The Infinite Library

This week, 3-time returning champ Molly Tanzer is back in the stacks to discuss Mikhail Bulgakov's classic: "The Master and Margarita"! And this time she brought a friend: Melissa (AKA MK Sauer) joined us a second guest and expert on Russian lit as we gave the book the full Infinite Library treatment! As always, we hope that you enjoy our conversation!

Our vacation to the oases of horror in a desert of boredom reaches its conclusion. This week, John and Ben talk about the final section of Roberto Bolaño's "2666": The Part About Archimboldi. Topics of discussion include the kunstleroman genre, Dracula, and how Bolaño subverts genre expectations to invoke his deeper themes.

This week, the Book Boys discuss Tanith Lee's first novel: "Birthgrave".

CONTENT WARNING: This episode includes detailed discussion of violence & sexual assault. We return to "2666" to discuss "The Part About the Crimes". Topics of conversation include the legendary reputation of this portion of Bolano's novel, depictions of violence against women in literature, and conspiracy as a theme in Bolano's oeuvre. As always, we hope you enjoy!

This week we've got friend of the show Dan back in the stacks to discuss Mo Yan's opus: "Life And Death Are Wearing Me Out". Topics of conversation include Chinese-English translation, reincarnation in fiction, and authorial self-inserts. As always, we hope you enjoy the conversation!

The Book Boys return to the sweltering climes of Santa Theresa to discuss Part III of Roberto Bolano's "2666": The Part about Fate. Global Forms in Bolaño’s 2666: Genre, Race, Capital by Jack Weizhe Cao can be found here .

It's the Infinite Library Pride Month Special! Today, John and Ben queen out and discuss Michał Witkowski's "Lovetown". We discuss the relation between experimental fiction and marginalized points of view, the depiction of queer life in capitalist vs non-capitalist systems, and, of course, gay sex.

¡Hola, los amigos des libros! In the first episode of the Summer Season, the Book Banditos, Ben and John, head south of the border to chat about Roberto Bolaño's magnum opus: "2666". Is the tone of this description a meta commentary on Bolaño's portrayal of hapless literati facing the true horror at the heart of the world? You'll have to listen to find out! In this episode, the first of four, we d...

Groovy Baby! We close out our Spring 2025 Season by discussing Samuel R. Delany's "Nova". We discuss Delany's place in the history of sci-fi, archetypes, and the role of time in writing. As always, we hope you enjoy our conversation.

What a long, strange trip it's been...this week, the Book Boys finish up their read-through of the works of Michael Chabon with "Moonglow". Does the Baron of Berkley/Prince of Pittsburgh manage to redeem himself after the missteps of "Telegraph Avenue"? Tune in this week to find out!

John and Ben dive deep into Scam-erican literature this week with the help of friend of the pod and resident Melville expert: Chris Thomas. We discuss Melville's final novel: "The Confidence Man: His Masquerade". Topics of discussion include the trustworthiness of barbers, America's enduring interest in flim-flam artists of all sorts, and the long shadow of Don Quixote. As always...

This week, the Book Boys lib out and read Michael Chabon's Obama era glaze job: "Telegraph Avenue". Our unbroken streak of bangers comes to an end as we discuss the first book that we straight up just did not like. Still, we hope you enjoy our conversation as always!

This week, the Book Boys read "The Rise of the Novel" by Ian Watt. Topics of discussion include literature and the market, the nature of the 'reading public', and the lineage of the novel in English letters. As always, we hope you enjoy the conversation!

This week, we're wandering through medieval Khazaria with good ol' Mikey C as we read "Gentlemen of the Road" . Topics of conversation include Swords & Sorcery vs Historical Fiction, depictions of Jewish identity in Chabon's oeuvre, and serializiation of fiction. As always, we hope you enjoy our conversation! You can follow the show on Bluesky at @infinitelibrarypod.bsky....

Did you know that YOU can teach YOURSELF ANCIENT GREEK? In this week's episode of The Infinite Library, John and Ben are discussing "The Last Samurai" by Helen DeWitt. Topics of conversation include autodidacticism, sleazy British men, and the value of the humanities in troubling times.

This week on The Infinite Library: John and Ben check-in and see how they're feeling about this whole Michael Chabon read-through project, then they continue along the primrose path and discuss "The Yiddish Policeman's Union". Topics of discussion include noir fiction, Filipino-style Chinese donuts, and Messiah.

Happy New Years, Book Heads! In this bonus epsiode, John and Ben sit down to ring in 2025 by talking about their favorite books of 2024. We hope you enjoy!

For our first episode of the New Year, John and Ben are discussing Ryan Ruby's poem about the history of poetry: "Context Collapse". Topics of discussion include jongleurs, Ezra Pound, and romanticism. As always, we hope you enjoy the conversation!

Merry Christmas! John and Ben are flying solo again this week to discuss "The Final Solution" by Michael Chabon. We're officially halfway through our readthrough on Chabon's works, and in this episode, we discuss Sherlock Holmes, Chabon's development as a writer, and genre fiction more broadly. Special Bonus: We return to Movie Land to discuss "The Seven Per-Cent Solution", the 1979 Sherlock Holme...

Pow! We're back with part 2 of our discussion of "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" with Nat of Collective Action Comics. As always, enjoy the conversation.

It's the big one, the book that won Michael Chabon the Pulitzer Prize, the 600-some page behemoth known as "The Adventures of Cavalier & Clay". The Book Boys knew that they were going to need some backup for this one, so they called in Nat of Collective Action Comics for a Two-Fisted Team-Up! We had so much fun talking about this one that it ended up being our first two-parter. As always, we h...

Happy Thanksgiving, Bookheads! We're taking a week off for the holiday, but fear not, we have a special, John-free bonus episode to tide you over till the next regular ep. If you're a Big Ben fan, this one's for you, because he's sitting down with previous guest of the pod, Ana, to have a more casual chat about another banger from the Roberto Bolaño Fascism Extended Universe: "The Savage Detective...

In this unfortunately timely episode of The Inifinite Library, the Book Boys return to the Roberto Bolaño Fascism Extended Universe to discuss "Distant Star". Topics of conversation include the place of the individual in history, Right Wing kitsch, and how there's a Cheeto in the frickin' White House. As always, we hope you enjoy the conversation.

Surprise! It's a Halloween bonus episode! Friend of the show Molly Tanzer returns to the Infinite Library to discuss H.P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness". We discuss our individual relationships with Lovecraft and Lovecraftiana, cosmic horror, and shoggoths. As always, we hope that you enjoy the conversation. Works Cited Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran The Gods of Pegana...

On this very spooky Halloween episode of The Infinite Library, special sci-fi correspondent Sam Chirtel is back in the stacks to discuss "Cyclonopedia: Complicity with Anonymous Materials" by Reza Negarestani. Topics of discussion include "theory fiction", the CCRU, and how dang spooky oil is. As always, we hope you enjoy the conversation.