1 July 11 | Chad W. Post | Comments

In this week’s podcast, we talk a bit about authors we “broke up” with. Writers like, say, Philip Roth, who evokes a pretty harsh reaction from Tom . . . Additionally we talk about authors we thought we had given up on, but to whom we keep returning and returning.

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There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister's Husband, and He hanged Himself: Love Stories
There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister's Husband, and He hanged Himself: Love Stories by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
Reviewed by Brendan Riley

This slender, uncanny volume—the second, best-selling collection of stories by Russian author Ludmilla Petrushevskaya to appear in the U.S.—has already received considerable, well-deserved praise from many critics and high profile publications. Its seventeen short tales, averaging ten pages each, are. . .

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Basti
Basti by Intizar Husain
Reviewed by Rachael Daum

The Urdu word basti refers to any space, intimate to worldly, and is often translated as “common place” or “a gathering place.” This book by Intizar Husain, who is widely regarded as one of the most important living Pakistani writers,. . .

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The Whispering Muse
The Whispering Muse by Sjón
Reviewed by Vincent Francone

The Whispering Muse, one of three books by Icelandic writer Sjón just published in North America, is nothing if not inventive. Stories within stories, shifting narration, leaps in time, and characters who transform from men to birds and back again—you’ve. . .

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Mundo Cruel by Luis Negrón
Mundo Cruel by Luis Negrón by Luis Negrón
Reviewed by Camila Santos

Luis Negrón’s debut collection Mundo Cruel is a journey through Puerto Rico’s gay world. Published in 2010, the book is already in its fifth Spanish edition. Here in the U.S., the collection has been published by Seven Stories Press and. . .

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Selected Translations by W. S. Merwin
Selected Translations by W. S. Merwin by Various
Reviewed by Grant Barber

“South”

To have watched from one of your patios
the ancient stars
from the bank of shadow to have watched
the scattered lights
my ignorance has learned no names for
nor their places in constellations
to have heard the ring of. . .

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LoveStar
LoveStar by Andri Snær Magnason
Reviewed by Larissa Kyzer

When Icelandic author Andri Snær Magnason first published LoveStar, his darkly comic parable of corporate power and media influence run amok, the world was in a very different place. (This was back before both Facebook and Twitter, if you can. . .

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Hi, This Is Conchita and Other Stories
Hi, This Is Conchita and Other Stories by Santiago Roncagliolo
Reviewed by Tiffany Nichols

When starting Hi, This Is Conchita and Other Stories, Santiago Roncagliolo’s second work to be translated into English, I was expecting Roncagliolo to explore the line between evil and religion that was front and center in Red April. Admittedly, I. . .

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