After a heaping helping of guests for the last couple of episodes, we're back this week with an Infinite Library Classique episode. This week, John and Ben are discussing "Tun-Huang", Yasushi Inoue's sparse yet epic tale of war and religion set against the beautiful, barren plains and deserts of western China. Topics this week include the NYRB Classics imprint, historical fiction as a genre, and the deterministic forces of history. We hope you enjoy the episode!

I feel like White Kafka! Greetings, Bookheads: this week we've got a special off-week treat for you. We sat down with our friend Dan to discuss Franz Kafka's unfinished novel: The Castle. We hope you enjoy!

This week on the Infinite Library, we're talking about modern love (as in "modernism", get it?). John's girlfriend Ana joins the Book Boys to talk about Djuna Barnes' classic of lesbian literature. We talk about why this book isn't as well known as its peers, Freud and fascism, and whether or not books are supposed to teach us things. We hope you'll enjoy this discussion.

Note: We had some audio issues with this episode. We apologize for the quality here and we're working hard to figure out how to solve these problems for future episodes.

Show Notes:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16laFsna0Lqe2NMHhJlGTdBzZ7VJrIAnM8JnZRAIFUmg/edit?usp=sharing

This week, John and Ben welcome Geoffrey Morrison, a novelist based in Vancouver, Canada, to discuss "By Night in Chile" by Roberto Bolano. The three of us had a fantastic discussion on Bolano's life and legacy, as well as this brilliant, terrifying little novel. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

This week, Ben and John are tackling their first work by the Queen of Literary Twitter: Joyce Carol Oates. Given this show's fascination with the gothic, we decided to start with the first installment of JCO's Gothic Quartet, "Bellefleur". We talk about the gothic (again), it's role in American culture, realism & supernaturalism in fiction, amongst many other topics. This is a wild and wooly episode about a wild and wooly book. We hope you enjoy!

On this week's episode of The Infinite Library, John and Ben are hopping in the Library's time machine and heading back to the 1860s with Zadie Smith's "The Fraud". We discuss historical fiction, the role art takes in shaping us, and hysterical realism.

Picture this: you, lowly listener, have managed to secure an invitation to the swankiest New Year's soiree known to man--hosted by the Infinite Library. Pressing shoulders with the great and good of the literary world, you stumble upon your humble hosts, John and Ben, in the midst of a private conversation. Being the humble, work-a-day podcast hosts they are, they engage you in conversation and regale you with their five favorite books of 2023.

Thank you to all our guests and listeners for making 2023 a great first year for the show! We look forward to reading and talking with you all into this new year!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, Book-Heads! This week John and Ben are joined deep in the stacks by Eden of Death//Sentence, Heavy Blog is Heavy, and AnarchySF to discuss the "Velvet Underground of 80s Fantasy Novels": "The Dragon Waiting" by John M. Ford. Topics of conversation include the wild and wooly figure of John M. Ford himself, the curious nature of the Alternate History genre, and what can happen when a work of fantasy tries to do "too much". Eden is also kind enough to provide a true smorgasbord of recommendations for the starving Infinite Library public.

Semper Books! We'll see you next year!

This week, the Book Boys are diving into the swamp and getting way out of their depth with Qiu Miaojin’s “Notes of a Crocodile”. Despite very much not being Taiwanese lesbians, the Infinite Library is discussing one of the seminal works of Taiwanese lesbian fiction. Come for the riveting conversation on 90s Taiwan and the history of homosexuality in the Sinosphere, stay to hear John butcher the pronunciation of something in Mandarin.

Put on your Pomas and get ready to consult the Cone of Fate, because this week John and Ben are reading "Masters of Atlantis" by Charlie Portis. The Book Boys talk about cults, the unceasing march of time, and John's theory of the "Boomer Novel".