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TMR 24.1: “May I Ask if You Have Confidence?” [Confidence-Man]

Not the happiest day in which to record a podcast, but Chad, Brian, and Kaija speak their fears and then dive into Melville's Confidence-Man, talking about grifters, the value of footnotes, and just how modern and amazing Melville's prose is. They guess at who the "confidence man" might be, the burnt over district of western ...

TMR Supplement #2: “Joytime Killbox” by Brian Wood

After referencing Joytime Killbox on hundreds of TMR episodes, we finally break it down with the author himself! Conversation includes ideas about short stories and how they function, the nature of endings, and how Brian has grown as a writer since this collection first came out, while also examining the intent behind a ...

TMR Season 24: “The Confidence-Man” by Melville & “Mevill” by Rodrigo Fresán

First off, if you're reading this post, I highly recommend you go sign up for the Three Percent Substack. In order to increase engagement and better share all the goings on here at Open Letter—podcasts, reviews, stats from the Translation Database, pieces on publishing, excerpts—in a fashion more in keeping with 2024 than ...

TMR Supplement #1: “Dear Dickhead” by Virginie Despentes & Frank Wynne

On the first ever one-off episode of the Two Month Review, Chad breaks down Virginie Despentes's Dear Dickhead for Kaija and Brian, a novel about . . . well, just listen. (It'll be more fun if you don't know what's coming.) This new format really digs into the book in a way that you can't in (to quote Zoé Katana) "lamestream ...

TMR 23.9: “My Maps Are Out of Date” [Lanark]

It all gets wrapped up with a "Catastrophe,." "Explanation," an "End," and a "Tailpiece." Chad, Brian, and Kaija discuss global capitalism, the fight for love and the be human, AI, the Bardo, and much more on this final episode of Season 23. Listen to the end for an announcement about changes to the podcast and what to look ...

TMR 23.8: “The Critic Fights Back” [Lanark]

From the Olympics to the most meta moment of the whole of Lanark, this week's podcast has you covered! Brian, Chad, and Kaija banter about divorce, plagiarisms versus influences, and how to read this book as a whole. There are a ton of amazing lines throughout this section of the novel, making this one of the most fun ...

TMR 23.7: “Not a Domestic Man” [Lanark]

The reviews were right: Once you hit page 410, the Unthank sections of Lanark snap into place. Chad, Brian, and Kaija discuss that, capitalism, how terrible advertisements are, jobs, J.D. Vance and his proclivities, politics, unintended consequences, and how Deadpool & Wolverine is the Kamala Harris of film. This ...