Jones’s Fish Tales recounts one woman’s trauma-filled, hedonistic quest for personal freedom amidst a “Disco-Era,” drug-fuelled backdrop — one inspired by Jones’s own lived experiences in 1970s Detroit and New York City. Nigerian-American author and Lit Club founder Hannah Eko joins us to discuss the ways power, pleasure and pain converge in Jones’s transgressive work, which was reissued by Farrar Straus and Giroux in 2025
Mentioned in this episode:
Fish Tales (bookshop.org/p/books/fish-tales-a-novel-nettie…) by Nettie Jones
Honey is the Knife (bookshop.org/p/books/honey-is-the-knife-or-how…) by Hannah Eko
The Lit Club’s 2026 event calendar (hannahoeko.com/thelitclub)
Toni Morrison (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Morrison)
Village Well (villagewell.com) bookstore
Lucumi (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santer%C3%ADa)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshun
Charles Abramson (jorgeluisatelier212.com/residency)
Jean Toomer (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Toomer)
Longreads article (longreads.com/2019/10/29/beautiful-women-ugly-…) on Nettie Jones by Michael Gonzalez
Numa Perrier (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numa_Perrier)
Zola (youtube.com/watch?v=24KbaKlCDDI) film
Less Than Zero (bookshop.org/p/books/less-than-zero-bret-easto…) by Bret Easton Ellis
Bright Lights, Big City (bookshop.org/p/books/bright-lights-big-city-ja…) by Jay McInerny
Hunter S. Thompson (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson)
Anais Nin (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana%C3%AFs_Nin)
Gayl Jones (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayl_Jones)
The Hitachi Magic Wand (hitachimagic.com/?gad_source=1&gad_campaig…)
Yoruba Art (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_art)
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