Three Percent Podcast

TMR Supplement #2: "Joytime Killbox" by Brian Wood Nov 01, 2024

After referencing Joytime Killbox on hundreds of TMR episodes, we finally break it down with the author himself! Conversation includes ideas about short stories and how they function, the nature of endings, and how Brian has grown as a writer since this collection first came out, while also examining the intent behind a number of the stories, and how they work.

This week's music is "All My Friends" by Broken Social Scene.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. Please rate and review! It helps more than you know.

Starting next week we'll kick of Season 24, which will include both Confidence-Man by Hermann Melville and then Melvill by Rodrigo Fresán. Full reading schedule available here.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Three Percent #195: Lori Feathers on Marguerite Young Oct 18, 2024

This week, Lori Feathers joins Chad to talk about "Involutions of the Seashell," a Substack project dedicated to reading and talking about Marguerite Young's Miss MacIntosh, My Darling. They discuss the nature of the Substack, anecdotes about Young, how to get people engaged with such an intimidating work, reading fast and slow, and much more.

You can also hear more from Lori on the "Across the Pond" podcast (Apple, Spotify).

The music on this episode is "Circles" by Colourmusic.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Spotify, and other places. And follow Open Letter and Chad W. Post on Twitter/X for more info about upcoming episodes and guests.

TMR Supplement #1: "Dear Dickhead" by Virginie Despentes & Frank Wynne Oct 16, 2024

On the first ever one-off episode of the Two Month Review, Chad breaks down Virginie Despentes's Dear Dickhead for Kaija and Brian, a novel about . . . well, just listen. (It'll be more fun if you don't know what's coming.) This new format really digs into the book in a way that you can't in (to quote Zoé Katana) "lamestream media," and, simply put, rocks.

This week's music is "Cannonball" by Grouplove.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In two weeks, we'll be back with a singular podcast on Joytime Killbox, and then in November-December, we'll be talking about Confidence-Man by Hermann Melville and Melvill by Rodrigo Fresán.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Three Percent #194: Mark Haber, "Lesser Ruins" Oct 09, 2024

Today's episode features Mark Haber talking about his brand new novel, Lesser Ruins, his influence, the Bernhard thing, going from bookselling to publishing, and much more. It's a fun conversation that goes deep into the book, but also explains the publishing landscape to some degree—in part because this conversation was recorded as part of Chad's "Intro to Literary Publishing" class.

Couple other notes about this episode: In addition to Lesser Ruins, Mark talks about Melvill by Rodrigo Fresán, and True Failure by Alex Higley.

And for anyone who'd like to listen to "Marcel's Mix" while reading Lesser Ruins, you can find it here.

The music on this episode is "Momma, It's a Long Journey" by Felipe Gordon. (Also found on Marcel's Mix.)

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Spotify, and other places. And follow Open Letter and Chad W. Post on Twitter/X for more info about upcoming episodes and guests.

Three Percent #193: K.E. Semmel, "Book of Losman" Sep 18, 2024

On this week's podcast, Kyle Semmel—translator from the Danish and author of Book of Losman—discusses his debut novel, life as a translator, articles he wrote on Tourette's Syndrome and Author-Transaltors, how he tried to promote his book with Justin Murphy (Your Children Are Very Greatly in Danger) and Chad W. Post.

The music on this episode is "Wav" by Rich Aucoin. (Would've chosen a Bob Dylan song in Kyle's honor, but not after he told me how much Dylan's people wanted to charge him for using a line or two as an epigraph. I can not afford a lawsuit.)

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Spotify, and other places. And follow Open Letter and Chad W. Post on Twitter/X for more info about upcoming episodes and guests.

Three Percent #191: Pilar Adón, "Of Beasts and Fowls" Sep 09, 2024

In this special edition of the podcast, Chad talks with Pilar Adón about the forthcoming Of Beasts and Fowls (translated by Katie Whittemore), her general writing life, two movies he thought she might have seen that resonate with the book (spoiler: she's never heard of either), her publishing company Editorial Impedimenta, and more!

As a special promo for Three Percent Podcast fans, use the code PILAR at check out and get 20% off Of Beasts and Fowls.

The music on this episode is "Choreomania" by Florence + The Machine.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Spotify, and other places. And follow Open Letter and Chad W. Post on Twitter/X for more info about upcoming episodes and guests.

TMR 23.9: "My Maps Are Out of Date" [Lanark] Aug 16, 2024

It all gets wrapped up with a "Catastrophe,." "Explanation," an "End," and a "Tailpiece." Chad, Brian, and Kaija discuss global capitalism, the fight for love and the be human, AI, the Bardo, and much more on this final episode of Season 23. Listen to the end for an announcement about changes to the podcast and what to look for going forward!

This week's music is "When I Was Dying" by Dan Deacon.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube. Stay tuned for announcements about forthcoming episodes!

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 23.8: "The Critic Fights Back" [Lanark] Aug 09, 2024

From the Olympics to the most meta moment of the whole of Lanark, this week's podcast has you covered! Brian, Chad, and Kaija banter about divorce, plagiarisms versus influences, and how to read this book as a whole. There are a ton of amazing lines throughout this section of the novel, making this one of the most fun episodes of the season.

This week's music is "Entropy" by El Ten Eleven.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be discussing the last section of Lanark by Alasdair Gray.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 23.7: "Not a Domestic Man" [Lanark] Aug 02, 2024

The reviews were right: Once you hit page 410, the Unthank sections of Lanark snap into place. Chad, Brian, and Kaija discuss that, capitalism, how terrible advertisements are, jobs, J.D. Vance and his proclivities, politics, unintended consequences, and how Deadpool & Wolverine is the Kamala Harris of film.

This week's music is "Hollywood" by Car Seat Headrest.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be discussing pages 455-518 of Lanark by Alasdair Gray.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 23:6 "Upon This Spot King Edward Had Lunch After Stalking" [Lanark] Jul 26, 2024

If you want to send Chad through the roof, simple crap on his conceptual publishing project five years in the making . . . To that end, everyone reading this should preorder Attila by Javier Serena and Attila by Aliocha Coll and prove our distributor wrong. And then, after you do that, listen to this discussion about art and audience, the frontispiece for Book 4 of Lanark, parallax views expressed in the novel, the pull (or non-pull) of the Unthank sections, and much more.

This week's music is "I Touch" by Jockstrap.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be discussing pages 398-454 of Lanark by Alasdair Gray.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 23.5: "His Brain Rotten with Resentful Dreams" [Lanark] Jul 23, 2024

Duncan Thaw feels like he's on the brink in this week's episode which includes conversations about incels, kind fathers, painting and art, perfection and Aliocha Coll, and much more.

This week's music is "Here's Your Future" by The Thermals.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be discussing pages 335-397 of Lanark by Alasdair Gray.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 23.4: “Homo A Se Coctum Esumque Crustum Est Hoc Fecit Separation” [Lanark] Jul 12, 2024

Chad and Brian break down the loss of Duncan Thaw's mother, his entrance into art school, his reasons for creating art, religious imagery throughout the book, fathers who are better than Bandit, mispronounciations, the "engine" that drive the two distinct parts of this novel, and much more.

This week's music is "It's All Gonna Break" by Broken Social Scene.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be discussing pages 268-334 of Lanark by Alasdair Gray.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

All our large images are AI generated.

TMR 23.3: "Normal Underworlds" [Lanark] Jun 28, 2024

Come for the book discussion, stay for Thaw's unproven remedies for asthma! One of the most fun, and conventional, sections of the book so far, Chad, Kaija, and Brian follow Duncan Thaw through his childhood, discussing his reasonable dad, why math sucks, school journals, and a tinge of sinister violence that might presage things to come.

This week's music is "Isimo" by Bleachers.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be discussing pages 71-129 of Lanark by Alasdair Gray.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 23.2: "Can He Help Lanark Out of Hell?" [Lanark] Jun 21, 2024

As mentioned from the top, we had severe technical difficulties, so the sound quality on this is janky. (Mostly Chad's voice is quiet, which, for many, is likely to be a relief.) Nevertheless Chad and Kaija power on, talking about "The Institute" as a metaphor, the allusions to Duncan Thaw, dragons, dragon scales as metaphor, the prologue and stories within stories, and then the opening "quest" of "Book One."

This week's music is "Holy Moly" by Young Fathers.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be discussing pages 130-189 of Lanark by Alasdair Gray.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 23.1: "Book Three" [Lanark] Jun 14, 2024

Mostly a set-up episode about Alasdair Gray and Lanark, in which Chad, Kaija, and Brian discuss the introduction (weird), the start of the novel (which opens with "Book 3"), the influence of Dante's Divine Comedy and Kafka, and much more. There are some good laughs, a bit of insight into where we are, all building toward next week's episode, which will finish Book Three, cover the Prologue, and start Book One.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be discussing pages 71-129 of Lanark by Alasdair Gray.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 22.10: "Butterfly Coma" [Praiseworthy] May 13, 2024

Praiseworthy ends with some praise, a bit of exhaustion, questions about satire and the ending, and a dirty phrase Chad can't quit competing. Then there's the TMR Class Draft in which Chad, Kaija, and Brian each selected five previous TMR titles to create imaginary classes: "Dismal Lady Stuff," "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor," and "Laying Brick." Now it's up to you to choose which class "wins." Fill out this survey and we'll analyze the results in June when we return for Season 23, Lanark by Alasdair Gray.

This week's music is "One Milkali (One Blood)" from Electric Fields, Australia's entrant in Eurovision 2024. (How is Australia part of Eurovision? Who knows!)

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in in June for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be discussing Lanark by Alasdair Gray.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 22.9: "One Donkey at a Time" [Praiseworthy] May 06, 2024

Like a first time marathon runner, Chad, Brian, and Kaija are losing steam this season, but persist in talking about the book and their mixed feelings. They do learn some things about donkeys and mules though! And they set up next week's game: each co-host will draft five books from the twenty-two seasons of the podcast which would constitute a reading list (and listening list) for a college class. Then, y'all get to vote on which class you'd be most excited to take. Tune in live next week—it's going to be wild.

This week's music is "B.I.N.G.O. (Sound System Remix)" from Australia's worst gift to the world—The Wiggles!

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will finish this book.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 22.8: "Madder Than White Heat" [Praiseworthy] Apr 29, 2024

Little discussion of Priaseworthy in this episode. Instead there's a longer discussion about publishing, art, sales, how do these books get made?, favorite lines, future games, and much more. It's a 20,000 foot view of book culture with an emphasis on success, investment, and more. Enjoy!

This week's music is "Pedestrian at Best" from Aussie musical savant Courtney Barnett.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be covering pages 526-591. (Up to "Holy Donkey Business.")

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 22.7: "@CheapIllegalPeopleSmuggler" [Praiseworthy] Apr 23, 2024

Talk of Australian cartoons—and not just Bluey—morphs into a look at several specific passages in Wright's Praiseworthy, discussion what makes the book "difficult" to read, the style of humor, what pushes us away from the text and then re-grabs out attention, and much more.

This week's music is "Frontier Psychiatrist" from The Avalanches.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be covering pages 463-525. (Up to chapter 5 in "Cargo Shifter.")

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 22.6: "Nuisance Bugger Donkeys" [Praiseworthy] Apr 12, 2024

Chad and Kaija make up this week's panel as they play the "Slang Game," then discuss the elliptical meta-structure of the book and how this impacts their reading and the book's effectiveness. They also discuss Sam Rutter's New York Times review of the novel, addressing the difficulties of discussing the workings of the text itself given the burden of having to contextualize so much for a foreign audience.

This week's music is "Under the Milky Way" from The Church, one of Australia's most widely known bands.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be covering pages 400-463. (Up to chapter 12 in "Sitting in the Bones.")

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 22.5: "Maximum Superhero Cop-God" [Praiseworthy] Apr 05, 2024

"Who's Stronger?" is the game of the week in this episode about the Maximum Superhero Cop-God's arrival in Praiseworthy to quell the frantic search for Aboriginal Sovereignty. There are lots of moths, discussion about acknowledging the land which we occupy as a good first step, and more about the difficult reality of life in this part of the country even without government interventions.

This week's music is "Punching in a Dream" from the New Zealand band The Naked and Famous. (I thought they were Australian!)

And if you want to see the Norm Macdonald bit, you can find it here.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be covering pages 265-336.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 22.4: "Devotion to Off-Grid Religions" [Praiseworthy] Mar 29, 2024

Emmett Stinson (Murnane) joins Chad W. Post and Kaija Straumanis this week to educate us about Australian culture and literature and things we should keep in mind while reading Praiseworthy. He also participates in a round of the world-famous trivia game: "Australian Baseball Player or Indigenous Australian Writer?" There is, of course, Bluey talk and cuck jokes, along with analysis of the end of "The Censer."

This week's music is "Pinball Lez," the original intro music to Bluey, by Custard, fronted by David McCormack who you might know as the voice of Bandit.

For more of Emmett, check out this episode of Beyond the Zero.

If you want to see a truly horrible "Australian influenced" recipe from someone whose Instagram might be a cry for help, click here.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be covering pages 265-336.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 22.3: "Tommyhawk!" [Praiseworthy] Mar 22, 2024

This episode could be titled, "Dead Bodies in Water," as Chad and Brian talk about the unfortunate situation in Rochester and the juxtaposition of Absolute Sovereignity trying to drown himself while his brother, Tommyhawk!, watches, doing nothing to save him. There's also more talk about Bluey, but also the tone of the book, the nature of the life challenges Tommyhawk! and First Nations children face, his perceptions and the influence of media on that, and much more.

This week's music is "Stacking Chairs" by Australian band, Middle Kids.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be covering pages 198-264.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 22.2: "God Donkey" [Praiseworthy] Mar 15, 2024

From discussion of Ohio and disturbing news about everyone's favorite Australian export, this episode skirts talking too deeply about Alexis Wright's Praiseworthy (New Directions, And Other Stories, Giramondo) to discuss challenges of getting into particular books, what the purpose of this podcast is in trying to assist in that and get whatever it is we get out of finishing something we might otherwise give up on. (We're not giving up on this book! Just a meta-commentary.)

Also: The University of Rochester's wifi was all screwed up during the recording. Most of the big gaps have been erased, but it is a bit choppy at the start, for which we apologize.

This week's music is "If Not Now, Then When?" by Australia's own King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be covering pages 133-198.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 22.1: "Kick the Haze in its Guts" [Praiseworthy] Mar 05, 2024

The first episode of the new season of the Two Month Review—covering Alexis Wright's Praiseworthy (New Directions, And Other Stories, Giramondo)—start off with Chad crapping on golf, then rolls on into book design and books as objects, the pacing and rhythms of Wright's work, its humor, its orality, what ancillary information is beneficial, and how the introduction of the two children really snap the first section into place as a reading experience.

This week's music is "Sham System (The Limiñanas Rework)" by Al-Qasar.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be covering pages 68-133.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

The large image of the Carpentaria Gulf Coast associated with this post is copyrighted by Sentinel Hub.

TMR 21.8: "MOON IS A MENACE" [Same Bed Different Dreams] Jan 26, 2024

We've reached the end which, in Chad and Brian's opinion, Ed Park totally lands. There's Friday the 13th talk. Reagan makes an appearance. The structure of the book is revisited. As are all the ideas of mirrors and patrimony, assassins and conspiracy theories.

Note: Information about the "Opening the Channel" translation and creative flow retreat being organized by former co-host Katie Whittemore discussed on this episode is available here.

This week's music is from Jodie Foster's Army.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Stay tuned for information on Season 22 featuring Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 21.7: "Taro Tsujimoto" [Same Bed Different Dreams] Jan 19, 2024

The threads all come together in this week's section as the book barrels toward its conclusion. On this episode, Chad describes his visualization of the book's structure, Tim Hortons and Dunkin Donuts get crapped on, 2333 gets a new meaning, the Moonies make an appearance, as does Ronald Reagan (boo, hiss), Philip Roth, and PDK. Also, a Sleeper Awakes. Just remember, dreams are everything that's not online.

Note: Information about the "Opening the Channel" translation and creative flow retreat being organized by former co-host Katie Whittemore discussed on this episode is available here.

This week's music is peak TMR music times. "Tim Hortons" by Pretty Gary.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for "MOON IS A MENACE" which wrap up the book and introduce season 22. (Full schedule here.)

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

The large image associated with this post is a still from I've Got a Secret courtesy of Google's image search, CBS, and maybe Winston cigarettes?

TMR 21.6: "Interview with a Mirror" [Same Bed Different Dreams] Jan 13, 2024

Korean food, Grocery Games, VCR tapes, screenplays, gazebos, a thumb drive, Amsterdam, and the statement, "TRANSLATION IS A LONG CON."

This week's music is "I'll Be Your Mirror" by Velvet Underground.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for "Taro Tsujimoto," which will cover through page 450. (Full schedule here.)

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 21.5: "A-Bomb Destroys Downtown Buffalo" [Same Bed Different Dreams] Jan 08, 2024

The connections proliferate and the threading together of the three sections continues. Interactive rights to 2333 are finally, properly sold; the mystery surrounding Echo grows; and The Buffalo Evening News brings the concept of "fake news" to a whole new level. That and more in this week's episode.

This week's music is "Simulation Swarm" by Big Thief.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for "Interview with a Mirror," which will cover through page 382. (Full schedule here.)

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 21.4: "The Second Bae" [Same Bed Different Dreams] Jan 02, 2024

Brian's back and everyone is (mostly) healthy. They talk about Korean history, double (or triple) agents, the idea of history as coincidence or plot, North and South Korea, and more.

This week's music is "Two States" by Pavement.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for "A-Bomb Destroys Downtown Buffalo," which will cover through page 342. (Full schedule here.)

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 21.3: "Wildwording" [Same Bed Different Dreams] Dec 23, 2023

Protect yourself: There's a chance you'll catch Chad's illness simply by listening to this episode. An episode in which he tries to recap a number of elements of the book—the 2333 game, the louse, wildwording—to Kaija Straumanis amid coughing fits and a dissolving brain. He also shares the most bizarre dream he's ever had, which is something else.

This week's music is "Gospel for a New Century" by Yves Tumor. Whose 2023 album, Praise a Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) is quite brilliant.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for "The Second Bae," which will cover through page 256.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 21.2: "2333" [Same Bed Different Dreams] Dec 15, 2023

From their respective hotel rooms, Chad and Brian talk about science fiction, 2/3/33 (and 2/6/66??), conspiracy vs. coincidence, Ohtani and Lee, the ASS black satchel, the assassinations we don't learn much about in high school, Hegemon, more KPG connections, and the (not great) alt-newspaper of the week.

This week's music is "Something Soon" by Car Seat Headrest.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in next week for "Wildwording," which will cover up to page 206.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

The large image associated with this post is from the Druthers newspaper discussed on the show, and which we won't be linking to.

TMR 21.1: "What Is History?" [Same Bed Different Dreams] Dec 08, 2023

Season 21 of the Two Month Review kicks off with a discussion of Taylor Swift and the demise of alt-weeklies, then segues into a long discussion about the opening party scene in Same Bed Different Dreams. Chad and Brian talk about what's real and not in both the party scene and the "Dream One" section about the Korean Provisional Government, and start picking out various echos or motifs in the text—some of which won't come to fruition for several episodes . . .

This week's music is "Debra" by Jockstrap.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Tune in next week for "2333," which will cover up to page 155.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 20.8: "Making It Up As We Goes Along" [MULLIGAN STEW] Nov 10, 2023

Brian and Chad break down the ending of Mulligan Stew, discuss how this is one of maybe 2-3 endings by books featured on TMR that truly works, banter about possible titles for next season, get a little strange, and analyze what works and doesn't work about the AI generated jacket copy. (Oh, metaphors.)

This week's music is "Web in Front" by Archers of Loaf. ("And there's a chance that things could get weird" is basically the thesis statement for this podcat.)

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Tune in . . . sometime soon for Season 21! We don't have a book locked in yet, so if you have suggestions, send them along!

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 20.7: "Ambidextriprestigigit!" [MULLIGAN STEW] Nov 03, 2023

Brian sings! Pynchon is made fun of! Lamont totally goes off the rails but really really really wants that corset! Rich art collectors are absurd!

This week's music is Car Seat Headrest cover of "We Looked Like Giants."

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Tune in next week for "Making It Up As We Goes Along" in which the entirety of the book will be discussed! (Along with some possibilities for Season 21.)

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 20.6: "Nameless Shamelessness" [MULLIGAN STEW] Oct 31, 2023

Chad had a night before this recording, so ignore him, but pay attention to the worst possible smut you will ever hear read aloud (the Franzen bits are worse than Lamont's) and enjoy the laughs, the literary contortions, and the next chapter of Lamont's ongoing mental breakdown.

This week's music is "U&ME" by alt-j.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Tune in next week for "Ambidextriprestigigit!" which will cover up to page 455 (new edition; 336 in the older ones).

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 20.5: "Bubble in My Fizziness" [MULLIGAN STEW] Oct 13, 2023

Wacky Aphorisms vs. Cowboy Clichés. A title change that indicates a change in attitude. A bizarre publisher's catalog. The Red Swan. More letters! This section of Mulligan Stew is jam packed with fun riffs, more evidence of the intricate construction underlying this book, paranoia, puzzle pieces, and anger.

This week's music is "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" by Jim Croce.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Tune in next week for "Nameless Shamelessness," which will cover up to page 395 (new edition; 336 in the older ones).

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 20.4: "The Sweat of Love" [MULLIGAN STEW] Oct 06, 2023

"I SUCK!" Kicking off with an "erotic" "poem," this week's episode is nuts from the very start. There is a very serious explanation for the "Flawless Play Restored: The Masque of Fungo" (thanks to Tyrus Miller's piece in the Review of Contemporary Fiction), but this is surrounded by Nobel Prize talk, a breakdown of Lamont's incredibly cringey letter to Lorna Flambeaux, her terrible poetry, and many, many laughs—all with special guest Tom Flynn (Lost in Redonda).

This week's music is "Crisis" by Elizabeth Drummond.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Tune in next week for "Bubble in My Fizziness," which will cover up to page 327 (new edition; 277 in the older ones).

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 20.3: "Drunken Condition of Both Teams" [MULLIGAN STEW] Sep 29, 2023

This section of Mulligan Stew is particularly wild, featuring a western populated by Irishmen speaking in bad accents (and worse accents in The Club Zap), a long rambling set of hypotheticals about why the police haven't arrived to find Ned's body (spoiler: Halpin hasn't called them), a drunken baseball game featuring famous authors and famous brands of booze, and the mathematical answer to the question "how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"(A: 0, 1/2, or 1 cord).

This week's music is "Box Scores" by The Baseball Project.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Tune in next week for "The Sweat of Love," which will cover up to page 261 (new edition; 221 in the older ones).

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Three Percent #191: Raymond Queneau Sep 26, 2023

To celebrate the first-ever English-language publication of Raymond Queneau's Sally Mara's Intimate Journal, and the reissue of Pierrot Mon Ami as a Dalkey Essential, Chris Clarke (whose retranslation of Queneau's The Skin of Dreams is forthcoming from NYRB) and Daniel Levin Becker (infamous member of Mujeres Encinta, member of the Oulipo, and author of Many Subtle Channels: In Praise of Potential Literature) joined Chad to talk all things Queneau. They discuss the books, the two major divisions of Oulipian writing, the process of retranslation, the joy of reading these books, and much more.

The music on this episode is "À la pêche des cœurs (inédit)" by Queneau's good friend, Boris Vian.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Spotify, and other places. And follow Open Letter and Chad W. Post on Twitter/X for more info about upcoming episodes and guests.

TMR 20.2: “THE ULTIMATE IN BIZARRE BEAUTY!!” [MULLIGAN STEW] Sep 25, 2023

Loveletters galore! Lists without context! Repurposing life for fiction! More puzzles! Terrible book reviews! An insufferable, pretentious elementary school essay! This episode has it all—and more! (As Lamont would say.)

This week's music is "All Your Fails" by Kevin Drew.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Tune in next week for "Drunken Condition of Both Teams," which will cover up to page 196 (new edition; 164 in the older ones).

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

The large image associated with this post ("sky puzzle blue") is copyrighted by Jared Tarbell.

Three Percent #190: John Barth Sep 12, 2023

In honor of two recent John Barth reissues—The Sot-Weed Factor and Chimera, both Dalkey Archive Essentials—John Domini (The Archeology of a Good Ràgu, The Color Inside a Melon, and this appreciation of Barth, among other works) and Max Besora (author of the intro to Sot-Weed Factor along with the very much Barth inspired The Adventures and Misadventures of the Extraordinary and Admirable Joan Orpí, Conquistador and Founder of New Catalonia) joined Chad W. Post to talk about these two titles and Barth's overall impact on the literary scene. It's a long, interesting conversation with a Spanish superfan and a former student of Barths. Well worth the listen!

The music on this episode is "Say It Isn't So" by The Sot Weed Factor. (Who knew this existed??)

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. And follow Open Letter and Chad W. Post on Twitter/X for more info about upcoming episodes and guests.

TMR 20.1: "Then You Do Not Approve of Nabokov?" [MULLIGAN STEW] Sep 08, 2023

Chad and Brian kick off the new season in near hysterics over the first little chunk of Gilbert Sorrentino's Mulligan Stew. From talking about the rejection letters—and near batshit reader's report—prefacing the book, to all the bad writing about the "flawless blue" sky, to the ever-changing dialog tags in Anthony Lamont's detective novel, to the New York Yankees, this episode is a hodgepodge of jokes and observations, and instant love for this wondrous, wooly masterpiece.

This week's music is "American" by FM Belfast.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Tune in next week as Chad and Brian cover up to page 148 (new edition; 124 in the older ones).

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

The "flawless blue sky" image associated with this post is copyrighted by .martin.

TMR 19.12: "Fill Up with Karmas" [THE REMEMBERED PART] Aug 04, 2023

Brian returns to help breakdown the ending to Rodrigo Fresán's "Part Triptych." Is it earned? Is it sincere?? Is this all a Jacob's Ladder scenario??? Chad and Brian debate that along with concepts of time in fiction, the Karmas, the wetness of Latvian meat, Melvill and Mulligan Stew. Fun is had as this long, amazing Fresán journey comes to a close . . .

This week's music is "Big Sky" by The Kinks—a throwback to TMR season one.

Stay tuned for the Mulligan Stew schedule, which will drop this weekend. And get the book now!

You can purchase each of the books in the trilogy separately (Invented, Dreamed, Remembered, OR, if you don't have them and are ready for the reading event of 2023, then get The Part Trilogy for $40—approximately 30% off.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 19.10: "The Fine Art of Leaving Something Out" [THE REMEMBERED PART] Jul 21, 2023

For the first time in the history of the Two Month Review, Chad had to go it alone. He stuck in there, didn't get too crazy, and covered the last chunk of Part II of The Remembered Part. Illness, heartbreak, mental anguish, suicide, Ella, and a mission. It's all in this episode.

This week's music is "Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)" by Concrete Blonde

Next week we'll be covering pages 644-700 (full schedule), and you can watch it live here, or by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

You can purchase each of the books in the trilogy separately (Invented, Dreamed, Remembered, OR, if you don't have them and are ready for the reading event of 2023, then get The Part Trilogy for $40—approximately 30% off.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 19.9: "The Dream of the Invention of the Memory, Etc." [THE REMEMBERED PART] Jul 15, 2023

Veeeeekingdor!!!!! This week's episode is pretty wild, with stories of Riga FC, stoic faces, Fresán's visit to the University of Rochester, Kurt Vonnegut, Andrei The Untranslated (follow his blog!, support his Patreon!), the purpose of book readings and the most uncomfortable ones, time and fiction, and much more!

And visit Three Percent on Tuesday to find out what book we'll be reading in season twenty!!

This week's music is "Malachi" by Grouplove.

Next week we'll be covering pages 563-643 (full schedule), and you can watch it live here, or by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

You can purchase each of the books in the trilogy separately (Invented, Dreamed, Remembered, OR, if you don't have them and are ready for the reading event of 2023, then get The Part Trilogy for $40—approximately 30% off.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Three Percent #188: Baseball Jul 05, 2023

Well, we did it: One whole episode just about baseball and books about baseball and baseball memories and anything else baseball. Caitlin Luce Baker of Island Books, James Crossley of Madison Books, and Dan Wells of Biblioasis join Chad W. Post from Open Letter to pick their "all-time favorite" books about baseball.

This week's music is "The Yips" and "Eraseable Man" by The Baseball Project.

Caitlin's Picks:

The Cultural History of Baseball by Jonathan Fraser Light

The Brothers K by David James Duncan

Ball Four: My Life and Hard Times Throwing the Knuckleball in the Big Leagues by Jim Bouton

The Physics of Baseball by Robert K. Adair

Alan Nathan's blog, The Physics of Baseball

The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham by Ron Shelton

Away Games: The Life and Times of a Latin Ballplayer by Marcos Bretón and José Luis Villegas

Lords of the Realm by John Helyar

Dan's Picks:

Keystone Kids by John R. Tunis

Fail Better: Why Baseball Matters by Mark Kingwell

1934: The Chatham Coloured All-Stars’ Barrier-Breaking Year by Heidi LM Jacobs

James's Picks:

All of Roger Angell

A False Spring & A Nice Tuesday by Pat Jordan

The Utility of Boredom by Andrew Forbes

The Celebrant by Eric Rolfe Greenberg

We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson

Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball by Donald Hall

Chad's Picks:

Baseball Genius by Derek Jeter

The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. by Robert Coover

The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch that Changed My Life by Rick Ankiel

Believeniks!: 2005: The Year We Wrote a Book About the Mets by Ivan Felt and Harris Conklin

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. And follow Open Letter and Chad W. Post on Twitter(?????) for more info about upcoming episodes and guests.

TMR 19.7: "The Good Rememberer (A How-To Guide)" [THE REMEMBERED PART] Jun 30, 2023

Former TMR guest Patrick Smith returns to discuss his reread of the first two volumes of the trilogy, how Fresán's writing inspires him, hanging on to flights of prose, all of the wind in this book, what it means to fall, dogs, and much much more. It's a comprehensive, deep look into what it takes to be a good reader, Ricardo Piglia's "The Last Reader" and the paradoxes at the center of this novel.

This week's music is "These Things Will Come to Be" by DJ Seinfeld, all for the outro bit of telephones and missing missed connections..

Next week we'll be covering pages 422-490 (full schedule), and you can watch it live here, or by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

You can purchase each of the books in the trilogy separately (Invented, Dreamed, Remembered, OR, if you don't have them and are ready for the reading event of 2023, then get The Part Trilogy for $40—approximately 30% off.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 19.6: "The Impossibility of Painting with Watercolors in the Rain" [THE REMEMBERED PART] Jun 26, 2023

Chad and Kaija break down the final bit of the first part of the third volume in Fresán's trilogy (phew), revisit the "is this difficult to read?" discussion, and talk about the articles about Fresán in the new issue of Latin American Literature Today. And at the very, very end, Chad makes a startling admission.

This week's music is "Life Worth Missing" by Car Seat Headrest.

Next week we'll be covering pages 355-421 (full schedule), and you can watch it live here, or by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

You can purchase each of the books in the trilogy separately (Invented, Dreamed, Remembered, OR, if you don't have them and are ready for the reading event of 2023, then get The Part Trilogy for $40—approximately 30% off.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 19.5: "The Burning Gaze of Vladimir Nabokov" [THE REMEMBERED PART] Jun 18, 2023

Separated by 10 hours—like podcasting jet lag?—Chad and Brian work through some observations and rants (specifically about a shitty NY Times list of the best American books between 1981 and 2006, which consists almost entirely of Philip Roth and John Updike and only two books by women), about this section of The Remembered Part. Chad argues for being willing to be confused while reading and they discuss whether or not Fresán's works are confusing. There's also the usual amount of banter and bullshit, and zero words wasted on the Cardinals.

This week's music is "Right Thing" by Bayonne.

Next week we'll be covering pages 281-354 (full schedule), and you can watch it live here, or by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

You can purchase each of the books in the trilogy separately (Invented, Dreamed, Remembered, OR, if you don't have them and are ready for the reading event of 2023, then get The Part Trilogy for $40—approximately 30% off.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 19.4: "Read like Dracula and write like Frankenstein!" [THE REMEMBERED PART] Jun 09, 2023

From Nobel Prize favorites to Proust to competitive cliques on the mountain, this week's episodes is almost as sprawling as the ex-writer's airplane thoughts. Bit more plot dropped into this section of Fresán/Vanderhyden's book, but there's also a lot about IKEA, his death and rebirth, his insincerity, and his loathsome success.

This week's music is "Adore Adore Adore" by Sprints.

Next week we'll be covering pages 204-281 (full schedule), and you can watch it live here, or by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

You can purchase each of the books in the trilogy separately (Invented, Dreamed, Remembered, OR, if you don't have them and are ready for the reading event of 2023, then get The Part Trilogy for $40—approximately 30% off.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

The large image associated with this post is from @bartlebytaco with the captions: "proust volume 2 down. this book went on for fucking ever" and "1000 pages into proust, still don't know if time is good or not."

TMR 19.3: "DREAM + MEMORY = INVENTION" [THE REMEMBERED PART] Jun 02, 2023

Kaija Straumanis pinch hits this week for a discussion about Lost, airplanes, the past and nostalgia, writers vs. narrators, autofiction, how hard it is to sustain a rant, ghosts, pop culture references, where we are in Fresán's trilogy, and much more. The Remembered Part keeps gathering steam, and you'll want to catch up after listening to this so that you can be there for the explosive conclusion to one of the century's greatest literary trilogies.

This week's music is "Tropic Morning News" by The National.

Next week we'll be covering pages 144-204 (full schedule), and you can watch it live here, or by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

You can purchase each of the books in the trilogy separately (Invented, Dreamed, Remembered, OR, if you don't have them and are ready for the reading event of 2023, then get The Part Trilogy for $40—approximately 30% off.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

TMR 19.1: Where Are We At? [THE REMEMBERED PART] May 12, 2023

Maybe not the most informative of recaps, but Brian and Chad discuss what the love about Fresán's writing, things they recall from the first two volumes of the trilogy, ideas about what to maybe expect (Dracula + Proust), peppered with the usual amount of jokes and antics.

This week's music is "Pontius Pilate's Home Movies" by The New Pornographers.

Next week we'll be covering pages 1-82 (full schedule), and you can watch it live by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

You can purchase each of the books in the trilogy separately (Invented, Dreamed, Remembered, OR, if you don't have them and are ready for the reading event of 2023, then get The Part Trilogy for $40—approximately 30% off.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please rate us—wherever you get your podcasts!

