Victorian Psycho's Winifred doesn't just kill the rich and villainous — she kills babies, innocents, and servants with equal enthusiasm. The magic trick is that her voice is so funny and inviting that readers root for her anyway. Paul Tremblay calls it one of the best reader manipulations he's read.
Where this was said
At 35:00 · chapter starts 32:55
The book club discussion proper opens with all three hosts confessing they were hooked within the first chapter. Paul admits he was nervous going in because any title referencing a famous work sets a high bar — but Virginia Feito had him by the end of the first chapter, when Winifred offhandedly muses that Mrs. Abel has 'never held a penis.' Ash recalls the line 'as so often happens when one slits an infant's carotid artery' as the moment she realised this book was unlike anything she'd read. The group unpacks the magic trick at the heart of the novel: Winifred is an unreliable narrator who kills indiscriminately — babies, innocents, everyone — and yet her voice is so humorous and confiding that readers root for her anyway. Paul pushes back on the online reading that Winifred only kills bad people; she's an equal-opportunity murderer, which he finds far more honest and disturbing than a revenge-fantasy narrative.
Winifred, the protagonist of Victorian Psycho, kills everyone including infants, not just the upper-class villains, subverting the expected 'kills only the bad guys' trope.
Robby Hoffman isn't fearless — she's terrified all the time. The difference is she does it anyway, because not doing it feels worse than the fear itself.
John Mulaney texted Robby Hoffman out of nowhere saying he'd been a fan for a while and wanted to make a Netflix special with her. Robby called it 'shocking, horrifying, anxiety-inducing, surreal and thrilling' — and said yes.
Mulaney is buttoned-up, suit-wearing, classy. Robby is gritty, raw, and undefined. Together they made the collab nobody expected. Batman and Robin. Eminem and Dido.
Music had Pope Gregory forcing notation. Comedy has had 'magical thinking' — he's just got funny bones. But jokes work through discoverable, teachable mechanics. Writing down the rules doesn't kill the magic; it gives more people access to it.
Howard Ashman had one insight nobody else had: animated Disney films should be Broadway musicals. The third song of every great musical is the character sitting alone explaining what they want. That's 'Part of Your World.' That structure — combined with Alan Menken's compositions — generated Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, and turned Disney Animation into the most profitable creative engine in entertainment history.
The Lion King musical has been running for 30 years across Broadway, London's West End, and global touring companies. It has grossed over $11 billion in total revenue — more than Avatar, more than Avengers: Endgame, more than any album, more than any video game. It generates an average of $350 million in revenue every single year. Disney owns it outright.
The anonymous French artist Invader has hidden 1,500 pixelated mosaic artworks across Paris alone, with thousands more scattered across 80+ cities — affixed to the Eiffel Tower, the Hollywood sign, and even sent to the International Space Station. He might be even busier than Banksy.
The Flash Invaders app turns city streets into a treasure hunt, letting players scan Invader's hidden mosaics for points. Players have collectively logged over 47 million flashes. Unlike most mobile games that glue you to a screen, this one forces you to look up and engage with your surroundings.
New York draws thousands of young, talented performers every year chasing Broadway stardom — but the hard truth is that most of them never make it. Zelig Williams was one of the rare exceptions.
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