Lost in Redonda

We’re joined today by Josh Cook. Josh is a bookseller and co-owner at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he has worked since 2004. He is the author of the critically acclaimed postmodern detective novel An Exaggerated Murder and most recently of The Art of Libromancy: Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-First Century, published by our friends at Biblioasis.We chat about his work as well as I Hotel by Karen Tei Yamashita, published by Coffee House Press. Some words get thrown around a bit too often and are frequently misapplied. However, I Hotel is absolutely a masterpiece. To give any kind of synopsis is to do the book (and you) a disservice, but in a somewhat quixotic attempt at that: this is a novel comprised of novellas, all set in the San Francisco of the late 60s and early 70s exploring the revolutionary movements (political, cultural, artistic, romantic, and everything that makes life a dazzling experience) of that time and place. It’s a wide-ranging conversation and one we hope you’ll find as exciting and engaging as we did.Books/authors mentioned (another curriculum for you!):all of Yamashita’s other works (Tropic of Cancer is next up for Tom, he thinks)Tell Me How It Ends by Valeria LuiselliWhite Teeth by Zadie SmithNever Did the Fire by Diamela Eltit, translated by Daniel HahnThree Trapped Tigers by G. Cabrera Infante, translated by Donald Gardner and Suzanne Jill LevineThe Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Natasha WimmerGravity’s Rainbow by Thomas PynchonUnderworld by Don DeLilloInfinite Jest by David Foster WallaceIf you’d like to read a bit more about/from Yamashita, here’s a LitHub article Josh wrote “Why Everyone Should Read the Great Karen Tei Yamashita” and another LitHub article on the “The Craft of Writing” by Yamashita herself.To hear more from Josh follow him on Instagram (@joshthelibromancer) and Bluesky (@joshthelibromancer), and follow Porter Square Books on Instagram (@porter_square_books), Bluesky (@portersqbooks), and Threads (@porter_square_books).Click here to subscribe to our Substack and find us on the socials: @lostinredonda just about everywhere.Music: “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” by TrafficLogo design: Flynn Kidz Designs

We’re joined today by Lara Ehrlich, a writer, editor, and longtime friend (she and Tom go back 20 years, which seems impossible). Her first story collection, Animal Wife, was published by Red Hen Press back in 2020, and her first novel, Bind Me Tighter Still, will publish in 2025, also from Red Hen. She also hosts a conversation series, Writer Mother Monster, and is the founder and director of Thought Fox Writers Den.We chat about her work as well as Wild Milk: Stories by Sabrina Orah Mark, published by Dorothy, A Publishing Project. It’s a fantastic collection: feral, fleshly, and truly wild in its imagination and skill. We spend a great deal of the episode just digging into all the things that make these stories work and the many, many things we don’t understand how Mark pulls off so well. One of our favorite conversations so far!Authors mentioned (another curriculum for you!):Lydia DavisKaren RussellKelly LinkKatherine DunnAli SmithMarie NdiayeAngela CarterElizabeth McCrackenAimee BenderAmber SparksAmelia GrayRamona AusubelTo hear more from Lara follow her on Instagram (@lara.ehrlich) and Twitter (@TheLaraEhrlich), and follow Thought Fox on Instagram (@thoughtfoxwritersden) and Twitter (@ThoughtFoxDen). And be sure to pre-order Bind Me Tighter Still from your preferred indie bookseller!Click here to subscribe to our Substack and find us on the socials: @lostinredonda just about everywhere.Music: “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” by TrafficLogo design: Flynn Kidz Designs

We’re joined today by Mark Haber of Coffee House Press (formerly of Brazos Bookstore in Houston). Mark is the author of two novels, Reinhardt’s Garden and Saint Sebastian’s Abyss, and the forthcoming novel Lesser Ruins, as well as a forthcoming novella, Ada. We chat about his work as well as Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald, translated by Anthea Bell. A quick note that there was some construction noise we didn’t detect during the recording but did get picked up by our mics. We’ve eliminated it to the best of our ability, but if you hear a bit of an odd thrumming in the background or our voices crackle, it’s not your ears.This is a fantastic and wide-ranging conversation, really digging into a lot of what makes Sebald’s work unique (and how it does or does not influence Mark’s own work). We discuss memory, liminality, style, surveillance and organization, the lack of literary feuds on TikTok, and more.Titles/authors mentioned:W.G. Sebald (all of it, but especially):Vertigo, A Place in the Country, and Campo SantoSergio Chejfec: The Dark and My Two WorldsJavier MaríasFranz KafkaD.H. Lawrence: Lady Chatterley’s Lover, The Rainbow, and Sons & LoversAnthony Trollope (like, all of him)Juan Jose Saer: Scars and The Sixty-Five Years of WashingtonKazuo Ishiguro: The UnconsoledFollow Mark on Instagram (@markhaber) and follow Coffee House on Instagram (@coffeehousepress) and Twitter (@Coffee_House_). And be sure to pre-order Lesser Ruins from your preferred indie bookseller!Click here to subscribe to our Substack and find us on the socials: @lostinredonda just about everywhere.Music: “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” by TrafficLogo design: Flynn Kidz Designs

