Two Month Review

Chris Via of Leaf by Leaf joins Kaija, Brian, and Chad on this episode to talk about “Why Windows Are Important to Me.” They discuss Chris’s ten-hour-long project on The Tunnel, why “Blackboard” is his favorite section, edges and nodes and architecture in literature, philosophy and metaphors, and much more. A very high-level, intellectual episode thanks in large part to Chris’s contributions!

This episode’s music is “Das Verschwinden” by The Notwist.

Next week we’ll cover “The First Winter of My Married Life” (pages 334–385). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

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Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

Covering the “Mad Meg” section (pgs 214–282), Chad, Kaija, and Brian talk about the juxtaposition of Kohler’s childhood Sunday drives with the bombast of Mad Meg’s lectures, about Southern Gothic writing and Flannery O’Connor, blaming others for your sadness, history and ideas, and more.

This episode’s music is “The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man)” from Car Seat Headrest.

We’ll be back on December 4 to cover “Why Windows Are Important to Me” (pages 282–334). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

As Kohler begins to dig his actual tunnel, Chad, Kaija, and Brian talk about Culp as a sort of döppelganger, complicity, the symbolism of a tunnel, losing one’s wedding ring, whether the breakup scene with Lou really took place, the formal constraints of dirty limericks, and much more. For all the daily fascism in the novel, the conversation about it is fun and funny, while teasing out various themes and exploring the core issues.

This episode’s music is “Whistle While You Work” from Snow White.

Next week we’ll cover the second section, “Mad Meg” (pages 214–282). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

This week Chad, Brian, and Kaija talk about the midwest as hell, locusts and tornados, one’s family and attempts to escape it, forms of love found in the book, aging (as always), History and history, Rilke, whether or not we “know” Kohler, and much more. It’s a fun, illuminating episode covering a section that, despite the exploding glass and wind, is a bit slower and more focused than the previous two.

This episode’s music is “Whirring” by The Joy Formidable.

Next week we’ll cover the second section, “We Have Not Lived the Right Life” (pages 49–146). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

On this week’s episode, Ted Morrissey (author, creator of The Tunnel at 25) joins Kaija, Brian, and Chad to talk about “Koh Whistles Up a Wind” and how to approach The Tunnel overall. (He also unveils what he thinks is Gass’s real masterpiece—you’ll have to listen to the end to find out.) They talk about the “trap” Gass set for reviewers, enticing them to identify him with Kohler, about the “milk crate edition,” and other aspects of the making of this novel, about the realization Ted has about page 92, and much more.

This episode’s music is “Sincere” by Roger Sellers.

Next week we’ll cover the second section, “We Have Not Lived the Right Life” (pages 49–146). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

For this season of the Two Month Review, we’re leaving the sunny, paranoid skies of Pynchon’s California behind in favor of William Frederick Kohler’s study, where, instead of writing an introduction to his recently completed book, Guilt and Innocence in Hitler’s Germany, Kohler starts writing about his life and things that annoy him, about annoyances and disappointments, and about the awful aspects of ourselves that we never want to directly confront. In this particular episode, Chad, Brian, and Kaija talk about Gass’s life and other writings and provide a general framework for anyone approaching this masterpiece for the first time. Specifically, they discuss the first section of the novel, “Life in a Chair,” which is a jarring—and occasionally funny—overture to the themes of the novel as a whole.

This episode’s music is “Yek” by Oran Ambarchi, Johan Berthling, and Andreas Werliin.

Next week we’ll cover the second section, “Koh Whistles Up a Wind” (pages 49–96). The complete schedule (if you’re reading along in real time) can be found here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

Peter Coviello (Vineland Reread) joins Kaija, Brian, and Chad to talk about the ending of Vineland, how it compares to One Battle After Another, what the Thanatoids are, the sheer joy of reading Thomas Pynchon, and more. A very lively way to end the season filled with laughs and Coviello’s wonderful insights.

Up next, for Season 29 is . . . you’ll have to wait and see. Announcement coming soon, but in the meantime, be on the lookout for a one-off episode about Pynchon’s new book, Shadow Ticket.

This week’s music is “Maybelline” by Chuck Berry.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

For the penultimate episode of this season, Andrew Merritt of the Life on Books podcast joined Chad and Kaija to talk about the original arrangment between Vond, Frenesi, and Zoyd, about how, once again, this book is too prophetic in delineating our current situation, about misoneism, about postpartum depression, untested forms of therapy, etc. But the highlight is probably “Pynchon Character or Baseball Player?” featuring some of the wackiest names in all of . . . baseball? Pynchon? Both?

This week’s music is “Pynchon Character or Baseball Player?,” which was fully made by AI as a joke.

Next week we’ll be talking about the final section of Vineland and will be joined by a mystery guest . . .

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

Chad, Brian, and Kaija try to start out on a light note—goofing on the Phoenix children’s names—but things get deadly serious (pun intended) when they get into talking about Weed Atman’s murder on a college campus and how it’s brought into being thanks to our Big Bad, Brock Vond, and the government’s strategy of shutting down leftest hippies. They talk about forms of revolution, what works and doesn’t seem to, sneaking in political awareness via sit-com level humor, and more. It’s an odd episode given the chilling reality of life in September 2025, but they make the best of it.

On a fun note, tune in next week for “Pynchon Character or Baseball Player?," America’s favorite new game show.

This week’s music is “Summertime Blues” by Blue Cheer.

Next week we’ll be reading through page 322 (chapters 13 & 14, full schedule here).

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.

A bit of a digressive episode in which Brian, Kaija, and Chad discuss expectations and excitement, why Vineland is considered a “lesser” book of Pynchon’s, the inversion of cause and effect in Pynchon’s narratives, Thanatoids, Karmic grifting, DL’s adventures, the goofy sit-com logic and setups behind much of this book, and more.

This week’s music is “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker, Jr.

Next week we’ll be reading through page 267 (chapters 11 & 12), where we will learn more about Frenesi and the downfall of the 24fps, and will be forced, once again, to look at how Vineland mirrors our current climate.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And subscribe to the Three Percent substack for information about Open Letter Books and literature in translation writ large.

Also consider subscribing to the Mining the Dalkey Archive substack and its respective podcast (Apple, Spotify) about all things Dalkey Archive.