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Three Percent #188: Cultural Support in Multilingual Spain [A Riveting Event] Apr 25, 2023

In this episode, Chad talks with Olga Castro (Univ. of Warwick), and translators Jacob Rogers (Galician), Mara Faye Lethem (Catalan), Robin Munby (Asturian), and Aritz Branton (Basque) about literatures from the official (and unofficial) languages of Spain, ways in which the regional governments support translation from these languages, the burden of pitching, challenges and joys, books you should know about, and much more.

This week's music is "We Will Live for Ages" by Hjaltalín.

Things we discussed that you should check out:

The Spanish issue of The Riveter;

Booktegi, for access to Basque literature;

A recording of The Riveter event at the Cervantes Institute.

And just like that, the Three Percent Podcast is back! Stay tuned for additional conversations, diatribes, and info about new and forthcoming translations. As such, if you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 18.10: "Looks Like a Lump of Shit to Me" [Ann Quin] Dec 30, 2022

The final episode of this season focuses on The Unmapped Country: Stories and Fragments, focusing on the titular story/unfinished novel, along with a few other shorter pieces. The gang looks back at all of Ann Quin's books, speculate on what her career might have been had she lived another couple decades, whether of not she should be taught in a creative writing class, and more.

This week's music is "Web in Front" by Archers of Loaf.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and stay tuned for information about Season 19 on The Remembered Part by Rodrigo Fresán.

And you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And visit Kaija's website for info on her translations, photography, and more!

All of Ann Quin's books are available through Bookshop.org, or at better bookstores everywhere. Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

TMR 18.9: "Your Name? Your Trauma?" [Ann Quin] Dec 28, 2022

Chad, Brian, and Kaija finish up their discussion of Tripticks, which basically devolves into reading out the funniest lines they can find from the this trippy-dippy, wild-ass ending. Some analysis is made of the deconstruction of male narratives, the Beats, the Dashiell Hammett of it all, and more, but come prepared for some fun and laughs.

This week's music is "How Does the Story Go?" by Sprints.

You can watch next week's discussion of Tripticks live on YouTube, Thursday December 29th. (Reading schedule can be found here.) And you can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel.

And you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And visit Kaija's website for info on her translations, photography, and more!

All of Ann Quin's books are available through Bookshop.org, or at better bookstores everywhere. Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

TMR 18.8: "No. 1 X-Wife" [Ann Quin] Dec 16, 2022

NIGHTRIPPER!!!!!!!!!

This week's music is "Dirty Boots" by Sonic Youth.

You can watch next week's discussion of Tripticks live on YouTube. (Reading schedule can be found here.) And you can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel.

And you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And visit Kaija's website for info on her translations, photography, and more!

All of Ann Quin's books are available through Bookshop.org, or at better bookstores everywhere. Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

TMR 18.7: "I Would Like To Exhaust the Limits of the Possible" [Ann Quin] Dec 10, 2022

Kaija Straumanis filled in for a domestically distressed Brian, and Chad went all psych0-philosophical on this week's episode, talking about schizoid personality splits, R. D. Laing, reading the various parts of Passages simultaneously, postulating wild hot takes, and saying "fuck off" to a wide swath of bad actors. (Looking at you, Kanye.)

This week's music is "Outlook for the Future" by Inventions.

You can watch next week's discussion of Tripticks live on YouTube. (Reading schedule can be found here.) And you can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel.

And you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And visit Kaija's website for info on her translations, photography, and more!

All of Ann Quin's books are available through Bookshop.org, or at better bookstores everywhere. Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

TMR 18.5: "Reads Without Turning a Page" [Ann Quin] Dec 01, 2022

Kaija Straumanis joins Chad and Brian this week to talk about orchids, hot takes (did S. sleep with L.?? how exactly did she die?), creepy British dudes, symmetry in Three, Ann Quin's statement on threesomes, the ambiguity of the text, and much more.

This week's music is "What Went Down" by Foals.

You can watch next week's discussion of Passage live on YouTube at 4pm ET on Thursday, December 1. (Reading schedule can be found here.) And you can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel.

And you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And visit Kaija's website for info on her translations, photography, and more!

All of Ann Quin's books are available through Bookshop.org, or at better bookstores everywhere. Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

TMR 18.4: "Pursuit to the Point of Indiscretion" [Ann Quin] Nov 18, 2022

Chad and Bria dive into Three, discussing the humor of the dialogue, the poetic-cinematic techniques Quin employs, monogamy and marriage, whether or not L was a collaborationist or worse, the importance of the number three, the play-like elements of the books, anti-mimetic writing, and much more. It's a fun episode complete with dog barks, laughs, unanswered questions, and a decent amount of insight into Three for anyone feeling lost.

This week's music is "Lost Heads" by Moon Duo.

You can watch next week's discussion of Three live on YouTube at 4pm ET on Wednesday, November 9th. (Reading schedule can be found here.) And you can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel.

And you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

All of Ann Quin's books are available through Bookshop.org, or at better bookstores everywhere. Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

TMR 18.3: "Why This Eternal Escaping?" [Ann Quin] Nov 11, 2022

Dead dummies, drowned tramps, resolving the Oedipal complex, the forever incompleteness of the number "3," sex, the sea, slapstick comedy, irony, competing desires of domesticity versus the desire to escape, the beautiful ending and the reverse coda, and much more is discussed on this episode covering the whole of Ann Quin's Berg.

Now Chad and Brian move on to Quin's second novel, Three, which came out in 1969 and, in a way, begins right where we left off, opening "with the disappearance at sea, possibly suicide, of a young woman, identified only as S." You can get the book via And Other Stories, Bookshop, your local indie, or Amazon. This is the book that got Chad completely hooked on Quin, so read along and tune in!

This week's music is "City of the Dead" by Superchunk.

You can watch next week's discussion of Three live on YouTube at 4pm ET on Wednesday, November 9th. (Reading schedule can be found here.) And you can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel.

And you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

All of Ann Quin's books are available through Bookshop.org, or at better bookstores everywhere. Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

TMR 18.2: "BUY BERG'S BEST HAIR TONIC" [Ann Quin] Nov 07, 2022

Chad and Brian dive into the first half of Berg this episode, mispronouncing words, talking about the literary scene Quin came out of, whether or not Berg/Greb is an incel, the humor found in the book, and more. (Inevitably there's a dig at Ohio somewhere in this recording.)

This week's music is "When a Woman Is Around" byUnloved.

You can watch next week's discussion of Berg live on YouTube at 4pm ET on Wednesday, November 9th. (Reading schedule can be found here.) And you can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel.

And you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

All of Ann Quin's books are available through Bookshop.org, or at better bookstores everywhere. Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

TMR 18.1: Who Was Ann Quin? Oct 28, 2022

The eighteenth season of the Two Month Review is all about Ann Quin's books—all four novels and her collected stories and fragments—and starts off with an overview of who she was, the context of experimental British writing in the 1960s, how/why Quin has been underappreciated, some info on supplementary critical materials, and much more.

This week's music is "HaHaHome" by twen.

You can watch next week's discussion of Berg live on YouTube at 4pm ET on Wednesday, November 2nd. (Reading schedule can be found here.) And you can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel.

And you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

All of Ann Quin's books are available through Bookshop.org, or at better bookstores everywhere. Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

The large image associated with this post comes from The Paris Review with credit to Oswald Jones for this photo from the Larry Goodall Collection.

TMR 17.7: "I Erased Your Face" [Eltit + Hahn] Jun 17, 2022

Katie and Chad tackle this section alone, discussing the revolutionary background of the main characters, going off into Bernadine Dohrn, the SDS, the Weather Underground, and direct action. They also talk about the timeline—as far as they understand it—the challenges of translating legal terms, Danny's multiple read throughs of the text, and much more.

This week's music is "Simulation Swarm" by Big Thief.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

You can watch next week's episode (June 22nd, 9am ET) which will cover through page 136 in Never Did the Fire and page 152 in Catching Fire live on YouTube here, and watch all previous seasons on our YouTube channel.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

TMR 17.6: "The Letters Defeated You" [Eltit + Hahn] Jun 13, 2022

In addition to talking about the Trump/Tesla/Lockwood conspiracy theory, our hosts this week discuss "bone avalanches," how translators are paid, the global literary network available for "experimental" books translated into English, "runts," Lativa's obsession with MILF graffiti, "catching fire," and driving a convertible off a cliff.

This week's music is "Bicameral" by The Range.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

You can watch next week's episode (June 15th, 10am ET) which will cover through page 136 in Never Did the Fire and page 152 in Catching Fire live on YouTube here, and watch all previous seasons on our YouTube channel.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

TMR 17.5: "Our Organicity" [Eltit + Hahn] Jun 03, 2022

Chad and Brian go it alone and discuss "navel gazing" novels, books that entertain vs. ones about the prose, where Eltit's novel resides on that spectrum, Tommy Pham slapping Joc Peterson, shit in the bed, and much more.

This week's music is "It Was Us" by Arms and Sleepers.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

You can watch next week's episode (June 1st) live on YouTube here, and watch all previous seasons on our YouTube channel.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

TMR 17.4: "I Watched the Death Machine" [Eltit + Hahn] May 27, 2022

Technical difficulties are kept to a minimum on this week's episode, as Chad, Brian, and Katie talk about the advancement of plot, the French New Novel, the title and its translation, the body, trauma, touching eyeballs, and more.

This week's music is "Monday" by The Regrettes.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

You can watch next week's episode (June 1st) live on YouTube here, and watch all previous seasons on our YouTube channel.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

TMR 17.3: "Mónica & Carlos & Tony" [Eltit + Hahn] May 19, 2022

In lieu of a live episode, this week's TMR features interviews with Mónica Ramón Ríos and Carlos Labbé about their relationship with Diamela Eltit and her role in Chilean letters. That's followed by a conversation with Tony Malone (of Tony's Reading List) about the two books under discussion this season and the Shadow Man Booker International jury that he's been helping run for a number of years.

Katie, Brian, and Chad will be back live on May 25th to cover up to page 68 in Never Did the Fire and to page 78 in Catching Fire.

This week's music is "No Blade of Grass" from the new(ish) Bodega album.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

TMR 17.2: "Pure Hatred" [Eltit + Hahn] May 13, 2022

Technical difficulties abound as Chad struggles to find reliable Wifi in Latvia. (While being recruited by the Russian mafia?) Katie and Brian take the lead this episode, discussing the next few chapters of Never Did the Fire, gendered adjectives and information, Marxist groups and analysis, and much more. Also: Stay tuned at the end for a special interview with Sam McDowell of Charco Press!

This week's music is "Age of Anxietyt I" from the new Arcade Fire album.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

Also: use code 2MONTHREVIEW at the Charco website for 10% off everything. (Lies! Discount only applies to books—no bundles, no tote bags, etc.)

Next week's episode will be available on 5/14 to Patreon supporters, and will drop wherever you get your podcasts on Wednesday, May 18th. Unlike other episodes, it'll consist of two interviews related to Eltit and the books rather than a breakdown of the next sections. We'll be back to normal on May 25th!

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

TMR 17.1: You Behaved Like a Dog May 06, 2022

TMR is back, breaking down Daniel Hahn's translation diary, Catching Fire, alongside his translation of Never Did the Fire by Diamela Eltit.

In this episode, they contextualize Eltit and this particular book, talk about intentional ambiguity, Franco and Pinochet, action vs. analysis, bad and hard to eat rice, and more.

Also, Katie sings.

And there's a long interview with Daniel Hahn!

This week's music is "Impossible" from the new Röyksopp album.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

Also: use code 2MONTHREVIEW at the Charco website for 10% off everything.

You can watch next week's episode (May 11th) live on YouTube here, and watch all previous seasons on our YouTube channel.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter’s activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Three Percent #187: Is This The End? Apr 29, 2022

After a two-year hiatus, Chad and Tom are back! In this episode—maybe the final one of this particular scope and format—they talk about what's gone on over the past couple years, how much printing sucks right now, distribution issues, Fum d'Estampa, ELADATL: A History of the East Los Angeles Dirigible Air Transport Lines by Sesshu Foster and Arturo Ernesto Romo, Everything and Less by Mark McGurl, Tokyo Redux by David Peace, Lady Joker by Kaoru Takamura, Jon Fosse, Dalkey Archive's impending relaunch, and more.

This week's music is "Always Together With You" by Spiritualized.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 16.13: "Fürst Pückler" [2666] Jan 03, 2022

We've reached the end of 2666 and Chad, Katie, and Brian convene to talk about how amazing the ending is, publishers protecting authors, love and family, the book being a "love letter to literature," the circular nature of the book, and James Joyce.

This week's music is "Swoonn" by The Chemical Brothers.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes.

We'll be back soon with season 17.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and Wolfskin.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 16.12: "Senselessness" [2666] Dec 27, 2021

Chad and Brian talk about more vampires, about semen, about senseless scene after senseless scene, about WWII, about masterpieces and mediocre writing, about publisher laments, and about other things.

This week's music is "Damn These Vampires" by The Mountain Goats. (The Jordan Lake Sessions version, specifically.)

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And tune in next Thursday at 9am ET for the next episode, which will go through the end of the book.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and Wolfskin.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 16.11: "Hello, Big German" [2666] Dec 18, 2021

We're in the home stretch, as Archimboldi appears at last. Chad, Katie, and Brian discuss his origin story, vampires, seaweed, the nature of time, various echoes appearing in this final section, what Bolaño might be saying about himself as a writer through Hans Reiter, and masturbation.

Here's a link to the blog post Katie references in this episode.

This week's music is "Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)" by Concrete Blonde.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And tune in next Thursday at 9am ET for the next episode, which will go through page 806.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four and Last Words on Earth.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 16.10: "Three Men and a Congresswoman" [2666] Dec 13, 2021

Chad and Brian tackle the braided narratives that close out "The Part About the Crimes," discussing Michel Butor's thoughts about detective novels (from Passing Time) and the "rules" laid out in 20 Master Plots: And How to Build Them against 2666. Some interesting observations about what the core "mystery" of the book really is, questions about the chronology of the four parts so far, and some speculation about what's to come. And some My Little Pony talk. Just because.

Also, this week's episode is sponsored by the Wisdom App, a social audio platform where you can listen to experts talking about a wide range of topics. You can download the app and follow Chad at chadwpost, and this Wednesday, December 15th at 7pm Eastern, he will give a talk about getting started in publishing.

This week's music is "End of the Night" by A Place to Bury Strangers. (Not sure there's a better title + band name more fitting for "The Part About the Crimes.")

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And tune in next Thursday at 9am ET for the next episode.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four and Last Words on Earth.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 16.9: "Repetition" [2666] Dec 03, 2021

Brian's back to talk about dead baby jokes, repetition, the power of reading, snuff films, matriarchal lineage, and much more. Chad didn't sleep before this episode, which explains some of the wackiness.

This week's music is "World Gone Deaf" by Bill Baird.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And tune in next Thursday at 9am ET for the next episode.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four and Last Words on Earth.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 16.7: "The Next Dead Woman" [2666] Nov 19, 2021

Chad, Brian, and Katie dive into "The Part About the Crimes," talking about the fact that the Penitent gets more detective time than all of the murdered women, about the seer, about ventriloquism, about Lalo Cura, and about the existence of Ciudad Juárez in 2666.

This week's music is "Highlights of 100" by Kiwi Jr.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And tune in next Thursday at 9am ET for the next episode, "Klaus Haas."

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four and Last Words on Earth.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 16.6: "Fire, Walk With Me" [2666] Nov 16, 2021

After Chad, Katie, and Brian finish recapping the end of "The Part About Fate"—including the Twin Peaks reference, representations of violence, the apocryphal Robert Rodriguez porno, blindness and impaired sight, and much more—they're joined by Dr. Andrew Martino, a massive Bolaño fan who raises more questions and observations as the group read heads into "The Part About the Crimes."

This week's music is "Three and a Half Feet High and Rising" by El Ten Eleven.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation—and see Chad looking mighty uncomfortable in a tie—you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And tune in next Thursday at 9am ET for the next episode, "The Next Dead Woman ."

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four and Last Words on Earth.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 16.5: "DANGER MONEY FOOD STARS USEFULNESS" [2666] Nov 05, 2021

In the first chunk of this week's episode, Brian, Chad, and Katie break down the first half of "The Part About Fate" and look specifically at Kessler's speech in the diner, the areas of exploitative capitalism, femicide and how it's everywhere, the idea of a system that kills, and much more. (They literally run out of time.) Then, Chad and Katie are joined by Natasha Wimmer to discuss her translation, how she came to Bolaño, what she's learned about translating over the years, and how she approached this particular section of the novel.

This week's music is "91" by Bleachers.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation—and see Chad looking mighty uncomfortable in a tie—you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And tune in next Thursday at 9am ET for the next episode, "DANGER, MONEY, FOOD, STARS, USEFULNESS."

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four and Last Words on Earth.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 16.4: "Ramon Llull and His Fantastic Machine" [2666] Oct 29, 2021

This two-part episode opens with Katie, Brian, and Chad talking about madness, the pursuit of knowledge, what great authors "struggle against," and much more. Then, Chad and Katie are joined by Emily Hall (The Longcut) to discuss the art works on the covers of the three-volume edition of 2666, along with Duchamp, Amalfitano's "readymade," and more.

Here are links to a number of the artworks that Emily references throughout the discussion:

Cy Twombly. Academy (1955)

Albertus Seba's Wunderkammer

Frederick Ruysch's Wunderkammer

Marcel Duchamp. Readymade malheureux (Unhappy Readymade, 1919)

This week's music is "Walking at a Downtown Pace" by Parquet Courts.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation—and see Chad looking mighty uncomfortable in a tie—you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And tune in next Thursday at 9am ET for the next episode, "DANGER, MONEY, FOOD, STARS, USEFULNESS."

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four and Last Words on Earth.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 16.3: "El Cerdo" [2666] Oct 22, 2021

One of the brainiest TMRs to date, this episode talks a lot about doubles and mirrors in 2666, religious iconography, coincidence vs. fate, disappearances and vanishing, the creeping horror found in this novel, the abyss and the void, musicals, and much more. Brian, Chad, and Katie cover the entirely of "The Part About the Critics" and will do all of "The Part About Amalfitano" next episode. Enjoy!

This week's music is from Kunzite.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation—and see Chad looking mighty uncomfortable in a tie—you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And tune in next Thursday at 9am ET for the next episode, "El Cerdo."

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four and Last Words on Earth.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 16.2: "Can Anyone Solve the Riddle?" [2666] Oct 15, 2021

This week's episode opens with 'Professor Post" poking a bit of fun at academics, then dives headfirst into the first 75 pages of 2666. Brian, Katie, and Chad talk about the representation of Liz Norton, of the voids that exist in 2666, the religious experience of becoming obsessed with an author, violence, made up books, the covers of the U.S., UK, and Spanish editions, "ennui" vs. "boredom," Rodrigo Fresán's appearance, and much much more.

Also, stay tuned for a bonus section in which Nick Buzanski of Books Are Magic talks about the hype surrounded 2666 from a bookseller's perspective. And click here if you want to see the videos he and Chad talk about.

This week's music is "Hug from a Dinosaur" by Torres.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation—and see Chad looking mighty uncomfortable in a tie—you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And tune in next Thursday at 9am ET for the next episode, "El Cerdo."

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four and Last Words on Earth.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 16.1: "Roberto Bolaño Overview" [2666] Oct 08, 2021

Season 16 is here! At long last, Bolaño's 2666 takes center stage, and Chad and Brian are joined by translator and Bolaño enthusiast, Katie Whittemore. In this opening episode, they discuss the myth-making of Bolaño's biography, they talk about sudden fame, the grind of the artist, and of the way that everything is read as genius once someone is declared a genius. They talk about Last Words on Earth by Javier Serena and Katie Whittemore, and they preview 2666 talking about the "black holes" of the novel (which ties into Bolaño's "Infrarealist Manifesto") and discussing the not-quite-bestselling Caitlyn Reads 2666.

This week's music is "Airplane Rider" by Air Miami.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four and Last Words on Earth.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 15.15: "The End" [Vernon Subutex] Jul 22, 2021

Chad and Brian recap the wild end to Vernon Subutex, debate whether it was predictable or not, whether Despentes earned it or not, and what to make of the proto-history chapter that rounds out the trilogy. And, in classic TMR fashion, the episode ends abruptly when Chad's wifi suddenly dies. (Technical difficulties for the win.)

This week's music is a new cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill."

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 15.14: "And Then Evil Showed Its Face" [Vernon Subutex] Jul 12, 2021

Covering what's probably the most disturbing section of Vernon Subutex, this is an intense, fairly dark episode of the Two Month Review. They discuss how the most evil character is a manager/agent, about how men are everywhere, ready to ruin things, and much more. On the upside, Chad and Brian recorded early in the morning, so their voices have some extra depth . . .

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us on Wednesday, July 14th, ask questions, make comments, and correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 15.13: "Gangland Shooting" [Vernon Subutex] Jul 02, 2021

Chad almost had to do this episode solo, but all of you were spared that catastrophe by Kaija Straumanis and David Smith (whose delay makes for some funny moments). The talk about what you would do for $100 million dollars, what most terrifies them, fear in general, Max as Lex Luthor, and much more.

This week's music is from the Velvet Underground and, ugh, Korn. Sorry.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us on Thursday, July 8th, ask questions, make comments, and correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 15.11: "Everyone's Been Talking to Me About You" [Vernon Subutex] Jun 18, 2021

Following up on last week's catastrophic technical difficulties, Brian recaps some of his conversation with Frank Wynne before he and Chad dive into volume three of Despentes's Vernon Subutex. They talk about hippies, Dan Deacon, cults, Cultish, Vernon's purity, and much more.

This week's music is "The Crystal Cat" by Dan Deacon. (Click here to see one of his "convergences.")

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us on Thursday, June 24th, ask questions, make comments, and correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 15.8: "You Shouldn't Have Hurt My Mother" [Vernon Subutex] Jun 07, 2021

Chad and Brian get into some fun and vengeful parts of Vernon Subutex 2 this week, talking about Gaëll, the proliferation of diereses in this section, getting revenge, Vernon's magical music, and more.

This week's music is "The Modern World" by The Jam.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us on Thursday, June 10th, ask questions, make comments, and correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 15.8: "Bourgeois Shitdick!" [Vernon Subutex] Jun 01, 2021

Kaija Straumanis pinch hits this week to talk about Céleste, about spray painting insults, the best forms of revenge, how to upend a system, and whether of not a good dad can be an alcoholic. This episode is a great prelude to one of the major plot points of the trilogy, so listen to this and get ready for next week . . .

This week's music is "They'll Never" by Stef Chura.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us on Thursday, June 3rd, ask questions, make comments, and correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

The large image associated with this post is copyrighted by Ittmust.

Three Percent #186: Italian Science Fiction Jun 01, 2021

In this special episode, Chad talks with Rachel Cordasco about a new Three Percent project focusing on translators as curators. Over the course of the next month, we'll be posting a number of different types of posts—excerpts, profiles, readings, shorter podcasts, movie clips—using the five works of Italian science fiction Rachel selected as the starting point.

In case it gets lost in the podcast, here are the five books in Rachel Cordasco's "Italian Science-Fiction Collection":

Cancerqueen by Tommaso Landolfi (tr Raymond Rosenthal)(1971) Storie naturali (1966, as by Damiano Malabaila) and Vizio di forma (1971)

selections from both in The Sixth Day and Other Tales (tr Raymond Rosenthal, 1990)
full translations of these & all Levi titles in Complete Works of Primo Levi (2015), w/ the two collections above tr Jenny McPhee

Nexhuman by Francesco Verso (tr Sally McCorry) (2015) Creative Surgery by Clelia Farris (tr Rachel Cordasco and Jennifer Delare) (2020) Bug by Giacomo Sartori (tr Frederika Randall) (2021)

Stay tuned for more information about these titles and other related books.

This episode's music is "Motherboard" by Daft Punk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 15.7: "You Don't Look Your Best" [Vernon Subutex] May 21, 2021

Derek Maine returns for his second appearance this season to talk about Alex Bleach's tapes, Vodka Satana's death, how the system is rigged, horrible men, the complications of passing judgement, Motörhead, mushroom powder, and much more. This is a pretty key episode, as the trilogy veers into detective novel territory, and the conflict with Dopalet becomes more well defined.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us on Thursday, May 20th, ask questions, make comments, and correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

This week's music is "Eat the Rich" by Motörhead.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester

Three Percent #185: More Granta! May 20, 2021

Veronica Esposito joined Chad and Valerie Miles to continue talking about Granta's second list of "Best Young Spanish-language Novelists." They talk about some of the recent Spanish reviews—and criticisms—of the list, about writing the periphery, about science-fiction and the differences between the 2010 list and the 2020 one, and much more.

Upcoming Granta events include one on May 20th at 5pm ET on Zoom, sponsored by the Brooklyn Public Library, and a Hay Festival event on June 4th. The Brazos Bookstore event on Women in Translation that Veronica is moderating will take place on July 8th, and stay tuned to Granta Español for more!

This episode's music is "Long in the Tooth" by Budos Band.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 15.6: "Looking for Subutex" [Vernon Subutex] May 17, 2021

Chad and Brian go it alone this week to talk about whether this is one book or three (or three "seasons" of one book), or how Xavier and Patrice are both awful people but in entirely different ways, the breadth of characterization in Despentes's writing, all the jokes you can make knowing "Subutex" is Methadone, how to properly store gasoline in plastic bags, and much more.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us on Thursday, May 20th, ask questions, make comments, and correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

This week's music is "Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster" by Thee Oh Sees. If you want to see/listen to/contribute to the Vernon Subutex playlist on Spotify that Kate Sherrod set up, just follow the link below and enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/75Q4WIt3ueJdCvadjEaCbc?si=jnn5RNyuR_2Ro4A5w0PV7g

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 15.5: "I Am a Hobo Perched on a Hill" [Vernon Subutex] May 10, 2021

Translator Frank Wynne joins Chad and Brian to talk about slang, about yummy mummies, about why Vernon's pseudonym is so weird, and much much more. This is an episode as much about translating and reading as it is about the book proper, and is definitely worth listening to.

This week's music is "Waiting Room" by Fugazi.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us next week when we discuss the beginning of Volume 2, and ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Three Percent #184: Valerie Miles on Granta's Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists 2 May 06, 2021

To kick off a month of features on the new Granta "Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists" issue, Chad talked with editor/translator Valerie Miles about the process of selecting these 25 authors amid a pandemic, about the shifts in demographics between the first list (from 2010) and this one, about voice and the importance of translators, and much more. Stay tuned all month for coverage of all the authors included in this issue along with bonus podcasts, videos, and the like.

You can read the entirety of Valerie's introduction to this issue here. And tune in on May 6th at 1:30 ET to this event sponsored by Harvard to hear Valerie talk with Mateo García Elizondo, Dainerys Machado Vento, and Michel Nieva, all of whom are featured on the list.

This episode's music is "A Plate in My Honor" by Ron Gallo.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 15.4: "Marxist Hells Angel" [VERNON SUBUTEX] May 03, 2021

Translator Katie Whittemore (Four by Four, The Communist's Daughter, World's Best Mother, Last Words on Earth) joins Chad and Brian to talk about the horrible actions of Patrice, and whether he could be redeemed, about childbirth, about Aïcha and Hyena, and about Disney. Funny and cutting, this episode explores the book's tensions and MacGuffin, the narrative arcs being set up for the various characters, and why character studies can be so fulfilling to read.

Katie also was given the honor of choosing the book for the sixteenth season of the TMR, kicking off in September. Tune in if you want to find out what we'll be reading post-trilogy.

Please ignore all of the technical difficulties, but definitely get in touch if you'd like to rent Katie's writer's space outside of Valencia, Spain.

This week's music is "100%" by Sonic Youth.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us next week when we discuss all of volume one with Frank Wynne and ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 15.3: "Vodka Satana" [VERNON SUBUTEX] Apr 26, 2021

Caitlin Luce Baker of Island Books joins Chad and Brian to talk about a very nicely framed section of Vernon Subutex. We get introduced to Aïcha, who has, through Pamela Kant, just found out that her mom was a porn star before her death. (And had a fling with Alex Bleach.) We also get to see how the Hyena works (kind of), and leave off with her and Aïcha on a trip to Barcelona together.

This week's music is "Here Come the Munchies" by Kid Loco.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us next week when we discuss pages 216-271 and ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 15.2: "Yummy Mummy or MILF" [VERNON SUBUTEX] Apr 16, 2021

Emma Ramadan—translator of Despentes's Pretty Things and Anne Garreta (among many others), and recent winner of the PEN Translation Prize—joins Brian and Chad to talk about how cool Despentes is, and how much slang she uses in her work. They also discuss the conflict that will drive the plot (Laurent Dopalet vs. Bleach's tapes), inventing fake identities on the Internet (hi, Doug Feldick!), and, not bury the lead, which is preferable: yummy mummy or MILF. Also a bit of music talk, and a lot of laughs.

This week's music is "Manipulator" by Ty Seagall.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us next week when we discuss pages 147-215 and ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And buy books from Riffraff!!

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 15.1: "Alexandre Bleach Is Dead" [VERNON SUBUTEX] Apr 09, 2021

The fifteenth iteration of the Two Month Review kicks off in a big way, giving a quick overview of Virginie Despentes's life and work for Brian, and then launching into the wonderful world Despentes constructs filled with characters who are past their prime, who are flawed and don't hide their warts. The subtle ways in which Despentes criticizes society, the separation between horrible thoughts and authorial intent, and the humor found in here all discussed at length. It's a fun way to kick off the new season!

This week's music is "Pretend We're Dead" by L7.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us next week when we discuss pages 84-146 and ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.11: "Hey . . . You Listening?" [J R] Mar 01, 2021

The final episode of the season! First off, Chad and Brian wrap things up, and preview season 15 (Virginie Despentes's Vernon Subutex trilogy, coming in April!), then Nick Sullivan talks to Chad about recording the audiobook, how he got into that business in the first place, the challenges of recording a book like this, and much much more.

This week's music is "In America" by Ezra Furman.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. (This episode is really fun to watch because Chad's camera shorted out . . . ) You can join us next week for the final episode with a special final guest where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.10: "Hoppin' with Flavor!" Feb 19, 2021

Kaija Straumanis joins Chad and Brian this week to talk about toxic masculinity, the genius of the J R audiobook, Bach, "up yours, up mine," connections to Pynchon, shit & money & the American Dream, and the implosion of J R's paper empire.

This week's music is "Deadlines (Hostile)" by Car Seat Headrest.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. (This episode is really fun to watch because Chad's camera shorted out . . . ) You can join us next week for the final episode with a special final guest where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.9: "J R Shipping Corp" Feb 13, 2021

This week, Sam Rutter and Nick During join Chad for a long, sprawling discussion of J R, of the interesting quote Joy Williams attributes to Gaddis instead of Gibbs, of Gibbs's knowledge of financial doings, of how great Rhoda is as a character, and so so much more. This is the longest episode to date, but also one of the most fun.

This week's music is "Don't Get Hit By a Car" by Cheekface.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. (This episode is really fun to watch because Chad's camera shorted out . . . ) You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, February 17th where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.8: "$$$$$$$$" [J R] Feb 05, 2021

Chad and Brian talk about church parking lots, relationship entropy, millionaires, corporate logos ("Just Rite"), the uneasy alliance of art and commerce, and much more on this week's episode.

This week's music is "Highlights of 100" by Kiwi Jr.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, February 3rd where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.7: "Alsaka" [J R] Feb 05, 2021

Dan O'Brien (The House in Scarsdale, A Story that Happens) joins the podcast this week to talk about J R from a playwriting perspective. Lots of interesting insights in this episode, about theater, about the relationship between art and commerce in the book, and about GameStop.

This week's music is "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe" by Okkervil River.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, February 3rd where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.6: "A Strolling Game of Pocket Billiards" [J R] Jan 22, 2021

Chad and Brian go it alone this week, and prove that even the most claustrophobic sections (trigger warning for anyone who grew up with hoarders) of J R are also riotously funny. They also don't understand money or business, but no one else in the book seems to either . . . There's also a lot of talk about Gibbs's footwear issues.

This week's music is "Laugh Track" by Ben Hopkins, one of the greatest songs of 2020.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, January 27th where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.5: "Eagle Mills Employees' Glee Club" Jan 19, 2021

Rodrigo Fresan (The Dreamed Part) joins Chad and Brian to talk about one of his favorite authors and books. There's good banter, some insight into J R, tell a (false) story about Fire the Bastards!, and generally try and entertain you.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, January 20th where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

BTBA #1: GUANTANAMO by Dorothea Dieckmann and Tim Mohr Jan 11, 2021

The year-long Best Translated Book Award retrospective kicks off with this episode featuring the very first winner of the BTBA: Guantanamo by Dorothea Dieckmann, translated from the German by Tim Mohr and published by Soft Skull. There are three discussions on this episode: Chad W. Post and Patrick Smith talk about the formation of the BTBA and how the first year worked, then Patrick and Tim Mohr discuss Guantanamo, and finally Chad and Richard Nash talk about publishing ca. 2007.

Music featured on this episode (all from albums released in 2007) includes "Paper Planes," "1234," "All My Friends," and "The Crystal Cat."

This series will continue biweekly through the end of the year, covering all twenty-five winning BTBA books (poetry and fiction) culminating in a Best of the BTBA award chosen by YOU, the listeners and fans, at the end of 2021. Stay tuned to Three Percent for additional posts, interviews, analysis of translation trends, and more.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 14.4: "Who Made the Rules" [J R] Jan 08, 2021

Ryan Chapman (Riots I Have Known) joins Chad and Brian to crap on Jonathan Franzen's "famous" "essay" about Gaddis, "Mr. Difficult." They also talk about the casual sexism present in so many of the male characters, the parallels and reversals connecting various scenes, just how funny and readable this book is, and the relationships between kids and adults in J R.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, January 13th where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.3: "Stamp Out Smut" [J R] Jan 06, 2021

Vince Francone made his TMR debut on this episode about one of the funniest sections of J R to date. They talk about the dirty photos, how the book isn't as challenging as its reputation indicates, the maybe incest scene, shitting in a piano, and much more.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, January 6th where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

AND, be sure to order Vince's books, The Soft Lunacy and Like a Dog: A Memoir.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.2: "How to Make Big Profits Overseas" [J R] Jan 06, 2021

First time Gaddis reader Elizabeth DeMeo from Tin House joins Chad and Brian to talk about J R's field trip to the New York Stock Exchange where his class buys a share of Diamond Cable stock. In addition to recapping this somewhat chaotic segment—just imagine twelve sixth graders loose in NYC—they talk about Gaddis's style, what he had to say about the process of writing a book, the Rick Moody introduction to the Dalkey edition, ideas about what exactly makes this book "difficult," and much more.

