Three Percent Podcast

It's another 2MR review with just Chad and Brian! Similar to the previous guest-less episode, this one goes a bit off the rails . . . Although this time around it gets a lot darker, as they talk about Chekov, Girl, Night, Swimming Pool, Etc ., a scream descending from the skies, John Cheever's writing prompt, and much much more.   Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--ei...

On this week's Two Month Review, Tom Roberge from Riffraff and the Three Percent Podcast joins Chad and Brian talk about 2001: A Space Odyssey , Pink Floyd, potential errors and non-errors, cultural touchstones that serve to define friendships, the overall structure of this chapter of The Invented Part , and Tom's experience coming on the podcast having read only these forty pages of the novel. An...

Now that half of 2017 is over, Chad and Tom take a minute to reflect back on major stories, trends, and books from the first six months of the year. The conversation is quite lively (listen in to hear Chad lose his mind after reading the latest "Book Match" column), and covers issues of bookstore ownership, publicity and the state of book culture, the precarious state of nonprofit publishing, and...

On this week's Two Month Review, Chad and Brian talk about F. Scott Fitzgerald and Tender Is the Night , puzzles, how to properly introduce the show, the Modern Library list of top 100 novels of the twentieth century , Booth Tarkington, and much more more.   Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official  GoodReads Group .   The Invented Pa...

This week, Jonathan Lethem ( Motherless Brooklyn , Chronic City ) joins Chad and Brian to talk about The Writer's trip to a hospital, where he assumes something horrible is happening, which is countered by a gushing forth of new story ideas. Jonathan tells of his own experience coming up with one of his most famous books while recovering from an operation, tells of how he first met and bonded with...

This week, Speculative Fiction in Translation founder and Best Translated Book Award judge Rachel Cordasco joins Chad and Brian to talk about the nature of time, deals with the devil, conflagrations, and writerly desires, or, in other words, the third part of "The Place Where the Sea Ends So the Forest Can Begin" in Rodrigo Fresán's The Invented Part . A very elegant section of the book following...

This week's episode is all about Penelope and her experiences with the Karmas. (And a Big Green Cow.) A lot of the Odyssey , Wuthering Heights , and William Burroughs are in this section, which is hilariously dissected by Brian, Chad, and their guest, Tom Flynn, the manager of Volumes Bookcafe in Chicago. One of the funniest--and most free-flowing, almost beat-like--sections of the book to date, t...

Delayed for a couple weeks due to travel and work schedules, Chad and Tom are back to talk about the inaugural Albertine Prize (won by Antoine Volodine's Bardo or Not Bardo , translated by J. T. Mahany), Houellebecq's no show, and BookExpo and the forthcoming New York Rights Fair. They also talk a bit about the Two Month Review--the new subpodcast you can find in this same feed--and Tom's forthcom...

This week, author and journalist Mark Binelli joins Chad and Brian to discuss the first part of the second section of Rodrigo Fresán's The Invented Part . In "The Place Where the Seas Ends So the Forest Can Begin," we meet The Young Man and The Young Woman, who are making a movie about The Writer after his disappearance/death/whatever. From discussion of "irreal realism" to writing classes to the...

This week, Jeremy Garber from Powells Books joins Chad and Brian to discuss the first section of Rodrigo Fresán's The Invented Part . This section, entitled "The Real Character," introduces us to the main character of the book--known here as The Boy, and later as The Writer--as well as some of the major themes of the novel. Wide-ranging and very fun, the discussion touches on The Boy's epic list o...

Translator Will Vanderhyden joins Chad and Brian to provide an overview of Rodrigo Fresán's work--especially The Invented Part . They discuss some of his earlier works (including Kensington Gardens , which is available in an English translation), different pop culture touchstones running throughout his oeuvre, related authors, and ways to approach The Invented Part .   They also talk a bit about t...

In this week's episode, following an unintentional s***storm started on social media, Chad and Tom talk about the obligations of publishers and freelance translators, the cascade of things that can go wrong in the publication process, the necessary sales needed for translations to break even (and how likely that is/isn't), and a variety of new models publishers could employ to stay afloat.   This...

