Two Month Review

Latest Episodes:

TMR 19.8: "Notes for a Theory of the Fabric of Memory" [THE REMEMBERED PART] Jul 07, 2023

Show notes

Brian is back and Chad flubs the intro, so things are basically as they should be . . . They talk about fragmentation, big flawed double albums (and why they're so intriguing), how comedy works, Hey Uncle Walrus vs. Uncle Hey Walrus, memory and the losing of it, and much more.

This week's music is "1979" and 'Tonight, Tonight" from the Smashing Pumpkins' flawed double album. (A topic in this episode!)

Next week we'll be covering pages 490-563 (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 19.7: "The Good Rememberer (A How-To Guide)" [THE REMEMBERED PART] Jun 30, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

Show notes

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.

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

This week's large image is from Latvia-based Rudy's Kombucha Brewing Company.

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

Show notes

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.

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

Show notes

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.

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

Show notes

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.

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

TMR 19.2: "Now That Everything That Has To Happen Has Happened" [THE REMEMBERED PART] May 29, 2023

Show notes

And they're off! Brian and Chad start remembering all that they're supposed to remember about the first two volumes of the trilogy (green cows!) and get oriented with the ex-Writer on the plane (and in the desert reading and burning Ada, or Ardor), fall right back into Fresan's humor, cynicism, bits on love, and everything else!

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

Next week we'll be covering pages 82-143 (full schedule), and you can watch it live 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 19.1: Where Are We At? [THE REMEMBERED PART] May 11, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

TMR Fresán Relisten Ep. 22: "The Dream Ends" [THE DREAMED PART] May 09, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to the Great Fresan Relisten of 2023! Over the next four weeks, we'll be reissuing an episode a day from the The Invented Part and The Dreamed Part seasons of TMR so that you can catch-up, refresh your memory, have a few laughs, etc., before the May 10th launch of Season 19 on The Remembered Part.

Here are the show notes from the original airing:

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!

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel aaand 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 Fresán Relisten Ep. 21: "IKEA" [THE DREAMED PART] May 09, 2023

Show notes

Here are the show notes from the original airing:

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.

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

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