This week's music is "Money, Money, Money" by ABBA.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, December 30th where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Three Percent #183: Sound on Sound on Sound Jan 01, 2021

The first new Three Percent Podcast since May! This is an episode all about sound and curation—in books, in music. It's unlike all the previous episodes, featuring three readings and two interviews.

Here are all the songs featured on this episode:

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 14.1: "Money?" [J R] Dec 20, 2020

Chad, Mauro Javier Cardenas (Aphasia), and NYRB publisher Edwin Frank kick off season 14 by talking about entropy, Gaddis's humor, how best to approach reading this book (fast and out of control), the little plot hints that are left to figure out, the lack of interiority in J R and how he develops characters and voice, and much more. It's a great time, a good introduction for anyone approaching the novel for the first time, and includes some random publishing gossip and a lament for proofreaders.

This week's music is "Entropy" by El Ten Eleven.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, December 23rd where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.12: "Time, Science Fiction, Heaven & Hell" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Dec 04, 2020

This is a bonus episode in which Chad and Brian talk about three different essays on Ada, two boring ones by academic males, and an incredible chapter from Azar Nafisi's That Other World. There is good banter, a lot of jokes, and a true appreciation for this novel. Plus, Chad throws down a very unpopular hot take at the end while teeing up next season's book.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the kick off of Season 14 on Wednesday, December 16th at 3pm where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

And be sure to get in touch if you'd like to be a guest on Season 14 featuring J R by William Gaddis.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.11: "Instantogram" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Nov 29, 2020

After a bit of business banter about publishing mergers and the future of books, Chad and Brian break down the final two parts of Ada, or Ardor, debating the purpose of the book as a whole, whether the ending "works," the unreliable unreliableness of Van Veen, and much more. On next week's episode, they'll talk about three essays on Ada: "Nabokov's Ada and the Texture of Time" by Dwight A. Yates, "Nabokov's Ada as Science Fiction" by Roy Arthur Swanson, and the "Heaven and Hell" chapter from Azar Nafisi's That Other World.

This week's music is "Spring by Summer Fall" by Blonde Redhead.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 12 live on Wednesday, December 2nd at 3pm where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

And be sure to get in touch if you'd like to be a guest on Season 14 featuring J R by William Gaddis.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.10: "Madhouse Babble" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Nov 26, 2020

As Chad and Brian finish part III of Ada, or Ardor, they talk about Ada and Van's reunion, the passage of time within this book, moustaches, who knows what about whom, and much more.

This week's music is "Endless Night" by Holy Motors.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 11 live on Friday, November 27th at 3pm where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

And be sure to get in touch if you'd like to be a guest on this season (or the next, which is on J R by William Gaddis), or if you have any critical articles on Ada that you think we should read.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.9: "Pale Fire with Tom Cox Up" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Nov 13, 2020

Following a long discussion about what actually happens on this podcast (spoiler: definitely not critical analysis), Chad and Brian dive into Part III of Ada, or Ardor, asking what the point of whole book is, what type of fragmented postmodernism Nabokov is playing with, the passage of time and action in this novel, and the varied responses to Ada's cinematic appearance. There's also a couple deaths, a lot of talk about the philosophy of time, and a number of goofy jokes.

This week's music is "Bamboo" by Monster Rally.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 10 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

And be sure to get in touch if you'd like to be a guest on this season (or the next, which is on J R by William Gaddis), or if you have any critical articles on Ada that you think we should read.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.8: "Vinelander" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Nov 12, 2020

In a rather subdued (re: election night hangover) episode, Chad and Brian discuss the relationship between cinema and writing, photos and memory, and what seems to be Nabokov's relationship to movies as art. They also talk about the screwball comedy nature of Van and Ada being found out, discuss the way in which part II differs from part I, learn a bit about Ada's engagement, and head into part III, with grand hopes for how Nabokov's book will turn out.\

This week's music is "Twin Cinema" by The New Pornographers. (It should not have taken eight episodes to realize how fitting this song is for this season.)

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 9 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.7: "From Dodo to Dada" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Oct 30, 2020

From the International House of Prostitutes to the reunion of Ada and Van, this week's episode is quite a trip. Chad and Brian talk about dreams, John Garner, Martin Amis on "obscure" and "difficult" novels, how to actually pronounce Van, and much more.

This week's music is "Money" by Widowspeak.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 8 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.6: "Star Rats and Space Aces" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Oct 16, 2020

Chad and Brian wrap up Part One of Ada, or Ardor—which features a duel, multiple deaths, an existential diatribe, and canes—and move onto Part Two, which is very Pynchon-esque. They get to dive into Van's "philosophical novel," ideas of time, questions about Terra, and much more. This episode is as fun and wild as the book itself!

This week's music is "Riding Solo" from the Spanish indie rock band Hinds.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 7 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.5: "The Accursed Children" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Oct 09, 2020

A family dinner, a picnic in the woods—what could be more innocent? Well, in Ada, or Ardor, everything is tinged with a baseline feeling of "kind of creepy," especially the "passionate pump-joy exertions." Chad and Brian break it all down, talking about Demon, unraveling Nabokovian puns, finding subtle hints about Van's true parentage, and, at the end, unveiling Season 14's book.

This week's music is Will Butler's "Close My Eyes."

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 6 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.4: "Terra: Eremitic Reality of Collective Dream?" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Oct 08, 2020

Things shift in Ada, or Ardor this week, with Van's second trip to Ardis being much darker, much more perverse and troubling than the first, "more innocent" summer with Ada. There's also another couple hints about Terra, and the possiblity of Ada having another lover . . . And, as is par for the course, some amazing writing from Nabokov.

This week's music is "Reset" by Rich Aucoin, another protest anthem of sorts from his new America album. (With another great, powerful video.)

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 5 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statments.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.3 “Hammock and Honey” [ADA, OR ARDOR] Sep 18, 2020

Rodrigo Fresán (The Invented Part, The Dreamed Part, Bottom of the Sky) joins Chad and Brian to talk about the only Nabokov book he hasn't read. In addition to talking about all the reasons to love Nabokov, about how this book is the one where he actually seems to be measuring himself against the all time greats, they talk about strange science-fiction books, publishers as characters (and superheroes), the layers of (unreliable) narration surrounding the text, and beautiful writing about socially unacceptable things.

This week's music is "Nabokov's Wandering Eye" from an album called Poklapocalypse. Nothing could be more fitting.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 3 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statments.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.1 “All Happy Families” [ADA, OR ARDOR] Sep 11, 2020

Chad and Brian try their best to unpack the first three chapters of Vladimir Nabokov's Ada, or Ardor, in an attempt to find some solid footing for this sci-fi (?), ambitious, reference-laded masterwork of one of the greatest writers of our times. Lots of questions about where we are (Terra or Anti-Terra?); mirrors; the relationship between text, footnotes, and parenthetical comments; the L disaster and "thank Log"; Nabokovian verbs; Anna Karenina and Wuthering Heights; and much more. It's a fun way to kick off this season, encapsulating the joy and confusion of reading a Nabokov book for the first time.

There are a surprising amount of songs with "Nabokov" in the title. Not sure if any of them are actually good, but here's "Nabokov's Butterfly" by Hailey Wojcik.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 2 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statments.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.12 “Finale” [THE BOOK OF ANNA] Aug 21, 2020

Carmen Boullosa joined Chad and Brian this week to talk about The Book of Anna, memories of watching baseball, why she (today) supports Karenin and thinks Anna K made a mistake with Vronsky, the origin and structure of the novel, her system of having a book in the queue before the previous one is published, and much more.

And, at the very end, the book for Season 13—coming Wednesday, September 9th—is revealed! More information about the actual schedule will be available next week.

This week's music lacks an Anna reference, but is maybe an allusion to Anna and Vronksy . . . It's "Be as Good as You Want to Be" by Boat.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll discuss part four, “Finale” (pgs 162-End) with Carmen Boullosa herself. You can watch it live next Wednesday, August 19th.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.11 “The Book of Anna” [THE BOOK OF ANNA] Aug 20, 2020

Translator and Words Without Borders co-founder Samantha Schnee joined Chad and Brian this week to talk about Anna's "opium-fueled" fairy tale that was referenced in passing in Anna Karenina, and a centerpiece of Boullosa's "sequel." A lively conversation about language, various Tolstoy translations, the book's origin, ways to interpret the fairy tale, and much more.

This week's musical Anna reference comes from Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea."

And again, if you want to help pick from the four finalists for season 13 (Zone, Vernon Subutex, Ada, or Ardor, Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming), fill out this survey. Thanks in advance!

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll discuss part four, “Finale” (pgs 162-End) with Carmen Boullosa herself. You can watch it live next Wednesday, August 19th.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.10 “Karenina's Portrait” [THE BOOK OF ANNA] Aug 06, 2020

After talking a bit about Women in Translation Month and the voting process for choosing the Season 13 title, Chad and Brian get into the twisty nature of Part III of The Book of Anna, in which Anna's portrait is given to the tsar, and Leo Tolstoy appears in the dreams of two characters, both to berate them and make a case for revolution. This part ends with a bit of a tease, as next week we finally get to hear from Anna Karenina herself in the form of her opium inspired book.

This week's Anna song is "Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!" by Sunset Rubdown.

And again, if you want to help pick from the four finalists for season 13 (Zone, Vernon Subutex, Ada, or Ardor, Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming), fill out this survey. Thanks in advance!

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll discuss part four, “The Book of Anna” (pgs 127-161). You can watch it live next Wednesday, August 12th.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.9 “Bloody Sunday” [THE BOOK OF ANNA] Jul 30, 2020

This week's episode is one of the more political ones to date, as Chad and Brian talk about Russia's "Bloody Sunday," comparing the Tsar's actions to Trump and what's going on in Portland. (They also sigh loudly over his most recent attempt to stoke racial and class anger.) They talk about the pacing and balance between these first two parts of the novel, the ways in which this section are almost anti-Tolstoy in nature, the relationship between power and history, and Chad's obsession with Baudrillard and illusion. (See this post.)

This week's Anna song is "Anna Begins" by Counting Crows.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll discuss part three, “Karenina's Portrait” (pgs 99-126). You can watch it live next Wednesday, August 5th.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.8 “Anna’s Sergei and Anya’s City” [THE BOOK OF ANNA] Jul 24, 2020

The final part of season 12 kicks off with Chad and Brian discussing the first part of Carmen Boullosa's The Book of Anna, translated from the Spanish by Samantha Schnee and published by Coffee House. Chad gives a brief recap of Leo Tolstoy's novella, Anna Karenina, then they discuss how and what type of sequel this is, get into the two different storylines—revolution and Anna's children—and end with a discussion of the metafictional elements and the way in which this book plays off of Nabokov's Bend Sinister.

This week's Anna song is "Anna" by Will Butler. (The video for which stars Emma Stone.)

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll discuss part two, “Bloody Sunday” (pgs 74-98). You can watch it live next Wednesday, July 29nd.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.7: "Heroes and Mercenaries" [FOUR BY FOUR] Jul 16, 2020

Katie Whittemore joins on this episode to refute a list of crazy fan theories about Four by Four, and to talk about the difficulties of translating a book in which there's really no where to hide. Chad also shares some new, bad, jacket copy, and makes a pitch for one of Katie's next books to come out: World's Best Mother by Nuria Labari. Very fun, loose, enjoyable episode putting to bed a book that is, ultimately, quite unnerving.

This week's musical four-by-four reference is from Malibu Ken in his appropriately creepy "Acid King."

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll move on to The Book of Anna by Carmen Boullosa and Samantha Schnee. Get your copy today! We'll discuss part one, “Anna’s Sergei and Anya’s City” (pgs 1-73), next Wednesday, July 22nd, and you can watch live here.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Four by Four by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.6: "A Substitute's Diary, Part II" [FOUR BY FOUR] Jul 16, 2020

ALTA executive director and Arabic translator (Minor Detail), Lissie Jaquette joined Chad and Brian to talk about Bedragare's breakdown and all the events in the second half of his journal. They also wonder what the "mystery" of the novel is, and talk about various (possibly nutty) theories about who killed Lux and Ledesma. All of this sets up next week's episode in which—according to Chad—the real will be explained . . .

It's amazing how much questionable music there is that includes a reference to a "4x4." This week's is a little ditty by Hardy that includes this lyric, "Them good old boys been feeling macho / In that quatro wheel drive." Hell yeah!

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. The next broadcast will be on July 15th. We'll be talking about the final section of Four by Four, which is available in bookstores everywhere. (And as an audiobook via Tantor Media!)

After next week's episode, we'll move on to The Book of Anna by Carmen Boullosa and Samantha Schnee. Get your copy today!

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Four by Four by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.5: "A Substitute's Diary, Part I" [FOUR BY FOUR] Jul 02, 2020

After being taken over by Chad's daughter, the podcast gets back on track, and Chad and Derek Maine (Read the World YouTube channel) break down the first half of part two of Four by Four, talking about the ways in which power structures are replicated, the increasing scope of the novel's construction, reading between the lines, trusting the impulses in children, books that don't offer clear solutions, and much more.

This week's musical "4x4" reference is from Florida Georgia Line, because of course it is.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. (And seriously, this week's opening is worth watching.) The next broadcast will be on July 8th. We'll be talking about pages 156-222) of Four by Four, which is available in bookstores everywhere. (And as an audiobook via Tantor Media!)

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Four by Four by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.4: "Never More Than Two Hundred" [FOUR BY FOUR] Jun 27, 2020

This week's episode kicks off the four-week discussion of Four by Four by Sara Mesa, translated from the Spanish by Katie Whittemore. A great book for our time (for all times) in relationship to power structures and their systems. And whether it's better to be "free and vulnerable or protected but under control." In this first episode, Max Besora (Adventures and Misadventures of the Extraordinary and Admirable Joan Orpí, Conquistador and Founder of New Catalonia) talks with Chad about campus novels, the various power relationships in the first section of the novel, the difficulties of translating "culo," the precision of Mesa's prose, the way Celia's and Ignacio's storylines run in parallel, the two timelines of this section, and much more. Solid ground-setting episode for what promises to be an amazing season.

This week's music is a little gem from Miley Cyrus called "4x4."

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. The next broadcast will be on July 1st. We'll be talking about pages 87-156 of Four by Four, which is available in bookstores everywhere. (And as an audiobook via Tantor Media!)

Derek Maine will be the special guest next week, and produced this amazing review of the book for his channel. Check it out!

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Four by Four by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.3 "Scenes from the Spectral Zone" [CARS ON FIRE] Jun 18, 2020

On this episode of the Two Month Review, translator Robin Myers joins Chad and Brian to talk about her translation, Mexican and Argentine poetry, what was most challenging/liberating about the text, ALTA 2009, and much much more. Very insightful conversation for anyone interested in professional translators, or starting out in the field.

This week's music is "Rebel Girl" by Bikini Kill.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. The next broadcast will be on June 24th. We'll be talking about Sara Mesa/Katie Whittemore's Four by Four, which is available in bookstores everywhere. (And as an audiobook via Tantor Media!)

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Four by Four by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.2 "Invocation" [CARS ON FIRE] Jun 11, 2020

This week, Mónica Ramón Ríos joins Chad and Brian to talk about her literary career, how she came to write Cars on Fire, Rutgers, some movies she's recently watched, how to read "Invocation," protests in Chile and NYC, and much much more. An incredibly interesting and informative episode that serves as an incredible guide to approaching and reading these short stories.

This week's music is "Dead Men Don't Rape" by 7 Year Bitch.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. The next broadcast will be on June 17th. Robin Myers will be the special guest, and we'll focus on pages 152-175. This will be the final episode on Cars on Fire before we move on to Four by Four by Sara Mesa and Katie Whittemore. (For which there is an audiobook version!)

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Cars on Fire by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.1 "Obituary" [CARS ON FIRE] Jun 04, 2020

Season 12 of the Two Month Review kicked off with Cristina Rodriguez from Deep Vellum Bookstore joining Chad and Brian to talk about the first section of Mónica Ramón Ríos and Robin Myers's Cars on Fire. They talk about The Gits, "Dead Men Don't Rape," the connections between academy and power structures, how "timely" this connection is, the clarity of the prose, and much more.

In honor of Mia Zapata, this week's music is "Another Shot of Whiskey" by The Gits.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. The next broadcast will be on June 10th. Mónica Ramón Ríos will be the special guest, and we'll focus on pages 64-151.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Cars on Fire by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Three Percent #182: BTBA 2020 Readings May 28, 2020

On this special edition of the Three Percent Podcast, you can hear short readings of all fifteen finalists for this year's Best Translated Book Awards. You can find all of the titles here on Bookshop.org (fiction, poetry), and you can still RSVP to see the live awards ceremony on Friday, May 29th at 6pm eastern.

This week's music is "Famous" by Car Seat Headrest.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 11.11: "The Dream Ends" [THE DREAMED PART] May 21, 2020

Rodrigo Fresán himself joins Chad and Brian to talk about phones, Riverdale, Ada or Ardor, Dracula, the world-building in Fresán's oeuvre, the overall structure and focus of the triptych, what to read and watch in quarantine, and much more!

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. The next broadcast will be on June 3rd and will focus on pages 1-63 of Mónica Ramón Ríos's Cars on Fire.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Cars on Fire by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 11.10: "IKEA" [THE DREAMED PART] May 14, 2020

This week's episode is quite possibly the wildest one yet . . . Chad paid a BookTuber for some promotional love and, well, you'll have to watch/listen to see how that went. Then they talk about outsiders, Franco Moretti, autofiction, HE-IKEA (the Writer's nemesis), overblown rants about reading and phones, and much more.

This week's music is "Date with IKEA" by Pavement.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the May 6th episode (covering pages 487-End) here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. You can get all of Carlos's books via your local bookstore or Open Letter, and you can follow him on Twitter as well.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off The Dreamed Part by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Three Percent #181: Unraveling Women and Hard-Working Peasants May 08, 2020

A bit of an experimental episode, Chad is joined by five indie booksellers to talk about the "new normal," fears of reopening, what booksellers are doing now, and—most importantly—actual books. The complete rundown of recommendations is below, but one note: please buy these titles from the bookseller who recommended them. Sparks said it diplomatically at the end, but if at all possible, order directly, not through Bookshop.org. (Although given that zero Open Letter books were plugged, maybe you should buy our books only from Amazon? KIDDING. Buy them from Bookshop.org.)

Also, if you like this podcast and all the free programming that Open Letter/Three Percent provides, consider donating to us as well. You have to write us in on that U of R form so that the money comes directly to Open Letter, but we absolutely need your support right now. (Especially as Chad tries to figure out the future with no employees for part of the summer . . . Yay mandatory furloughs!)

Anyway, here are the recommendations, with links directly to the store recommending said title:

Emma Ramadan, Riffraff

The Word Pretty by Elisa Gabbert (Black Ocean)

Pizza Girl: A Novel by Jean Kyoung Frazier (Doubleday)

That Time of Year by Marie NDiaye, translated from the French by Jordan Stump (or "Stumps" if you believe Amazon) (Two Lines)

Shuchi Saraswat, Brookline Booksmith

Calamities by Renee Gladman (Wave Books)

Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima (Picador)

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette (New Directions)

Nick Buzanski, Books Are Magic

Luminous Republic by Andres Barba, translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

All My Cats by Bohumil Hrabal (New Directions)

On Lighthouses by Jazmina Barrera, translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney (Two Lines)

Stephen Sparks, Point Reyes Books

The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen, translated from the Norwegian by Don Shaw and Don Bartlett (Biblioasis)

Grove by Esther Kinsky, translated from the German by Caroline Schmidt (Transit)

Cristina Rodriguez, Deep Vellum Books

throughsmoke by Jehanne Dubrow (New Rivers Press)

Cockfight by María Fernanda Ampuero, translated from the Spanish by Frances Riddle (Feminist Press)

Ancestry of Objects by Tatiana Ryckman (Deep Vellum)

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 11.9: "Living in Pandemica" [THE DREAMED PART] May 07, 2020

This week, Chad and Brian talk about the desires of readers, the "middle mind," writing without a hook, Nabokov's "The Vane Sisters," the one contribution Chad made to this book, vocal tics, cocaine, and much more. They both came in high energy on this episode, so sit back and enjoy all the jokes and enthusiasm.

This week's music is for a certain type of insomniac.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the May 6th episode (covering pages 424-487) here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. You can get all of Carlos's books via your local bookstore or Open Letter, and you can follow him on Twitter as well.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off The Dreamed Part by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 11.8: "This Is a Bullshot" [THE DREAMED PART] May 07, 2020

In his most dangerous gag to date, Chad drinks a giant bullshot as he, Brian Wood, and special guest Carlos Labbé talk about Nabokov's Transparent Things, transparency as a concept, the wild bed that The Writer is insomniacing in, Uncle Hey Walrus's hypnosis gone awry, why quarantine time is so crazy yet our dreams are getting so boring, and much much more.

This week's music is "C omeback Baby" by Kiwi Jr.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the May 6th episode (covering pages 362-424) here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. You can get all of Carlos's books via your local bookstore or Open Letter, and you can follow him on Twitter as well.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off The Dreamed Part by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 11.7: "The Past Is a Broken Toy That Everyone Fixes in His Own Way" [THE DREAMED PART] May 07, 2020

This week's episode brings us back to The Writer, unable to sleep, living near where Penelope's house burned down (see: The Invented Part), and living off the fortunes of Penelope's writings (RIP). There's a great bit in this section about FBI agent Johnny Dancer and Vladimir Nabokov, there's a horrifying (yet funny!) death scene, and an interesting translation question related to a bad joke. Plus, translator Will Vanderhyden gives us a few hints about what to expect in The Remembered Part!

Everyone already knows this week's music, the video of which brings back so so so many memories . . .

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation (and if you're going to watch only one episode, I'd recommend this one), you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the April 29th episode (covering pages 307-362) here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Will Vanderhyden on Twitter!

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off The Dreamed Part by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Three Percent #180: Bookfinity Is the Dumbest Name Apr 24, 2020

Stacie Williams joins Chad and Tom this week to talk about the role of sales reps at this moment in time and then, after she bolts, Chad and Tom poke fun at Bookfinity (which, really, WOW), the confused messaging of #BooksAreEssential as a hashtag, why bookshops shouldn't open, and how Publishers Weakly is funny AND NOT RUN BY EITHER OF US. (We swear!)

This week's music is Rich Aucoin's "How It Breaks," which has a pretty incredible video up on YouTube.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Three Percent #179: "Hey! What's New?" Apr 17, 2020

How is COVID-19 impacting bookstores, publishers, translators, and our general sanity? These are the questions Tom and Chad talk about on this episode—the first in a while, but also the longest ever—along with minor jokes, an appeal to authors and publishers to "read the room," a rant that will likely get Chad in trouble, and a few book recommendations.

Some things mentioned on this podcast:

"Is This the End of Indie Bookstores?" by Alex Shephard;

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice;

Muriel Spark;

Life A User's Manual and Chad's posts about this from 2011;

This interview with Lola Rogers.

This week's music is "Everything Else Has Gone Wrong" by Bombay Bicycle Club because OF COURSE IT IS.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 11.6: "Adaptations" [THE DREAMED PART] Apr 16, 2020

Chad and Brian go deep into the underlying structure of the second section of Fresan's The Dreamed Part, talking about Penelope's story, her relationship to her parents and the Karmas, and the moment in which she lost her son. We finally get to read about her wrecking house (literally) and see how everything circles back to the start of this section . . .

This week's music isn't from The Dreamed Part. It's Yppah's "Dreams Like You," which is somewhat comforting at this time.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation (and if you're going to watch only one episode, I'd recommend this one), you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the April 22th episode (covering pages 255-307) here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick on Twitter and Instagram.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off The Dreamed Part by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 11.5: "Wuthering Heights Is Weird" [THE DREAMED PART] Apr 10, 2020

Chad reaches a new quarantine low at the beginning of this week's episode (highly recommend checking out the video version), but after a lot of banter and deep dives into international speculative fiction, The Invention of Morel, Lost, and more, Chad and special guest Rachel Cordasco break down the first part of the "Brontê/Wuthering Heights" section of The Dreamed Part. They get you up to speed with Penelope (The Writer's sister) who is spending her days at Our Lady of Our Lady of Our Lady . . . fixated on Emily Brontë's singular masterpiece.

This week's music isn't from The Dreamed Part. It's a new song from Woods called "Where Do You Go When You Dream?" (Lyrics on the outro are perfect.)

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation (and if you're going to watch only one episode, I'd recommend this one), you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the April 15th episode (covering pages 202-254) here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick on Twitter and Instagram. And follow Rachel Cordasco for info on speculative fiction (and, nowadays, homeschooling) and check out Speculative Fiction in Translation.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off The Dreamed Part by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 11.4: "Tulpas" [THE DREAMED PART] Apr 09, 2020

This episode got off to a rough start, with Chad losing his shit over the May IndieNext list [ed. note: he still has not recovered] before Streamyard crashed and the whole episode had to be recorded. In the new, much calmer episode, Chad, Brian, and special guest Patrick Smith talk about tulpas, the night, Fresán writing in a different style, point of view and meta-reflections, and dirty jokes. Patrick lives that Vermont life in the middle of this episode, which brings even more levity to this earnest attempt to entertain everyone in this time of crazy.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation (and if you're going to watch only one episode, I'd recommend this one), you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the April 8th episode (covering pages 156-202) here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick on Twitter and Instagram.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off The Dreamed Part by using the code 2MONTH at checkout.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 11.3: ""What We Talk About When We Talk About Dreaming" [THE DREAMED PART] Mar 26, 2020

Aside from talking about how we're all about five days away from becoming Howard Hughes, Chad, Brian, and special guest Derek Maine talk about dreams vs. rationality, Nabokov and Bob Dylan, dream lovers and MTV videos, Twin Peaks and fantasy baseball. (OK, not the last one.) It's a fun podcast, a minor distraction that hopefully adds a bit of joy into the world. So enjoy!

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch April 1st episode (covering pages 112-155) here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And watch Derek's YouTube channel, Read the World!

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off The Dreamed Part by using the code 2MONTH at checkout.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 11.2: "Who Dreams the Dreamer" [THE DREAMED PART] Mar 25, 2020

Chad, Brian, and special guest Mark Haber tried their damnedest to bring some levity to our current crisis on this week's episode. They laughed a lot while discussing Chad's surprisingly dull dream city, the way The Dreamed Part just drops you right into the flow, dream logic, how Fresan is the exception that proves the rule, and Chad's quarantine situation.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch March 25th episode (covering pages 57-111) here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Also, support Brazos Bookshop!

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off The Dreamed Part by using the code 2MONTH at checkout.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 11.1: "We Remember Everything" [THE DREAMED PART] Mar 06, 2020

In this week's preview episode for Season 11 of the Two Month Review--featuring The Dreamed Part by Rodrigo Fresán and Will Vanderhyden--Chad and Brian try their best to recall details from the plot of The Invented Part, the first book in the trilogy. They do . . . well, question mark? As cracked out as their descriptions might seem, you're in for a really fun season and a really fun book from one of the best Spanish writers of his generation.

This week's music is "My Friend" by Dan Deacon. (In part because Chad thought the lyrics were "I'm alive, I'm dreaming," but he was wrong.)

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch March 18th episode (covering pages 1-57) here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off The Dreamed Part by using the code 2MONTH at checkout.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #178: This Podcast Is Not Contagious Mar 03, 2020

Today's episode is all about small presses. Chad and Tom breakdown, discuss, elaborate on, and praise, Matvei Yankelevich's recent Poetry post 'The New Normal: How We Gave Up the Small Press." This is a rather wide-ranging conversation about grant applications, distribution for small presses, AWP, professionalization, how to value books aside from sales, the emotional side of publishing, and much more.

This week's music is "Everything Has Changed" by Best Coast.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Three Percent #177: Eight Books Feb 19, 2020

After a bit of banter about how baseball front offices might be as bad at naming things as book people, and a plug for Paul Vidich's The Coldest Warrior, Chad and Tom each draft four forthcoming books from a total of eight different presses that they've both agreed to read and discuss in future episodes. How could this possibly go wrong?

Also: On the next episode they'll be discussing Matvei Yankelevich's recent essay, "The New Normal: How We Gave Up the Small Press." It's a long piece that's actually the third installment in a four-part series that he's writing (part one, part two), but can be read on its own in advance of the next podcast. If you have any comments, observations, reflections, criticisms, questions, feel free to email threepercentpodcast@gmail.com or contact Chad or Tom directly.

The eight books discussed in this episode as part of this reading project are:

Waystations of the Deep Night by Marcel Brion, translated from the French by George MacLennan and Edward Gauvin (April)

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd (April)

Slum Virgin by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated from the Spanish by Frances Riddle (June)

An Inventory of Losses by Judith Schalansky, translated from the German by Jackie Smith (June)

You Will Love What You Have Killed by Kevin Lambert, translated from the French by Donald Winkler (July)

The Law of Lines by Hye-young Pyun, translated from the Korean by Sora Kim-Russell (May)

The Silence of the White City by Eva García Sáenz, translated from the Spanish (?) by ???? (July)

The King of Warsaw by Szczepan Twardoch, translated from the Polish by Sean Gasper Bye (April)

This week's music is "Sat By a Tree" by Dan Deacon off the brilliant Mystic Familiar.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Three Percent #176: Dirty Bookshop Feb 04, 2020

After a bit of a hiatus, Chad and Tom return to talk about the two biggest things to happen during Winter Institute: The American Dirt controversy and the launch of Bookshop.org. If you haven't been following the American Dirt debacle, here are a couple pieces to read: Laura Miller's piece in Slate, Rebecca Alter's in Vulture, and Ron Charles's from the Washington Post. And here's Chad's Bookshop.org affiliate page in case you want to buy any of the books talked about on this podcast.

Books that are recommended this week include:

The End of the World Might Not Have Taken Place by Patrik Ourednik, translated from the French by Alexander Hertich;

Four by Four by Sara Mesa, translated from the Spanish by Katie Whittemore;

On Time and Water by Andri Snær Magnason, translated from the Icelandic by Lytton Smith; and,

Grabeland by eteam

This week's music is "Wicked Witches" by Kiwi Jr.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Three Percent #175: Biggest News Stories of 2019 Jan 07, 2020

On this week's episode, Chad and Tom discuss Tom's recent piece on J ean-Patrick Manchette for LARB and talk about which of his books are best to start with, and why there haven't been more breakout international noir authors. Then they pivot to this Publishers Weekly article on the "Top News Stories of 2019," discussing the impact of each of the ten. They finish with a joint plug for Dead Fashion Girl, which is fascinating and unsettling all at once.

This episode's music is "All My Happiness Is Gone" by Purple Mountains.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 10.14: "We Made it to the End" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Jan 06, 2020

We did it! Chad and Brian reflect on the somewhat surprising ending to Ducks, Newburyport and reflect on all 1,000+ of its glorious pages in the season finale to this Two Month Review. They debate whether the book is hopeful or pessimistic, the way in which its solipsism infects the reader's way of seeing the world, and they take one last shot at anti-mom nut job, Dr. Phil.

This week's music is "Let's Never Leave Here" by Death and Vanilla

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

We'll be back in February with the next season: The Dreamed Part by Rodrigo Fresán!

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Also follow Elizabeth DeMeo on Twitter and at her website.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 10.13: "Dogs" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Dec 26, 2019

Elizabeth DeMeo (assistant book editor at Tin House) joins Chad and Brian in the penultimate episode of this season of the Two Month Review. They talk family therapy. They talk about the Jim's encounter with the lioness. They make predictions about how the book will end. They debate whether it's better to read the book in a few days or a few months. They manage to make it through with a minimal amount of coughing, and only a few wacky digressions.

This week's music is "Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)" by Bombay Bicycle Club.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Monday's episode (the last!) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Also follow Elizabeth DeMeo on Twitter and at her website.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 10.12: "Gone Missing" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Dec 23, 2019

Chad and Brian go it alone on pages 777-862, talking about Galley Beggar's "go fund me" campaign, hardcovers vs. paperbacks, Stacy, what makes something Kafkaesque, the narrator's stasis, and much more.

This week's music is "The Surprise Knock" by The New Pornographers.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Monday's episode (up to page 917) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 10.11: "Establish Justice" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Dec 16, 2019

This week, Chad is joined by Rebecca Hussey (BookRiot) and Josh Cook (Porter Square Books, An Exaggerated Murder) to talk about pages 700-776 of Ducks, Newburyport. They make comparisons to any number of modernist authors (Proust, Woolf, Joyce), discuss mother-daughter relationships, "mom shaming," Stace's general sense of rebellion, whether or not the "stories" are getting longer as we move through the book, how it actually has a conventional plot, and how Chad thinks someone needs to put together a book of essays about this novel featuring pieces by booksellers, authors, academics, critics, and moms.

This week's music is "4ÆM" by Grimes.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Wednesday's episode (up to page 862) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Also, read all of Rebecca's BookRiot posts and follow her on Twitter, and buy Josh's book from Porter Square (and f ollow him as well).

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 10.10: "A List of Definites" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Dec 13, 2019

Jeremy Kitchen (Chicago Public Library, Eye 94) joins Chad and Brian to talk about "a list of definites" about the future, the (pretty silly) controversy surrounding Lucy Ellmann's recent Guardian interview, the way the themes of Duck, Newburyport make it difficult for some people to read, the ways in which this novel is subversive, and much more.

This week's music is "Never Been Wrong" by Waxahatchee.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week's episode (up to page 776) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #174: Devil's Bargains Dec 10, 2019

Chad and Tom play a short game on this podcast—when Tom isn't ranting about Amazon. They also discuss Bookshop, when the decade officially ends, favorite translations of the past ten years, Chad's upcoming hiatus from writing for Three Percent, and much more.

Next episode Chad and Tom will discuss Tom's recent article on Jean-Patrick Manchette.

This week's music is "Smash Yr Radio" by Nobody.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 10.9: "Pattern Recognition" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Nov 28, 2019

Chad and Brian deliver a true Thanksgiving treat in this episode, digging in deep to the narrative patterns in the book, the way Ellmann constructs the narrator's subjectivity, how the novel is a radical call to action, how some facts aren't really facts, terrible new slang terms, save the turtles, and much much more. This is maybe the most critical episode of the season in terms of understanding exactly why reading slowly in this fashion can be so rewarding.

