Explore every episode of the podcast Unburied Books

In this episode, poet, translator, and the man behind Nemo's Almanac Ian Patterson, joins us to discuss Party Going by Henry Green. We talk about the novel's strange writing style, class and gender politics, and Green's obsession with the promiscuous. 

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In this Patreon clip, Kassia and Dylan discuss the classic novel Silas Marner, the book's fast paced structure, and their love of Eliot's language. 

Have Christmas every day by becoming a subscriber.

Translator Robert Chandler joins us to discuss his journey with Vasily Grossman, Stalingrad versus Life and Fate, and Grossman's representation of totalitarianism.

The Patreon gets festive this December by discussing a classic Christmas short story from a Kassia favorite, William Dean Howells. We wrap up the episode with a few Marianne Moore holiday poems as she was the translator of this month's NYRB Rock Crystal.

Have Christmas every day by becoming a subscriber.

Dylan and Kassia gather around the hearth to discuss Adalbert Stifter's Rock Crystal, a Christmassy novella translated from German by Elizabeth Mayer and Marianne Moore. In this story, two children get lost in a snowstorm on Holy Eve. We shovel away the layers of winter snow to uncover the deeper meaning of their predicament.

Support our show here.

In this clip, Kassia and Dylan how Victor Hugo's Guernsey compares to the Guernsey of Ebenezer le Page and the use of essayistic digressions in novels.

Become a subscriber for further yapping on Guernsey via Victor Hugo's The Toilers of the Sea.

In this episode, Matt Tannenbaum, proprietor of Lenox, Massachusetts' The Bookstore and focus of the documentary Hello, Bookstore, joins us to discuss The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by G. B. Edwards. At 80, Guernseyman Ebenezer reflects on the joys, sorrows, and annoyances of his life as he searches for an heir to his modest fortune, some of which is buried in the backyard. We talk about the novel's direct, singular style, the overlapping of Edwards' character with Le Page's, and Tannenbaum's decades of reading and loving the book.

Find out more about The Bookstore.

Become a subscriber for further yapping on Guernsey via Victor Hugo's The Toilers of the Sea.

We paired last month's NYRB Classic, The Golovlyov Family, with another Russian classic on the Patreon, The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, and compare these tales about the dying Russian aristocracy and the freedom of serfs.

Listen to the full epsiode here.

Professor of Russian José Vergara recommends a dark story of family betrayal. Shchedrin's 1880 novel follows the fall of a miserly matriarch and the rise of her even more punitive son. We talk about tragicomedy, fate, faith, and constant death. Spoilers are out of control. This is one of our favorite books, so read it quick!

Michaela Telfer's article on bureaucracy in the novel (open access)

Sign up for our bonus show for an upcoming companion episode on Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard.

In this clip, we revisit the classic tale of toxic stan culture: Henry James' The Aspern Papers. Ever moved into a dilapidated Venetian palazzo to possibly steal the yellowing missives exchanged between your literary idol and his former flame? Us neither! Join us as we pick apart the narrator's twisted mind.

Hear the full episode on our Patreon.

Elise Riley, an accessioning archivist at the Beinecke Library, offers us an expert's perspective on In The Freud Archives, Janet Malcolm's nonfictional exploration of archival infighting. The book concerns three psychoanalytic scholars who come to epistolary blows over the scattered remains of Freud's legacy. But unlike most niche academic debates, this one resulted in a $13 million dollar lawsuit. In this episode, we discuss Malcolm's narrative distance, the role of fantasy versus reality, and some things the Sigmund Freud Archives could have done to avoid all this Oedipal drama.

For more on archives and obsession, join our Patreon to hear next week's episode on Henry James' The Aspern Papers.

In this clip, we discuss how Home acts as a "spiritual sequel" to Penelope Mortimer's The Pumpkin Eater, showcasing a more detailed portrait of the narrator's family and how it reflected mid-century British society.

To hear the full episode, check out our Patreon.

McNally Editions senior editor Lucy Scholes joins the show to talk about Penelope Mortimer's dark novel of marriage and parenthood, the Pumpkin Eater. We discuss the narrator's mysterious identity, her rage at psychoanalysis, and Anne Bancroft's interpretation of her in the 1964 film adaptation.

Read Lucy's piece on Mortimer here.

Check out Daddy's Gone A-Hunting and The Home.

Sign up for our bonus show.

In this clip, we discuss the power of words versus images and compare Colette and Clébert's notions of vagabondage.

To hear the full episode, check out our Patreon.

Writer Zito Madu joins us to discuss Jean-Paul Clébert's Paris Vagabond translated from French by Donald Nicholson-Smith. In a series of vignettes, the book explores life on the streets of the city in the years following WWII. We talk about Clébert's middle-class background, analyze the photographs taken by Patrice Molinard, and consider the romanticization of "vagabonds."

Order our guest's book here.

And to receive extra episodes, consider becoming a patron.

Inspired by Schattenfroh, we discuss a seminal work on the impact of printing from 1450 to 1800 written by Lucien Febvre and Henri-Jean Martin. In this clip, we explore a few of the many mysteries in the life of Johannes Gutenberg.

