Two Month Review

In the final episode of this season of the Two Month Review, Brian, Chad, and Katie debate whether or not our narrator is in limbo, whether or not this book has a point, what revolution looks like today, and much more. (Chad checks out about 1/2 way through, which, to be honest, makes the episode smarter.)

If you're a Patreon supporter at the $10 or higher level, you'll be able to vote on the book for season 18, so sign up today! 

This week's music is "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed" by Los Campesinos!

You can watch all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel.

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

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

Katie and Chad tackle this section alone, discussing the revolutionary background of the main characters, going off into Bernadine Dohrn, the SDS, the Weather Underground, and direct action. They also talk about the timeline—as far as they understand it—the challenges of translating legal terms, Danny's multiple read throughs of the text, and much more. 

This week's music is "Simulation Swarm" by Big Thief.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

You can watch next week's episode (June 22nd, 9am ET) which will cover through page 136 in Never Did the Fire and page 152 in Catching Fire live on YouTube here, and watch all previous seasons on our YouTube channel.

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

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

In addition to talking about the Trump/Tesla/Lockwood conspiracy theory, our hosts this week discuss "bone avalanches," how translators are paid, the global literary network available for "experimental" books translated into English, "runts," Lativa's obsession with MILF graffiti, "catching fire," and driving a convertible off a cliff. 

This week's music is "Bicameral" by The Range.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

You can watch next week's episode (June 15th, 10am ET) which will cover through page 136 in Never Did the Fire and page 152 in Catching Fire live on YouTube here, and watch all previous seasons on our YouTube channel.

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

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

Chad and Brian go it alone and discuss "navel gazing" novels, books that entertain vs. ones about the prose, where Eltit's novel resides on that spectrum, Tommy Pham slapping Joc Peterson, shit in the bed, and much more. 

This week's music is "It Was Us" by Arms and Sleepers.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

You can watch next week's episode (June 1st) live on YouTube here, and watch all previous seasons on our YouTube channel.

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

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

Technical difficulties are kept to a minimum on this week's episode, as Chad, Brian, and Katie talk about the advancement of plot, the French New Novel, the title and its translation, the body, trauma, touching eyeballs, and more.

This week's music is "Monday" by The Regrettes.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

You can watch next week's episode (June 1st) live on YouTube here, and watch all previous seasons on our YouTube channel.

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

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

In lieu of a live episode, this week's TMR features interviews with Mónica Ramón Ríos and Carlos Labbé about their relationship with Diamela Eltit and her role in Chilean letters. That's followed by a conversation with Tony Malone (of Tony's Reading List) about the two books under discussion this season and the Shadow Man Booker International jury that he's been helping run for a number of years. 

Katie, Brian, and Chad will be back live on May 25th to cover up to page 68 in Never Did the Fire and to page 78 in Catching Fire.

This week's music is "No Blade of Grass" from the new(ish) Bodega album.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

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

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

Technical difficulties abound as Chad struggles to find reliable Wifi in Latvia. (While being recruited by the Russian mafia?)  Katie and Brian take the lead this episode, discussing the next few chapters of Never Did the Fire, gendered adjectives and information, Marxist groups and analysis, and much more. Also: Stay tuned at the end for a special interview with Sam McDowell of Charco Press!

This week's music is "Age of Anxietyt I" from the new Arcade Fire album.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

Also: use code 2MONTHREVIEW at the Charco website for 10% off everything. (Lies! Discount only applies to books—no bundles, no tote bags, etc.)

Next week's episode will be available on 5/14 to Patreon supporters, and will drop wherever you get your podcasts on Wednesday, May 18th. Unlike other episodes, it'll consist of two interviews related to Eltit and the books rather than a breakdown of the next sections. We'll be back to normal on May 25th!

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

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

In this episode, they contextualize Eltit and this particular book, talk about intentional ambiguity, Franco and Pinochet, action vs. analysis, bad and hard to eat rice, and more. 

Also, Katie sings. 

This week's music is "Impossible" from the new Röyksopp album.

If you like what you hear, review, rate, and support us on Patreon!

Also: use code 2MONTHREVIEW at the Charco website for 10% off everything. 

You can watch next week's episode (May 11th) live on YouTube here, and watch all previous seasons on our YouTube channel. 

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

Be sure to order Brian’s book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie’s translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and her forthcoming Translator Triptych.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter’s activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

We've reached the end of 2666 and Chad, Katie, and Brian convene to talk about how amazing the ending is, publishers protecting authors, love and family, the book being a "love letter to literature," the circular nature of the book, and James Joyce.

This week's music is "Swoonn" by The Chemical Brothers.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. 

We'll be back soon with season 17.

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

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and Wolfskin.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Chad and Brian talk about more vampires, about semen, about senseless scene after senseless scene, about WWII, about masterpieces and mediocre writing, about publisher laments, and about other things.

This week's music is "Damn These Vampires" by The Mountain Goats. (The Jordan Lake Sessions version, specifically.)

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And tune in next Thursday at 9am ET for the next episode, which will go through page 806.

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

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four, Last Words on Earth, and Wolfskin.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.