This week's music is "Waving Past Nirvana" by WIVES.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week's episode (up to page 700) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 10.8: "Real Life Is Sad" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Nov 28, 2019

Another late night conversation about Ducks, Newburyport! This week, P.T. Smith joins to discuss illness, the verbal virtuosity in this novel, sadness, relationships between parents and kids, and much more. Lots of quotes are read throughout this episode, and in honor of Lucy Ellmann's stated like of whisky, some of that takes place as well.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week's episode (up to page 621) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick Smith for lots of hot takes on books, cheating in sports, and more.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

BONUS EPISODE: Charco Press Nov 21, 2019

Founded in 2016 with their first releases coming in late 2017, Charco Press is one of the most recent additions to the growing number of publishing houses focused on literature in translation. And although they've established a solid reputation in the UK, they just started distributing their books Stateside in October 2019. Chad talked to co-founders Carolina Orloff and Sam McDowell about their vision for the press, what it's been like launching a press in Edinburgh, entering the U.S. market, their covers, how they work with authors and translators, and much more.

If you're a U.S. listener, there are five Charco titles coming out this fall/winter that will be available at better bookstores everywhere:

Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz, translated from the Spanish by Sarah Moses and Carolina Orloff;

Resistance by Julián Fuks, translated from the Portuguese by Daniel Hahn;

The President's Room by Ricardo Romero, translated from the Spanish by Charlotte Coombe;

Fish Soup by Margarita García Robayo, translated from the Spanish by Charlotte Coombe; and,

Fireflies by Luis Sagasti, translated from the Spanish by Fionn Petch.

If you're based in the UK, visit their website and buy all the books.

This episode's music is "You're in Love with Me" by Car Seat Headrest.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Three Percent #173: The Poetry in Translation Episode Nov 19, 2019

Anastasia Nikolis (poetry editor for Open Letter Books) and Emma Ramadan (translator, co-owner of Riffraaff) join Chad and Tom to breakdown ALTA 42, talk about poetry in translation, and go on a handful of minor rants—and one major one. (Thanks, Emma!) The Sarah Dessen controversy pops up, as does this article about AmazonCrossing, and LitHub's Best Translated Novels of the Decade.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, Chad, Emma, and Anastasia and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 10.7: "Blossom, Stasis, Spiral, Whoa" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Nov 15, 2019

This week's Two Month Review was recorded pretty late (on the east coast), so things are a bit loopy. Nevertheless, James Crossley from Madison Books joins Chad and Brian to talk about pages 429-487 of Ducks, Newburyport. They talk a bit about the cultural references in this section—the old movies, Blossom—flip ahead to connect the mountain lion's path to the mental landscape of the narrator, and, of course, praise moms.

This is the most produced episode to date, and we hope you enjoy the little audio touches AND the Blossom theme song "My Opinionation"

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week's episode (up to page 562) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And be sure to support Madison Books in person, through their website, and on Instagram.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 10.6: "The Simple Things" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Nov 08, 2019

Chad and Brian break format a bit and discuss a number of the concerns, anxieties, and social issues that the narrator of Duck, Newburyport thinks about. From spiders to Morning Routine videos, active shooter situations to Trump feeling up Kurt Suzuki, this episode is a deep, yet funny, dive into our neuroses and fears.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week's episode (up to page 487) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

This week's music is "Good Scare" by Torres.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester. (Or by attending our gala.)

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #172: ALTA 42 Preview Nov 04, 2019

A bit of a disorienting podcast for anyone not attending ALTA, but in this episode, Chad addresses the recent ALTA book fair controversy, and then they go over the general schedule, highlighting a number of interesting-sounding panels, previewing some off-site events, and recommending non-ALTA bars for attendees to hang out at.

This week's music is "I've Got Reason" by Mikal Cronin.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 10.5: "The Buzz Must Go On" [DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT] Nov 01, 2019

Lori Feathers of Interabang Books in Dallas joined Chad and Brian for this special episode to talk about the destruction of her bookstore, what's next for Interabang, and information about how you can help. (Answer: Order Joytime Killbox and The Dreamed Part from their website.) Then they talk about Lori's interview with Lucy Ellmann, the Serpent Mound (and some conspiracy theory nonsense). There's also more talk of Joyce, of the lists of rivers in Ducks, Newburyport and in Finnegans Wake, and Chad goes on a diatribe again notorious "anti-Mom," Dr. Phil.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week's episode (up to page 429) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

This week's music is "Ohio" by Cherry Glazerr.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available from BOA Editions. And help out Interabang by ordering something (an Open Letter title?) from their online store.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester. (Or by attending our gala.)

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 10.4: "Is it Translatable" [Ducks, Newburyport] Oct 25, 2019

Rhett McNeil (translator of Machado de Assis, Gonçalo Tavares, Antonio Lobo Antunes, and more) joins Chad and Brian to talk about the way in which Ducks, Newburyport is less of a single-sentence and more of a never-ending list, about how it is and isn't like Ulysses, about time in the novel, about Ellmann's playfulness, about entropy vs. eternal recurrence, and giving the middle finger to Strunk & White. They also play a short round of "Did this Happen in Florida or Ohio?"

f you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week's episode (up to page 360) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

This week's music is "Comeback Kid" by Sharon Van Etten.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick on Twitter and Instagram for hot takes and pictures of Vermont bookstores.

Be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available from BOA Editions. And get Rhett's latest translation, Reading Is Walking by Gonçalo Tavares.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester. (Or by attending our gala.)

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #171: Can We Go a Week Without an Award Controversy? Oct 22, 2019

This week's podcast is about two kerfuffles: the Booker Prize one and the one between King County Library and Macmillan. There's also some discussion as to why UK book culture allows for critique and small voices to be heard (vs. the American way in which everything is fine), Chad goes on and on about On Becoming a God in Central Florida, Tom inadvertently recommends The Invented Part, and everyone sounds tired and beatdown. Enjoy!

This week's music is "Stars Are the Light" by Moon Duo from the album of the same name.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 10.3: "How Do I Promote This?" [Ducks, Newburyport] Oct 18, 2019

Vanessa Stauffer from Biblioasis came on this episode to talk about the Booker Prize, about the jacket copy she wrote for the Ducks galley, about types of moms, about things in the book that pay off and mysteries that remain mysteries, about the ways in which Ellmann is breaking form and the strong feminist perspective underlying this narrative, and much more. It's a fun, free-wheeling conversation sprinkled with tons of amazing quotes from the book, talk about mom.com, and much much more.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week's episode (up to page 297) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

This week's music is "Can You Help Me?" by Olivia Jean.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick on Twitter and Instagram for hot takes and pictures of Vermont bookstores.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available from BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR 10.2: "The Fact That" [Ducks, Newburyport] Oct 11, 2019

Due to an unforeseen illness, Chad and Brian ended up going this one alone, and focus mostly on the way that "the fact that" functions, both in building the character and impacting the reader. Chad asks Brian some craft questions, they debate what makes a book "difficult" (and whether this is difficult or just long), more talk about mothers (go moms!), the difficulties of raising children, a hierarchy of fears, Shirley Jackson and Rochester, "Daily Carry," and much more. If for nothing else, you should listen to hear them read aloud from the novel—it's a book that's perfectly suited for being read aloud. After you hear these quotes, you will definitely want to read the whole thing.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week's episode (up to page 231) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

This week's music is "Run" by pronoun.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick on Twitter and Instagram for hot takes and pictures of Vermont bookstores.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #170: Don't Give a Million Dollars to a Fascist Oct 10, 2019

This podcast comes in HOT. Lots of talk about how Peter Handke doesn't deserve any award, much less the Nobel Prize. (And if you don't know why, just listen for his quote at the end denying Serb atrocities at Srebrenica by saying "You can stick your corpses up your arse.") Then things transition to an existential conversation about the future of the Best Translated Book Award (really, Chad is still doing OK, no need to worry), and ends with Tom's fight with Oren from the American Booksellers Association and Chad offering to do "anything" to get indie booksellers to recommend Sara Mesa's Four by Four for the Indie Next List.

There's also a movie recommendation, a conversation about rereading, and a really lame plug for this article. Enjoy! This podcast is 100% FIRE.

This week's episode opens with "Total Trash" by Sonic Youth and closes with their song, "Youth Against Fascism."

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 10.1: "Brave Publishing" [Ducks, Newburyport] Oct 04, 2019

The tenth season of the Two Month Review gets underway with special guest Dan Wells of Biblioasis talking about how they came to publish Lucy Ellmann's Ducks, Newburyport, and the risks involved in doing a 1,020-page book. They also introduce Ellmann--who has one of the greatest bios ever--and the novel itself. Conversation topics include: kidneys vs. cinnamon rolls, "torrent of consciousness" writing, catching your breath in a one-sentence novel, how much Chad loves moms, the role of memory in the text, the mountain lion sections, how funny and angry the book is all at once, and much more. If you haven't started the book, don't worry! This is a great introduction and the concept of "spoilers" doesn't really apply to a novel like this one.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week's episode (up to page 150) will be broadcast live here. And you can discuss this book at the reactivated Goodreads Two Month Review Discussion Group.

This week's music is "Lucy" by Soccer Mommy, partly because it's a solid single, partly because it's called "Lucy," and partly because of this quote from Ducks, Newburyport:

the fact that we pretend to be interested in soccer, for the kids’ sake, but it’s a real strain, sprain, the fact that all the other soccer moms and dads get so excited, while I just stand there getting cold, frozen, frozen out by the other moms as well, the fact that they always ask where Leo is, as if neither of us has anything better to do than watch little kids kick a ball around, the fact that the other moms and dads yell and cheer till they’re hoarse, the fact that it isn’t right, I don’t think, to make kids so competitive about things, the fact that we think the other parents are too involved, but they probably think we aren’t involved enough,

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick on Twitter and Instagram for hot takes and pictures of Vermont bookstores.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 407-448) Sep 27, 2019

And just like that, season nine of the Two Month Review comes to an end. But first, we have a very nice discussion with Kjersti Skomsvold herself about Monsterhuman, trends in Norwegian writing, autofiction vs. creative nonfiction vs. memoir, authors to read, and much more. (Spoiler: She's just as interesting and charming in real life as she is in the novel.)

If you prefer to watch the show instead of just list, all of our past episodes are available on our YouTube channel.

This week's music is "I Think That's Everything" by Imperial Teen.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker SHORTLIST!! This will kick off on YouTube on Monday, October 2nd, with the first podcast episode dropping a week from today.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick on Twitter and Instagram for hot takes and pictures of Vermont bookstores.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #169: Year Two of the NBA for Translated Literature Sep 23, 2019

After an update from Chad about his trip to London and Amsterdam, he and Tom break down the National Book Award for Translated Literature longlist, exposing their general ignorance along the way. (They've read, combined, like two of the ten titles?) Also, sure are a lot of Penguin Random House books on these longlists! They also talk a bit about future podcast, rave about Lawrence Ventuti's new book, and much more.

This week's music is "Insecurity" by Metronomy.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 360-406) Sep 23, 2019

Translator Becky Crook comes on this week's podcast to talk about the process of working on Monsterhuman, all the things that she couldn't quite get in there, ones she's very proud of, the reasons why she thinks the book works, and much much more!

Only one episodee left! You can watch the Wednesday, September 25 episode on pgs 407-448 live on YouTube, or listen to it on Thursday the 26th. Also, all of our past episodes are available on our YouTube channel in case you want to catch up on anything.

This week's music is "Forest Lawn" by Better Oblivion Community Center.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker SHORTLIST!!

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick on Twitter and Instagram for hot takes and pictures of Vermont bookstores.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 316-360) Sep 13, 2019

This week, Brian is AWOL BUT Patrick Smith brings his A-game. He and Chad talk about the self-conscious humor in Monsterhuman, awkward interactions, the shape and evolution of the narrative as a whole, some info about The Faster I Walk, the Smaller I Am, and much more. A very fun episode that opened as awkwardly as ever . . .

Only two episodes left! And because Chad's going to be in London for a week, we'll be broadcasting one moreepisode on YouTube this week. (The audio podcast version will release as usual on Thursday 9/19.) That said, here are links to the final two YouTube streams: Thursday, September 12 (pgs 360-406), and Wednesday, September 25 (pgs 407-448).

Also, all of our past episodes are available on our YouTube channel in case you want to catch up on anything.

This week's music is "Rayrunner" by Hallelujah the Hills.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker SHORTLIST!!

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick on Twitter and Instagram for hot takes and pictures of Vermont bookstores.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 275-316) Sep 09, 2019

Although this episode isn't as funny as last week's discussion of "lay-down Sally," it does get into some of Brian's neuroses about his forthcoming book, which is entertaining. They talk a lot about Skomsvold's humor, about the creepy ways in which various photographers and interviewers treat her as a young female artist, and the bit where John O'Brien of Dalkey Archive Press makes an appearance. Focusing on aftermath of the publication of her novel The Faster I Walk, the Smaller I Am, "East of the River" is one of the most compelling sections of Monsterhuman and can be read on it's own. Even if you haven't read it, you'll definitely enjoy this podcast.

Only three episodes left! And because Chad's going to be in London for a week, we'll be broadcasting two episodes on YouTube next week. (The audio podcasts will release as usual on Thursday 9/12 and 9/19.) That said, here are links to the final three YouTube streams: Monday, September 9 (pgs 316-360), Thursday, September 12 (pgs 360-406), and then back to normal, with the final episode on Wednesday, September 25 (pgs 407-448).

Also, all of our past episodes are available on our YouTube channel in case you want to catch up on anything.

This week's music is "House vs. House" by Blanck Mass.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker SHORTLIST!!

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #168: The 6% Improvement Sep 04, 2019

On this episode, Chad shares some interesting data about the number of books by women in translation before and after the creation of Women in Translation Month, Tom talks about the most recent Amazon controversy, they breakdown the National Translation Award for Prose Longlist (they'll talk poetry in a future episode), and Chad shows that libraries are using a digital information system that's less user-friendly than Edelweiss+.

(They also mention a post Chad wrote on Tanizaki's In Black and White, which turns out to be way way funnier than one would expect.)

Also: Use the code PREORDER before midnight on September 15th to get 40% off of all nine of these forthcoming Open Letter titles.

This week's music is "Night Owl" by Olivia Jean.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 226-274) Aug 30, 2019

Caitlin Baker from Island Books joins Chad and Brian this week to talk about "The Herring Factory" from Kjersti Skomsvold's Monsterhuman. After a strong pitch for nominating Brian for "Best Local Author" in City Paper's annual Best of Rochester voting, they get into the book itself, talking about the meta-textual moment of Kjersti writing in the third-person and acknowledging it doesn't quite work, about the relationship with mentors, about whether or not the character is happy, about the sly humor found throughout this book, about her Harold Pinter dream, getting old, and much, much more.

This week's music is "Comeback Kid" by Sharon Van Etten.

Next episode will cover pages 226-274 and will be livestreamed on YouTube next Wednesday. (All of our past episodes are available on our YouTube channel in case you want to catch up on anything.) You can find the complete reading schedule here.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker Longlist.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Also, follow Caitlin on Twitter, and buy some books from Island Books!

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 180-225) Aug 26, 2019

Tom Flynn from Volumes opens up today's episode with a reading from Brian's first book, Joytime Killbox. Then, along with Chad, they break down the rest of "The Human School" from Monsterhuman, talk about how much they love Skomsvold's voice and sense of humor, look at the way in which she starts playing with first- and third-person narration in the opening bits of "The Herring Factory," and crap on Ben Lerner a little bit. Good fun!

This week's music is "Please Take Me With You" by Broken Social Scene.

Next episode will cover pages 226-274 and will be livestreamed on YouTube next Wednesday. (All of our past episodes are available on our YouTube channel in case you want to catch up on anything.) You can find the complete reading schedule here.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker Longlist.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Also, follow Tom on Twitter, and buy some books from Volumes!

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #167: We Could All Do Better Aug 22, 2019

Meytal Radzinski (@biblibio, founder of Women in Translation Month) joins Chad and Tom to talk about Women in Translation Month, depressing statistics, Virginie Despentes, nonfiction in translation, hopes for the future, and much more.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 144-180) Aug 16, 2019

Even though the first few seconds ("On today's Two Month Review we'll be talking about . . . ") got cut off, Chad gives his most professional podcast introduction to date, before he and Brian talk about the Nansen Academy, the cyclical nature of chronic illness, the idea of plot points vs. events, and reasons their respective spouses would give for leaving them. (Maybe an all-time TMR highlight.)

This week's music is "Has It Hit You?" by The Regrettes.

Next episode will cover pages 180-225 and will be livestreamed on YouTube next Wednesday. (All of our past episodes are available on our YouTube channel in case you want to catch up on anything.) You can find the complete reading schedule here.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker Longlist.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And foll0w Marius on Instagram.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 92-143) Aug 15, 2019

In this episode, Chad and Brian applaud Kjersti for not getting back together with her ex-boyfriend, talk about circular structures, about the evolution of her written voice, about Antony and the Johnsons, the myth-making behind Babe Ruth, and much more.

This week's music is "Patterns Prevail" by Young Guv.

Next episode will cover pages 144-180 and will be livestreamed on YouTube next Wednesday. You can find the complete reading schedule here.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker Longlist.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And foll0w Marius on Instagram.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 46-92) Aug 14, 2019

One of the funniest TMR episodes in weeks, Chad and Brian crack each other up over writerly anxieties, the sharp wit Kjersti displays in this section, the White Claw Phenomenon, writer vs. author vs. journaler, Kjersti's distain for bad poetry (and TV) about chronic fatigue syndrome, pop culture references from the early-1990s, and much much more. They do also talk quite a bit about the book itself, how Skomsvold is creating a sort of narrative consciousness, the evolution of the book's voice (in lieu of a strong forward-moving plot), and other craft elements.

This week's music (maybe the music for the rest of the season?) is "Storyline Fever" by Purple Mountains.

Next episode will cover pages 93-143 and will be livestreamed on YouTube next Wednesday. You can find the complete reading schedule here.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker Longlist.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And foll0w Marius on Instagram.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #166: Women in Translation Month 2019 Aug 06, 2019

Chad and Tom drop a number of recommendations for Women in Translation month, some that they've read, some that they're planning on reading. They also discuss possible infographics that Three Percent can produce over the course of the month (if you have any other suggestions, please email), and discuss Chad's new plan to try and review 20 books without knowing the author, translator, publisher, title, etc. Plus: Tom has some words for people who don't tip on coffee drinks.

This week's music is "Tethered" by Versing.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

BONUS EPISODE: Annette Orre Jul 30, 2019

We finish up Norwegian Month at Three Percent by talking to Annette Orre of the Oslo Literary Agency. We talk trends, 1,000-page books, The History of Bees, Norway being the Guest of Honor at Frankfurt, using a "die" to rate all products from books to cheese, and much much more.

This episode's music is "Ashes & Embers" by the Casket Girls.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 1-45) Jul 29, 2019

The new season of the Two Month Review starts here! Through the end of September we'll be discussing Kjersti Skomsvold's Monsterhuman, translated from the Norwegian by Becky L. Crook. Marius Hjeldnes from Cappelen Damm joins Chad and Brian to provide a bit of background on Skomsvold, on trends in Norwegian literature, on that whole "dice" thing, and much more. They cover the first three sections of the book, laying out the main themes and ideas that set-up this novel about a young woman suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, trying to rebuild her sense of self by becoming a writer. An incredibly interesting, episodic novel that you should be able to dive into, even if you don't read every page.

This week's music comes directly from the opening sections, featuring some really tough songs: "Hole in the Head" by Sugababes and "Never Easy" by Kurt Nilsen.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker Longlist.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And foll0w Marius on Instagram.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

BONUS EPISODE: John Erik Riley Jul 25, 2019

To celebrate Norwegian Month at Three Percent, Chad talked with John Erik Riley, author, photographer, editor of Norwegian literature for Cappelen Damm, and member of the "Blindness Circle." They talk about current trends in Norwegian literature, American comparisons for various authors, a couple really long books, Norwegian science-fiction, and much more.

You can follow John Erik Riley on Instagram or Twitter. And if you read Norwegian, you should check out his latest novel, Heimdal, California.

This episode's music is "Eye Bath" by the Swedish band Death & Vanilla.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Three Percent #165: Disorder in the Book Shelves Jul 23, 2019

This episode of the Three Percent Podcast never gets to its actual topic, but includes minor disagreements about ebooks in libraries and its impact on ebook revenu, more questions about Book Culture's situation, a general sense of malaise, trying to make sense of Dean Koontz, Audible's "Caption" program, a wild idea about shelving and how people browse, and recommendations for Marías's Berta Isla and Shirley Jackson's The Sundial.

This week's music is "My City" by Better Oblivion Community Center.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR: CoDex 1962: "I'm a Sleeping Door" (Part III) Jul 15, 2019

We did it! Chad and Rachel Cardasco (with an assist from Tom Flynn of Volumes) talk about the last sections of Sjón's CoDex 1962. It's been quite the season and they bring it home in old school TMR style with a lot of Twin Peaks talk, many many digressions, acknowledging motifs and ideas that may or may not actually be in the text, and having a lot of fun. This is the most sci-fi section of the novel, which makes it a lot of fun. (THE ROBOTS ARE ALWAYS GOING TO TAKE OVER.)

Season 9 of the Two Month Review will kick off at the end of July and will feature Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold. Get your copy now!

And Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included: Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Sjón and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests. And foll0w Rachel Cordasco on Twitter and at Speculative Fiction in Translation.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #164: Rapid Expansion Jul 10, 2019

Chad shares his stupid dreams, Tom questions translators who work for AmazonCrossing and then want indie bookstores to help them out, and they both marvel over Deep Vellum's acquisition of Phoneme Media and A Strange Object (and the launching of the La Reunion imprint). It's a short episode, but filled with great moments, really lukewarm takes, and a revisiting of James Wood's takedown of Paul Auster.

This week's music is Sault's "Foot on Necks."

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR: CoDex 1962: "I'm a Sleeping Door" (Part II) Jul 05, 2019

Things start to come clear in this penultimate episode of this season of the Two Month Review. We get a new story about Joséf's birth, along with some absolutely incredible writing by Sjón. Lots of parallels and mirroring in this section, and the discussion helps set up next week's conclusion.

The next episode will focus on the first eight chapters of this third volume (pages 345-406). The complete schedule can be found here.

Season 9 of the Two Month Review will kick off at the end of July and will feature Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold. Get your copy now!

And Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included: Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Sjón and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

BONUS EPISODE: Becky Crook Jul 03, 2019

As part of "Norwegian Month" here at Three Percent, translator Becky Crook (The Black Signs, Monsterhuman, Silence: In the Age of Noise, and many more) came on the podcast to talk about her first cover letter, in which ways she's become a better translator over the past half-decade, what to watch out for in contracts, the difficulties in translating intentional mistakes, Norwegian dream projects, and much more. Emerging and experienced translators are sure to get something out of this, even if it's just the desire to rush out and get ahold of the wild, absurd The Black Signs by Lars Mørch Finbourd.

You can follow Open Letter and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Chad) for book and baseball talk, and for information about other podcasts and Three Percent articles.

This episode's music is "You're My Excuse to Travel" by Baths.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR: CoDex 1962: "I'm a Sleeping Door" (Part I) Jul 01, 2019

We're into the homestretch! Today episode, featuring special guest Katie Whittemore, kicks off the discussion of the third and final volume of Sjón's CoDex 1962, "I'm a Sleeping Door: A Science-Fiction Story." More origin myths in this volume, ranging from the epic and literary, to the mundane and realistic. A woman gives birth to a daughter made up of sperm from four men, and we get to see the fate of all four thousand Icelandic children born during 1962, many of whom have mutated. We find out who's been talking to whom and (kind of) why. And we find out about a mysterious geneticist. All of these threads are interwoven in a detailed, intricate way that Brian, Katie, and Chad unwind in a fun, intelligent ways.

The next episode will focus on the first eight chapters of this third volume (pages 345-406). The complete schedule can be found here.

Season 9 of the Two Month Review will kick off at the end of July and will feature Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold. Get your copy now!

And Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included: Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Sjón and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests. And you can read some of Katie Whittemore's translations here and here.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #163: What Do You Want Jun 26, 2019

Chad and Tom talk about a number of interrelated issues related to the costs of bookstore ownership and being a bookseller. They talk about the recent letter from Chris Doeblin at Book Culture, The Book Diaries, H uman Rights for Translators, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Internet and Book Culture, and the new "Translators on Books That Should Be Translated" feature at Reading in Translation.

This week's intro music is "I'll Believe in Anything" by Wolf Parade, and the outro music is "I Feel Emotion" by Operators.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

BONUS EPISODE: Ben Lindbergh on "The MVP Machine" Jun 25, 2019

In this special bonus episode, Ben Lindbergh of The Ringer and Effectively Wild talks with Chad about his new book, The MVP Machine. They talk about the premise of the book—how player development is the new "Moneyball" and is being driven by players and technology—about the process of co-writing, feedback loops for writing, and the mysteries of publishing and its lack of empirical data gathering. Oh, and Willians Astudillo makes a last minute appearance. There's even mention of an influential book on pitching that a pitching guru paid to get translated . . .

You can follow Ben on Twitter and you can purchase The MVP Machine from any and all retail outlets. (Also, Chad highly recommends listening to the Effectively Wild podcast.)

You can also follow Open Letter and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

This week's intro music is "Stats" by The Baseball Project, and the outro music is "Can You Deal?" by Bleached.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR: CoDex 1962 (Pgs 303-343) Jun 21, 2019

This week, Tobias Carroll joined Chad and Brian to talk about werewolves, puns that don't exactly work in translation, evil baseball card shop owners, weird Masonic rituals, Party Down South, and Fred Durst and John Travolta's The Fanatic. They also have a lot of praise for Sjón and the wild, fun nature of the second volume in CoDex 1962, and set up volume three: "I'm a Sleeping Door: A Science-Fiction Story."

The next episode will focus on the first eight chapters of this third volume (pages 345-406). The complete schedule can be found here.

Announcements! Season 9 of the Two Month Review will kick off at the end of July and will feature Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold. Get your copy now!

And Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included: Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Sjón and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests. And follow Tobias Carroll for information about all his writing, including his story in the forthcoming Dostoyevsky Wannabe anthology.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR: CoDex 1962 (Pgs 257-302) Jun 19, 2019

This week's episode covers a lot of ground, from disturbing American racism circa 1917 to codswallop; from werewolves to parliamentary fights, from ghosts to crime/heist narratives. It's a really fun episode that has a good take on this section of the book mixed with some really fun segues and digressions.

The next episode will focus on pages 303-344 (to the end of the second volume of the trilogy, "Iceland's Thousand Years"). The complete schedule can be found here.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Sjón and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests. And follow Hailey Dezort to improve your PetSmart reading series.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions. And preorder Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann so that you're prepared for a future TMR.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #162: I Am a Wild Rose Jun 12, 2019

Chad and Tom are joined by Mark Haber from Brazos Bookstore and author of the forthcoming Reinhardt's Garden (October 1, Coffee House Press). They talk a bit about Translation Bread Loaf (two thumbs up) and about a special poster for anyone who buys the First 100 from Open Letter, before trying their best to breakdown a nonsensical metaphor that Chad heard at this weekend's The Ladder Literary Conference. They also talk about Reinhardt's Garden, Mark's influences, the voice of the main character, and Chad's "Five Tools for Authors" post. (Also: See the "Five Tools for Translators.") Then, they recommend a slew of books to check out:

Hold Fast Your Crown by Yannick Haenel, trans. by Teresa Lavender Fagan

Riots I Have Known by Ryan Chapman

The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán, trans. by Sophie Hughes

The Incompletes by Sergio Chejfec, trans. by Heather Cleary

The Dreamed Part by Rodrigo Fresán, trans. by Will Vanderhyden

Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming by László Krasznahorkai, trans. by Ottilie Mulzet

"The Revised Boy Scout Manual" by William S. Burroughs

Time Is the Thing a Body Moves Through by T Fleischmann

Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin

Banshee by Rachel DeWoskin

Feeble Minded by Ariana Harwicz, trans. by Annie McDermott and Carolina Orloff

The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy

The Promise and Forgotten Journey by Silvina Ocampo, trans. by Suzanne Jill Levine, Jessica Powell, and Katie Lateef-Jan

Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold, trans. by Becky Crook

That Other World: Nabokov and the Puzzle of Exile by Azar Nafisi, trans. by Lotfali Khonji

Nikolai Nikolaevich and Camouflage by Yuz Aleshkovsky, trans. by Duffield White

Anatomy. Melancholy. by Edy Poppy

The MVP Machine by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik

This week's intro music is "Scream" by Stef Chura, and the outro music is "Sweet Sweet Midnight" from the same album, but featuring Will Toledo of Car Seat Headrest.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Three Percent #161: Will a French Book Win the BTBA? May 28, 2019

Chad and Tom took some time off on Memorial Day to bring you this little podcast about the Best Translated Book Award finalists (winner will be announced at 5pm on 5/29 at BEA/NYRF, and there will be an informal afterparty at The Brooklyneer on Houston starting at 7), about the Man Booker International winner, about the quality of book production, anchoring with regard to book prices, and Chad's new obsession with saunas and Norwegian fiction. (He includes a lot of data about Norwegian books in the U.S. that's definitely worth the price of admission.)

This week's music is "raging river" from Sebadoh's new, very muscular and surprising, album, Act Surprised. ("celebrate the void" is a great song as well.)

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Three Percent #160: Double Controversy May 15, 2019

One of the calmest podcasts to date featuring two controversial topics: the new Open Letter cover design, and the side-effects of suddenly doubling (or quadrupling) the number of translations published every year.

In terms of recommendations, this week Chad is all about the completely wild Bred from the Eyes of a Wolf by Kim Kyung Ju, translated from the Korean by Jake Levine.

Tom's in love with This Searing Light, the Sun and Everything Else: Joy Division: The Oral History by Jon Savage.

This week's music is "Bike Dream" by Rostam.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR: CoDex 1962 (Pgs 58-109) May 10, 2019

Chad's just back from a 7 hour train ride. Brian is inebriated. Tom Flynn is . . . Tom Flynn? It's a classic episode of the Two Month Review about horny avenging angels, chamber pot dumps, how many books actually last for a hundred years, the name "Karl," whatever Bumble is, and much more. A fun, loose podcast about a brilliant books.

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form.

The next episode will focus on pages 110-155 (chapters 12-15 of "Thine Eyes Did See My Substance: A Love Story"). The complete schedule can be found here.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Tom Flynn for more thoughts on Sjón and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions. And preorder Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann so that you're prepared for a future TMR.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #159: Publishing in 2025? May 01, 2019

Chad and Tom are back to talk about Independent Bookstore Day (and Free Comic Book Day and Record Store Day), the Indie Playlist Initiative, fascists storming Politics & Prose, Alex Shephard's Mueller Report article, how much money Stanford (the Duke of the West?) is wasting on their crappy football program instead of supporting their University Press, and a future of publishing article that might just be an advertorial for a live-streaming conference? (Wait, WAIT: "emoji activist" is a valid inclusion in your bio?)

Chad also thanks Louis Lüthi for sending along A Die with Twenty-Six Faces, and there's a tiny little bit of Avengers: Endgame talk. (Although no baseball! Possibly because Chad doesn't want to jinx the Cardinals, who have the best record AND best run differential in the National League.)

Finally: Nominate writers for the International Writers Hall of Fame! A post including the results will go up later this week, so make your recommendations now.

This week's music is "Something Soon" by perennial podcast favorite Car Seat Headrest. (The TV destruction in this video is top tier.)

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR: CoDex 1962 (Introduction) Apr 26, 2019

The new season of the Two Month Review kicks off with a pretty wide-ranging discussion. Sure, there is a bit about Sjón (pronounced SYOHN, which is not how Chad says it) and a few things about his earlier books and CoDex 1962, but a good part of this introductory episode is about patterns in narrative, cinematic realism, the imaginative nature of international literature, boxes and small rooms, Game of Thrones, and Iceland.

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form.

The next episode will focus on pages 1-57 (chapters 1-6 of "Thine Eyes Did See My Substance: A Love Story") and will be an audio only release. (Chad's graduate students will be the guests.)

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Sjón and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Order a copy of Brian's book, Joytime Killbox from BOA Editions.

Three Percent #158: 2019 Best Translated Book Award Longlists Apr 17, 2019

Best Translated Book Award fiction judge Kasia Bartoszynska joins Chad and Tom to talk about the recently released longlists. After providing some insight into the committee's thinking and discussions (and confirming that Chad had no knowledge of the lists beforehand, while not 100% confirming that Chad isn't Adam Hetherington), Kasia returns to her drive through Peoria and Chad and Tom read through all thirty-five longlisted books, commenting on the titles they're familiar with, and projecting the shortlists.

They also recommend two other titles: Ways of Hearing by Damon Krukowski and Meander, Spiral, Explode by Jane Alison.

This week's music is "Tugboat" by Galaxie 500.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

BONUS EPISODE: Antonia Lloyd-Jones and Sean Bye on Polish Reportage Apr 11, 2019

As part of Nonfiction in Translation Month at Three Percent, Polish translators Antonia Lloyd-Jones and Sean Bye came on the podcast to explain Polish Reportage, talk about some key figures and forthcoming books, and more or less introduce Open Letter's new nonfiction line.

Some of the titles mentioned on this podcast include:

Dancing Bears by Witold Szablowski (trans. by Antonia)

Foucault in Warsaw by Remigiusz Ryziński (trans. by Sean)

Nobody Leaves: Impressions of Poland by Ryszard Kapuscinski (trans. by ?? not on Penguin's site or Amazon)

Chasing the King of Hearts by Hannah Krall (trans. by Philip Boehm)

Roosters Crow, Dogs Whine by Wojciech Tochman (Antonia is working on a sample)

History of a Disappearance by Filip Springer (trans. by Sean)

You can find Antonia here, and Sean on the Cedilla & Co. website.

The intro/outro music on this episode is from "On the Luna" by Foals.

You can also follow Open Letter and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Three Percent #157: Post-Portland AWP Apr 03, 2019

On this atypically subdued episode, Chad recounts some of his adventures in Portland at the AWP conference, and speculates about why this was his favorite one to date. Tom helps illuminate some of the mysteries behind IndieBound and what might be next for independent stores trying to capture some online sales. (And how this relates to customers and ABA's overall mission.) Finally, Chad tries to do the self-promotion Tom should be doing by highlighting a recent feature on Riffraff and the release of The Boy by Marcus Malte, which Tom and Emma translated.

This week's music is "Bodys" by Car Seat Headrest.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: Radiant Terminus (Chapters 39-END) Mar 22, 2019

Chad and Brian finish off Radiant Terminus and talk about possible interpretation of the ending, whether anyone came out of this book OK, the balance between humor and horror, written vs. oral culture, possible readings or approaches to the novel, and a desire for a "Post-Exotic" journal.

They also revisit Volodine's two-part series, "Post-Exotic Novels, Novelles, and Novelists" from The New Inquiry, and mention McKenzie Wark's "The October Revolution of Antoine Volodine."

