Two Month Review

Ted Morrissey ( The Tunnel at 25 ) returns to talk about his favorite section of The Tunnel , which has some Joycean overtones, and is a little less angry than some of the other parts of the book. (See: Kohler talking about breakfast, saying nice things about Martha.) It is a section that gets into the core of Kohler’s argument in Guilt and Innocence in Hitler’s Germany —an argument that can also...

In this section of The Tunnel , Gass looks at academia, committees, power dynamics on campus, and the “curse of colleagues.” Chad, Brian, and Kaija have a lot of fun with this section talking about how gross Kohler is, which colleague of his they most represent, whether or not any of these people are “real,” and the state of college as a public institution in 2025. This episode’s music is “Sideboo...

Lori Feathers (Interabang Books, Big Book Project) joins Kaija, Chad, and Brian to talk about “The First Winter of My Married Life” in which Kohler and Martha suffer the invasive noises of a nearby neighbor, Kohler loses his cool because of his inconsolable son, and various memories are explored thanks to a photo album. They talk about this, about how Kohler is manipulating the reader (why? to wha...

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! Thi...

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 D...

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 the...

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 previou...

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...

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 aspe...

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...

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 B...

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 doe...

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’...

On this week’s episode, Chad, Kaija, and Brian discuss chapters 6–8 of Pynchon’s Vineland , three very episodic chapters featuring Frenesi and her family history, an Italian wedding in which Deleuze & Guatari get name-checked, and a visit to the Sisterhood of Kunoichi Attentives. Lots of fun and hijinks, some anti-binary, anti-computer sentiments, more fetishization of weapons, and some random (?)...

Our six-week discussion of Pynchon’s Vineland kicks off with a bang as Brian, Chad, and Kaija are joined by Rodrigo Fresán (author of Melvill , Mantra , The Part Trilogy, and who’s had four books featured on TMR) to breakdown the first five chapters of the book, although most of the time is spent introducing Pynchon’s world, illustrating how relevant this book is today (an ICE raid on an airplane,...

Daisy Rockwell joins the gang this week to talk about her translation, the challenges and joys of translating Tomb of Sand , its structure, what “dhwani” means, and more. She also previews the as yet unpublished—in any language, any country—new book by Geetanjali Shree. A wide-ranging conversation about translation, South Asian literature, and more! In addition, there is a bonus interview with Pia...

At long last we learn of Ma’s connection to Pakistan and Rosie, and the stories behind the Buddha featured in Part II and the chironji seeds. Chad, Kaija, and Brian break this down, reflect on how the information alters their understanding of all that came before, and how the shape of the novel is finally snapping into place. They also make predictions about what’s to come and try and figure out h...

With Brian still settling in to his new digs, Chad and Kaija are left to take on the most unsettling section of Tomb of Sand so far—the death of Rosie and the discourse surrounding it. They do their best though, as the book gets very emotional, setting up Ma’s journey to Pakistan. And stay tuned after their conversation to hear a conversation with translator and professor Jason Grunebaum about SAL...

Chad and Kaija go it alone this week, so there are a few more inside jokes than usual. (And a nod to the brilliant Knowledge Fight podcast.) But they also talk about this section of the book, which they both loved, breaking down each character, and what it’s like becoming like your parents and struggling with their aging. It’s a section buoyed by Rosie/Raza, and ends with what seems to be a turnin...

After a blissful, quiet time in which Ma and Rosie Bua turn junk into Etsy projects, the chaos descends on Beti’s house—and the missing Buddha is found. And then Ma falls. Brian, Chad, and Kaija talk about these plot points, the lists and verbal trills that denote Shree’s style, the sections that they struggled with, and the pleasures of letting a wild, unpredictable novel of this sort just take o...

This week, Chad, Brian, and Kaija discuss their various reactions to the end of Part I and opening of Part II. They also revisit the idea of “meeting a book where it is”—via a discussion of the new Superman —along with the struggle to get a holistic picture of the book’s form and intent. They also get into the tonal differences between the parts, namely the chaos of Part I and the “sunny,” more si...

A lot of this week’s discussion is about “meeting a book where it is” and looking at the literary strategies Geetanjali Shree & Daisy Rockwell use in this book. This includes ideas of editing for different audiences, and different ways to view the first part of this long novel. There are also some jokes, a lengthy bit about audiobook narration, and more! This week’s music is “ Possession ” by Ty S...

Chad, Kaija, and Brian start of the new season featuring Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree and translated from the Hindi by Daisy Rockwell by looking at the number of titles from Hindi (and all Indian languages) that have made their way into America and stereotypes about Indian literature the average American reader might have about Hindi fiction, before turning to discuss the fun, playful nature o...

Kaija, Brian, and Chad reach “The Golden Notebook” inside of The Golden Notebook , and discuss the ways in which this novel push back against various interpretations, ways in which the world can break you, men and their microaggressions, men and their egotism and their I I I I, the ways in which this is and isn’t a feminist text, and more. The next season starts on July 3rd and will feature Tomb o...

On this, the penultimate episode of the season, Kaija and Chad talk about Anna’s dissociation and dissolution, Saul Green and who he really is, narrative and societal traps, a room of one's own, and if Marion peacing out on her family makes her the most free woman in the book. They also realize mid-podcast the connection between the asterisked numbers the yellow and blue notebooks. This week’s mus...