Three Percent Podcast

Chad and Brian try their best to unpack the first three chapters of Vladimir Nabokov's  Ada, or Ardor , in an attempt to find some solid footing for this sci-fi (?), ambitious, reference-laded masterwork of one of the greatest writers of our times. Lots of questions about where we are (Terra or Anti-Terra?); mirrors; the relationship between text, footnotes, and parenthetical comments; the L disas...

Carmen Boullosa joined Chad and Brian this week to talk about  The Book of Anna , memories of watching baseball, why she (today) supports Karenin and thinks Anna K made a mistake with Vronsky, the origin and structure of the novel, her system of having a book in the queue before the previous one is published, and much more.  And, at the very end, the book for Season 13—coming Wednesday, September...

Translator and Words Without Borders co-founder Samantha Schnee joined Chad and Brian this week to talk about Anna's "opium-fueled" fairy tale that was referenced in passing in  Anna Karenina , and a centerpiece of Boullosa's "sequel." A lively conversation about language, various Tolstoy translations, the book's origin, ways to interpret the fairy tale, and much more. This week's musical Anna ref...

After talking a bit about Women in Translation Month and the voting process for choosing the Season 13 title, Chad and Brian get into the twisty nature of Part III of  The Book of Anna , in which Anna's portrait is given to the tsar, and Leo Tolstoy appears in the dreams of two characters, both to berate them and make a case for revolution. This part ends with a bit of a tease, as next week we fin...

This week's episode is one of the more political ones to date, as Chad and Brian talk about Russia's "Bloody Sunday," comparing the Tsar's actions to Trump and what's going on in Portland. (They also sigh loudly over his most recent attempt to stoke racial and class anger.) They talk about the pacing and balance between these first two parts of the novel, the ways in which this section are almost...

The final part of season 12 kicks off with Chad and Brian discussing the first part of Carmen Boullosa's  The Book of Anna , translated from the Spanish by Samantha Schnee and published by Coffee House. Chad gives a brief recap of Leo Tolstoy's novella,  Anna Karenina , then they discuss how and what type of sequel this is, get into the two different storylines—revolution and Anna's children—and e...

Katie Whittemore joins on this episode to refute a list of crazy fan theories about  Four by Four,  and to talk about the difficulties of translating a book in which there's really no where to hide. Chad also shares some new, bad, jacket copy, and makes a pitch for one of Katie's next books to come out:  World's Best Mother  by Nuria Labari. Very fun, loose, enjoyable episode putting to bed a book...

ALTA executive director and Arabic translator ( Minor Detail ), Lissie Jaquette joined Chad and Brian to talk about Bedragare's breakdown and all the events in the second half of his journal. They also wonder what the "mystery" of the novel is, and talk about various (possibly nutty) theories about who killed Lux and Ledesma. All of this sets up next week's episode in which—according to Chad—the r...

After being taken over by Chad's daughter, the podcast gets back on track, and Chad and Derek Maine ( Read the World YouTube channel) break down the first half of part two of  Four by Four , talking about the ways in which power structures are replicated, the increasing scope of the novel's construction, reading between the lines, trusting the impulses in children, books that don't offer clear sol...

This week's episode kicks off the four-week discussion of Four by Four by Sara Mesa, translated from the Spanish by Katie Whittemore. A great book for our time (for all times) in relationship to power structures and their systems. And whether it's better to be "free and vulnerable or protected but under control." In this first episode, Max Besora ( Adventures and Misadventures of the Extraordinary...

On this episode of the Two Month Review, translator Robin Myers joins Chad and Brian to talk about her translation, Mexican and Argentine poetry, what was most challenging/liberating about the text, ALTA 2009, and much much more. Very insightful conversation for anyone interested in professional translators, or starting out in the field. This week's music is "Rebel Girl" by Bikini Kill. If you'd p...

This week, Mónica Ramón Ríos joins Chad and Brian to talk about her literary career, how she came to write  Cars on Fire , Rutgers, some movies she's recently watched, how to read "Invocation," protests in Chile and NYC, and much much more. An incredibly interesting and informative episode that serves as an incredible guide to approaching and reading these short stories. This week's music is "Dead...

Season 12 of the Two Month Review kicked off with Cristina Rodriguez from Deep Vellum Bookstore joining Chad and Brian to talk about the first section of Mónica Ramón Ríos and Robin Myers's  Cars on Fire .  They talk about The Gits, "Dead Men Don't Rape," the connections between academy and power structures, how "timely" this connection is, the clarity of the prose, and much more. In honor of Mia...