To hear the rest, become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

In this special episode, we discuss Schattenfroh with author Michael Lentz and translator Max Lawton. This novel, originally written in German, traverses centuries of history to confront a personal loss. We talk about Lentz's Catholic upbringing, Lawton's detective work, and how their collaboration reflects the narrator's imprisonment.

Preorder Schattenfroh: Schattenfroh – Deep Vellum

Donate to Deep Vellum: Donate Now | Deep Vellum

Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

In this episode, Professor Lawrence Warner joins us to talk about Adam Pinkhurst, a 14th century scribe who may or may not have been cursed in a humorous poem by Geoffrey Chaucer. We explore the evidence for Pinkhurst’s identification as Chaucer’s “owne scriveyn” behind two early manuscripts of The Canterbury Tales, enjoy some impromptu Middle English recitation, and question the relationship between paleography and literary studies.

To hear the full conversation, become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

And we're back with a new season and episode covering Angus Wilson's Anglo-Saxon Attitudes, first published in 1956. The book tells the story of an archealogical hoax and its slow revelation due to the reluctant intervention of Gerald Middleton, a depressive medieval historian. We talk about the novelist versus the historian's investigation of truth, Wilson's treatment of gay relationships, and parallels with the Bayeux Tapestry.

This episode is the first in a pair about medievalism and its ambiguities. Join our Patreon to follow along: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

On this episode of Shorts, we're talking to author Jonathan Meades and publisher John Mitchinson about the unique publishing process at Unbound. We discuss how they each became readers, Unbound's roots in the subscription model of the 17th century, Meades' magnum opus, and more.

Order Empty Wigs: https://unbound.com/books/empty-wigs

Join the Unbound newsletter: https://unbound.com/newsletter

In this episode, we talk about A Tomb for Boris Davidovich by Danilo Kiš and Philip Roth's Writers from the Other Europe series from the 1970s and 80s.

Listen to the full episode on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Author and critic Craig Brown joins us to discuss Kingsley Amis' novel Ending Up. The story follows a group of poverty-stricken elders as they suffer the miseries of one another's company (and their relatives) over the holidays. We talk about the limits of comic writing, Amis' penchant for irritation, and the context of 1970s England. It's our 50th NYRB Classic! Let's cut the telephone wires in celebration!

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Eileen Cheng-yin Chow and Wai-yee Li, both scholars and devoted readers of Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber, join us to discuss the book's final two volumes as well as their varied encounters with the text. In this clip, we talk about the controversy surrounding the novel's last 40 chapters, the author's alter ego, and the depiction of Chinese fatherhood.

Hear the full episode on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Mabel Taylor and Madeline Porsella of Mandylion Press join us to discuss Elizabeth Taylor's Angel, a novel first published in 1957. Angel is the story of a self-obsessed writer whose imaginary world becomes frighteningly real. We talk about her lying tendencies, fraught relationships, and intersections with history's whirligig.

Check out Mandylion's books and podcast, 1-800-1800.

Sign up to our patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

It's classical music week at Unburied Books! In this bonus episode, we talk about Joys and Sorrows by Pablo Casals, a sort-of autobiography by the great unburier of Bach's cello suites, as well as Gottfried Benn's poem "Chopin," translated from German by NYRB favorite Michael Hofmann.

Read the poem here: https://www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/benn/Chopin.html

Listen to the full episode on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

NYRB Classics editorial director Edwin Frank returns to talk about his new book on the 20th-century novel. We discuss how he defined the category, his discoveries during research, and how being an editor has shaped his understanding.

To hear the full episode, check out our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Peter Bush joins us to discuss his translation of Honoré de Balzac's The Lily in the Valley. We talk about the novel's unique place in the Human Comedy, its surprisingly modern ending, and the challenges of recreating Balzac's language in English.

Support our show here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

In this clip from the Patreon, we debate the merits of the 1818 and 1831 versions of the novel that birthed innumerable Halloween ensembles.

Listen to the full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Scholar and author Ignacio Sánchez Prado joins us to discuss Clandestine in Chile written by Gabriel García Márquez and translated from Spanish by Asa Zatz. We talk about Márquez's influence on Latin American cinema, hallmarks of the crónica, and the meaning of exile to an artist.

Become a patron to hear our discussion of Márquez's short story collection Strange Pilgrims: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

In this clip, Dylan and Kassia discuss the 1911 Italian silent film adaptation of Dante's Inferno, a text covered on the main show.

To hear the full episode, sign up to become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Welcome to Shorts, a miniseries where we interview the publishers of new and daring work. This week we're talking to Eric Obenauf, who, along with his partner, cofounded the small, Ohio-based press Two Dollar Radio. We hear how their youthful idealism has evolved over the years, find out what kind of writing piques their interest, and discover which of their books Barry Manilow might enjoy.

In this extended teaser, we share the first three of seven "chapters" discussing one of the foremost Chinese classical novels, