Two Month Review

Pete Mitchell—who wrote this great review of Fox for Asymptote—joined Chad and Brian this week to talk about the heartbreaking (and semi-profane) ending to "The Devil's Garden," the third part of Dubrakva Ugresic's latest novel. From the idea of a small ping singling one's eventual crack-up to peeing on the side of the road as you burn it all down, this episode has it all. 

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stayed tuned for the next broadcast, in which we'll be talking about the last half of Part III of "The Devil's Garden," pages 144-183.

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Pete Mitchell for info on soccer, international literature, and other Twitter-type stuff.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This week's episode opens with the theme song to Falling Down, and ends with part of the theme song from For Love or Money starring Michael J. Fox.

In this week's Two Month Review, Brian drops some excellent knowledge about why this chapter is called "The Devil's Garden," opening a window into Ugresic's genius, guest George Carroll talks about his time in Kolkata, and Chad says a bunch of mildly entertaining things about camping and landmines. The most stunning moment comes when all three reveal their complete ignorance of one particular major work of international literature . . . Overall, a great episode!

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stayed tuned for the next broadcast, in which we'll be talking about the last half of Part III of "The Devil's Garden," pages 144-183.

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow George Carroll for info on soccer, international literature, and retirement.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This week's episode opens with "Fall Down" by the Throwing Muses, and ends with part of the theme song from Casualties of War starring Michael J. Fox. 

After a two week hiatus due to technical difficulties trying to record from Dublin, the Two Month Review is back! Chad and Brian are joined by translator Ellen Elias-Bursać to talk about her favorite section of the novel--"A Balancing Art." They discuss the various viewpoints presented in this chapter--especially that of the outspoken, unforgiving young artist compared to the more "fox-like" older widow--and all the subtleties found in Ugresic's prose.

Listen to the end to get information about Ellen's new book, Translating Evidence and Interpreting Testimony at a War Crimes Tribunal: Working in a Tug-of-War. Which is far more interesting than the title might suggest. It's about her time working in the Hague and the role translation played on a daily basis.

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stayed tuned for the next broadcast, in which we'll be talking about the first section of Part III of Fox, "The Devil's Garden," pages 110-144.

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

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

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

There are two bits of music on this episode, "Yr Throat" by Jeff Rosenstock opens up the podcast, and the outro music is the theme music to Doc Hollywood, another great Michael J. Fox movie.

Tom Flynn from Volumes is back, surprising Brian, who mostly prepared for the podcast by Googling Croatian Fun Facts. World Cup banter and good natured ribbing aside, Chad, Brian, and Tom dig in to the first half or "A Balancing Art," talking about immigration vs. tourism, literary conferences and celebrity, one of the best penis jokes ever, and much more. They look at some of the parallels between the first two parts and marvel at Ugresic's genius in putting this novel together. Finally, they talk a bit about "Levin," the Russian author who runs throughout this book . . .

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stop by next Monday, July 2nd at 9pm Eastern to discuss the second half of Part II of Fox, "A Balancing Art," pages 76-109.

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. You can also find Tom Flynn and Volumes Bookcafe on Twitter. If you're in the Chicagoland area, please visit Volumes on Milwaukee and tell them that the Two Month Review sent you. (Or order a book from them online.)

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

There are two bits of music on this episode--the first was chosen by Rafa Montes, an Open Letter summer intern who is producing these podcasts, and the outro music is the theme music to Back to the Future, another great Michael J. Fox movie.

This week's podcast is pretty fast and loose, with Fortnite disruptions, embarrassing pronunciations, lots of ribbing, and a deep dive into the various games going on in Part I of Dubravka Ugresic's Fox, "A Story about How Stories Come to Be Written." Starting from Pilnyak's story of the same name, this section revolves around the idea of how real life events are transformed into stories, why certain stories "feel" believable, and the way certain stories are lauded and others dismissed. It's a great starting point for the book, and all the silliness aside, Tom, Chad, and Brian do pull a lot of interesting ideas out of this section.

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stop by next Monday, June 25th at 9pm Eastern to discuss the first half of Part II of Fox, "A Balancing Art," pages 46-75.

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. You can also find Tom Flynn and Volumes Bookcafe on Twitter. If you're in the Chicagoland area, please visit Volumes on Milwaukee and tell them that the Two Month Review sent you. (Or order a book from them online.)

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

There are two bits of music on this episode--the first is "What Does the Fox Say?," which was Tom's "brilliant" suggestion. The outro music is more Michael J. Fox gold, this time from The Secret of My Success. 