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form.

Season Eight will launch in mid-April (details TK) and will focus on Sjón's CoDex 1962. Get your copy now!

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Rachel Crawford for more thoughts on Volodine and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is all from Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson, which is Moog music for plants. This week you can hear "A Mellow Mood for Maidenhair."

Three Percent #156: The Netflix of Titles Mar 19, 2019

On this week's podcast, Chad and Tom talk laugh about how HarperVia conceives of itself, praise this year's National Book Award for Translation judges, give some spotty analysis of the Man Crankstart (?) Booker International longlist, the idea of an International Writers Hall of Fame (vote here), the one NCAA Basketball Bracket Pool you should join, and Christian Lorenzen's "Like This or Die."

Again, vote for who you think should make the International Writers Hall of Fame now (full results are forthcoming).

This week's music is "Summon the Fire" by The Comet Is Coming.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: Radiant Terminus (Chapters 27-38) Mar 15, 2019

This is a jam-packed episode as Rachel Crawford joins Brian and Chad to talk about Kronauer's "trial," Hannko and Samiya in the Taiga, the lasting impact of PTSD, the post-post-apocalyptic world, Russian literature and French minimalism, New Jersey, and more. This is the penultimate episode of season seven, and sets up a lot of things to talk about next week, including these two articles by Volodine.

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form. The next episode will be recorded live on Wednesday, March 20.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Rachel Crawford for more thoughts on Volodine and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is all from Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson, which is Moog music for plants. This week you can hear "You Don't Have to Walk a Begonia."

BONUS EPISODE: Interview with Edwin Frank of NYRB Mar 14, 2019

Following a trip to India to speak at the Seagull School of Publishing, Edwin Frank sat down to talk about Uwe Johnson's Anniversaries and NYRB's overall editorial history, including surprise hits, books he wishes more people read, and much more. A brilliant reader, publisher, and thinker, this episode will be of great interest to fans of NYRB's books, or to anyone interested in the industry as a whole.

This episode's music is "Arcane Rambler" from the forthcoming Budos Band album.

You can also follow Open Letter and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: Radiant Terminus (Chapters 20-26) Mar 13, 2019

Chad and Brian go it alone through Kronauer's "night of amok" as he attempt to murder Solovyei for his myriad crimes. Then they enter into part four of the book, "Taiga," which is a collection of "narracts" set some seven hundred (or a thousand?) years in the future. Hannko is recreating the feminist post-exotic texts from before, along with her dad's crazy ramblings; Kronauer is living in oil, suffering the thousand-plus year punishment Solovyei promised him. Plus, Chad had another Volodine inspired dream . . . as did Brian!

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form. The next episode will be recorded live on Wednesday, March 5.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, and for more thoughts on Volodine and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is all from Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson, which is Moog music for plants. This week you can hear "Swingin' Spathiphyllums."

BONUS EPISODE: Interview with Nick During of NYRB Mar 07, 2019

To supplement NYRB month on Three Percent, Chad and Anthony talked to Nick During, publicist for New York Review Books, about the marketing of Anniversaries by Uwe Johnson, the struggles to get attention for reprints, Henry Green's eternal rediscovery, and much more. (Including Nick's ratings of the impact of various conferences and awards on readership.)

This episode's music is "Tall Man, Skinny Lady" by Ty Segall.

You can also follow Open Letter and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Three Percent #155: All Statistics Are Baseball Statistics Mar 06, 2019

After a brief foray into Baseball Prospectus 2019 and Power Ball by Rob Neyer, Chad and Tom get down to business, analyzing Chad's statistically-based, very lukewarm take on translation production in 2018. They come up with innumerable, very rational reasons for the dip in translations that tend to revolve around ideas of "market correction." This is probably the most level-headed—and insightful—conversation they've had in a bit. There's also a bit of singularity anti-capitalism talk, a pitch for reading Marie-Claire Blais, and much more!

This week's music is "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives" by Los Campesinos!

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: Radiant Terminus (Chapters 17-19) Mar 01, 2019

With just Chad and Brian on this week's episode, the show turns almost full superhero. We get Chad's weirdly specific—and unnerving—Volodine-influenced dream. We get to see Samiya Schmidt transform into a raging version of Captain Marvel/Banshee. We get to see Kronauer assume his role as the one chosen to take down Solovyei. Brian and Chad also talk about the influence of language and ideologies on the characters, "cock's language" and "to rut," and speculate about just who is dreaming the dreamer.

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form. The next episode will be recorded live on Wednesday, March 5.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, and for more thoughts on Volodine and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is all from Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson, which is Moog music for plants. This week you can hear "Rhapsody in Green."

2MR: Radiant Terminus (Chapters 14-16) Feb 22, 2019

Tobias Carroll (Transitory, Reel) joins Chad and Brian to talk about the latest installment of Radiant Terminus. These three chapters get wild, as Schulhoff (who mysteriously disappeared shortly after his marriage to Hannko, Solovyei's daughter) returns and tries to get Ilyushenko to kill him. And then the never-ending train finds Radiant Terminus and Solovyei launches a poetic attack . . . They also talk about the numbers in the book, angels, Chad's dreams of suing the government, and much more.

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form. The next episode will be recorded live on Wednesday, February 20.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Tobias Carroll for more thoughts on Volodine and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is all from Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson, which is Moog music for plants. This week you can hear "Concerto For Philodendron & Pothos."

Three Percent #154: Celebrity Translators Feb 19, 2019

After an update about Chad's computer files and subscriptions, Tom talks about Amazon leaving NYC and they both get into a long discussion about translator Molly Ringwald (who you might also recognize from Riverdale). Chad tries to order a book from IndieBound (where do these books process from?) and then they talk a bit about Nirliit, Thunder Bay, and Brockmire.

This week's music is "Staring at the Sun" by Wooden Shjips.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: Radiant Terminus (Chapters 9-13) Feb 15, 2019

Rhett McNeil joins Chad Post and pinch-hitter Kaija Straumanis to talk about the first half of part two of Radiant Terminus, "Ode to the Camps." From recounting Chad's latest Volodine-inflected dream to a discussion of the ways various ideologies (fairy tales, anarcho-capitalism, Marxism-Leninism) play out in the novel, to the connection between these ideologies and male violence and the way in which the characters are almost like shadows in the novel, this is a wide-ranging, very dialed in episode. As always, there is laughter and a lengthy recap, but it also goes very deep into the novel and Volodine's overall game.

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form. The next episode will be recorded live on Wednesday, February 20.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, Kaija Straumanis, and Rhett McNeil, for more thoughts on Volodine and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is all from Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson, which is Moog music for plants. This week you can hear "Ode to an African Violet."

Three Percent #153: Winter Beats and Breaks Feb 05, 2019

At the top of this episode, Tom explains why he and Chad fell off the biweekly schedule for a bit, but then they come back strong, talking about Winter Institute, the Independent Publishers Caucus, minimum wage, this wild New Yorker article that doesn't quite do enough, but makes Chad angry, and Hanif Abdurraqib's Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest. And Tom talks about baseball. Because, of course.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: Radiant Terminus (Chapters 1-3) Feb 01, 2019

From Tarkovsky to Jessica Jones, this week's episode covers a lot of ground. Anthony and Chad are joined by Hailey Dezort to walk through the first three chapters of Antoine Volodine's Radiant Terminus. There's a lot to unpack, from the plant names, to the nature of men, to horrible fathers, to the humor found in Gramma Ugdul talking to the core of a failed nuclear reactor. Given how plotted this novel is, you can definitely follow along, even if you haven't read the section yet.

Also, we get to find out who Hailey thinks Khrili Gompo is, and we officially changed this season's contest: Whoever sends in the best drawing of one of the imaginary plants found in Radiant Terminus will receive copies of both of his previous published Open Letter titles AND all forthcoming ones.

If you want to get one of these t-shirts, email Open Letter and let us know!

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form. The next episode will be recorded live the evening of Wednesday, February 6th.

You can also get 30% off Radiant Terminus, or any other Volodine book, by using the code VOLODINE at checkout from the Open Letter website. (Offer is only good until midnight Eastern on 1/31.)

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, Anthony Blake, and Hailey Dezort for more thoughts on Volodine and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is all from Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson, which is Moog music for plants. This week you can hear "Symphony for a Spider Plant." (A very Volodine title.)

2MR: Radiant Terminus (Introduction) Jan 29, 2019

We’re back! . . . And a few days late. Chad explains why on the podcast itself, but suffice it to say that last week was a bit, um, stressful. But Brian and Chad finally got together to talk about Antoine Volodine in general, post-exoticism, Brian Evenson’s introduction to Radiant Terminus, similarities between Evenson’s writing and Volodine’s, this season's game (SEND US YOUR DREAMS!), Volodine's essay in The New Inquiry, and much more.

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form. The next episode will be recorded live on Wednesday, January 30th at 11am Eastern.

You can also get 30% off Radiant Terminus, or any other Volodine book, by using the code VOLODINE at checkout from the Open Letter website. (Offer is only good until midnight Eastern on 1/31.)

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is all from Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson, which is Moog music for plants. This week you can hear the opening track from the album, "Plantasia."

BONUS EPISODE: Interview with Jonathan Dunne Jan 23, 2019

As part of this month's ongoing series of posts about literature from Spain, I talked to author, translator, and publisher Jonathan Dunne, whose Small Stations Press has produced more translations of Galician literature into English than anyone else. On this bonus episode of the Three Percent Podcast, we talk about how to pronounce "Galician," how he got into translating and publishing these works, the challenges of running a small press, the importance of voice and flow over individual words, why translating poetry is easier than translating long novels, and much more.

Jonathan also recommends a number of Galician authors and books, all of which can be found on the Small Stations website.

This week's music is "Here to Fall" by Yo La Tengo.

You can also follow Open Letter and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Three Percent #152: Seven (Or So) Insights Jan 16, 2019

Getting back on schedule for the new year, Chad and Tom convene to talk about two articles: "7 Publishing Insights Revealed by Last Year's Top 100 Bestselling Books," and "Virginia Woolf? Snob! Richard Wright? Sexist! Dostoyevsky? Anti-Semite!" They also talk a bit about YA books and the precipitous decline in reading as people age, terrible Instagram poetry, and the difficulties in getting books from a particular publisher.

They also recommend a few titles:

Scar by Sara Mesa

Tentacle by Rita Indiana

All That Is Evident Is Suspect: Readings from the Oulipo, 1963-2018 by Daniel Levin Becker and Ian Monk

This week's music is Los Campesinos! cover of "Frontwards" by Pavement.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: THE BOOK OF DISQUIET Sections 394-END Dec 21, 2018

It's all over! After eleven weeks of Pessoa, Chad and Brian have finished The Book of Disquiet. And to celebrate, they each wrote some jacket copy and blurbs and went hard at trying to get BINGO for someone. They also preview the next season of TMR and come up with a very marketable Pessoa-themed product idea . . .

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes. Stay tuned for more details about the schedule for Season 7: Radiant Terminus by Antoine Volodine.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And the episode ends with an energetic blast of bad music.

Three Percent #151: A Time for Gifting Dec 19, 2018

After a long conversation about a rather strange Rochester gathering of arts organizations, Chad and Tom get down to business: recommending their favorite books of 2018. Except, rather than just make a list, they decide which of their friends or relatives should receive each of these titles. Then they talk about a couple movies, heists, and NXIVM.

A (hopefully) complete list of the recommended titles:

The Shift by Russell Carleton

Seasonal Associate by Heike Geissler

Ivory Pearl by Jean-Patrick Manchette

Lost Empress by Sergio De La Pava

The Largesse of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson

The Overstory by Richard Powers

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval

CoDex 1962 by Sjón

Madame Victoria by Catherine Leroux

Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants by Mathias Énard

This week's music is "Young Lady, You're Scaring Me" by Ron Gallo.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: THE BOOK OF DISQUIET Sections 359-393 Dec 13, 2018

Probably the most controversial Two Month Review to date, so buckle up! Are there unhinged rants? You bet! Questions regarding the marketing and "completeness" of the New Directions edition? Yep! A long discussion about the differences in voice between the both excellent Margaret Jull Costa and Richard Zenith translations? That too! It's a jam packed penultimate episode that's not to be missed.

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes. Next week's podcast will cover sections 359-393 (pages 388-421 in the U.S. edition). Stay tuned for more details about the exact time.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And for next season can we please finish each episode with good music?

2MR: THE BOOK OF DISQUIET Sections 316--358 with David Smith Dec 06, 2018

This week David Smith—former Open Letter intern and current grad student at the University of Iowa—joins Chad and Brian to debate poetry vs. prose, separating the p.o.v. of Pessoa's heteronyms from his own personal viewpoint, Soares's morality and metaphysics, how to judge the quality of a translation, and much more. As a bonus, Brian shares his first ever work of erasure poetry!

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes. Next week's podcast will cover sections 359-393 (pages 388-421 in the U.S. edition). Stay tuned for more details about the exact time.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And wow, Taking Back Sunday really sucks.

Three Percent #150: Canadian Publishing Dec 05, 2018

This week, Kevin Williams of Talonbooks out of Vancouver, British Columbia joins Tom and Chad to talk about the state of publishing in Canada. He recaps his career in the book business—as a bookseller, distributor, agent, and publisher—and provides a lot of insight into the Canadian funding structures, the not-so-great state of the bookstore scene, the difficulties of breaking out a book, and the struggle to get American readers and reviewers to pay attention to Canadian writers.

If you're not already familiar with Talonbooks, you can check them out online, and Kevin recommends The Weight of Snow, a forthcoming title by Quebec author Christian Guay-Poliquin.

(Meanwhile, Tom recommends the new Énard, and Chad is still on about Rodrigo Fresán's forthcoming The Dreamed Part.)

This week's music is

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: THE BOOK OF DISQUIET Sections 274-315 Nov 24, 2018

Chad and Brian fly solo this week, filling in dozens of TMR Bingo squares, and trying to come up with "rules for writers" based on this particular section of The Book of Disquiet. It's a pretty imprecise set of rules, but whatever, in the words of Pessoa, "perfection is inhuman." They also talk a bit about a "Mount Rushmore of American Literature," whether or not listicles can hit a saturation point in which they're all useless, and much more.

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes. Next week's podcast will cover sections 316-358 (pages 337-387 in the U.S. edition). Stay tuned for more details about the exact time.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And this week's closing music is the most Pessoa-like song we've included to date . . .

Three Percent #149: I Have Some Advice Nov 20, 2018

LIVE PODCAST! Well, sort of. Tom was in Rochester, so he and Chad recorded a spontaneous podcast while being in the same room as one another. (And with eight-month-old Aleks, who makes an appearance.) They talk about bookstores Tom visited on this trip, the National Book Awards, and J Franz's now infamous "rules for writers." (Poor, besieged J Franz! And poor, besieged LitHub! We feel bad for both of you.) They also recommend (and don't recommend) a few books, including Revenge of the Translator by Bruce Matthieussent, and translated from the French by Emma Ramadan.

This week's music is "Run the Numbers" by Everything Everything.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: THE BOOK OF DISQUIET Sections 222-273 with João Reis Nov 20, 2018

This week's special guest is Portuguese author and translator João Reis who knows a lot about Pessoa and the writings of his various heteronyms. He also talks about his forthcoming novel, The Translator's Bride, and his work as a translator. There's some of the usual banter as well, including a solid rundown of everyone's favorite lines and some of Pessoa's sayings that have become Portuguese colloquialisms.

Get your BINGO card here! And if you get a "bingo" while listening, send a picture of your playing card to Chad Post. Each week, the first person who does so will receive a special one-time code to get 30% off of any and everything on the Open Letter website.

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes. Next week's podcast will cover sections 222-273 (pages 238-287 in the U.S. edition). Stay tuned for more details about the exact time.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And now Chad has heard some of a My Chemical Romance song.

Three Percent #148: The Hottest Trend Nov 14, 2018

Sticking more or less to their biweekly schedule, Chad and Tom reconvene to talk about a couple recent articles, the challenges of being a literary nonprofit, interesting books they're reading, humblebrags about the Words Without Borders and PEN galas, and more. Surprising lack of sports talk this week, although there is a good vibe of resignation and slight depression that is a hallmark of a solid Three Percent episode.

Articles and media referenced in this episode:

The National Book Awards Haul Translators Out of Obscurity

AWP on the Brink

Tentacle by Rita Indiana

The Nocilla Trilogy by Augustín Fernández Mallo

Donate to Open Letter!

This week's music is "Be This Way" by Arms and Sleepers

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: THE BOOK OF DISQUIET Sections 174-221 with Anastasia Nikolis Nov 08, 2018

This week's podcast goes off the rails pretty quickly, and includes a hungover dismissal of this version of The Book of Disquiet, the phrase "reclaim some of the douchery" is spoken, there is a lot of laughter, a discussion about the tensions between trying to read this as poetry vs. the expectations that come from trying to read it as fiction, and much more.

Get your BINGO card here! And if you get a "bingo" while listening, send a picture of your playing card to Chad Post. Each week, the first person who does so will receive a special one-time code to get 30% off of any and everything on the Open Letter website.

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes. Next week's podcast will cover sections 222-273 (pages 238-287 in the U.S. edition). Stay tuned for more details about the exact time.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And here's another terrible emo song: "Better This Way" by The Get Up Kids.

2MR: THE BOOK OF DISQUIET Sections 131-173 Nov 07, 2018

This week Chad and Brian come to some conclusions about the Vicente Guedes part of The Book of Disquiet and get very excited about the more "mature, sophisticated" writings of Bernardo Soares. They both love this new voice and dig into what separates the heteronyms and their philosophies on life. And without a guest, Chad and Brian go on some entertaining digressions and keep trying to crack each other up. Informational, smart, and funny—the Two Month Review combination.

Get your BINGO card here! And if you get a "bingo" while listening, send a picture of your playing card to Chad Post. Each week, the first person who does so will receive a special one-time code to get 30% off of any and everything on the Open Letter website.

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes. Due to Chad's travel schedule, the timing of the next livestream is still up in the air, but will be announced on Twitter as soon as it's all confirmed. That episode—which will be available as a podcast on November 8th—will cover sections 174-221 (pages 190-237 in the U.S. edition). Stay tuned for more details about the exact time.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And here's another terrible emo song Chad had never listened to before today: "Ohio Is for Lovers" by Hawthorne Heights.

Three Percent #147: Helping Listeners One Translation Heuristic at a Time Oct 30, 2018

This week's episode is mostly inspired by an email from a listener about evaluating translations, and although Tom and Chad don't provide the hardest and fastest rules, they do have an interesting conversation about how they read and judge translated books. They also follow up on a few different threads from earlier episodes (like the neverending disappointment of The Great American Read), complain about these grants to giant publishers, and make some book recommendations.

Other articles and media referenced in this episode:

Jenny Hval's Paradise Rot (with the unnerving blood photo)

Shelley Jackson's Riddance (with the cool cover graphic)

Chad's post on Geography of Rebels by Maria Gabriela Llansol (and a dissenting view from Ben Moser)

Chad's post on two Deep Vellum books from Oulipian writers

In honor of Paradise Rot, this week's music is "That Battle Is Over" from Jenny Hval's Apocalypse, girl album.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: THE BOOK OF DISQUIET Sections 82-130 with Anthony Blake Oct 26, 2018

BINGO! That's the theme of today's episode, which includes a Twin Peaks reference, awkward introduction, LitHub reference, and many other squares on the recently released Two Month Review bingo cards. It's explained in full at that post and on the podcast, but every week, the first person to email Chad with "bingo" in the subject line and a picture of their card will receive a one-time code to get 30% off any and everything Open Letter sells.

In terms of The Book of Pessoa, Chad, Brian, and Anthony Blake break down the bits they liked (and didn't) from this week's reading, including the "sensationist" bits, the role of heteronyms in Pessoa's outlook, depression, the misogynist bits, and the line "to be published = the socialization of the self." It's a fun, free-wheeling episode that alternates between high analysis and low jokes in the way the best TMR episodes tend to.

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes. Due to Chad's travel schedule, the next livestream will take place this Sunday and will cover sections 131-173 (pages 142-189 in the U.S. edition). Stay tuned for more details about the exact time.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

2MR: THE BOOK OF DISQUIET Sections 40-81 with Jerónimo Pizzaro Oct 19, 2018

Jerónimo Pizzaro—editor of the "complete edition" of The Book of Disquiet published by New Directions—is the special guest on this week's Two Month Review. He discusses his history with Pessoa, how this volume came to be, the next three volumes in the New Directions project, how to approach The Book of Disquiet and its separate halves, some of the philosophical shift that take place over the course of the book, and more. For Pessoa fans and newbies, this episode is not to be missed!

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes every Wednesday morning. Next week we'll be covering sections 82-130 (pages 95-141 in the U.S. edition) with special guest Anthony Blake.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And, in keeping with the theme from last season, we'll be featuring a different emo rock song every episode for the outro music. Today it's Anthony Blake's favorite song from Chad's most hated band.

Three Percent #146: The Conspiracy Theory Episode Oct 16, 2018

An all-banter episode that touches on an array of topics, from ranking ideas on how to save indie bookstores, to The Great American Read's (embarrassing) top 10 vote getting books (are we sure Outlanders doesn't include people riding on dragons?), the Frankfurt Book Fair, self-censorship, QAnon + Marlins Man, a book scam, "up-lit" (barf), ALTA, random typos, and a few book and TV recommendations.

Complete list of articles and media referenced in this episode:

Why Buying Books Will Not Save Our Beloved Bookstores

The Great American Read Top 10 Vote-Getters (As of 10/11)

A Panel on Self-Censorship and Morality in Publishing Today

Book Fair Post Mortem

Phishing Scam Seeking Manuscripts Spreads Worldwide

"Up-Lit" Gives Hope to Publishers at Frankfurt Book Fair

Schedule for ALTA 41

Elite

Öræfi--The Wasteland

The Taiga Syndrome

Bonus: These pants are ugly.

This week's music is "It's All Gonna Be OK" from Ron Gallo's new album, Stardust Birthday Problem. ("'You' Are the Problem" would've worked as well.)

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter and Chad on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: THE BOOK OF DISQUIET Sections 1-39 with Thomas Flynn Oct 11, 2018

This is one of the most Two Month Review podcasts yet. Chad, Brian, and Tom Flynn (Volumes Books in Chicago) come together to discuss the first forty-six pages (sections 1-39) of the complete version of Fernando Pessoa's The Book of Disquiet. In addition to breaking down the philosophy and literary style representing Vicente Guedes--Pessoa's heteronym for this section of the book--they swap favorite lines, invent a new Instagram idea for Chad, link up Pessoa with emo bands, and try and tackle the difficulty of reading this book sequentially versus dipping in and out.

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes every Wednesday morning. Next week we'll be covering pages 47-94 (sections 40-81) with special guest Jerónimo Pizarro, the mastermind behind this particular edition of The Book of Disquiet.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests. You can also follow Tom Flynn, and you can buy as many books as you can carry from Volumes in Chicago.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And, in keeping with the theme from last season, we'll be featuring a different emo rock song every episode for the outro music. Today it's Kaija Straumanis's favorite Dashboard Confessional song.

2MR: THE BOOK OF DISQUIET Introduction with Declan Spring of New Directions Oct 08, 2018

The Two Month Review is back! This season we'll be reading the New Directions publication of The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa, translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa, one of the greatest works of literature (or poetry?) from the past century. To kick things off Declan Spring joined Brian Wood and a (happily hungover on baseball and beer) Chad W. Post to introduce Pessoa and his many heteronyms. They talk a lot about ND's Pessoa project, how they pitch uncategorizable books, how this edition differs from others, and much more.

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes every Wednesday morning. Next week we'll be covering pages 1-40 (sections 1-39).

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco.

Three Percent #145: Lobbying for No Celebrities Oct 03, 2018

In response to a listener email, Tom expands on his comments from last podcast about the American Booksellers Association. Chad shares some data about genre works in translation and wonders about adding this to the Translation Database. He also has some curious info about Icelandic books in translation and then promotes one of his favorite books of 2018. As can be expected, things take a turn when they start talking about the New Academy's Prize in Literature (aka the Alternative Nobel).

This week's music is "The Better Me" by The Joy Formidable.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: FOX Bonus Episode with Dubravka Ugresic! Sep 21, 2018

Dubravka Ugresic is in Rochester for Open Letter's tenth anniversary celebration, so she got together with Chad and Brian to talk about how she wrote Fox, Melania-related tourism, the two story points that launched the book, her writing process, and more!

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests and for more information about Season 6: The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This week's intro music is "The More and Moreness" by Haiku Salut, with the theme music of Back to the Future III ending the run of Michael J. Fox movies. (Thank god. Whose idea was it to use these? CURSE YOU, BRIAN.)

Three Percent #144: The Perfect Publishing Award Sep 19, 2018

Were the National Book Award longlists announced last week? Do Chad and Tom have opinions? YES AND YES. That conversation leads into talking about Penguin Random House, the "perfect publishing house," and then into a frank discussion about the future of small press publishing and the challenges of having a career in nonprofit publishing or bookselling. As always, they have some book recommendations at the end as well!

National Book Award announcements.

Alex Shephard's PRH article .

Tom's recommended book of the podcast.

Chad's recommended book of the podcast.

This week's music is "Double Down" by Slothrust.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: FOX by Ugresic ("The Fox's Widow") with Ryan Chapman! Sep 07, 2018

Ryan Chapman (Conversation Sparks, Riots I Have Known) came on this week to talk about the final section of Dubravka Ugresic's Fox. They discuss "business class vs. economy class" writers, authenticity and performing in the role of a writer, Franzen, the overall genius of Ugresic's writing, and much more. It's a very thoughtful final episode, enthused about having completed the project, yet sad to be leaving this world.

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stayed tuned for the next broadcast, which will welcome Dubravka herself!

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Ryan Chapman for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And when the info is officially released, please pre-order a copy of Ryan's new novel, Riots I Have Known and tell everyone that the Two Month Review made you do it. Chad wants to hold him to that whiskey promise . . .

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This week's intro music is "Unless It's Kicks" by Okkervil River, with the theme music of Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco taking us out. (Can not wait to forget all of these Michael J. Fox movies.)

Three Percent #143: The Cocky Pod Sep 05, 2018

This week, Chad and Tom return to basics--more book talk than industry talk, a promise to release a new episode every other Wednesday--but start off with something that's very, very Three Percent: #Cockygate. Although the #Cockygate lawsuit is interesting in its own right, it's the breakdown of the seedy underworld of gaming Kindle Unlimited that really catches their imagination. Then they recommend a few new books (both from New Directions), and finish by talking with Emma Ramadan about her translation of Pretty Things by Virginie Despentes.

Here are links to The Governesses and The Hole, and here's Emma's fairly odd picture.

This week's music is "Bleed Turquoise" by Bleed Turquoise from Bleed Turquoise.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review wherever you get your podcasts!

2MR: FOX by Ugresic ("Little Miss Footnote") with Caitlin Luce Baker! Aug 30, 2018

Caitlin Luce Baker from University Bookstore in Seattle joined Chad and Brian to talk about the "Little Miss Footnote" section of Dubravka Ugresic's Fox. They touch on Dorothy Leuthold, Vladimir Nabokov, and much more, including a very subtle weaving of references that you'll definitely want to tune in to learn about.

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stayed tuned for the next broadcast--Tuesday, September 4th at 10am--which will feature Ryan Chapman (author of Conversation Sparks: Trivia Worth Talking About and several other ventures) and will cover the final section of the novel.

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Caitlin Luce Baker for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This week's intro music is "We Don't Have a Sail but We Have a Rudder" by El Ten Eleven, with the theme music of Life with Mikey serving as the outro track. (Please check out the trailer for this Michael J. Fox movie. It's . . . unsettling. The early 90s were a time.)

2MR: FOX by Ugresic ("The Theocritus Adventure") with Anthony Blake! Aug 16, 2018

This episode, Chad and Brian are joined by the newest Open Letter employee--Anthony Blake! He joins in on a really fun episode about Russian avant-garde literature, connections between the fourth part of Fox and the very earliest sections of the book, footnotes, invented novels, how to smuggle like a fox, and more.

This episode was not sponsored by Moon Palace Books, but they do receive a nice verbal and visual shout-outs. If you're ever in Minneapolis, go visit them!

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stayed tuned for the next broadcast--Tuesday, August 28th--which will feature Caitlin Luce Baker and focus on baseball, Nabokov, and Dorothy Leuthold.

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Anthony Blake for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This week's intro music is "As We Go Up, We Go Down" by Guided by Voices, with the theme music of Bright Lights, Big City serving as the outro track. (Yes, another Michael J. Fox movie.)

Three Percent #142: The Great American Podcast Aug 10, 2018

Back from their respective vacations, Chad and Tom talk about PBS's "Great American Read," the NEA's "Big Read," building a sustainable publishing model that puts readers first, the attempt to address the direct-to-consumer discount problem, books that they've recently read, and ones Tom refuses to stock. Tom also discloses his favorite publisher, and Chad has a revelation about all the books he's read this year. It's a very grounded episode, with no real rants, and lots of good information.

This episode's music is "Angeline" by Rayland Baxter.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: FOX by Ugresic ("The Devil's Garden") with Pete Mitchell! Aug 09, 2018

Pete Mitchell—who wrote this great review of Fox for Asymptote—joined Chad and Brian this week to talk about the heartbreaking (and semi-profane) ending to "The Devil's Garden," the third part of Dubrakva Ugresic's latest novel. From the idea of a small ping singling one's eventual crack-up to peeing on the side of the road as you burn it all down, this episode has it all.

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stayed tuned for the next broadcast, in which we'll be talking about the last half of Part III of "The Devil's Garden," pages 144-183.

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Pete Mitchell for info on soccer, international literature, and other Twitter-type stuff.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This week's episode opens with the theme song to Falling Down, and ends with part of the theme song from For Love or Money starring Michael J. Fox.

2MR: FOX by Ugresic ("The Devil's Garden") with George Carroll! Aug 02, 2018

In this week's Two Month Review, Brian drops some excellent knowledge about why this chapter is called "The Devil's Garden," opening a window into Ugresic's genius, guest George Carroll talks about his time in Kolkata, and Chad says a bunch of mildly entertaining things about camping and landmines. The most stunning moment comes when all three reveal their complete ignorance of one particular major work of international literature . . . Overall, a great episode!

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stayed tuned for the next broadcast, in which we'll be talking about the last half of Part III of "The Devil's Garden," pages 144-183.

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow George Carroll for info on soccer, international literature, and retirement.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This week's episode opens with "Fall Down" by the Throwing Muses, and ends with part of the theme song from Casualties of War starring Michael J. Fox.

2MR: FOX by Ugresic ("A Balancing Art") with Ellen Elias-Bursać! Jul 19, 2018

After a two week hiatus due to technical difficulties trying to record from Dublin, the Two Month Review is back! Chad and Brian are joined by translator Ellen Elias-Bursać to talk about her favorite section of the novel--"A Balancing Art." They discuss the various viewpoints presented in this chapter--especially that of the outspoken, unforgiving young artist compared to the more "fox-like" older widow--and all the subtleties found in Ugresic's prose.

Listen to the end to get information about Ellen's new book, Translating Evidence and Interpreting Testimony at a War Crimes Tribunal: Working in a Tug-of-War. Which is far more interesting than the title might suggest. It's about her time working in the Hague and the role translation played on a daily basis.

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stayed tuned for the next broadcast, in which we'll be talking about the first section of Part III of Fox, "The Devil's Garden," pages 110-144.

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

There are two bits of music on this episode, "Yr Throat" by Jeff Rosenstock opens up the podcast, and the outro music is the theme music to Doc Hollywood, another great Michael J. Fox movie.

2MR: FOX by Ugresic ("A Balancing Art") Jun 28, 2018

Tom Flynn from Volumes is back, surprising Brian, who mostly prepared for the podcast by Googling Croatian Fun Facts. World Cup banter and good natured ribbing aside, Chad, Brian, and Tom dig in to the first half or "A Balancing Art," talking about immigration vs. tourism, literary conferences and celebrity, one of the best penis jokes ever, and much more. They look at some of the parallels between the first two parts and marvel at Ugresic's genius in putting this novel together. Finally, they talk a bit about "Levin," the Russian author who runs throughout this book . . .

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stop by next Monday, July 2nd at 9pm Eastern to discuss the second half of Part II of Fox, "A Balancing Art," pages 76-109.

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. You can also find Tom Flynn and Volumes Bookcafe on Twitter. If you're in the Chicagoland area, please visit Volumes on Milwaukee and tell them that the Two Month Review sent you. (Or order a book from them online.)

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

There are two bits of music on this episode--the first was chosen by Rafa Montes, an Open Letter summer intern who is producing these podcasts, and the outro music is the theme music to Back to the Future, another great Michael J. Fox movie.

2MR: Fox ("A Story about How Stories Come To Be Written") Jun 21, 2018

This week's podcast is pretty fast and loose, with Fortnite disruptions, embarrassing pronunciations, lots of ribbing, and a deep dive into the various games going on in Part I of Dubravka Ugresic's Fox, "A Story about How Stories Come to Be Written." Starting from Pilnyak's story of the same name, this section revolves around the idea of how real life events are transformed into stories, why certain stories "feel" believable, and the way certain stories are lauded and others dismissed. It's a great starting point for the book, and all the silliness aside, Tom, Chad, and Brian do pull a lot of interesting ideas out of this section.

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stop by next Monday, June 25th at 9pm Eastern to discuss the first half of Part II of Fox, "A Balancing Art," pages 46-75.

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. You can also find Tom Flynn and Volumes Bookcafe on Twitter. If you're in the Chicagoland area, please visit Volumes on Milwaukee and tell them that the Two Month Review sent you. (Or order a book from them online.)

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

There are two bits of music on this episode--the first is "What Does the Fox Say?," which was Tom's "brilliant" suggestion. The outro music is more Michael J. Fox gold, this time from The Secret of My Success.

Three Percent #141: Reimagining the Podcast (AKA Everything Stays the Same) Jun 19, 2018

This week, Chad and Tom talk about the "newly reimagined" BookExpo, the New York Rights Fair, the Albertine Prize (congrats to Emma Ramadan, Anne Garreta, and Deep Vellum!), the BTBA (congrats to Will Vanderhyden and Rodrigo Fresán!), likely shortlisted titles for next year's award, and more. Totally lacking in sports talk this week, which is weird, given the start of the US-less World Cup . . .

Music this time is "If There's One Thing You Should Know" by The Go! Team.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: Fox (An Introduction to Dubravka Ugresic) Jun 14, 2018

The new season is here! For the next two months, Chad and Brian will be talking about Dubravka Ugresic's Fox with a wide range of guests. To kick things off this week, Chad talks about Ugresic's writing career and his history of publishing her, and Brian comes up with a great challenge for our listeners and a running gag about this season's theme music.

