Two Month Review

After talking a bit about Women in Translation Month and the voting process for choosing the Season 13 title, Chad and Brian get into the twisty nature of Part III of The Book of Anna, in which Anna's portrait is given to the tsar, and Leo Tolstoy appears in the dreams of two characters, both to berate them and make a case for revolution. This part ends with a bit of a tease, as next week we finally get to hear from Anna Karenina herself in the form of her opium inspired book. 

This week's Anna song is "Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!" by Sunset Rubdown.

And again, if you want to help pick from the four finalists for season 13 (Zone, Vernon Subutex, Ada, or Ardor, Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming), fill out this survey. Thanks in advance!

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll discuss part four, “The Book of Anna” (pgs 127-161). You can watch it live next Wednesday, August 12th.

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 now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

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

This week's episode is one of the more political ones to date, as Chad and Brian talk about Russia's "Bloody Sunday," comparing the Tsar's actions to Trump and what's going on in Portland. (They also sigh loudly over his most recent attempt to stoke racial and class anger.) They talk about the pacing and balance between these first two parts of the novel, the ways in which this section are almost anti-Tolstoy in nature, the relationship between power and history, and Chad's obsession with Baudrillard and illusion. (See this post.) 

This week's Anna song is "Anna Begins" by Counting Crows.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll discuss part three, “Karenina's Portrait” (pgs 99-126). You can watch it live next Wednesday, August 5th.

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 now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

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

The final part of season 12 kicks off with Chad and Brian discussing the first part of Carmen Boullosa's The Book of Anna, translated from the Spanish by Samantha Schnee and published by Coffee House. Chad gives a brief recap of Leo Tolstoy's novella, Anna Karenina, then they discuss how and what type of sequel this is, get into the two different storylines—revolution and Anna's children—and end with a discussion of the metafictional elements and the way in which this book plays off of Nabokov's Bend Sinister.

This week's Anna song is "Anna" by Will Butler. (The video for which stars Emma Stone.)

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll discuss part two, “Bloody Sunday” (pgs 74-98). You can watch it live next Wednesday, July 29nd.

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 now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. 

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

Katie Whittemore joins on this episode to refute a list of crazy fan theories about Four by Four, and to talk about the difficulties of translating a book in which there's really no where to hide. Chad also shares some new, bad, jacket copy, and makes a pitch for one of Katie's next books to come out: World's Best Mother by Nuria Labari. Very fun, loose, enjoyable episode putting to bed a book that is, ultimately, quite unnerving.

This week's musical four-by-four reference is from Malibu Ken in his appropriately creepy "Acid King."

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll move on to The Book of Anna by Carmen Boullosa and Samantha Schnee. Get your copy today! We'll discuss part one, “Anna’s Sergei and Anya’s City” (pgs 1-73), next Wednesday, July 22nd, and you can watch live here.

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 now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Four by Four by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

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

The large image associated with this post is copyrighted by fusion-of-horizons.

ALTA executive director and Arabic translator (Minor Detail), Lissie Jaquette joined Chad and Brian to talk about Bedragare's breakdown and all the events in the second half of his journal. They also wonder what the "mystery" of the novel is, and talk about various (possibly nutty) theories about who killed Lux and Ledesma. All of this sets up next week's episode in which—according to Chad—the real will be explained . . . 

It's amazing how much questionable music there is that includes a reference to a "4x4." This week's is a little ditty by Hardy that includes this lyric, "Them good old boys been feeling macho / In that quatro wheel drive." Hell yeah!

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. The next broadcast will be on July 15th. We'll be talking about the final section of Four by Four, which is available in bookstores everywhere. (And as an audiobook via Tantor Media!)

After next week's episode, we'll move on to The Book of Anna by Carmen Boullosa and Samantha Schnee. Get your copy today!

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 now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Four by Four by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

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

After being taken over by Chad's daughter, the podcast gets back on track, and Chad and Derek Maine (Read the World YouTube channel) break down the first half of part two of Four by Four, talking about the ways in which power structures are replicated, the increasing scope of the novel's construction, reading between the lines, trusting the impulses in children, books that don't offer clear solutions, and much more. 

This week's musical "4x4" reference is from Florida Georgia Line, because of course it is. 

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. (And seriously, this week's opening is worth watching.) The next broadcast will be on July 8th. We'll be talking about pages 156-222) of Four by Four, which is available in bookstores everywhere. (And as an audiobook via Tantor Media!)

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 now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Four by Four by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

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

This week's episode kicks off the four-week discussion of Four by Four by Sara Mesa, translated from the Spanish by Katie Whittemore. A great book for our time (for all times) in relationship to power structures and their systems. And whether it's better to be "free and vulnerable or protected but under control." In this first episode, Max Besora (Adventures and Misadventures of the Extraordinary and Admirable Joan Orpí, Conquistador and Founder of New Catalonia) talks with Chad about campus novels, the various power relationships in the first section of the novel, the difficulties of translating "culo," the precision of Mesa's prose, the way Celia's and Ignacio's storylines run in parallel, the two timelines of this section, and much more. Solid ground-setting episode for what promises to be an amazing season. 

This week's music is a little gem from Miley Cyrus called "4x4."

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. The next broadcast will be on July 1st. We'll be talking about pages 87-156 of Four by Four, which is available in bookstores everywhere. (And as an audiobook via Tantor Media!)

Derek Maine will be the special guest next week, and produced this amazing review of the book for his channel. Check it out!

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 now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Four by Four by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

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

On this episode of the Two Month Review, translator Robin Myers joins Chad and Brian to talk about her translation, Mexican and Argentine poetry, what was most challenging/liberating about the text, ALTA 2009, and much much more. Very insightful conversation for anyone interested in professional translators, or starting out in the field. 

This week's music is "Rebel Girl" by Bikini Kill.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. The next broadcast will be on June 24th. We'll be talking about Sara Mesa/Katie Whittemore's Four by Four, which is available in bookstores everywhere. (And as an audiobook via Tantor Media!)

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 now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Four by Four by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

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

This week, Mónica Ramón Ríos joins Chad and Brian to talk about her literary career, how she came to write Cars on Fire, Rutgers, some movies she's recently watched, how to read "Invocation," protests in Chile and NYC, and much much more. An incredibly interesting and informative episode that serves as an incredible guide to approaching and reading these short stories. 

This week's music is "Dead Men Don't Rape" by 7 Year Bitch.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. The next broadcast will be on June 17th. Robin Myers will be the special guest, and we'll focus on pages 152-175. This will be the final episode on Cars on Fire before we move on to Four by Four by Sara Mesa and Katie Whittemore. (For which there is an audiobook version!) 

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 now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Cars on Fire by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

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

Season 12 of the Two Month Review kicked off with Cristina Rodriguez from Deep Vellum Bookstore joining Chad and Brian to talk about the first section of Mónica Ramón Ríos and Robin Myers's Cars on Fire. They talk about The Gits, "Dead Men Don't Rape," the connections between academy and power structures, how "timely" this connection is, the clarity of the prose, and much more. 

In honor of Mia Zapata, this week's music is "Another Shot of Whiskey" by The Gits.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. The next broadcast will be on June 10th. Mónica Ramón Ríos will be the special guest, and we'll focus on pages 64-151.

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 now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And you can get 20% off Cars on Fire by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

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