Three Percent Podcast

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2MR: Death in Spring (pgs. 69-118) Dec 21, 2017

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review!

2MR: Selected Stories (pgs. 1-50) Nov 02, 2017

Show notes

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!

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