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stop by next Monday, June 18th at 9pm Eastern to discuss Part I of Fox, pages 1-45. (If you want to read "A Story About How Stories Come to Be Written" by Pilnyak, just email me.)

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

There are two bits of music on this episode--the first is "I Wanna Be" by Don't, which was recommended by long-time listener (and guest!) Caitlin Luce Baker, and the second is inspired by Brian's comment about Michael J. Fox.

Three Percent #140: Save All the Nobels May 16, 2018

Chad and Tom reunite after a few weeks of travel and hot takes to talk about the Best Translated Book Award shortlists, the Nobel Prize controversy, why we should (or shouldn't? or who cares?) save Barnes & Noble, and the awesomeness that is Jean-Patrick Manchette.

This week's music is "Every 1's a Winner" by Ty Segall, because, well, everyone's a winner.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

2MR: The Physics of Sorrow (Part VIII: "An Elementary Physics of Sorrow") Apr 12, 2018

This week, Chad and Brian are joined by Stiliana Milkova from Oberlin College to talk about the final sections of The Physics of Sorrow: "An Elementary Physics of Sorrow," "Endings," and "Epilogue." They talk about the structure of the novel as a whole, about Chad's favorite page in the book, about aging and nostalgia, and, in a true throwback moment, Twin Peaks.

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you're there, subscribe to Chad's channel and stop by next Monday, April 16th at 9pm eastern for a very special episode that will feature Santiago Morrice AND Georgi Gospodinov himself! If you watch that episode live you'll have the opportunity to ask Georgi all the questions you want!

As always, The Physics of Sorrow (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

While you're there, pick up a copy of Fox by Dubravka Ugresic. This will be the next Two Month Review book, and we'll release the schedule in the near future.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Stars and Babies" by Splendor and Misery, featuring Georgi's translator, Angela Rodel!

Three Percent #139: The Local Scene Apr 11, 2018

Chad and Tom reconvene to talk about self-published titles that stay local, the Best Translated Book Award longlists, the elitism of the industry, and how you should vote for Emma Ramadan's translation of Not One Day for this year's Albertine Prize.

This week's music is a snippet from the 13+ minute long Beach Life-in-Death by Car Seat Headrest. Great song, great album.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

2MR: The Physics of Sorrow (Part VII: "Global Autumn") Apr 05, 2018

This week, Rachel Cordasco from Speculative Fiction in Translation and the Wisconsin Historical Society Press joined Chad and Brian for a fun conversation about part VII of Georgi Gospodinov's The Physics of Sorrow. They talked about how this book invokes a variety of memories, hotel rooms, Eastern European self-deprecating humor, the saddest place on earth, and much more. It's a wide-ranging conversation that truly captures the spirit of the Two Month Review. Whether you've read the book or not, you'll come away from this informed and entertained. (And probably wishing you had read the book.)

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you're there, subscribe to Chad's channel and stop by next Monday, April 9th at 9pm eastern to talk with Chad, Brian, and special guest Stiliana Milkova. They'll be discussing "An Elementary Physics of Sorrow" and the "Conclusion," and probably touching on Milkova's literary interests, which include Russian Symbolist erotic poetry and Elena Ferrante.

As always, The Physics of Sorrow (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And be sure to follow Rachel Cordasco as well for more book information--especially about speculative fiction.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Stars and Babies" by Splendor and Misery, featuring Georgi's translator, Angela Rodel!

2MR: The Physics of Sorrow (Part VI: "The Story Buyer") Mar 29, 2018

This week, translator Angela Rodel joins Chad and Brian to talk about The Physics of Sorrow by Georgi Gospodinov, the recent surge in Bulgarian literature in translation, point of view issues in writing, Bulgarian folk music, what makes a translation work, and much more. Then Chad and Brian banter about "The Story Buyer," the giving away of ideas for novels, and the next title to be featured on the Two Month Review!

There is an unedited version of the second half of this podcast available on YouTube. that contains a longer discussion of the future of the project and what other titles could be included. And be sure to come by next TUESDAY, April 3rd at 9pm to talk with Chad, Brian, and special guest Rachel Cordasco. They'll be discussing "Global Autumn," the saddest places in the world, Eastern European humor, and more.

As always, The Physics of Sorrow (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Stars and Babies" by Splendor and Misery, featuring Georgi's translator, Angela Rodel!

2MR: The Physics of Sorrow (Part V: "The Green House") Mar 22, 2018

In addition to ripping on Chad and the poor showing by the Michigan State Spartans in the NCAA Tournament, Brian Wood and Tom Flynn (from Volumes Bookcafe) discuss the morality of animals, how this section of The Physics of Sorrow focuses more on the "animal" side of the minotaur, the mixture of lightness and sorrow in Gospodinov's writing, terrible sounding alcoholic drinks, and more. It's a great blend of pure entertainment and literary insight, reinforcing just how carefully crafted and incredible this novel is.

There is an unedited version of this podcast--with maybe eight extra minutes of jokes--that you can watch on YouTube. And be sure to come by next Monday, March 26th at 9pm to hangout with Chad and Brian. They'll be talking about Part VI (pages 179-200) and answering any and all of your questions.

As always, The Physics of Sorrow (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And you can follow Volumes Bookcafe for more information about books and upcoming events. (Like the one on April 26th with Two Month Review alum Rodrigo Fresán!)

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Stars and Babies" by Splendor and Misery, featuring Georgi's translator, Angela Rodel!

2MR: The Physics of Sorrow (pgs. 119-150) Mar 15, 2018

This week, Patrick Smith joined Chad and Brian to talk about time capsules and their potential danger, nostalgia and the urge to collect, aliens, Chernobyl, and more. It was a very fun part of the book to discuss, and the three of them made the most of it, really digging into how The Physics of Sorrow is constructed, while also entertaining listeners who might not have read the book. (Bonus: March Madness tips from Brian and former TMR guest Tom Roberge.)

If you want to see this conversation (instead of listening to the podcast), you can view it all here on YouTube. And be sure to come by next Monday, March 19th at 9pm to hangout with Brian, Chad, and special guest Tom Flynn from Volumes Bookcafe. In addition to talking about Part V (pgs 151-178), they'll be happy to answer any and all questions in the chat.

As always, The Physics of Sorrow (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And you can follow Patrick Smith for more book info, updates on The Scofield, and random bad takes about the New England Patriots.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Stars and Babies" by Splendor and Misery, featuring Georgi's translator, Angela Rodel!

2MR: The Physics of Sorrow (pgs. 73-118) Mar 08, 2018

To up the Bay Area sports content, we invited Nick Buzanski of Book Culture to come on and talk about one of his favorite sections of Georgi Gospodinov's The Physics of Sorrow. They talk about community and storytelling, seeing movies in person, Gospodinov's humor and beautiful writing, Gaustine's wild ideas, sexy books subterraneously shared, and crappy 90s music.

If you want to see this conversation (instead of listening to the podcast), you can view it all here on YouTube. And be sure to come by next Monday, March 12th at 9pm to hangout with Brian, Chad, and special guest Patrick Smith. In addition to talking about Part IV (pgs 119-150), they'll be happy to answer any and all questions in the chat.

As always, The Physics of Sorrow (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And you can follow Caitlin Baker for great book recommendations and more!

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Stars and Babies" by Splendor and Misery, featuring Georgi's translator, Angela Rodel!

TMR: Physics of Sorrow (pgs. 59-72) Mar 01, 2018

Caitlin Baker of the University Book Store in Seattle joined Chad and Brian to talk about this very short section of Georgi Gospodinov's The Physics of Sorrow. Mostly they talk about the constant conflicts between kids and their parent in myths. And eating children. But it's not as gruesome as all that! Mostly they have a good time hanging out and talking about the Minotaur and how he's been portrayed both in myths and pop culture.

If you want to see this conversation (instead of listening to the podcast), you can view it all here on YouTube. And be sure to come by next Monday, March 5th at 9pm to hangout with Brian, Chad, and special guest Nick Buzanski. In addition to talking about Part III (pgs 73-118), they'll be happy to answer any and all questions in the chat.

As always, The Physics of Sorrow (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And you can follow Caitlin Baker for great book recommendations and more!

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Stars and Babies" by Splendor and Misery, featuring Georgi's translator, Angela Rodel!

2MR: The Physics of Sorrow (pgs. 1-58) Feb 22, 2018

Chad and Brian are joined by Tom Roberge of Riffraff (and the Three Percent Podcast to discuss the first section of Georgi Gospodinov's The Physics of Sorrow. They talk about the book's general conceit, the minotaur myth, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Eastern European history, fascism and communism, and much more. It's a really fun episode--and one that you can actually watch on YouTube.

Caitlin Baker of University Bookstore in Seattle will guest star on the next episode, which covers Part II (59-72). This episode will be broadcast live on YouTube on Sunday, February 25th. We'll be discussion Part II (pgs 59-72), and you can watch us, ask questions, make general comments, talk about the lighting in Brian's closet, etc. Or you can wait for the normal podcast release next Thursday, March 1st.

As always, The Physics of Sorrow (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And also follow Tom Roberge and Riffraff for more info about books, bookselling, and other general topics.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Stars and Babies" by Splendor and Misery, featuring Georgi's translator, Angela Rode

2MR: The Physics of Sorrow (Introduction) Feb 15, 2018

The new season of the Two Month Review kicks off now with a general overview Georgi Gospodinov's The Physics of Sorrow, one of the most beloved books Open Letter has ever published. Brian's on the lam, or in witness protection, or something, so Open Letter senior editor Kaija Straumanis stepped in to talk about one of the first books she ever worked on for the press.

You can participate in the next episode--covering the Epigraphy, Prologue, and Part I (1-58)--which will be recorded on YouTube LIVE on Monday, February 19th at 9pm EST. All you you have to do is click here and you can comment or ask Chad, Brian, and Tom Roberge about anything you want.

The podcast recording of that episode will be released in normal fashion on Thursday, February 22nd. So you don't have to watch it live, but if you want to come hang out with us and participate in the making of these episodes, we'd love to see you there!

As always, The Physics of Sorrow (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And also follow Tom Roberge for more book and bookselling related content. (And other fun stuff.)

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Stars and Babies" by Splendor and Misery, featuring Georgi's translator, Angela Rodel!

#138: This Is the Most This Podcast Ever Feb 13, 2018

Alex Shepard from The New Republic joins Chad and Tom to discuss the state of book journalism, the new National Book Award for Translation, Chad's annoying whining about BookMarks, Winter Institute, and more. It's a fun episode that goes deep into some contemporary book publishing issues--and the disparity between the haves and have nots--while remaining entertaining and a bit unhinged.

This week's music is "The Best Trick in Modern Science" by Unlikely Friends. Yes, this is the second week in a row that we're featuring this album. It's great!

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

#137: The Fire & the Fury Over No Amazon in Rochester Feb 07, 2018

After a few weeks away from podcast, Chad and Tom reunite to talk about sales of Fire and Fury and its lasting impact, Milo's edits, the TA First Translation Prize Shortlist, Rochester's failure to land the new Amazon HQ, Wormwood, and more.

For those keeping track as you listen, here's the baffling video presentation Rochester & Buffalo sent to Amazon and here's a link to A.N. Devers's article on Brigid Hughes and The Paris Review.

Sorry, while we're goofing on Rochester's delusional ambitions, I have to share this. Please try and make sense of those statements.

This week's music is "Crooked Numbers" by Unlikely Friends. Now that football is over with Minnesota's crushing defeat to the Eagles, it's almost time to pay attention to America's game!

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review!

2MR: Death in Spring (pgs. 119-150) Dec 28, 2017

Here it is, the infamous live recording at McNally Jackson! There was a great turnout to hear Brian, María Christina, and I work our way through our thoughts about Death in Spring, Rodoreda's overall stature, the banning of the color yellow, and much more. We had a great time doing this, and thanks again to McNally Jackson for making it all possible.

We might have a special bonus episode in the new year, but stay tuned for details on Two Month Review season four, when we go deep on The Physics of Sorrow by Georgi Gospodinov. Buy a copy now! (Use the code 2MONTH at checkout for 20% off!)

And, in case you still don't have them, both Death in Spring and Selected Stories are also available through the Open Letter website. And like with Physics above, if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And you can follow María Christina Hall there as well.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: Death in Spring (pgs. 69-118) Dec 21, 2017

Mara Faye Lethem joins us this week to talk about Catalonia's scatological obsession, the challenges of the current political situation, Max Besora's wild novel, and Rodoreda's triumphant return to the best-seller list. Then they get into a more autobiographical reading of this section of Death in Spring, a section that's all about death and chaos.

Both Selected Stories and Death in Spring are available through the Open Letter website, and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And be sure to read all of Mara's translations, including The Boys by Toni Sala and Wonderful World by Javier Calvo.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

#136: The Riffraff Is Upon Us Dec 19, 2017

Back at last! Chad and Tom reunite after a month in which Tom finished building an entire bookstore and bar, which is now open! In addition to talking about Riffraff's first week of business, they talk about the NCIBA statement against publishers selling direct to consumers and institutions, about Tyrant Books tweeting about never again working with agents, about "Cat Person," and about the release of the Translation Database on Publishers Weekly.

This week's music is "Young Lady, You're Scaring Me" by Ron Gallo.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review!

If you don't already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast catcher: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: Death in Spring (pgs. 28-68) Dec 14, 2017

This week, fresh off a publication in the Boston Review, Jess Fenn (JR Fenn) joins Chad, Brian, and Best Translated Book Award judge Patrick Smith (P.T. Smith) to talk about the second part of Death in Spring. They trace a few motifs, talk about dystopias and literary world-building, and much more. Another very informative and captivating episode about one of the greatest novels of the past hundred years.

Both Selected Stories and Death in Spring are available through the Open Letter website ,and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Be sure and buy the Boston Review to read Jess's story, and follow Patrick on Twitter for various book thoughts and terrible sports takes.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: Death in Spring (pgs. 1-27) Dec 07, 2017

Welcome to one of the strangest villages in all of fiction! Now that Chad and Brian have gone through the stories, they turn their attention to Rodoreda's Death in Spring, which was published posthumously in 1986. They're joined by Catalan researcher and translator Meg Berkobien and Anastasia Nikolis, who you might remember from the season on Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller. This episode is loaded with information about Rodoreda and this novel, followed by accolade after accolade about one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.

Both Selected Stories and Death in Spring are available through the Open Letter website ,and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: Selected Stories (pgs. 208-255) Nov 30, 2017

After yelling at Skype a bunch, Chad, Brian, and special guest Tom Flynn of Volumes Bookcafe discuss the merits of some of Rodoreda's final stories, especially "The Thousand Franc Bill," "Paralysis," and "The Salamander." Then they manage to slightly diss groups upon groups of people--in a rather entertaining way. And they discuss the state of the short story collection and how stories are perceived by publishing execs and bookstores. They also preview next week's book, Death in Spring.

Both Selected Stories and Death in Spring are available through the Open Letter website ,and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Follow Volumes Books to keep up to date on all their events, staff picks, and general comments.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: Selected Stories (pgs. 144-207) Nov 23, 2017

After doing a bit of a deeper dive into the situation in Catalonia--and discussing the LIVE recording that will take place on December 12th at the new McNally Jackson--Chad and Brian are joined by George Carroll to talk about this batch of Rodoreda's stories. Although a couple of the stories discussed in this episode (especially "Before I Die") fit in with her more domestic stories, there is a distinct shift in tone and subject as she starts writing more about World War II ("On a Dark Night," "Orléans, Three Kilometers"), which points toward her later works, especially Death in Spring.

Both Selected Stories and Death in Spring are available through the Open Letter website ,and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And stay tuned to Lit in Translation for more writing and opinions from George Carroll.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: Selected Stories (pgs. 103-143) Nov 16, 2017

Things are a bit rough for Chad the morning after the Open Letter gala, but he powers through and talks about this new phase of Rodoreda's stories. He and Brian break down some of the more challenging of her stories, including "Noctural" and "The Bath," and talk about what does and doesn't work in creating an authentic voice, and how to behave on airplanes.

Both Selected Stories and Death in Spring are available through the Open Letter website ,and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: Selected Stories (pgs. 51-102) Nov 09, 2017

This week, Mark Haber of Brazos Bookstore and the Best Translated Book Award committee joins Chad and Brian to talk about the next seven stories in Mercè Rodoreda's collection. Although they touch on a number of them, a lot of time is spent focusing on "Carnival" and the literary antecedents to Rodoreda.

Both Selected Stories and Death in Spring are available through the Open Letter website ,and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Mark Haber to learn more about contemporary literature and bookselling.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

#135: Polish Reportage and a Lot of Sci-Fi Talk Nov 08, 2017

After discussing the incredibly long Dublin Literary Prize longlist, Chad and Tom discuss Polish Reportage, Stanislaw Lem's book covers, ordering books for Riffraff, and a serial killer.

This week's music is "Turning" by Beaches.

One other note: The next season of the Two Month Review kicked off on Thursday, October 26th with an episode introducing Mercè Rodoreda and the two books of hers that will be featured this season: Selected Stories and Death in Spring. Both are avaialble for 20% off by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. The full schedule of episodes is available here.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review!

If you don't already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast catcher: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: Selected Stories (pgs. 1-50) Nov 02, 2017

This week, Chad and Brian dive into the first six stories in Mercè Rodoreda's Selected Stories and call up Quim Monzó, arguably the most important contemporary Catalan author, to talk about the precision and emotionality in her work. They also talk about Catalan literature as a whole, A Thousand Morons, Catalan independence, and much more. An incredibly fun and funny episode, this one really lays the groundwork for approaching Rodoreda's stories.

Both Selected Stories and Death in Spring are available through the Open Letter website ,and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Quim Monzó to learn more about his writings and the case for Catalan independence.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: Reunited! (Intro to Mercè Rodoreda) Oct 26, 2017

Brian Wood is BACK. Complete with a poem he wrote in his time away from the Two Month Review . . . In the introduction to season three, Chad and Brian talk about Catalan literature (briefly), Mercè Rodoreda's career and comps, possible approaches to discussing Rodoreda's stories, and more. As noted elsewhere, this season will start with Mercè Rodoreda's Selected Stories followed by one of her novels, Death in Spring.

Both of these books are available through the Open Letter website, and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

#134: The Books We Read and Why We Read Them Oct 17, 2017

After an impassioned pitch for why you should support Open Letter's annual campaign, Chad and Tom talk about ALTA, about how best to promote international literature to common readers, about the moral argument for reading translations, about Tim Parks and Han Kang's Human Acts, and about how baseball is broken and breaking Chad's will to live. Enjoy!

One other note: The next season of the Two Month Review will kick off on Thursday, October 26th with an episode introducing Mercè Rodoreda and the two books of hers that will be featured this season: Selected Stories and Death in Spring. Both are avaialble for 20% off by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. The full schedule of episodes is available here.

This week's music is "Two Thousand and Seventeen" (the same number of minutes in game five of the the Cubs-Nationals series) by Four Tet.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review!

If you don't already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: 17, composition book (Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller, Pages 361-411) Oct 12, 2017

Here it is--the infamous LIVE recording of the Two Month Review! Chad and Lytton travelled all the way to Brooklyn to record this episode as part of the "Taste of Iceland Festivities." As a result, they recap the book as a whole and reflect on the speech from Iceland's First Lady that prefaced the recording (and which you don't get to hear) before diving into the particulars of the final section of Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller. They also take questions from the audience about WWII and Kafka, and spend some time pondering the final line of the book: "i call the northern lights night rainbows." And Chad works in multiple references to Twin Peaks: The Return.

As previously noted, the next season of the Two Month Review will feature two books by Mercè Rodoreda: Selected Stories and Death in Spring. Click here to get the full schedule, and use the 2MONTH code at our website to get 20% off. (That discount code also works for Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller and The Invented Part. And if you'd rather support your local bookstore, do it! They should have all of these titles. If not, shame them. Preferably in a very public way. Kidding, totally kidding. Obviously every store carries all of our books.)

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Lytton Smith for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: fourteen, fifteenth book, 16. notebook (Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller, Pages 306-360) Oct 05, 2017

Icelandic novelist and poet Kári Tulinius joins Chad and Lytton this week to talk about three of the darkest sections of Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller and the history of this novel's reception in Iceland. They also talk about the recent scandal that brought down the Icelandic government--and how it ties into Tómas Jónsson--about why the book was out of print in Iceland for a couple of decades after its initial release, the way this book is scarily prescient, and much more.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Lytton Smith for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

You can read an excerpt from Kári's latest novel (translated by Larissa Kyzer) at Words and Worlds and can find his archived Grapevine articles here.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

#133: From Catalonia to South Korea Oct 04, 2017

After a bit of a hiatus, Chad and Tom are back to talk about Riffraff's new location, break down Catalonian politics and the recent editorial gathering the Ramon Llull Institute put on in Barcelona, and somewhat pick apart this article about Deborah Smith's translation of The Vegetarian.

This week's music is "Day I Die" by The National.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review!

If you don't already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

2MR: this is the eleventh book, my 12th composition book, book 13 (Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller, Pages 282-305) Sep 28, 2017

CORRECTION: Throughout this podcast, we joke about having recorded the final episode of the season live at Spoonbill & Sugartown last weekend. This is a lie! The live event will take place THIS SATURDAY (September 30, 2017) as part of the Taste of Iceland events. Eliza Reid, Iceland's First Lady, will start things off at 2pm, and Lytton and I will follow her. So please ignore all our childish banter and please come out on Saturday for this live recording!

This week, Tom Flynn of Volumes Bookcafe returns to the Two Month Review to talk about three of the more difficult bits of Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller one section that's a dream, one about mediums and resurrection, and one that's a poem for going to bed and for death. Thanks to Tom's perceptive insights and Lytton's genius, they're able to puzzle out all three sections and provide some solid guidance for everyone reading along.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Lytton Smith for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick Smith for a variety of literary insights and other commentary. And be sure to follow Volumes Bookstore and Tom Flynn and visit the store when you're in Chicago.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: tenth composition book (Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller, Pages 238-281) Sep 21, 2017

This week Patrick Smith (Best Translated Book Award judge, The Scofield) joins Chad and Lytton to talk about this incredibly powerful section of the book, which raises all sorts of topical ideas about adhering to national myths and the problems of masculinity. This is also the section where Hitler shows up, and where a character literally eats himself out of house and home. And this podcast is a crucial one in helping frame the way this novel simultaneously holds up and undermines a variety of dangerous, unpleasant ideas. After listening to this, we hope you will have an even broader and more nuanced understanding--and appreciation--of this great novel.

Reminder! On September 30th, we will be recording the final episode of this season of the Two Month Review at Spoonville & Sugartown in Brooklyn as part of Taste of Iceland. The First Lady of Iceland, Eliza Reid, will kick things off at 2pm with a lecture and reading, then at 3pm, Lytton and Chad will discuss the final section of Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller (and take audience questions), followed by a recpetion at 4pm. It's free to attend, so come on out and see us do this live!

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Lytton Smith for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick Smith for a variety of literary insights and other commentary.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: IX. class A, tenth composition book (Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller, Pages 200-238) Sep 14, 2017

This week Norwegian translator and ALTA Fellowship recipient David Smith joins Chad and Lytton to talk about the next forty pages of Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller. The two sections covered this week are wildly different from one another, opening with a much more fragmented, poetic bit then transitioning through a hilarious, yet creepy, moment in which Tómas pees all over the laundry room into a more straightforward section--but one that still brings out all the wild contradictions in Tómas's character and this book itself. This week's episode also includes Chad reading a section that's perfect for a voiceover movie trailer. (And yes, he reads it in exactly that voice.)

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Lytton Smith for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: tómas's seventh composition book, 8. (Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller, Pages 140-199) Sep 07, 2017

This week author and translator Idra Novey joins Chad and Lytton to talk about one of the most challenging sections of the book so far. Not only is there a proliferation of children whose voices constantly interrupt Tómas's thoughts, but there are a few more unsettling bits that raise questions about what we should believe about Tómas's narrative and morality. (Questions that will be further addressed next week.) They also talk about the brilliant ways in which Lytton balances all these various registers, and the poetry that shines through Tómas's curmudgeonly rants.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Lytton Smith for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Also, you can support Idra Novey by following her on twitter and buying her novel, Ways to Disappear, which is available now.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on iTunes (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: fifth composition book, VI. (Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller, Pages 69-139) Aug 31, 2017

This week, Jacob Rogers--translator from the Galician and bookseller at Malaprop's in Asheville, North Carolina--joins Chad and Lytton to talk about Tómas Jónsson's next two "composition books." Included in these sections are a long bit about the "board" and the general hierarchy of Tómas's dining hall, the ways in which he's both an insider and someone on the fringes, and the role of the U.S. military base in Iceland's overall development. These sections are crucial in fleshing out both Tómas's character and that of Iceland as a whole, while adding a lot of interesting--and funny--details about his everyday life.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Lytton Smith for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. You can also follow Malaprop's on Twitter, and Jacob on Instagram.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on iTunes (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: IV composition book (Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller, Pages 32-68) Aug 24, 2017

In this episode--covering Tómas Jónsson's fourth composition book--a number of the themes of the overall novel are put on display: Tómas's relationship to his body, the way he tries to create a narrative for himself, possible injustices he's suffered during his life, the way his lodgers are like an army, and more. And there's no one better to help parse these elements than author and critic Scott Esposito. He joins Chad and Lytton for an episode that may be a bit long, but is stuffed full of insight about this Icelandic masterpiece.

Also discussed in this episode is Scott's interview with Lytton for Conversational Reading.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Lytton Smith for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

You can follow Scott Esposito on Twitter and Instagram, or at Conversational Reading. And you can get his latest book, The Doubles, from Civil Coping Mechanisms.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on iTunes (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: Biography through Third Composition Book (Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller, Pages 1-31) Aug 17, 2017

This week, Ph.D. candidate Anastasia Nikolis joins Chad and Lytton to talk about the real meat of Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller--chamber pot usage! They also discuss the way our grumpy narrator's mind works, the way he finds beauty in ambiguity, how Lytton translated a very specific word game, and a couple cues to help keep track of "when" particular sections are taking place. A lively and learned episode--just like the novel itself.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Lytton Smith, and for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And listen to Anastasia's poetry podcast, Black Box Poetry, to hear more of her thoughts about writing and literature.

You can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on iTunes (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

2MR: Introduction to Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller Aug 10, 2017

And with this episode, we launch the second season of the Two Month Review! Over a ten-week period, we will be breaking down Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller by Guðbergur Bergsson, helping explain and explore what makes this book (often referred to as "Iceland's Ulysses") so influential and interesting. This season, translator, poet, and professor Lytton Smith will join Chad Post to talk about the book, along with a variety of guests, including a number of booksellers, critics, and readers. The full reading schedule can be found here, but in this particular episode, Lytton and Chad provide some background information about the book, Bergsson's career, and Icelandic literature as a whole. They're joined this week by Brian Wood, who, as usual, is entertaining and funny while also asking really important questions that help provide a context for approaching this novel.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Lytton Smith, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

You can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

And please rate us on iTunes (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

#132: Women in Translation Month, Genres, Co-opting a Style, and Garbage Plates Aug 09, 2017

On this episode of the Three Percent Podcast, Chad and Tom talk about Peter Straub's 2010 article about genre, the existence (or not) of translation as a genre, Hudson Bookstore's attempt to co-op the indie bookstore "ethos," and this stupid infographic. They also touch on Women in Translation month (with promises of future data to analyze), and the Rochester Plates promotion.

This week's music is "Destroy This Poem" by Hallelujah the Hills.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

2MR: The Author Himself! Aug 03, 2017

As a special bonus episode, both Rodrigo Fresán and Will Vanderhyden joined Chad and Brian to talk about The Invented Part as a whole, the first season of the Two Month Review, what's next in the trilogy, technology's revenge on Rodrigo, David Lynch, and, how to write jacket copy.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

The Invented Part is avaialble at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

The next season will focus on Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller by Guðbergur Bergsson. Get your copy now from Open Letter (use 2MONTH at checkout!) or from your favorite book retailer. More info on that reading schedule will be available next week.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood and Will Vanderhyden on Twitter for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

Please rate us on iTunes (or wherever) and/or leave a review!

The music for the first season of Two Month Review is "Big Sky" by The Kinks.

2MR: "The Imaginary Person" (The Invented Part, Pages 441-552) Jul 27, 2017

We did it! After two months, eleven episodes, and a half dozen different guests, Brian and Chand finished their discussion of Rodrigo Fresán's The Invented Part! Joining them this week to wrap things up is Valerie Miles, translator, publisher, co-founder of Granta en Español, and editor of A Thousand Forests in One Acorn. She's also friends with Rodrigo and offers amazing insight into this wild, stuffed chapter in which we return to the beginning ("How to end. Or better: How to end?") while The Writer flies through the skies, revisiting all the rants he made at a recent conference, and the spectacular attack from his archnemesis IKEA. There's a lot more to this section though--especially how it relates to the structure of the overall book.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

The Invented Part is avaialble at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

The next season will focus on Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller by Guðbergur Bergsson. Get your copy now from Open Letter (use 2MONTH at checkout!) or from your favorite book retailer. More info on that reading schedule will be available next week.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood and Valerie Miles on Twitter for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

Please rate us on iTunes and/or leave a review!

The music for the first season of Two Month Review is "Big Sky" by The Kinks.

2MR: "Meanwhile, Once Again, Beside the Museum Stairway, Under a Big Sky" (The Invented Part, Pages 405-440) Jul 20, 2017

It's another 2MR review with just Chad and Brian! Similar to the previous guest-less episode, this one goes a bit off the rails . . . Although this time around it gets a lot darker, as they talk about Chekov, Girl, Night, Swimming Pool, Etc., a scream descending from the skies, John Cheever's writing prompt, and much much more.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

The Invented Part is avaialble at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood on Twitter for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for the first season of Two Month Review is "Big Sky" by The Kinks.

2MR: "Life After People, or Notes For a Brief History of Progressive Rock and Science Fiction" (The Invented Part, Pages 361-404) Jul 13, 2017

On this week's Two Month Review, Tom Roberge from Riffraff and the Three Percent Podcast joins Chad and Brian talk about 2001: A Space Odyssey, Pink Floyd, potential errors and non-errors, cultural touchstones that serve to define friendships, the overall structure of this chapter of The Invented Part, and Tom's experience coming on the podcast having read only these forty pages of the novel. And, as per usual, Chad sneaks in a few Twin Peaks references.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

The Invented Part is avaialble at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and "The" Tom Roberge on Twitter for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for the first season of Two Month Review is "Big Sky" by The Kinks.

#131: Stories from the First Half of 2017 Jul 12, 2017

Now that half of 2017 is over, Chad and Tom take a minute to reflect back on major stories, trends, and books from the first six months of the year. The conversation is quite lively (listen in to hear Chad lose his mind after reading the latest "Book Match" column), and covers issues of bookstore ownership, publicity and the state of book culture, the precarious state of nonprofit publishing, and Yadier Molina's horrible neck tattoo.

A few recommendations from this week's show:

Such Small Hands by Andrés Barba, translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman
GLOW on Netflix
"Stadium Club" by Mark Mulroney

This week's music is a clip from "The Ballad of Costa Concordia" by Car Seat Headrest.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

2MR: "Many Fêtes, or Study for a Group Portrait with Broken Decalogues" (The Invented Part, Pages 301-360) Jul 06, 2017

On this week's Two Month Review, Chad and Brian talk about F. Scott Fitzgerald and Tender Is the Night, puzzles, how to properly introduce the show, the Modern Library list of top 100 novels of the twentieth century, Booth Tarkington, and much more more.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

The Invented Part is avaialble at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood on Twitter for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for the first season of Two Month Review is "Big Sky" by The Kinks.

2MR: "A Few Things You Happen to Think About When All You Want Is to Think About Nothing" (The Invented Part, Pages 231-300) Jun 29, 2017

This week, Jonathan Lethem (Motherless Brooklyn, Chronic City) joins Chad and Brian to talk about The Writer's trip to a hospital, where he assumes something horrible is happening, which is countered by a gushing forth of new story ideas. Jonathan tells of his own experience coming up with one of his most famous books while recovering from an operation, tells of how he first met and bonded with Rodrigo Fresán, and talks about Believeniks!. This is a really meaty, fascinating episode about being a writer, mortality, Fresán's incredible talent, and much more.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

The Invented Part is avaialble at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood on Twitter for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And you can find out about all of Jonathan Lethem's books and more at his website.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for the first season of Two Month Review is "Big Sky" by The Kinks.

2MR: "The Place Where the Sea Ends So the Forest Can Begin: Part 3" (The Invented Part, Pages 208-230) Jun 22, 2017

This week, Speculative Fiction in Translation founder and Best Translated Book Award judge Rachel Cordasco joins Chad and Brian to talk about the nature of time, deals with the devil, conflagrations, and writerly desires, or, in other words, the third part of "The Place Where the Sea Ends So the Forest Can Begin" in Rodrigo Fresán's The Invented Part. A very elegant section of the book following the wild, giant green cow bit that came before, the three hosts enthusiastically break down some of the plot clues included in this section, and what makes this book so damn good. (Stay till the very end to hear Rachel's enthusiasm take her over!)

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

The Invented Part is avaialble at better bookstores everywhere, including Volumes Bookcafe. You can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Rachel Cordasco on Twitter for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

Next week we will be back to discuss "A Few Things You Happen to Think About When All You Want Is to Think About Nothing" (pages 231-300).

The music for the first season of Two Month Review is "Big Sky" by The Kinks.

2MR: "The Place Where the Sea Ends So the Forest Can Begin: Part 2" (The Invented Part, Pages 99-207) Jun 15, 2017

This week's episode is all about Penelope and her experiences with the Karmas. (And a Big Green Cow.) A lot of the Odyssey, Wuthering Heights, and William Burroughs are in this section, which is hilariously dissected by Brian, Chad, and their guest, Tom Flynn, the manager of Volumes Bookcafe in Chicago. One of the funniest--and most free-flowing, almost beat-like--sections of the book to date, this section explains a lot of the causes for Penelope's madness, while parodying an ultra-rich family of backstabbing, self-involved, frustratingly funny characters--many of whom make great material for a novel . . .

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

The Invented Part is avaialble at better bookstores everywhere, including Volumes Bookcafe. You can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Volumes Bookcafe on Twitter for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for the first season of Two Month Review is "Big Sky" by The Kinks.

