
Episode 94: “Chewing Glass” or Tim Krabbe’s The Rider
From Upper Middlebrow by Upper Middlebrow
September 22, 2025 · 1h 15m · Season 3 · Episode 25
About this episode
The episode discusses Tim Krabbe's novel 'The Rider' as a blend of autobiography and fiction, exploring its themes and narrative style.
Tim Krabbe's novel is barely a novel. It is a thinly veiled autobiogrpahical essay, with fictional details and composite characters, allowing the author to navigate his story just to one side of the fiction/nonfiction divide. The lads ponder why it does not fall into the "bike porn" genre, and why the images of teeth and glass continually emerge.
People in this episode
Host: Upper Middlebrow
Topics covered
- autobiographical essay
- fiction vs nonfiction
- cycling literature
- narrative style
- literary analysis
Keywords
- Tim Krabbe
- The Rider
- autobiographical essay
- fiction
- cycling
- literary analysis
- bike porn
- narrative style
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: The Rider
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