The new season is here! For the next two months, Chad and Brian will be talking about Dubravka Ugresic's Fox with a wide range of guests. To kick things off this week, Chad talks about Ugresic's writing career and his history of publishing her, and Brian comes up with a great challenge for our listeners and a running gag about this season's theme music.

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you’re there, subscribe to the Two Month Review channel and stop by next Monday, June 18th at 9pm Eastern to discuss Part I of Fox, pages 1-45. (If you want to read "A Story About How Stories Come to Be Written" by Pilnyak, just email me.)

As always, Fox (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

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

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

There are two bits of music on this episode--the first is "I Wanna Be" by Don't, which was recommended by long-time listener (and guest!) Caitlin Luce Baker, and the second is inspired by Brian's comment about Michael J. Fox.

This week, Chad and Brian are joined by Stiliana Milkova from Oberlin College to talk about the final sections of The Physics of Sorrow: "An Elementary Physics of Sorrow," "Endings," and "Epilogue." They talk about the structure of the novel as a whole, about Chad's favorite page in the book, about aging and nostalgia, and, in a true throwback moment, Twin Peaks. 

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you're there, subscribe to Chad's channel and stop by next Monday, April 16th at 9pm eastern for a very special episode that will feature Santiago Morrice AND Georgi Gospodinov himself! If you watch that episode live you'll have the opportunity to ask Georgi all the questions you want!

As always, The Physics of Sorrow (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

While you're there, pick up a copy of Fox by Dubravka Ugresic. This will be the next Two Month Review book, and we'll release the schedule in the near future.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

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

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Stars and Babies" by Splendor and Misery, featuring Georgi's translator, Angela Rodel!

This week, Rachel Cordasco from Speculative Fiction in Translation and the Wisconsin Historical Society Press joined Chad and Brian for a fun conversation about part VII of Georgi Gospodinov's The Physics of Sorrow. They talked about how this book invokes a variety of memories, hotel rooms, Eastern European self-deprecating humor, the saddest place on earth, and much more. It's a wide-ranging conversation that truly captures the spirit of the Two Month Review. Whether you've read the book or not, you'll come away from this informed and entertained. (And probably wishing you had read the book.)

You can watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube, and while you're there, subscribe to Chad's channel and stop by next Monday, April 9th at 9pm eastern to talk with Chad, Brian, and special guest Stiliana Milkova. They'll be discussing "An Elementary Physics of Sorrow" and the "Conclusion," and probably touching on Milkova's literary interests, which include Russian Symbolist erotic poetry and Elena Ferrante.

As always, The Physics of Sorrow (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And be sure to follow Rachel Cordasco as well for more book information--especially about speculative fiction. 

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Stars and Babies" by Splendor and Misery, featuring Georgi's translator, Angela Rodel!

This week, translator Angela Rodel joins Chad and Brian to talk about The Physics of Sorrow by Georgi Gospodinov, the recent surge in Bulgarian literature in translation, point of view issues in writing, Bulgarian folk music, what makes a translation work, and much more. Then Chad and Brian banter about "The Story Buyer," the giving away of ideas for novels, and the next title to be featured on the Two Month Review!

There is an unedited version of the second half of this podcast available on YouTube. that contains a longer discussion of the future of the project and what other titles could be included. And be sure to come by next TUESDAY, April 3rd at 9pm to talk with Chad, Brian, and special guest Rachel Cordasco. They'll be discussing "Global Autumn," the saddest places in the world, Eastern European humor, and more.

As always, The Physics of Sorrow (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

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

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Stars and Babies" by Splendor and Misery, featuring Georgi's translator, Angela Rodel!

In addition to ripping on Chad and the poor showing by the Michigan State Spartans in the NCAA Tournament, Brian Wood and Tom Flynn (from Volumes Bookcafe) discuss the morality of animals, how this section of The Physics of Sorrow focuses more on the "animal" side of the minotaur, the mixture of lightness and sorrow in Gospodinov's writing, terrible sounding alcoholic drinks, and more. It's a great blend of pure entertainment and literary insight, reinforcing just how carefully crafted and incredible this novel is.

There is an unedited version of this podcast--with maybe eight extra minutes of jokes--that you can watch on YouTube. And be sure to come by next Monday, March 26th at 9pm to hangout with Chad and Brian. They'll be talking about Part VI (pages 179-200) and answering any and all of your questions.

As always, The Physics of Sorrow (and all the previous Two Month Review titles) is available for 20% off through our website. Just use the code 2MONTH at checkout.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood, for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And you can follow Volumes Bookcafe for more information about books and upcoming events. (Like the one on April 26th with Two Month Review alum Rodrigo Fresán!)

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Stars and Babies" by Splendor and Misery, featuring Georgi's translator, Angela Rodel!