Three Percent Podcast

Latest Episodes:

2MR: IV composition book (Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller, Pages 32-68) Aug 24, 2017

Show notes

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

Show notes

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.

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

Show notes

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.

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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.

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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.

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

Show notes

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.

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