Punctuated by toddler Isak's comments about Barney , Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Lytton Smith discuss the main motivations behind the upcoming "Two Month Review" podcasts, which will be released weekly starting in later this month, and will focus on a single book for a eight or nine week period.   As noted in this post , Rodrigo Fresán’s The Invented Part will be the first featured book (episodes r...

In this week's episode, Chad and Tom talk about their first ever episode, the new Granta list of Best Young American Novelists , and books they're looking forward to reading this summer. They also introduce the "Two Month Review"--a new series of weekly mini-episodes launching on Tuesday.   Here's a (fairly) complete list of the new books discussed on this episode: October by China Miéville Wolf H...

Riffraff co-owner and BTBA poetry judge Emma Ramadan joins Chad and Tom to talk about the fifteen finalists for this year's Best Translated Book Awards. After breaking down the poetry and fiction lists, the three talk about the new New York Times   Match Book column and the value of booksellers and librarians.   This week's music is " High Ticket Attractions " by The New Pornographers.   As always...

On this week's podcast, Tom and Chad discuss the potential troubles of getting paid as a freelance translator, the Missing Richard Simmons podcast, and Seed  by Joanna Walsh. There are also allusions to the forthcoming BTBA shortlists, and a new podcast project that will be starting up in May . . .   This week's music is "Here's to the Fourth Time!" by Los Campesinos!   As always, feel free to sen...

In this podcast, Tom and Chad go over all thirty-five longlisted titles on this year's Best Translated Book Award longlists. They offer up some uninformed opinions (and a couple informed ones), make their guesses as to which titles will move on, and talk generally about the plethora of Spanish titles on the two lists.   If you haven't seen them yet, click here for the fiction list , and here for t...

This week, Tom and Chad talk about the Cubs and their "Zen way," the largest publishers in the U.S. , this " If there were Oscars for Books! " "article," and, most importantly, the new Amazon bookstore, which Tom visited and brought back some pictures.   This week's music is "Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man.   And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to  threepercent...

This week's podcast opens with the sad news of Harry Mathews's passing, then goes deep on Winter Institute, and a couple really long essays Chad wrote for Three Percent. There's a lot that gets unpacked in this episode, from anticipatory lists and market acceleration, to the way that bookstores choose which titles to stock and how comp titles work.   Here are links to specific things covered in th...

As in years past, the entire Open Letter crew (Chad, Nate, Kaija) got together to talk about some of the music they listened to over the past year. (That and Bud Light ads.)   You can listen to all the songs featured on this podcast on the Spotify playlist that's on the podcast post over at Three Percent .   Also, a reminder, since we changed our podcast feed, you may need to unsubscribe and resub...

Caroline Casey from Coffee House Press joined Chad and Tom on this podcast to talk about 2016 movies, TV shows, and podcasts. Before they got into a long discussion about the royal family, Luke Cage, Crimetown, Midnight Special , and more, they touched on a number of things that are both intriguing and a little bit batshit.   Here's the full rundown of this week's episode:   Sylvester Stallone to...

It's been a few weeks since the last podcast, but Chad and Tom are back with a over-stuffed episode that starts with a recap of recent events before turning to Barnes & Noble's plans for their concept stores followed by a lengthy discussion about international crime authors.   Here's a complete list of articles, authors, and books discussed in this episode:   What Barnes & Noble Doesn't Get about...

This week's podcast starts with the biggest, most surprising news of recent memory--Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. Then Chad and Tom talk about the National Book Foundation's study of translation, the unmasking of Elena Ferrante (and the backlash to that unmasking, and the backlash to the backlash), and an  article  by Michael Hofmann about the dangers of over-thinking translatio...

This week's podcast kicks off with a list of corrections from  Episode 117  from a mix-up of Sophies to an explanation of which Basque Country soccer team only fields Basque players. Then Chad and Tom move on to talk about the recent  NEIBA  conference and some fall titles they left out of their mini-previews before talking about the  I Love Dick  TV show (officially picked up!) and their rants. A...

In this week's podcast, tom and Chad preview some forthcoming books they're excited about. Having done no solid research, Chad's contributions are questionable at best, especially when he talks about _Panthers in the Hole_ in relation to the COUNTRY of Angola instead of the prison that goes by the same name.   Nevertheless, they have a number of books to whet your appetite, such as one from Arno S...