Books of Some Substance

Nathan and David continue their exploration of control with Waiting for Barbarians, a 1980 novel by South African writer J.M. Coetzee. Empire! Torture! Manipulation! Control! Quite the book, and quite the episode.

Our second episode on Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, and again David is joined by Seth from W.A.S.T.E. Mailing List. Seth is here to nimbly unravel some of the meaning of this insane and insanely good novel, and he does an excellent job. But no matter what they tend to get lost along the way, as any analysis of the book will be "not a disentanglement from, but a progressive k

In our first of two episodes on Thomas Pynchon's 1973 masterpiece Gravity's Rainbow, David is joined, once again, by Seth from W.A.S.T.E. Mailing List to talk about one of his favorite ways to approach the novel. Seth brings an invaluable depth of knowledge and research to this episode, examining the novel as being primarily about America in the "long 60s," albeit taking place in

Welcome all and sundry to the first episode of Season 2: Control. Join us, David and Nathan, as we start this new season dancing to the beautifully strange rhythms of Clarice Lispector's The Hour of the Star. In between quoting and praising this novella, we discuss narrative techniques, metaphysical implications, symbolic deaths, co-existing interpretations, and a fall from grace.

With the 100th episode behind us, and with Nick off exploring the world of dance music, David and Nathan have decided to try some new things. We're going into video (as you can see). We're going seasonal. And we will have a new website, logo, slogan, and much more coming soon. Each new episode will come out on the first Wednesday of every month. Season 2 - CONTROL Nov. 1 - THE HOU

On this, our 100th episode, we answered some of your questions from our B.O.S.S. voicemail. Sadly we could not get to them all, but we talked about memory, books worth reading a 1,000 times, and childhood books. Sadly, we also said farewell to our founding father, Nick, who started this whole wild ride of a podcast and book club. He'll be out there, far from the internet, but stil

Our 100th episode is coming up. And we want you to call in and leave us a message, ask us a question, read a quote, file a complaint, suggest a book, or leave a cool noise (like a ghost or a fart or a ghost fart or something like that...). This episode will also, sadly, be Nick's final episode. Our founding father and the first heavy reader is hanging up the mic for other things. S

On this episode, David is joined by reader and writer Derek Maine to discuss Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming by everyone's favorite pessimistic, long-winded, Hungraian doom master László Krasznahorkai. By everyone, we mean ours. He's a favorite here at BOSS. And we are happy to be joined by Derek Maine, author of CHARACTERS, published by Expat Press in 2022. Join the two of them a

David, Eric, and Nick read Jon Fosse’s Melancholy I-II, a mid-90s Norwegian novel in two parts that explores the connections between art, death, and the divine. Also discussed in this episode: what exactly is “the divine.” For fans of cyclic long sentences and also cyclic short sentences, Melancholy I-II is perhaps a slightly lesser known Fosse work to English-speaking audien

David is joined by Ross Benjamin, translator of Franz Kafka’s Diaries in its most authentic form to date. Listen in as they discuss Benjamin’s start in the field of translation, his love for Kafka’s craftsmanship and humor, and why a new edition of Kafka’s diaries needed to be released. Benjamin’s translation is available now via Schocken Books and is a must for any Kafk