#130: French Fun and BookExpo Jun 14, 2017

Delayed for a couple weeks due to travel and work schedules, Chad and Tom are back to talk about the inaugural Albertine Prize (won by Antoine Volodine's Bardo or Not Bardo, translated by J. T. Mahany), Houellebecq's no show, and BookExpo and the forthcoming New York Rights Fair. They also talk a bit about the Two Month Review--the new subpodcast you can find in this same feed--and Tom's forthcoming appearance on the show. There's also witty banter galore, a bit of NBA Finals talk, and more.

This week's music is "Unicorn Tolerance" by The Mountain Goats.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

2MR: "The Place Where the Sea Ends So the Forest Can Begin: Part 1" (The Invented Part, Pages 46-98) Jun 08, 2017

This week, author and journalist Mark Binelli joins Chad and Brian to discuss the first part of the second section of Rodrigo Fresán's The Invented Part. In "The Place Where the Seas Ends So the Forest Can Begin," we meet The Young Man and The Young Woman, who are making a movie about The Writer after his disappearance/death/whatever. From discussion of "irreal realism" to writing classes to the idea of a sitcom about writers, this week's discussion delights in The Writer's ideas about writing and reading, and the hints this chapter contains about the rest of the book.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

The Invented Part is avaialble at better bookstores everywhere, including from Open Letter directly, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Mark Binelli on Twitter for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Also, click here to read the profile of Al Franken that Mark wrote for the new issue of Rolling Stone.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for the first season of Two Month Review is "Big Sky" by The Kinks.

And for those interested, here's Joan Manuel Serrat's "Penelope."

2MR: "The Real Character" (The Invented Part, Pages 1-45) Jun 01, 2017

This week, Jeremy Garber from Powells Books joins Chad and Brian to discuss the first section of Rodrigo Fresán's The Invented Part. This section, entitled "The Real Character," introduces us to the main character of the book--known here as The Boy, and later as The Writer--as well as some of the major themes of the novel. Wide-ranging and very fun, the discussion touches on The Boy's epic list of thoughts and ideas (such as "It Jell-O animal, vegetal, mineral, or interplanetary?"), on the two versions of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night, Gerald and Sara Murphy, the idea of "the invented part," turning off our cell phones, and much more.

Next week's guest will be Mark Binelli (Sacco and Vanzetti Must Die!, Screamin' Jay Hawkins' All-Time Greatest Hits, Detroit City Is the Place to Be), and will cover the first section of the second part of the novel, pages 46-98 of "Place Where the Sea Ends So the Forest Can Begin."

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

The Invented Part is avaialble at better bookstores everywhere, including Powells. You can also get it from Open Letter directly for 20% off. Just enter 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood on Twitter for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. (Jeremy is smart and stays off social media entirely.)

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for the first season of Two Month Review is "Big Sky" by The Kinks.

2MR: Introducing Rodrigo Fresán's "The Invented Part" May 16, 2017

Translator Will Vanderhyden joins Chad and Brian to provide an overview of Rodrigo Fresán's work--especially The Invented Part. They discuss some of his earlier works (including Kensington Gardens, which is available in an English translation), different pop culture touchstones running throughout his oeuvre, related authors, and ways to approach The Invented Part.

They also talk a bit about the schedule and the future Two Month Review podcasts. The entire reading schedule is listed below, but for the next episode (June 1st), Chad and Brian will be joined by bookseller and Best Translated Book Award just Jeremy Garber to talk about "The Real Character," pages 1-45.

Here's the complete rundown of Two Month Review podcasts for The Invented Part:

June 1: "The Real Character" (1-45)
June 8: "Place Where the Sea Ends" (Part 1) (46-98)
June 15: "Place Where the Sea Ends" (Parts 2) (99-207)
June 22: "Place Where the Sea Ends" (Parts 3) (208-229)
June 29: "A Few Things You Happen to Think About" (230-300)
July 6: "Many Fetes" (301-360)
July 13: "Life After People" (361-403)
July 20: "Meanwhile, Once Again" (404-439)
July 27: "The Imaginary Person" (440-547)

In addition to these weekly podcasts, there will be some bonus posts here on Three Percent, and you can share your opinions and questions at the official GoodReads Group.

Additionally, we are offering a 20% discount on orders of The Invented Part from the Open Letter website. Just enter 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout. Copies are on hand and will ship out immediately. They're also available at better bookstores everywhere.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood on Twitter for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for the first season of Two Month Review is "Big Sky" by The Kinks.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze, send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

#129: Two Missteps from Disaster May 04, 2017

In this week's episode, following an unintentional s***storm started on social media, Chad and Tom talk about the obligations of publishers and freelance translators, the cascade of things that can go wrong in the publication process, the necessary sales needed for translations to break even (and how likely that is/isn't), and a variety of new models publishers could employ to stay afloat.

This week's music is "Murder Me Rachael" by The National.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

2MR: Introduction! May 02, 2017

Punctuated by toddler Isak's comments about Barney, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Lytton Smith discuss the main motivations behind the upcoming "Two Month Review" podcasts, which will be released weekly starting in later this month, and will focus on a single book for a eight or nine week period.

As noted in this post, Rodrigo Fresán’s The Invented Part will be the first featured book (episodes released every Tuesday from 5/16 through 7/27), and Guðbergur Bergsson’s Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller will be the second (8/3-9/28).

In addition to these weekly podcasts, there is a GoodReads Group where anyone following along can post comments, questions, or other opinions.

Additionally, we are offering a 20% discount on orders of these two books from the Open Letter website. Just enter 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout. And since these are already back from the printer, we'll ship them out ASAP--well in advance of the official pub dates.

The music for the first season of Two Month Review is "Big Sky" by The Kinks.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze, send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

#128: Remembering, Rereading, Rewatching Apr 29, 2017

In this week's episode, Chad and Tom talk about their first ever episode, the new Granta list of Best Young American Novelists, and books they're looking forward to reading this summer. They also introduce the "Two Month Review"--a new series of weekly mini-episodes launching on Tuesday.

Here's a (fairly) complete list of the new books discussed on this episode:

October by China Miéville
Wolf Hunt by Ivailo Petrov
Beasts Head for Home by Kobo Abe
Warning to the Crocodiles by António Lobo Antunes
Map Drawn by a Spy by Guillermo Cabrera Infante
The Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost

And the authors and books Chad and/or Tom want to reread:

Ulysses by James Joyce
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Philip K. Dick, generally
Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson
This week's music is "The Two of Us" by The Jesus and Mary Chain.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze, send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

#127: The 2017 Best Translated Book Award Finalists Apr 18, 2017

Riffraff co-owner and BTBA poetry judge Emma Ramadan joins Chad and Tom to talk about the fifteen finalists for this year's Best Translated Book Awards. After breaking down the poetry and fiction lists, the three talk about the new New York Times Match Book column and the value of booksellers and librarians.

This week's music is "High Ticket Attractions" by The New Pornographers.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze, send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

#126: The Potential Perils of Freelancing Apr 11, 2017

On this week's podcast, Tom and Chad discuss the potential troubles of getting paid as a freelance translator, the Missing Richard Simmons podcast, and Seed by Joanna Walsh. There are also allusions to the forthcoming BTBA shortlists, and a new podcast project that will be starting up in May . . .

This week's music is "Here's to the Fourth Time!" by Los Campesinos!

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze, send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

#125: 2017 Best Translated Book Award Longlists Mar 28, 2017

In this podcast, Tom and Chad go over all thirty-five longlisted titles on this year's Best Translated Book Award longlists. They offer up some uninformed opinions (and a couple informed ones), make their guesses as to which titles will move on, and talk generally about the plethora of Spanish titles on the two lists.

If you haven't seen them yet, click here for the fiction list, and here for the poetry one.

This week's music is "Emoshuns" by Spiral Stairs.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze, send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

#124: Amazon Gets Physical Mar 07, 2017

This week, Tom and Chad talk about the Cubs and their "Zen way," the largest publishers in the U.S., this "If there were Oscars for Books!" "article," and, most importantly, the new Amazon bookstore, which Tom visited and brought back some pictures.

This week's music is "Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man.

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you'd like us to read and analyze, send those along as well.

And, if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes.

#123: The Challenges of Selling Books Feb 10, 2017

This week's podcast opens with the sad news of Harry Mathews's passing, then goes deep on Winter Institute, and a couple really long essays Chad wrote for Three Percent. There's a lot that gets unpacked in this episode, from anticipatory lists and market acceleration, to the way that bookstores choose which titles to stock and how comp titles work.

Here are links to specific things covered in this podcast:

Harry Mathews in the Paris Review
List of Winter Institute programs and authors
Reader Selection and Market Acceleration and The Structural Inequality of Comp Titles
The Millions Great 2017 Book Preview

This week's music is "I'm Gonna Live Forever (If it Kills Me)" by William Tyler.

Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

Also, if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes.

#122: Music We Listened to in 2016 Jan 17, 2017

As in years past, the entire Open Letter crew (Chad, Nate, Kaija) got together to talk about some of the music they listened to over the past year. (That and Bud Light ads.)

You can listen to all the songs featured on this podcast on the Spotify playlist that's on the podcast post over at Three Percent.

Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

Also, if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes.

#121: The Summer Following Dec 20, 2016

Caroline Casey from Coffee House Press joined Chad and Tom on this podcast to talk about 2016 movies, TV shows, and podcasts. Before they got into a long discussion about the royal family, Luke Cage, Crimetown, Midnight Special, and more, they touched on a number of things that are both intriguing and a little bit batshit.

Here's the full rundown of this week's episode:

Sylvester Stallone to head the NEA?
John O'Brien: "The National Endowment to the Arts in the United States has consistently demonstrated either an indifference to or a hostility towards translations, though it bristles with indignation when this is brought to their attention. A number of years ago I would be told what objections some panel members had to our applications, and in almost all cases the objections centered on panelists not seeing how translations benefited the public and further objected to American money going to writers who weren't American."
Andrew Wylie: "Many agencies only think about money. But we only look at the quality of the writing. We train people in the agency to forget about money. It’s not of interest whether we think a book will sell thousands of copies. Pay attention to the quality of the work. If the writing is unusual, appealing, and drives you a little crazy, then that’s someone that we want to represent."
Little Boxes
The best commercial ever

This episode's music is "Run to Your Mama" by Goat.

Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

Also, if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes.

#120: Crime and Concept Stores Nov 30, 2016

It's been a few weeks since the last podcast, but Chad and Tom are back with a over-stuffed episode that starts with a recap of recent events before turning to Barnes & Noble's plans for their concept stores followed by a lengthy discussion about international crime authors.

Here's a complete list of articles, authors, and books discussed in this episode:

What Barnes & Noble Doesn't Get about Independent Bookstores;
The 2016 Neustadt Prize (and corresponding article by Chad);
The Point Reyes Indiegogo;
East Bay Booksellers;
Rage by Zygmunt Miłoszewski, translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones;
Giorgio Scerbanenco;
Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö's Martin Beck series;
Wolf Haas;
Melville House International Crime Series;
The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura, transalted from the Japanese by Satoko Izumo and Stephen Coates;
Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama, translated from the Japanese by Jonathan Lloyd-Davies;
The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei, translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang;
The Hermit by Thomas Rydahl, translated from the Danish by K.E. Semmel;
And finally, this is the addiction network commercial that Chad was going on about.

This week's music is "Dis Generation" from We Got it from Here . . . Thank You 4 Your Service, the new--and final--album by A Tribe Called Quest.

Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

Also, if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes.

#119: We Are Being Trolled Oct 14, 2016

This week's podcast starts with the biggest, most surprising news of recent memory--Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. Then Chad and Tom talk about the National Book Foundation's study of translation, the unmasking of Elena Ferrante (and the backlash to that unmasking, and the backlash to the backlash), and an article by Michael Hofmann about the dangers of over-thinking translation. They conclude by wondering about what the 1980 American Book Award TV presentation must have been like.

This week's music is "Rainy Day Woman #12 & #35" by your new Nobel laureate.

Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

Also, if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes.

#118: Our Titles Are No Better Oct 03, 2016

This week's podcast kicks off with a list of corrections from Episode 117 from a mix-up of Sophies to an explanation of which Basque Country soccer team only fields Basque players. Then Chad and Tom move on to talk about the recent NEIBA conference and some fall titles they left out of their mini-previews before talking about the I Love Dick TV show (officially picked up!) and their rants. Always rants, always.

Here are links to a few of the books, articles, and websites that came up this week:

Wall Street Journal on Bottom's Dream (Spoiler: It's a big book!)
Savage Theories by Pola Oloixarac
Between Dog and Wolf by Sasha Sokolov, and the Columbia Russian Library
Literistic
Famadillo and their YouTube Channel

This week's music is "Standing in the Sun" by Grouplove.

Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes.

#117: Angola Is Not Angola Sep 12, 2016

In this week's podcast, tom and Chad preview some forthcoming books they're excited about. Having done no solid research, Chad's contributions are questionable at best, especially when he talks about _Panthers in the Hole_ in relation to the COUNTRY of Angola instead of the prison that goes by the same name.

Nevertheless, they have a number of books to whet your appetite, such as one from Arno Schmidt, and the new Krasznahorkai.

This week's music is the new single by Dan Deacon, "Change Your Life (You Can Do It)."

Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes.

#116: Why Is Tom in Providence? Jul 15, 2016

After an extended hiatus, Chad and Tom are back to discuss a slew of things that happened over the past couple months. These include Book Marks, what's going to happen to B&N, and Tim Parks's article on The Vegetarian. They also talk about some books they've read recently--including Zero K, which neither of them liked--before ending with a major announcement from Tom.

It's worth mentioning that Alex Shephard wrote a couple of the articles discussed on this podcast, including one on Book Marks and one on B&N.

Also worth noting that there's a glaring lack of sports talk in this podcast.

Here are the books discussed this week:

I Love Dick by Chris Krause
The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin
Thus Bad Begins by Javier Marías
The Transmigration of Bodies by Yuri Herrera
The Island of Point Nemo by Jean-Marie Blas de Roblés
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Screamin' Jay Hawkins' All-Time Greatest Hits by Mark Binelli
Zero K by Don DeLillo

Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes.

#115: From the BTBAs to the Soccer Pitch May 05, 2016

This week's podcast opens with Chad and Tom discussing the 2016 Best Translated Book Award winners and their thoughts on how to evaluate books for the prize. Then, in a separately recorded podcast, Chad and visiting guest George Carroll talk with Juan Villoro about his new book on soccer, God Is Round.

Also, due to summer travel and other obligations, it looks like the podcast will go on a short hiatus. In the meantime, you can catch up on past episodes, and/or read a bunch of great books in translation. (Especially Open Letter titles!)

This week's music is "1804" by The Range.

Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#114: BTBA Shortlists, The Vegetarian, Diorama Apr 26, 2016

In this week's podcast Tom and Chad talk about the recently released Best Translated Book Award shortlists, before moving on to discussion of the two Reading the World Conversation Series books for April: The Vegetarian by Han Kang and Diorama by Rocío Cerón.

Additional articles and books discussed include, Porochista Khakpour's review of The Vegetarian in the NY Times, Don DeLillo's Zero K, Gabriella Coleman's Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy, and A.J. Somerset's Arms: The Culture and Credo of the Gun.

They also discussed switching up the RTWCS as a whole, with Dirty Dust and Graveyard Clay--two translations of the same book by Máirtín Ó Cadhain--in May, followed by Liu Xia's Empty Chairs in June. This does deviate from the plan posted here a few months ago, but given the struggles we've had keeping up--and the opportunity to look at two translations of the same book--it seemed worthwhile to shift things a bit, alternating from fiction to poetry each month, and giving everyone participating a little bit more time to read.

This week's music is "A Tale Told by an Idiot" by John Congleton and the Nighty Nite.

Also, just a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#113: 2016 Best Translated Book Award Longlists Apr 01, 2016

In this week's podcast, Chad and Tom read through all thirty-five titles on the two Best Translated Book Award longlists making comments about the books they've read and the ones that interest them. Then Chad tries his hand at guessing which ten fiction titles will make the shortlist. (Spoiler: He ends up picking fifteen either because he can't count, or because this is a really difficult group to pare down.)

Next week they'll be discussion the Reading the World Book Club titles for March: The Vegetarian by Han Kang and Diorama by Rocío Cerón. (And with a little luck, they'll even have a special guest.) If you have any comments or questions about those titles, post them at the RTWBC Facebook page, or send them to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com or to chad.post@rochester.edu.

This week's music is "Don't Make Me Wait" by Emma Pollock.

Also, just a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#112: An Old School Ranty Podcast Mar 28, 2016

This week's podcast feels like one straight out of 2011, with Chad getting angry about all sorts of things and just letting loose. The starting point for their discussion is the three-part series Tim Parks wrote for the New York Review of Books (part one, part two, part three), but they go on to talk about JellyBooks and what "moneyball" is, and then discuss a series of book covers.

This week's music is "Buggin' Out" by A Tribe Called Quest. (RIP Phife Dawg. Tribe is has always been, and will forever be, the shit.)

Also, just a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#111: One the Edge and Monospace Mar 14, 2016

This week, Tom and Chad discuss the two Reading the World Book Club books for February: On the Edge by Rafael Chirbes, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa (New Directions), and Monospace by Anne Parian, translated from the French by Emma Ramadan (La Presse). Admittedly, neither of them know much about contemporary poetry, but they do try their best when talking about Parian and how to approach her collection. On the Edge plays to both of them though, with it's bleak, despairing outlook on life, and the way it sort of wallows in tragedy.

Tom also wants all listeners to know that he and Chad DID NOT record the podcast shirtless.

There should be a regular, rambling podcast up in between this one an the next RTWBC-centric one, but either way, the two books they're reading in March are The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith (Crown), and Diorama by Rocío Cerón, translated from the Spanish by Anna Rosenwong (Phoneme Media). You can join in by sending all your questions and comments to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

This week's music is "Nobody Dies" by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down.

Also, just a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#110: The Weight of Things Feb 17, 2016

Adrian Nathan West joined this week's podcast to talk about Marianne Fritz and his translation of The Weight of Things, the first novel in the recently launched Reading the World Book Clubs. Additionally, we talked about Twelve Stations by Tomasz Różycki (the RTWBC poetry selection this month), the ABA Winter Institute, this great article about Chris Jackson and how he's building a black literary movement, and an awful article in Wired by Steve Rushin in which he imagines Super Bowl 100. (There's some static in this one that pops up a bit. Nothing too bad, but, unfortunately, we couldn't edit all of it out. Not to worry, though, we're getting a fix ASAP for the mic glitch.)

Because the Wired piece isn't online, I want to share a few paragraphs so that we can collectively wallow in the crap:

"For its centennial Super Bowl, the NFL returned to its favorite host city, Las Vegas, which first staged the title game 45 years ago. Super Bowl LV shared its initials with Las Vegas but also with Louis Vuitton, the luxury brand that paid handsomely to cover game balls in its handbag leather, embossed with its famous logo. And though that game is now ancient history, 2021 remains important as the year the NFL--following the lead of the rest of the country--abandoned its nominal objections to sports gambling and awarded Steve Wynn the expansion franchise that became the Las Vegas Centurions. [. . .]

"Barcelona brought its usual continental flair to the Super Bowl, running a variation of the Left Bank offense made popular in Paris in the 2030s, and it took a 7-0 lead on a leaping catch by All-Pro receiver Michael Davis, whose 60-inch vertical from a natural surface is among the best in the league and whose knees are among the highest-rated by J.D. Power and Associates."

And there's so so much more to hate on . . . CTE cured by Harvard! People watching from Mars! Ref-bots! Biometric ticketing technology! Ugh. I just pissed off Nate and Kaija by reading too much of this garbage aloud.

This week's music is "Let it Happen" by Tame Impala.

Also, just a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#109: Making Reading Private Jan 22, 2016

In a sort of role-reversal, Tom does most of the ranting in this podcast, partially inspired by this article entitled "Damn, You're Not Reading Any Books by White Men This Year? That's So Freakin Brave and Cool." They also discuss some women in translation stats, Philip Pullman's decision to pull out as a patron of the Oxford Literary Festival, and the NBCC Book Award Finalists.

There is some specific book talk as well, mostly about The Weight of Things, The Argonauts, and The Story of My Teeth.

This week's music is "Oh Donna" by Library Voices.

Also, just a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Tell all your friends and family to also subscribe--that's what can get us higher in that Top 200 lit podcasts list . . . And it's also amazingly helpful in getting the podcast seen by more eyes if you can take just a moment to stop by iTunes to give us a quick rating and review.

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#108: Lists and Lists and Lists and Lists Dec 25, 2015

This week Chad and Tom talk about a Guardian article about how indie presses are doing the work discovering new authors for the big commercial houses. Then, they talk about all the year-end lists Chad's been creating for Three Percent and end by raving about champagne bottle sizes and ranting about book cover coverage.

This week's season appropriate music is "White Christmas," performed by Bad Religion.

Also, just a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Tell all your friends and family to also subscribe--that's what can get us higher in that Top 200 lit podcasts list . . . And it's also amazingly helpful in getting the podcast seen by more eyes if you can take just a moment to stop by iTunes to give us a quick rating (and a little review, too, if you're an amazing overachiever!).

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#107: The Lost Episode Dec 05, 2015

A couple weeks ago, Chad and Tom recorded a podcast about a slew of recent events, including ALTA 38, the Albertine Festival, the "New Literature from Europe Festival, Wordstock, and the Texas Book Festival. Unfortunately, that podcast--one of the best ever recorded--had to be tossed because of technical difficulties. So, this week they talked about some of the same stuff and some new stuff (like Jessica Jones).

As a bit of a tease, here's a list of all the books and stuff they discussed in the "lost epidose":

Knausgaard's review of Submission
My Struggle in You're the Worst.
The Pushkin Vertigo series
David Goodis
The Fata Morgana Books by Jonathan Littell
The Large Glass
Home
Radiant Terminus by Antoine Volodine
Gesell Dome by Guillermo Saccomanno
All the books from Chad's spring class
And this short film about Mario Bellatin

This week's music is "Seventeen" by Sjowgren.

Also, just a reminder that because of some difficulties with iTunes, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the "correct feed" in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Tell all your friends and family to also subscribe--that's what can get us higher in that Top 200 lit podcasts list . . . And it's also amazingly helpful in getting the podcast seen by more eyes if you can take just a moment to stop by iTunes to give us a quick rating (and a little review, too, if you're an amazing overachiever!).

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#106: Some Women in Translation Stats Nov 14, 2015

Chad's done a bit more number crunching since this was recorded (see the posts on his Twitter account, which is @chadwpost), but this is a good introduction to the ongoing conversation about women in translation. A lot of this discussion is based on this post from Three Percent.

This week's music is "Detachable Penis" by King Missile, which is sort of fitting.

Also, just a reminder that because of some difficulties with iTunes, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the "correct feed" in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686\

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Tell all your friends and family to also subscribe--that's what can get us higher in that Top 200 lit podcasts list . . . And it's also amazingly helpful in getting the podcast seen by more eyes if you can take just a moment to stop by iTunes to give us a quick rating (and a little review, too, if you're an amazing overachiever!).

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#105: Alexievich, Amazon, and Rights Oct 31, 2015

This week's podcast features a discussion of Nobel Prize-winner Svetlana Alexievich (who Chad helped publish at Dalkey Archive), Amazon's recent announcement about investing $10 million into translations, and how rights work. There's a minor rant about Chase Utley ("worst human being on earth") and a little bit of baseball talk.

In honor of the Mets in the World Series (and Cubs making the post-season), this week's music is "Been So Long" by Win Win.

Also, just a reminder that because of some difficulties with iTunes, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the "correct feed" in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686\

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Tell all your friends and family to also subscribe--that's what can get us higher in that Top 200 lit podcasts list . . . And it's also amazingly helpful in getting the podcast seen by more eyes if you can take just a moment to stop by iTunes to give us a quick rating (and a little review, too, if you're an amazing overachiever!).

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

The books discussed on this episode include:

Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich
Zone and Street of Thieves by Mathias Énard
Summer of Hate by Chris Krause
Target in the Night by Ricardo Piglia
Rochester Knockings: A Novel of the Fox Sisters by Hubert Haddad

#104: Banned Books Week Sep 30, 2015

This week Chad and Tom discuss Oyster shutting down, whether or not Serial Box makes any sense as a way to consume books, and this list of the top 10 most frequently challenged books. Additionally, they talk about My Struggle: Volume 2 by Karl Ove Knausgaard and Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila.

This week's music is "I'm Sorry" by John Denver (a choice that will make sense by the end of the podcast).

Also, just a reminder that because of some difficulties with iTunes, you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to the correct feed in iTunes at that link, or right here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686

Or, you can just put this feed link into whichever is your podcast app of choice:

http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

Tell all your friends and family to also subscribe--that's what can get us higher in that Top 200 lit podcasts list . . . And it's also amazingly helpful in getting the podcast seen by more eyes if you can take just a moment to stop by iTunes to give us a quick rating (and a little review, too, if you're an amazing overachiever!).

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#103: Back from Vacation to Rip on Jacket Copy Sep 12, 2015

So after a month away, Chad and Tom are back, discussing the books they read over the summer and breaking down jacket copy for a number of recent books. They're both astounded by how many meaningless phrases they come across (and references to how a book is "necessary"), and also talk about when and how to frame a particular author. Tom rants about how we're reaching the bottom of the barrel in list-making, and Chad gives some love to the Iceland Men's National Team.

Also, after some befuddling technical difficulties, the podcast is back up at iTunes, so please tell all your friends and family to subscribe and rate us. We're determined to break into the top 200 of literary podcasts . . .

To listen to this podcast, either subscribe via iTunes at the link above, or just copy this link to add our show's feed to any podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

Finally, here's the (hopefully) complete list of books and authors discussed on this week's podcast:

Imperium: A Fiction of the South Seas by Christian Kracht
Lovers on All Saints' Day by Juan Gabriel Vasquez
Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman
You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman
3 to Kill by Jean-Patrick Manchette
The Dead Mountaineer's Inn by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Definitely Maybe by Arkady and Boris Sturgatsky
Wind/Pinball by Haruki Murakami
So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood by Patrick Modiano
Ann Tenna by Marisa Acocella Marchetto
Oreo by Fran Ross
Submission by Michel Houellebecq
The Illogic of Kassel by Enrique Vila-Matas
Severina by Rodrigo Rey Rosa
The Wallcreeper by Nell Zink
How's the Pain? and A26 and The Front Seat Passenger by Pascal Garnier
Billy and Girl by Deborah Levy
Zipper Mouth by Laurie Weeks
Traitors to All by Giorgio Scerbanenco
Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila
The Great Swindle by Pierre Lemaître
Savage Seasons by Kettly Mars

#102: Beach Books for the Jaded and Depressed Aug 11, 2015

This week's episode starts with a question from a listener about how translation trends come about, then morphs into a discussion of which books Chad and Tom are bringing on their respective vacations and what makes a "beach book." Rants are raves are random as always.

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to email us at threepercentpodcast@gmail.com

As always you can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes "right here":http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/three-percent-podcast/id434696686. Or just copy this link to add our show's feed to any podcast app:

http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?s=broadcast_3p

And here's the enormous list of books and authors discussed in this episode, pretty much in order of appearance:

Steig Larsson
Jo Nesbo
Roberto Bolaño
Javier Marias
W. G. Sebald
Elena Ferrante
Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Shadow of the Wind
The Da Vinci Code
Santiago Roncagliolo
Gabriel García Marquez
Andres Neuman
Camilla Lackberg
Rafael Chirbes, On the Edge
Hard Case Crime
Lawrence Block
Emmanuel Carrere, I Am Alive and You Are Dead
Lawrence Sutin, Divine Invasions
Enrique Vila-Matas, The Illogic of Kassel
Pascal Garnier, Moon in a Dead Eye
Virginie Despentes
Marguerite Duras, Moderato Cantible and Abahn Sabana David
Pierre Lemaitre, The Great Swindle
Laurie Weeks, Zipper Mouth
Deborah Levy, Swimming Home and Billy and Girl
David Peace, 1980 and GB84
Derek Raymond
Michel Houellebecq, Submission
Bei Tong, Beijing Comrades
Violette Leduc, Therese and Isabelle

#101: Awards for Authors versus Awards for Books Jul 10, 2015

This week Tom and Chad discuss the merging of the Man Booker International Prize with the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the waning interest in Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook Book Club, and the Women's World Cup of Literature. There are also rants about "Sevenevens," praise for the Minions movie, and more soccer talk, including the best video.

Since a number of listeners have asked for this, here's a complete list of books and authors that we mention on this episode:

The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine by Alina Bronsky
Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood
Delirium by Laura Restrepo
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
Maidenhair by Mikhail Shishkin
Satantango by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
All of the books in Zuckerberg's book club
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
50 Shades of Gray by E. L. James
Roberto Bolaño
Michel Houellbecq
The Mersault Investigation by Kamel Daoud
Hunter S Thompson
Tom Wolfe
W. G. Sebald
David Foster Wallace
Jonathan Lethem
Philip K. Dick
Miss Lonelyhearts & Day of the Locust by Nathaniel West
Karl Ove Knausgaard
City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

#100: We Appreciate You Jun 25, 2015

So, we actually made it to our 100th episode! To celebrate, this week Tom and Chad took questions from all our listeners, leading to discussions about how many books we each read (and how many are in translation), what one thing all translators should know, how censorship plays into our publishing decision, and much more. Of course, it ends with raves and rants--including a rant about rants--and is filled with other interesting side tangents.

Here's a list of all the books we talked about on this episode (although maybe not in this order):

Apocalypse Baby by Virginie Despentes
Mexico: The Great Theft by Carmen Boullosa
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Delirium by Laura Restrepo
Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood
The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck
The Last Lover by Can Xue
Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli
The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli
By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño
That Smell by Sonallah Ibrahim
Ulysses by James Joyce
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to email us at threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

Or you can Tweet at Tom @RightHandOfMeh":https://twitter.com/RightHandOfMeh and Chad @chadwpost.

#99: Endless Cycle of Misery May 22, 2015

This week's podcast is the latest in the ongoing Three Percent Book Club. Julia Berner-Tobin of Feminist Press joins Tom and Chad to talk about Virginie Despentes's fantastic Apocalypse Baby. (And to rant about Franzen, because, of course.)

*And a reminder:* Don't forget to send us your own questions, rants, and raves (about anything from the podcast to publishing to literature to translations to Tom to Chad to soccer to cocktails to etc.) for our big episode 100. Hit us up at threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#98: The 2015 BTBA Finalists! May 15, 2015

For this week's podcast, we invited Best Translated Book Award Fiction Chair Monica Carter on to talk about the finalists for this year's awards. Monica graciously gave us some insight into the voting process, revealed which of the final ten was a "personal pick" of one of the judges, and managed to make us second guess who we thought would win the award.

Additionally, we talked about the differences between the UK vs. U.S. book scenes, and had some rants, raves, and sports talk.

*

REMINDER: Next week, Feminist Press editor Julia Berner-Tobin will be our guest to discuss Apocalypse Baby by Virginie Despentes, translated from the French by Siân Reynolds, the latest book in the Three Percent Book Club. Go out and get a copy! It's a fast, vicious read, and if you have any questions for the three of us, send them to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com by Tuesday morning.

ANOTHER REMINDER: Our 100th episode is coming up, and to celebrate, we'd like to do one that's all about "listener appreciation." So send any and all comments and questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com--we'll answer anything you'd like . . .

#97: Rustling up New Books for the Peanut Gallery May 01, 2015

This week, Tom and Chad talk about some of the new translations that they've read (or are looking forward to reading) and are most excited about. Along the way are the expected digressions (including an explanation of how editing and rights work when a U.S. publisher and a U.K. publisher separately publish the same translation), and, of course, the episode wouldn't be complete without their famous "Raves & Raves" segment (nope, not a typo. Everyone thought they were on rave duty this week, so it's a double dose of happy!).

#96: The 2015 BTBA Fiction Longlist Apr 09, 2015

On the heels of this week's big announcement of the 2015 Best Translated Book Award fiction longlist and poetry longlist, Chad and Tom run through the books that made the cut and talk about their favorites, which books are on their reading lists, who they predict will make the shortlist next month, and try their darnedest to pronounce a lot of names. Then, they respond to some viewer mail about the effectiveness of ACRs for book bloggers before Tom rants about being the patsy of a fiendish shot-buying conspiracy and Chad rave's about the Audubon Society's fiendish take-down of Dark Lord Franzen.

#95: Is Book Advertising a Waste of Money? Apr 03, 2015

Inspired by all the stupid Buick ads (and disturbing Volkswagon ones) playing throughout the NCAA Tournament, we decided to dedicate this week's episode to talking about advertising for books: whether it's worthwhile, how much it costs, why are book trailers a thing, who buys books because of ads on a subway, and if trailers/commercials for books are ever a good idea.

As one part of Tom's rave, we also talked a bit about our mutual friend Mark Binelli and his recent article for the New York Times Magazine on ADX, America's Toughest Federal Prison.

#94: The Mad and the Bad Mar 12, 2015

This week's podcast is a special "book club" one in which Tom and Chad talk about Jean-Patrick Manchette's The Mad and the Bad, a violent little book by the author of Fatale. They also talk about the Spanish branch of Penguin Random House cutting translator rates and an incredible old video.

#93: Always a Work in Progress Mar 05, 2015

In this episode, Chad and Tom discuss the recent Festival Neue Literatur, a NYC-based festival promoting German-language literature, and spend a lot of time talking about the ins and outs of editing literature in translation. Additionally, they breakdown this Buzzfeed article about ebook data mining and what this means for the futures of publishing and reading.

#92: Crying in the Sunshine Feb 19, 2015

This week's podcast features a true roundtable discussion, with Tom and Chad being joined by Caroline Casey from Coffee House Press, Mark Haber and Jeremy Ellis from Brazos Bookstore, Stephen Sparks from Green Apple Books, and Danish author Naja Marie Aidt (Baboon, Rock, Paper, Scissors) to discuss the American Booksellers Association Winter Institute. One of the funniest podcasts to date, they break down what Winter Institute is, why it's so important for the future of bookselling, and what various publishers get out of attending. They also make fun of all the crappy crutch phrases you find in jacket copy.

#91: Translators, Rates, Money, and Unions Feb 05, 2015

Today's podcast is a special one, featuring PEN Translation Committee co-chair (and talented Czech translator) Alex Zucker to talk about what translators do and should get paid, and to break down where all the money goes in publishing a work of international literature. In comparison to some other Three Percent podcasts, this one is wall-to-wall information, and is sure to spark a number of debates, discussions, and reactions. Enjoy!

#90: That Song Should Be Named "Andre Reed Jersey" Jan 29, 2015

It's time for our annual music podcast in which Chad, Nate, and Kaija all share songs from their favorite albums of 2014. Although we only talk about four songs each on this podcast, we put together a Spotify playlist featuring 86 songs and running almost six hours. Enjoy!