Today Spencer Ruchti of Third Place Books joins to chat about The Tanners by Robert Walser, translated by Susan Bernofsky. We actually recorded this back in November and are glad to get it out into the world. Early on Spencer dips out momentarily due to an alarm in the store, but all ended up being right with the world. At least in that instant.This is another wide-ranging chat as we dig into The Tanners and Walser’s writing. Some notable—perhaps random, perhaps not—topics that came up: hiking, firefighters, Full House, and lucid dreaming.Lastly, Spencer is one of the founders of a newer literary prize, the Cercador Prize, which selected its first winner, Of Cattle and Men from Charco Press, back in the Fall. Do check them out and follow along as they get moving on the second year of the prize!Titles/authors mentioned:Of Cattle and Men by Ana Paula Maia, translated by Zoë PerryGirlfriends, Ghosts, and Other Stories by Robert Walser, translated by Tom Whalen, with Nicole Köngeter and Annette WiesnerLooking at Pictures by Robert Walser, translated by Susan Bernofsky, Lydia Davis, and Christopher MiddletonBuddenbrooks by Thomas MannClairvoyant of the Small: The Life of Robert Walker by Susan BernofskyBarry LopezAlexander von HumboldtHeinrich von KleistWalks with Walser by Carl Seelig, translated by Anne PostenSeptology by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion SearlsErik SatieWG SebaldThe Village on Horseback by Jesse BallTo hear more from Spencer follow him on Instagram: @spenruch and follow the Cercador Prize on Instagram, too: @cercadorprizeClick here to subscribe to our Substack and find us on the socials: @lostinredonda just about everywhere.Music: “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” by TrafficLogo design: Flynn Kidz Designs

Kicking off 2024 we welcome Tara Cheesman to the podcast with her recommendation, Being Here Is Everything: The Life and Times of Paula Modersohn-Becker by Marie Darriussecq, translated by Penny Hueston. Tara is a freelance critic, former judge of the Best Translated Book Award, and she brings us our first work of nonfiction. We have an absolutely fascinating conversation on art, motherhood, representations of women, and a lot more. And recommend a small syllabus of titles to dig into.Titles/authors mentioned:Imperium by Christian Kracht, translated by Daniel BowlesNathalie Léger: Suite for Barbara Loden, Exposition, The White DressÉric Plamondon: Apple S and MayonnaiseJean Echenoz’s biographical novels: Running, Lightning, RavelSharks, Death, Surfers by Melissa McCarthyKate Zambreno: Book of Mutter and To Write As If Already DeadMargaret the First by Danielle DuttonJazmina Barrera: On Lighthouses and Linea NigraGeorges Perec: Ellis Island, I Remember, An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in ParisTo hear more from Tara follow her on Instagram: @taracheesman or subscribe (and you should!) to her Substack: Ex Libris.Click here to subscribe to our Substack and find us on the socials: @lostinredonda just about everywhere.Music: “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” by TrafficLogo design: Flynn Kidz Designs

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is upon us and it does not disappoint. Too much to say about this one and, as always, we could have gone an hour longer and still not covered it all. An absolutely fantastic novel and one that certainly lives up to the hype and praise that surrounds it.Titles/authors mentioned: The Secret History by Donna Tartt O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis Ottessa Moshfegh Bryan WashingtonClick here to subscribe to our Substack and find us on the socials: @lostinredonda just about everywhere.Music: “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” by TrafficLogo design: Flynn Kidz Designs

We stand on the precipice, one episode away from THE PRIME! Before that, though, we discuss The Bachelors, a fantastic novel chock full of some of the strangest characters Spark has written, which is really saying something. Mediums, epileptics, blackmail, criminality, and much, much more abound in this one. And one of the funniest scenes yet involving a gentleman’s club, a game of hide-and-seek, and drapes. As always: a really great time.Click here to subscribe to our Substack and find us on the socials: @lostinredonda just about everywhere.Music: “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” by TrafficLogo design: Flynn Kidz Designs

We’re edging closer to THE PRIME, but today we chat about The Ballad of Peckham Rye. Spark’s novels are incredibly fun, but this might be the wildest, featuring an incredible character name (Dougal Douglas), a lot of absenteeism, a textile factory, a Nun Tunnel, and dancing. Lots of dancing.Click here to subscribe to our Substack and find us on the socials: @lostinredonda just about everywhere.Music: “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” by TrafficLogo design: Flynn Kidz Designs

This week we discuss Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants, an absolutely wonderful gem of a novel from French author Mathias Énard, translated by Charlotte Mandell. In 150ish pages Énard recreates the Constantinople of the early 16th Century and the brief time Michelangelo resided there to build a grand bridge. If you’ve not read Énard before this is an absolutely fantastic jumping on point.(We have done A LOT of New Directions this season (with more to come), which isn’t a bad thing but, yes, we’ve noticed and we are trying to be mindful of representing other presses doing the good work of translation.)Towards the end of the episode Lori mentions a lecture Énard delivered at Barnard College. You can find that here.Click here to subscribe to our Substack and find us on the socials: @lostinredonda just about everywhere.Music: “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” by TrafficLogo design: Flynn Kidz Designs

This week we discuss Memento Mori, Spark’s third novel and, as we’ve come to expect, it’s a really fun ride. This go-round she brings us into the lives of septuagenarians and octogenarians as they fume, backbite, explore their sexual proclivities, and all come to terms (or not) with their impending deaths. And, of course, it’s very, very funny.Click here to subscribe to our Substack and find us on the socials: @lostinredonda just about everywhere.Music: “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” by TrafficLogo design: Flynn Kidz Designs