Two Month Review

Latest Episodes:

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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.

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.

The large image associated with this post, "cowboy," is copyrighted by Anthony Easton.

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

Show notes

"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.

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

Show notes

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.

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.

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

Show notes

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.

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.

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

Show notes

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.

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

Show notes

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.

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

TMR 19.11 "Exit and No Return and Gone Forever" [THE REMEMBERED PART] Jul 29, 2023

Show notes

Kaija Straumanis guest stars on this episode in which we discuss brain tumors, memory loss, the true story behind the story of The Impossible Story sending the exwriter into exile, whether of not Saint George is a saint (and dragons), paternity, and the next Fresán book to come out from Open Letter, Melvill.

This week's music is "UFO" by Veps.

Next week we'll be finishing the book (full schedule), and you can watch it live here, or by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

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

Show notes

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.

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

Show notes

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.

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

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