Three Percent #193: K.E. Semmel, "Book of Losman"

[Note: If you subscribe on Apple Podcasts, please resubscribe to this feed. The other one will be going away in the near future.] Chad and Kaija go it alone this week, talking about some of the more uncomfortable parts of the book to read in 2024, the Goneril story and the "evil touch," how almost every beat in this novel has a counterpart, the wonderful authorial intrusion discussing the "consistency" of characters, and, with glee in their hearts, the Herb-Doctor. This week's music is "Is This What I Have Missed?" by Jerome Blazé. Next episode will cover Chapters 20-26 of The Confidence-Man. You can find the full reading schedule here. You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. Please rate and review! It helps more than you know. Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Not the happiest day in which to record a podcast, but Chad, Brian, and Kaija speak their fears and then dive into Melville's Confidence-Man, talking about grifters, the value of footnotes, and just how modern and amazing Melville's prose is. They guess at who the "confidence man" might be, the burnt over district of western New York, Mormons, and a lot more. This week's music is "All Bets Are Off" by Japandroids. Next episode will cover Chapters 10-19 of The Confidence-Man. You can find the full reading schedule here. You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. Please rate and review! It helps more than you know. Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

After referencing Joytime Killbox on hundreds of TMR episodes, we finally break it down with the author himself! Conversation includes ideas about short stories and how they function, the nature of endings, and how Brian has grown as a writer since this collection first came out, while also examining the intent behind a number of the stories, and how they work. This week's music is "All My Friends" by Broken Social Scene. You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. Please rate and review! It helps more than you know. Starting next week we'll kick of Season 24, which will include both Confidence-Man by Hermann Melville and then Melvill by Rodrigo Fresán. Full reading schedule available here. Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

This week, Lori Feathers joins Chad to talk about "Involutions of the Seashell," a Substack project dedicated to reading and talking about Marguerite Young's Miss MacIntosh, My Darling. They discuss the nature of the Substack, anecdotes about Young, how to get people engaged with such an intimidating work, reading fast and slow, and much more. You can also hear more from Lori on the "Across the Pond" podcast (Apple, Spotify). The music on this episode is "Circles" by Colourmusic. If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Spotify, and other places. And follow Open Letter and Chad W. Post on Twitter/X for more info about upcoming episodes and guests.

On the first ever one-off episode of the Two Month Review, Chad breaks down Virginie Despentes's Dear Dickhead for Kaija and Brian, a novel about . . . well, just listen. (It'll be more fun if you don't know what's coming.) This new format really digs into the book in a way that you can't in (to quote Zoé Katana) "lamestream media," and, simply put, rocks. This week's music is "Cannonball" by Grouplove. You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. In two weeks, we'll be back with a singular podcast on Joytime Killbox, and then in November-December, we'll be talking about Confidence-Man by Hermann Melville and Melvill by Rodrigo Fresán. Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Today's episode features Mark Haber talking about his brand new novel, Lesser Ruins, his influence, the Bernhard thing, going from bookselling to publishing, and much more. It's a fun conversation that goes deep into the book, but also explains the publishing landscape to some degree—in part because this conversation was recorded as part of Chad's "Intro to Literary Publishing" class.  Couple other notes about this episode: In addition to Lesser Ruins, Mark talks about Melvill by Rodrigo Fresán, and True Failure by Alex Higley. And for anyone who'd like to listen to "Marcel's Mix" while reading Lesser Ruins, you can find it here. The music on this episode is "Momma, It's a Long Journey" by Felipe Gordon. (Also found on Marcel's Mix.) If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Spotify, and other places. And follow Open Letter and Chad W. Post on Twitter/X for more info about upcoming episodes and guests.

On this week's podcast, Kyle Semmel—translator from the Danish and author of Book of Losman—discusses his debut novel, life as a translator, articles he wrote on Tourette's Syndrome and Author-Transaltors, how he tried to promote his book with Justin Murphy (Your Children Are Very Greatly in Danger) and Chad W. Post.  The music on this episode is "Wav" by Rich Aucoin. (Would've chosen a Bob Dylan song in Kyle's honor, but not after he told me how much Dylan's people wanted to charge him for using a line or two as an epigraph. I can not afford a lawsuit.) If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Spotify, and other places. And follow Open Letter and Chad W. Post on Twitter/X for more info about upcoming episodes and guests.

In this special edition of the podcast, Chad talks with Pilar Adón about the forthcoming Of Beasts and Fowls (translated by Katie Whittemore), her general writing life, two movies he thought she might have seen that resonate with the book (spoiler: she's never heard of either), her publishing company Editorial Impedimenta, and more!  As a special promo for Three Percent Podcast fans, use the code PILAR at check out and get 20% off Of Beasts and Fowls.  The music on this episode is "Choreomania" by Florence + The Machine. If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Spotify, and other places. And follow Open Letter and Chad W. Post on Twitter/X for more info about upcoming episodes and guests.

It all gets wrapped up with a "Catastrophe,." "Explanation," an "End," and a "Tailpiece." Chad, Brian, and Kaija discuss global capitalism, the fight for love and the be human, AI, the Bardo, and much more on this final episode of Season 23. Listen to the end for an announcement about changes to the podcast and what to look for going forward! This week's music is "When I Was Dying" by Dan Deacon. You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube. Stay tuned for announcements about forthcoming episodes! Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

From the Olympics to the most meta moment of the whole of Lanark, this week's podcast has you covered! Brian, Chad, and Kaija banter about divorce, plagiarisms versus influences, and how to read this book as a whole. There are a ton of amazing lines throughout this section of the novel, making this one of the most fun episodes of the season. This week's music is "Entropy" by El Ten Eleven. You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be discussing the last section of Lanark by Alasdair Gray. Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.