On this special edition of the Three Percent Podcast, you can hear short readings of all fifteen finalists for this year's Best Translated Book Awards. You can find all of the titles here on Bookshop.org ( fiction , poetry ), and you can still RSVP to see the live awards ceremony on Friday, May 29th at 6pm eastern. This week's music is "Famous" by Car Seat Headrest. And if you like the podcast, te...

Rodrigo Fresán himself joins Chad and Brian to talk about phones,  Riverdale ,  Ada or Ardor , Dracula , the world-building in Fresán's oeuvre, the overall structure and focus of the triptych, what to read and watch in quarantine, and much more! If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes . The next broadcast will be on June 3rd and will f...

This week's episode is quite possibly the wildest one yet . . . Chad paid a BookTuber for some promotional love and, well, you'll have to watch/listen to see how that went. Then they talk about outsiders, Franco Moretti, autofiction, HE-IKEA (the Writer's nemesis), overblown rants about reading and phones, and much more. This week's music is "Date with IKEA" by Pavement. If you'd prefer to watch t...

A bit of an experimental episode, Chad is joined by five indie booksellers to talk about the "new normal," fears of reopening, what booksellers are doing now, and—most importantly—actual books. The complete rundown of recommendations is below, but one note: please buy these titles from the bookseller who recommended them. Sparks said it diplomatically at the end, but if at all possible, order  dir...

This week, Chad and Brian talk about the desires of readers, the "middle mind," writing without a hook, Nabokov's "The Vane Sisters," the one contribution Chad made to this book, vocal tics, cocaine, and much more. They both came in high energy on this episode, so sit back and enjoy all the jokes and enthusiasm. This week's music is for a certain type of insomniac. If you'd prefer to watch the con...

In his most dangerous gag to date, Chad drinks a giant bullshot as he, Brian Wood, and special guest Carlos Labbé talk about Nabokov's  Transparent Things , transparency as a concept, the wild bed that The Writer is insomniacing in, Uncle Hey Walrus's hypnosis gone awry, why quarantine time is so crazy yet our dreams are getting so boring, and much much more. This week's music is " C omeback Baby...

This week's episode brings us back to The Writer, unable to sleep, living near where Penelope's house burned down (see:  The Invented Part ), and living off the fortunes of Penelope's writings (RIP). There's a great bit in this section about FBI agent Johnny Dancer and Vladimir Nabokov, there's a horrifying (yet funny!) death scene, and an interesting translation question related to a bad joke. Pl...

Stacie Williams joins Chad and Tom this week to talk about the role of sales reps at this moment in time and then, after she bolts, Chad and Tom poke fun at Bookfinity (which, really, WOW), the confused messaging of #BooksAreEssential as a hashtag, why bookshops  shouldn't  open, and how Publishers Weakly is funny AND NOT RUN BY EITHER OF US. (We swear!)  This week's music is Rich Aucoin's " How I...

How is COVID-19 impacting bookstores, publishers, translators, and our general sanity? These are the questions Tom and Chad talk about on this episode—the first in a  while , but also the longest ever—along with minor jokes, an appeal to authors and publishers to "read the room," a rant that will likely get Chad in trouble, and a few book recommendations.  Some things mentioned on this podcast: "...

Chad and Brian go deep into the underlying structure of the second section of Fresan's The Dreamed Part , talking about Penelope's story, her relationship to her parents and the Karmas, and the moment in which she lost her son. We finally get to read about her wrecking house ( literally ) and see how everything circles back to the start of this section . . . This week's music  isn't  from  The Dre...

Chad reaches a new quarantine low at the beginning of this week's episode ( highly  recommend checking out the video version), but after a lot of banter and deep dives into international speculative fiction,  The Invention of Morel ,  Lost,  and more, Chad and special guest Rachel Cordasco break down the first part of the "Brontê/ Wuthering Heights " section of  The Dreamed Part.  They get you up...

This episode got off to a rough start, with Chad losing his shit over the May IndieNext list [ed. note: he still has not recovered] before Streamyard crashed and the whole episode had to be recorded. In the new, much calmer episode, Chad, Brian, and special guest Patrick Smith talk about tulpas, the night, Fresán writing in a different style, point of view and meta-reflections, and dirty jokes. Pa...