May 8, 2020
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 directly, not through Bookshop.org. (Although given that zero Open Letter books were plugged, maybe you should buy our books only from Amazon? KIDDING. Buy them from Bookshop.org.)
Also, if you like this podcast and all the free programming that Open Letter/Three Percent provides, consider donating to us as well. You have to write us in on that U of R form so that the money comes directly to Open Letter, but we absolutely need your support right now. (Especially as Chad tries to figure out the future with no employees for part of the summer . . . Yay mandatory furloughs!)
Anyway, here are the recommendations, with links directly to the store recommending said title:
Emma Ramadan, Riffraff
The Word Pretty by Elisa Gabbert (Black Ocean)
Pizza Girl: A Novel by Jean Kyoung Frazier (Doubleday)
That Time of Year by Marie NDiaye, translated from the French by Jordan Stump (or "Stumps" if you believe Amazon) (Two Lines)
Shuchi Saraswat, Brookline Booksmith
Calamities by Renee Gladman (Wave Books)
Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima (Picador)
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette (New Directions)
Nick Buzanski, Books Are Magic
Luminous Republic by Andres Barba, translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
All My Cats by Bohumil Hrabal (New Directions)
On Lighthouses by Jazmina Barrera, translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney (Two Lines)
Stephen Sparks, Point Reyes Books
The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen, translated from the Norwegian by Don Shaw and Don Bartlett (Biblioasis)
Grove by Esther Kinsky, translated from the German by Caroline Schmidt (Transit)
Cristina Rodriguez, Deep Vellum Books
throughsmoke by Jehanne Dubrow (New Rivers Press)
Cockfight by María Fernanda Ampuero, translated from the Spanish by Frances Riddle (Feminist Press)
Ancestry of Objects by Tatiana Ryckman (Deep Vellum)
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