Next week we'll be back to normally scheduled book talk. Specifically, Chad and Tom will be talking with Alex Zucker about translator's fees, forming a translators guild, and other financial aspects of publishing international literature. In the meantime, feel free to email us at threepercentpodcast@gmail.com with any questions or comments.

#89: Don't Laugh So Loud Jan 22, 2015

This week's podcast is all about Denis Johnson's The Laughing Monsters, which came out last year and is "a high-suspense tale of kaleidoscoping loyalties in the post-9/11 world that shows one of our great novelists at the top of his game."

Writer, critic, and Johnson fan Patrick Smith joined us for this book club discussion, which goes off in a few different directions--how everyone's untrustworthy and willing to sell each other out, how Johnson got all this detail about Africa, etc.--with the general consensus that this is a pretty great book and one that fans of Graham Greene and/or spy novels and/or well-crafted fiction in general would like.

(For another analysis/conversation of the book, I highly recommend this discussion between Paul Maliszewski and Jesse Pearson.)

We'll update you in the future when we have a specific date set, but the next book we'll be discussing in this "book club" format is Apocalypse Baby by Virginie Despentes, translated from the French by Sian Reynolds and available from Feminist Press. (Then I think we'll be doing Ann Morgan's The World Between Two Covers, and may even have her on that podcast.)

#88: A Shinier Version of Craigslist Jan 14, 2015

In this week's episode, Chad and Tom discuss some of the books they read in 2014 and make specific "reading resolutions" for 2015. They also talk about Mark Zuckerberg's book club and Tom's alma mater playing for the National Championship.

Next week, they'll be discussing Denis Johnson's The Laughing Monsters, so if you have any questions, suggestions, comments, opinions, rants or raves, email threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#87: Where is Namsan Tower? Dec 29, 2014

On this week's podcast, Chad and Tom dish about the idea of a Translators Union, Dalkey's Korean literature series, and the Melville House edition of the "Torture Report," as well as a mini-rant about the Serial podcast, and a mini-rave about a dear friend who's passed.

As always, you can write to us at threepercentpodcast@gmail.com with complaints, suggestions, ideas for future episodes, or your own rants and raves.

#86: Translators Aren't Dockworkers Dec 05, 2014

We're back! And, actually, now that Tom has a more regular schedule at Albertine we're planning on recording a new episode every other week. More great (sports) book talk! This week's episode centers around John O'Brien's BookBrunch article, "Don't Blame the Readers for Lack of Interest in Translations." It's a piece that understandably upset Tom's French employers . . .

#85: Whatever Nov 05, 2014

This week's podcast covers four major topics: Nobel Prize winner Patrick Modiano, Michael Henry Heim and The Man Between, the upcoming ALTA Conference, and Atavist Books. And we barely talk about sports at all! But Tom does have a "rave" that includes a a particularily confusing cover.

As always, you can write to us at threepercentpodcast@gmail.com with complaints, suggestions, ideas for future episodes, or your own rants and raves.

#84: The Belated Bolaño Book Club Podcast Oct 08, 2014

Finally, after weeks of putting this off, here is the long anticipated podcast about Roberto Bolaño's Little Lumpen Novelita. The reason it took so long to get to this was because of Tom's new job as the Deputy Director at Albertine, the most beautiful Franco-centric bookstore in New York (and/or the whole U.S.). We talked shortly after the official launch of the store, which generated a ton of fanfare. So, in addition to talking Bolaño, we talked about Albertine, it's upcoming festival, and other aspects of Tom's new job. (Just a note of clarification--Tom is still working for New Directions as well.)

Oh, and we also talk a bit about the Royals-A's game that was going on while we were recording. And now I'm safe in saying that I'm really glad all the West Coast AL teams are out of the playoffs and am really looking forward to the ALCS with Baltimore and Kansas City. (We're planning on having Mexican author Alvaro Enrique on the podcast very soon to talk about his work, about his wife Valerie Luiselli's work, about Spanish-language literature in general, and about the Baltimore Orioles, his favorite team. Finally, we get a baseball episode!)

#83: "Johnny Appledrone" Sep 09, 2014

This week's podcast is mostly about a BBC article on Hieroglyph, a collaborative project between scientists and science-fiction writers that was inspired by the Neal Stephenson article "Innovation Starvation." Basically, this is a call to create fewer dystopian novels, and more positive sci-fi ideas that can help inspire the scientists of tomorrow. More or less.

We also read some fan letters (email us at threepercentpodcast@gmail.com), rave about Utopia and rant about film crews.

Finally, just a reminder that we'll be discussing Roberto Bolaño's A Little Lumpen Novelita later this month, and we'd love to hear your thoughts about the book. Email us by September 24th with any questions, comments, thoughts, and we'll incorporate them into our discussion.

#82: Why We Need [SOLUTION TK] More Than Ever Aug 29, 2014

In this podcast, Chad and Tom discuss Tom's recent article in Publishing Perspectives (which he wrote in response to Amazon's infamous letter to readers), along with some thoughts on why we shop at bookstores, and Julian Gough's Litcoin project.

Also, as mentioned at the end of the podcast, Chad and Tom will be discussing Roberto Bolaño's A Little Lumpen Novelita on an episode at the end of September. If you have any thoughts, questions, or opinions about the book, Bolaño, the translation, etc., please send them to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

(You can also use that email to tell Chad and Tom that they suck, or to recommend other topics you'd like to hear on the show.)

#81: Duck and Cover Aug 22, 2014

With Tom on vacation, Chad recorded a special episode of the podcast with Heather Cleary and Jason Grunebaum, both of whom have a book on the National Translation Award longlist. They talk about Sergio Chejfec's The Dark, Uday Prakash's The Girl with the Golden Parasol, air shows, the future of the American Literary Translators Association, and other non-sports related topics. (Seriously, this is a sports-free podcast.)

As an added bonus, there's a short conversation Chad had with Uday Prakash about his collection The Walls of Delhi.

#80: My Struggle's DNA Is 92% Introspective Aug 05, 2014

This week's podcast focuses on two main things: This article by Tim Parks about the sales of Knausgaard's books, and the sale of BookLamp to Apple for an obscene amount of money.

#79: Barely Surpassing Lorem Ipsum Jul 09, 2014

On this week's podcast, Chad and Tom preview the semifinals of the World Cup of Literature (both suspect Chile will meet the US in the Championship), and then discuss The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair and a New Yorker piece about its limited U.S. success. Also, the Penguin Cup is stupid.

In relation to the rants and raves portion of the podcast, there are videos to be watched from the Estonian sketch comedy troupe that Chad praised.

Be sure and write us at threepercentpodcast@gmail.com with any suggestions, criticisms, etc.

#78: "I Believe in Guns and Weed" Jun 20, 2014

On this week's podcast, Chad and Tom review the opening round of the World Cup of Literature and make some predictions, talk about the Amazon-Hachette kerfuffle, and discuss the awfulness of The American Outlaws and the awesomeness of a couple Wikipedia pages. (You have to listen to find out which ones.)

And don't forget that we have a dedicated podcast email address now. So, send your podcast-related rants, raves, and ideas to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

#77: Books to Read Between World Cup Matches Jun 06, 2014

In this week's podcast we talk about the forthcoming World Cup of Literature and about some of the summer books that we're both looking forward to reading. Almost all are translations; a few are authors you may have already heard of (Knausgaard); and others will be new to a lot of listeners. In our "Rants and Raves" section, Chad raves about a poem (?!--seriously, but it's a really depressing one), and Tom takes down a particular aspect of the Internet.

And don't forget that we have a dedicated podcast email address now, so send your own podcast-related rants, raves, and ideas to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

UPDATE

Michael Orthofer succinctly corrected all the bull I said about where the World Cup teams come from and how all that works. So, to clarify:

"First: League strength has NOTHING to do with this (would be perverse if it did, since many leagues are filled with foreign players . . . )

"Second: FIFA has six geographic confederations -- the European one is UEFA, North/Central America CONCACAF, etc. These are actually pretty closely corresponding to the continents themselves; most of the old Soviet states (and Israel) are in the European confederation, but otherwise its geographically logical -- the Gulf states in the Asian confederation, but the African Arabic speaking nations in the African section.

"Anyway, the number of places each confederation gets is divvied up after each World Cup. International success factors into this to a great extent -- but more success on the continental level than local (i.e. it doesn't matter which European teams make the WC quarterfinals, but the number that do). Europe gets so many places because European teams always do so well in international tournaments (and vs. teams from other confederations in friendlies (which are weighted much less)) -- helped also by the fact that it has so many nations (over 50 -- not that sheer numbers do Africa much good). South America is the one with the greatest World Cup places vs. # of teams discrepancy -- the confederation only has 10 teams! But South American teams (as a continental whole) do very, very well in international tournaments. The Wikipedia page on WC qualifying offers all the numbers and a good overview.

"People complain about Africa (50+ teams) being underrepresented, but lets face it, they've never done anything internationally at the adult level (Nigeria's under-21 is great, their overs, not so much). But the confederation that really gets too many places is CONCACAF -- two strong teams (Mexico, and in recent years the US (though I still have a hard time taking it seriously -- even non-qualifying Austria beat them last year)) and nothing else of note.

"Results (especially at the WC -- the only true international measure) really matter: if Africa or Asia put a team in the semis they'll demand (and get) another place for their confederation at the next WC.

"Hope all this doesn't just confuse you more -- but main point: league strength has nothing to do with international play (and strong continents (pretty much regardless of number of teams in confederation) get more WC places)."

#76: All about László Jun 03, 2014

Inspired by Bromance Will's blog, this podcast is all about how New Directions came to publish László Krasznahorkai and how they stuck with him--a situation that resulted in back-to-back Best Translated Book Award victories.

Also, we now have a email address for you to send all your complaints, corrections, and suggestions. Just write to us at threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. So, if you have any show suggestions, or just want to tell us how much we suck, email away . . .

#75: The Camel Jumping Podcast May 15, 2014

As a bonus for dedicated Three Percent listeners (both of you!), this podcast features the two Fulbright students studying in the translation program this past year: Ayoub Al-Ahmadi from Yemen and Jan Pytalski from Poland. We talk about their individual projects--both of which are likely to be published by Open Letter in the next few years--cultural differences, the classes they took with me (which were their favorite classes--and I didn't even pay them to say that!), and camel jumping. Yes, camel jumping.

(Best part of the camel-jumping video--aside from the actual jumping of camels--is the opening question: "How do you jump over a camel?" "I run fast and jump high." Yup.)

#74: One Hundred Years of the NY Times Style Section Apr 25, 2014

OK, that's a totally lame way to try and combine the two main topics of this week's podcast: Gabriel García Marquez, and the awful amazingness of the NY Times Style section article on soccer's popularity in creative circles. Our conversation ranges a bit to include other authors from "el Boom," contemporary Spanish-language writers, and Beyond the Pampas, a GoodReads reading group focused on Latin American literature. (Currently members are reading "Felisberto Hernández's Piano Stories.) And we end with our new "Rants & Raves" segment, which allows Tom a good space to get things off his chest.

#73: The David Peace Episode Apr 15, 2014

In this week's podcast, Tom and Chad talk about the works of British writer David Peace. Peace was part of the 2003 version of Granta's "Best of Young British Novelists" (along with Toby Litt, Nicola Baker, David Mitchell, Adam Thirlwell--really solid list), and is the author of nine novels, including the "Red Riding Quartet" (Nineteen Seventy-Four, Nineteen Seventy-Seven, Nineteen Eighty, Nineteen Eighty-Three), the first two volumes of the uncompleted "Tokyo Trilogy" (Tokyo Year Zero and The Occupied City), two books on famous soccer figures (The Damned Utd and Red or Dead), and GB84 about the UK miners' strike. Since Peace's books encompass the main interests of both Tom and Chad--soccer and crime!--they each read a few different Peace books to prep for this podcast.

#72: We've Gone Madness—March Madness! Mar 21, 2014

In this bonus mini-podcast, Chad and Tom talk about the NCAA tournament, making many definitely wrong predications in over-confident tones. Of course, depending on your level of knowledge of the NCAA tournament (pro wrestling, I think?), you may have to choose a more sarcastic interpretation of the word "bonus." However! If the NCAA Tourney is your bag, then you've hit the jackpot--which is also the name of the thing that neither Tom nor Chad will hit when their brackets get ruined in week one.

#71: The 2014 Best Translated Book Awards Fiction Longlist Mar 18, 2014

This week's podcast is EPIC. With a minimum of digressions, we review every single book on the 2014 Best Translated Book Award Fiction Longlist, providing descriptions, some commentary on its chances of winning, other remarks about the titles we've read, etc. This may be a really long episode, but it's also one of the most informative ones we've done, and I'm willing to guarantee that you come away wanting to buy and read and least two of the books we talk about.

#70: Bookworm, Amazon, and Iowa Feb 21, 2014

As an interlude in our 2013 round-up series, Tom and I decided to talk about his recent trip to L.A., where he met with Michael Silverblatt of the amazing Bookworm, and about a couple of recent articles that have been making the rounds in social media and whatnot. Namely, we decided to talk a bit about George Packer's Amazon article in the New Yorker.

#69: It's Still 2013 Somewhere Feb 07, 2014

This week, we finally continue our series of podcasts summing up the books, music, and movies of 2013. Because summing up 2013 only gets old when we say it does! Anyway, the entire Open Letter office is featured on this podcast, with each of us sharing our favorite albums from last year.

And like with the books podcast, each of us wrote a little (or, in Chad's case, of Biblical Length) post about his/her top 10. Here are the links to Kaija's, Chad's, and Nate's.

#68: A Few Good Books from 2013 Jan 13, 2014

Rather than do our normal "favorite books of XXXX" podcast, we decided to focus on four books from last year that we really liked: Thomas Pynchon's Bleeding Edge, Javier Marias's The Infatuations, Keith Ridgway's Hawthorn & Child, and Arnon Grunberg's Tirza. (Chad also snuck in a reference to Julia Deck's Viviane, which is coming out in April.) Then things devolved--as is probably expected by now--into talking about the demise of Bookish.

Additionally, we each wrote a special post to go along with this podcast. You can get to Tom's here, and Chad's here.

#67: The Tom Podcast Dec 17, 2013

From the choice of the opening song--"Royals" by Lorde--to the main topic of great midwestern bookstores and Wisconsin's beer culture, this podcast is All About Tom. And it's fantastic. Mostly because we get to talk about a lot of great bookstores.

Some of the stores mentioned in this podcast are:

The Book Stall (Winnetka, IL)
Boswell Book Company (Milwaukee, WI)
City Lit Books (Chicago, IL)
Common Good Books (St. Paul, MN)
Literati Bookstore (Ann Arbor, MI)
Magers & Quinn (Minneapolis, MN)
Micawber's Books (St. Paul, MN)
A Room of One's Own (Madison, WI)
Schuler Books & Music (Grand Rapids, MI)

#66: I Believe You Have My Stapler Nov 01, 2013

On this week's podcast, Carolyn Kellogg of the Los Angeles Times joins us to discuss Thomas Pynchon's latest novel, Bleeding Edge. All three of us are Pynchon fans, and all three of us really like this latest book. Although, as we talk about, the fact that we experienced a lot of the cultural items Pynchon references makes this a bit odd . . . Like, Pynchon's watched Office Space? He is aware of Pokemon and Beanie Babies?

#65: Erudition Isn't the Same as Being Intentionally Esoteric Oct 16, 2013

This week's podcast is the first one Tom and I have recorded in almost a month. So after a bit of catching up, we talked about David Bellos's new translation of Simenon's Pietr the Latvian, the difficulties of translating "I love you" and all the swears into Japanese, and the list of "The 20 Best Books in Translation You've Never Read." As necessary, we also talked about the baseball playoffs and a cute flowchart.

#64: Thanks for Using All the Umlauts Sep 19, 2013

With Tom back from his relaxing vacation, we decided to catch up and talk about the books we read recently, including Sjöwall and Wahlöö's mystery series, Juan Gabriel Vasquez's The Sound of Things Falling, and Rafael Bernal's The Mongolian Conspiracy, among others. We also talk about Amazon's MatchBook program, making things as easy as possible for readers, and baseball. Because, baseball.

#63: Spermatic Economy Aug 13, 2013

This week's podcast is a special combo version featuring two separate conversations: one between Chad, Stephen Sparks (BTBA judge, Green Apple bookseller, and excellent reviewer), and George Carroll; and one between Chad and Paul Yamazaki (legendary City Lights). Topics range from soccer to Karl Pohrt to Javier Marias to Jonathan Lethem to other books we're reading this summer. It's always great to hear from booksellers about what they're reading--they're more in touch with what's coming out than basically anyone. Additionally, it's always fun to give a bit more love to these two epically great bookstores.

#62: The Random Podcast Aug 06, 2013

This week's podcast is a hodgepodge of opinions, rants, and jokes. We talked about summer music--and our mutual dislike of Robin Thicke--Hawthorne & Child, my trip to Brazil, and bike thieves. And nobody talked about J.K. Rowling or her widely-known pseudonym.

Enjoy!

#61: The Cheery Podcast Jun 21, 2013

At the request of one of Tom's friends, we tried to keep this particular podcast upbeat and cheery . . . and we sort of succeeded. Most of the podcast revolves around "this interview from Publishing Perspectives that Amanda DeMarco did with German publisher Michael Krüger about the 40 years he's spent at Hanser and what's changed over that time. Krüger is a really interesting, brilliant guy, who doesn't shy away from saying some controversial things, so a) this interview is interesting, and b) so is our podcast.

#60: BEA and Sucking Jun 07, 2013

This post-BookExpo America podcast (with special guest, Bromance Will/Will Evans, the man behind Deep Vellum Press) is all about the good and bad of the country's largest trade show for publishing. Mostly, it's a series of rants--not necessarily about the show itself, but about the crap that craps it all up. From tech-speak nonsense to Mitch "Fucking" Albom, this is one of the funniest and most fiery podcasts we've recorded to date.

#59: Don't Call Your Website "Book" Anything May 28, 2013

On this week's podcast, Chad and Tom make fun of yet another new "social book community recommendation" website. Also, they discuss the awesomeness of a number of San Francisco bookstores (and bookstores in general), on the heels of Tom's first trip to The City by the Bay.

#58: Richard Nash. May 03, 2013

We're back! With our newest and semi-delayed installment of the Three Percent Podcast. This week is a two-parter. First, Chad and Tom run down the list of fiction and poetry finalists for the 2013 Best Translated Book Awards. Yes, it's true that these were announced a couple weeks ago, but, as luck would have it, today (Friday, May 3) happens to be the big awards ceremony, which is taking place at the PEN World Voices Festival in NYC (come one, come all!). So, what better time than now to brush up on the potential winners?

Then, the podcast's main event: Chad and Tom are joined by the one-and-only Richard Nash to talk about Richard's recent article in the Virginia Quarterly Review. The title and subtitle should give you a nice teaser to their discussion: "What Is the Business of Literature?: As technology disrupts the business model of traditional publishers, the industry must imagine new ways of capturing the value of a book."

#57: The Master Unchained [Favorite Movies of 2012] Apr 10, 2013

What is this? The much-delayed "favorite movies of 2012" episode of the Three Percent Podcast? It is! Better late than never, right? Yes, it is. Stop disagreeing, please.

This week, Tom is joined by Nate, and they grit their teeth to discuss The Master (P. T. Anderson) and Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino), after having forced one another to finally watch each other's favorite movies of the year. Also on the docket are the likes of: Rust & Bone, Magic Mike, Killer Joe, Moonrise Kingdom, Argo, and, god help us, Lincoln. (And no one, at any point, talks about soccer.)

#56: Apple-azon, Marias, and the Possibility of Love Mar 22, 2013

This week's podcast is a bit of a hodge-podge: We start out talking about the concept of selling used ebooks, then Tom gets to express his admiration for Javier Marias's new novel, The Infatuations, and Marias in general, and finally we talk about Houellebecq, which, as can only be expected, is controversial. Oh, and there is some talk about the NCAA Tournament. Naturally.

#55: Twenty-Five Books to Add to Your List Mar 06, 2013

This week's podcast is a look at the 25 titles on the Best Translated Book Awards Fiction Longlist. Tom and I discuss each title, talking about which books we've read (or want to), and which ones we think will make the list of 10 Finalists. For those of you who aren't that familiar with all of these books, I highly recommend checking out this handy guide that Typographical Era put together, with short descriptions of all 25 books.

#54: Selling Swing Sets and Books to Costco Is for Closers Feb 22, 2013

This week, Chad talks with special guest George Carroll about the enchanted lives of literary sales reps, Seagull Books, the Seagull School of Publishing, László Krasznahorkai's forthcoming books, and . . . the UEFA Champions League.

#53: Are the NBCCs the Greatest American Book Awards? Feb 15, 2013

On this week's podcast, we welcome National Book Critics Circle board member Carolyn Kellogg to talk about the NBCC awards, the changes to the National Book Award (which set me off on a bit of a paranoid rant), Bookish and its suckishness, and a variety of other literary topics.

I also want to add a bit of an update. Since the time we spoke, I've finished HHhH and most of NW, and contrary to all the niceties expressed on this podcast, I'm pretty bummed out about the NBCC finalists for fiction. Both HHhH and NW are staggeringly mediocre and should be replaced by Satantango and Maidenhair. Then again, the sheer literary quality of a list of books including these two masterpieces along with Lydia Millet's Magnificence would be so mind-blowingly amazing that no future list could ever match up. In other words, the NBCC chose to middle-mind the shit out of their list of finalists to save you--the readers--from experiencing too much literary joy all at once. That's the best explanation I can come up with, since, wow, I gave these books way too much credit before reading them.

And don't even get me started on the fact that Errol Morris's A Wilderness of Error isn't on there. (I totally blanked on this while we were recording.) But as a nod to my other conspiracy theories, I'll give the NBCC the benefit of the doubt on this one and assume Wilderness isn't a finalist because of Joe McGinniss.

#52: 2013 Doesn't Officially Start Until We Podcast Feb 01, 2013

So, it's been a while. Due to some technical difficulties, we haven't been able to post a podcast for the past few weeks. But thanks to the whizbang IT department at the University of Rochester, our 10,000 year old iMac is up and functioning again. Which means that 2013 can finally officially start--thanks to our preview podcast. This week, Tom Roberge and I discuss a bunch of 2013 books that we're excited about. Our preview includes everything from Javier Marias's latest, to 18% Gray (and the faux 18% Gray) to the new Laszlo Krashnahorkai to Yoko Ogawa's Revenge and Mo Yan's Sandalwood Death and, as always, is a mix of incisive literary observations and irreverence and soccer talk.

#51: Long Intros and Boy Bands [Favorite Music of 2012] Dec 19, 2012

This week's podcast features Chad, Nathan Furl, Kaija Straumanis, and Will Cleveland talking about their favorite albums of 2012. (And sometimes 2011.) It's a pretty tight podcast, featuring thirteen different artists and some interesting insights into why we each like different styles of music. Oh, and of course we digress a bit to talk about awful job postings and whatnot.

Supplementing this podcast, we'll be posting the top 10 lists for all four participants over the course of the day, giving you a wealth of music to check out over the holiday break. To help you out, Spotify users can check out the 108-track playlist of our colective favorite songs.

#50: Favorite Translations of 2012 (And Trilogies Tom Likes) Dec 10, 2012

In this week's podcast (Tom's last one of of the year), we discuss the translations we did (and didn't) read from 2012, including Maidenhair by Mikhail Shishkin, Satantango by Laszlo Krashnahorkai, Woes of the True Policeman by Roberto Bolano, and Necropolis by Santiago Gamboa. This kicks off the beginning of our "best of" podcasts for this year. Next week we'll talk about music, and in the new year, Tom will be back to discuss the best movies of 2012.

Since I mentioned this a million times during the podcast, here's the list of books I'm looking forward to reading over the next couple months:

Woes of a True Policeman, Roberto Bolano
Death Sentences, Kawamata Chiaki
Investigation, Philippe Claudel
Revenge, Yoko Ogawa
Encyclopedia of a Life in Russian, Jose Manuel Prieto
Ariadne in the Gortesque Labyrinth, Salvador Espriu
The Map and the Territory, Michel Houellebecq
Atlas, Kai-Cheung Dung
Black Flower, Young-ha Kim
LoveStar, Andri Snaer Magnason
Traveler of the Century, Andres Neuman
Mathematique, Jacques Roubaud
Raised from the Ground, Jose Saramago
Tyrant Banderas, Ramon del Valle-Inclan
Down the Rabbit Hole, Juan Pablo Villalobos
Transit, Abdourahman Waberi
Museum of Abandoned Secrets, Oksana Zabuzhko
Blindly, Claudio Magris

#49: Two Books, One Rant Nov 16, 2012

This week's podcast is focused on crime and detective books--both fiction and nonfiction. First off, we talk I monologue about Errol Morris's A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald and my recent Twitter fight with Joe McGinniss about this case, then we move on to talking about Wolf Haas's Brenner and God and what makes this book (and detective books in general) fun to read.

#48: The Difficulties of Difficult Books Oct 26, 2012

After a bit of a hiatus, Tom Roberge and Chad W. Post are back to discuss what we mean when we say that a book is "difficult." They use a range of examples, from Finnegans Wake to Mrs. Dalloway to define a few different categories of reading "difficulty," such as, not being compelled, and having to read a book like a puzzle.

For a Three Percent podcast, this one is pretty serious, and even more interesting than usual. And for those who are interested, here's a list of all the books/artists discussed this week:

Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector
Maidenhair by Mikhail Shishkin
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Wolff
P.T. Anderson's movies
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Hawthorne & Child by Keith Ridgway
Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
A Wilderness of Error by Errol Morris

#47: The Initiation Well Oct 01, 2012

This week, Chad W. Post and Kaija Straumanis talk with Philip Graham--a co-founder and current nonfiction editor of Ninth Letter, author of several books, including The Moon, Come to Earth: Dispatches from Lisbon about Portuguese culture and literature, specifically the works of Gonçalo Tavares, whose book The Neighborhood is coming out this month with Philip's introduction. (Which will appear here on Three Percent in the near future.)

There's a lot of references included in the podcast this week, the main ones being to Sintra, an amazing town just outside of Lisbon that was once the playground of the aristocracy. It's LOADED with castles and palaces and other intriguing estates.

#46: The Greatest ALTA of All ALTAs Sep 21, 2012

This week's podcast features special guest Kaija Straumanis to help preview the upcoming American Literary Translators Conference. Every fall, approx. 350 translators get together for three days of panels, discussions, readings, movies, and drinking. (Oh, and mechanical bull riding. Unless your name is Scott Esposito.)

#45: +1 Sep 10, 2012

This week's podcast features freelance book critic Jacob Silverman, who stirred up a lot of discussion last month when Slate published his piece, "Against Enthusiasm" about "the epidemic of niceness in online book culture." Basically, Jacob argued that online book culture has lead away from legit discussion to a series of endorsements and "+1s." Shortly after he wrote this, William Giraldi trashed Alex Ohlin's recent publications, setting off another Twitter firestorm. And of course, the day we recorded this, Giraldi published a long piece in The Daily Beast explaining his beliefs about book criticism. Anyway, this week we talk about all of that . . .

#44: The Exoticism of Fruit Machines Aug 24, 2012

This week's podcast--the last before Tom goes off to visit the good people of Carolina--is a bit of a surprise. Tom told me he had a topic, but wanted to spring it on me and get my unprepared reaction. So, to share in the spirit of surprises, I'm not going to say anything about what we talked about, except to mention that it wasn't about baseball or Arsenal's post-RVP lack of firepower. It does involve Canadians, though. And the New York Times Book Review. Enjoy!

#43: This Is Spoilers Aug 03, 2012

I'm just back from family vacation, so this week we decided to take things easy and talk about The Dark Knight Rises (which we sort of spoil for anyone who either hasn't seen it, or thinks it's great), the Olympics, books we've read recently, and J. K. Rowling and her misguided attempt to prevent piracy of her new book.

#42: There's a Chance that Things'll Get Weird Jul 27, 2012

This week, Will Evans joins us to talk about contemporary Russian literature (READ THIS BOOK) and the Read Russia initiative at this year's BEA. (Sidenote: click on that link just to see the section at the bottom left corner where you can share the page via "Socialist Media." Seriously.) We talk about Zakhar Prilepin, Mikhail Shishkin, Dmitry Danilov (who looks a bit like Ignatius J. Reilly, see below), and Oleg Kashin. We also talk a bit about Will's plan to start a new publishing company in Dallas that's focused on literature in translation . . .

#41: One Hundred Words or Fewer Jul 20, 2012

This week's podcast (which was actually recorded weeks ago) features Ryan Chapman of The Penguin Press, who came on with us to discuss the fun marketing campaign Penguin put on to celebrate the release of the ebook versions of all of Thomas Pynchon's books. As usual the conversation swerves from that to discussing American literature in general, the Euro Cup (SPAIN!) and sundry odds and ends, such as making up blurbs for catalogs . . .

#40: You Owe Me Whiskey! Jun 15, 2012

In this week's podcast, Tom and I talk about BookExpo America and its parties, in particular the rocking one that took place at the New Directions offices. I also rant (a bit) about why I didn't get to go to Cape Town to present my speech, "The Long Term Is the Only Race Worth Winning." There's also a bit of baseball talk related to a bet that the two of us made, and we throw out ideas for a few future podcasts.

#39: The King of Publishing May 29, 2012

In this week's podcast, Tom and I talk about two related subjects: a New Yorker article about the translation of the first line of Camus' The Stranger, and the PEN World Voices panel about "Reviewing Translations." There are also some digressions, mostly involving me apologizing for all sorts of things (offending people, swearing, being silly, etc.), and baseball. Naturally.

#38: Beautiful Song Is on the Radio, Is in the TV Shows May 18, 2012

This week's podcast is a special Eurovision edition featuring resident Eurovision expert, Kaija Straumanis. We go through a bunch of the videos/songs participating in this year's competition and make fun of almost everything while also trying to come to understand why Eurovision is so compelling in its bizarreness. To follow along with our comments, I highly recommend watching the videos below as you listen to the podcast--it will greatly enhance your listening experience.

#37: No Offense May 11, 2012

Tom and I were on fire during this week's podcast, talking about the PEN World Voices Festival and some interesting questions we were asked in an interview for the Picador Book Room Tumblr. While talking about PEN WV, what is learned about a location from reading a book set there, what's lost and/or gained in translation, we (meaning mostly me) tear into a number of things.

#36: A Couple Gin & Tonics Does NOT Make Me a Better Oulipian May 04, 2012

(My initial plan was to create a title for this podcast that was actually an acrostic spelling out "Oulipo." The best I came up with was "Our Unique Lab Instigating Poetic Opportunities," which is decent, self-referential, and strange, but not perfect. Unfortunately, drinking didn't help me improve upon that, so . . .)

This week's podcast features a special discussion with Daniel Levin Becker, author of Many Subtle Channels: In Praise of Potential Liteature, a history of of the Oulipo, past, present, and future. For the uninitiated, the Oulipo is a 50-year-old group of writers and mathematicians and others interested in the idea of "potential" literature. At times highly technical and esoteric in their thinking about literature, the group also has a sort of prankster streak, which comes out in the liveliness of many of their writings. Some of the most famous works produced by Oulipian writers include Georges Perec's Life A User's Manual, Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler . . ., and Harry Mathews's Cigarettes. (Also see: all of Raymond Queneau and Jacques Roubaud, the works of Jacques Jouet, and those of Paul Fournel.)

#35: All You Need Is a Gun and a Girl Apr 27, 2012

This week we completely avoid talking about Amazon and the Department of Justice to focus on genre books in translation. Tom's a big noir/thriller fan, so we talk about a number of those, but we also discuss some works of science-fiction, including XYZ.

#34: "These Creatures I Must Woo" Apr 06, 2012

This week Tom and I welcomed Jeff Waxman of University of Chicago Press and 57th Street Books to the podcast to talk about different approaches to marketing different "types" of translations, such as contemporary translations vs. classic works vs. new translations vs. reprints vs. . . . It's an interesting conversation (isn't it always?) with the conversation ranging from the influence of reviews, to best practices for publishers to engage with booksellers. And it ends with a stunning rendition of the "Bookselling" section of The Way it Wasn't by New Directions founder James Laughlin. (It's worth listening to the podcast just to get to this.)

#33: The Spaz and the Straight Man Mar 30, 2012

In this week's podcast, we talk about the future of book reviewing, focusing on a few central questions: who reads book reviews? (A: definitely not my students), what is the function of the book review in today's world?, is there a website/app that would be the ideal book review platform? We also digress into sports talk (as we do), with Tom explaining how he just found out about the new MLB playoff setup while I predict the winners of the Champions League quarterfinals. (A: Chelsea, Bayern Munchen, Barcelona, and Real Madrid.)

#32: Everybody Loves a Bracket Mar 15, 2012

With the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament getting underway this afternoon (I refuse to acknowledge the "First Four" games), Tom and I thought this would be a good time to talk about the fact that we both picked the exact same Final Four (Kentucky, Missouri, UNC, and Ohio State) and that The Morning News's Tournament of Books is made up of a lot of mediocre books.

We also talk about the idea of a "Tournament of World Literature" featuring the best translated works of the 20th and 21st centuries. It's kind of fun coming up with what books would be included in such a mythical tournament--Sartre's Nausea, Cortazar's Hopscotch, Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark, Lispector's The Hour of the Star, Perec's Life, a User's Manual, so on and forth--and trying to figure out how to seed these. I am pretty serious about trying to bracket this out, so if you have any suggestions of books that just have to be included, send me an email.

#31: We're All Winners, But Some Win Better Than Others Mar 08, 2012

To celebrate tonight's announcements of the National Book Critic Circle Award winners, Tom and I decided to go through all six categories (fiction, nonfiction, autobiography, biography, criticism, and poetry) and pick out who we thought would win. Seeing that neither of us has read many of the finalists, this makes for some pretty fun times and some great digressions, like about how we're both over WWII novels, and how "revolution" is the theme of this year's awards.

To honor the totally -insane- rad video the U of R admissions office released today, we decided to use a bit of it as our intro/outro music. But really, you should just watch the whole video on the Three Percent blog post. "For those of you who want to know what we're all about . . . MELIORA."

#30: Half-Baked Literary Freak Mar 02, 2012

In this week's podcast, Chad and Tom welcome Ed Nawotka, editor of Publishing Perspectives, to unpack the Best Translated Book Award fiction longlist that was announced this week. (Also, Harry Potter, the Oscars, and other fun miscellany all make random appearances.)

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected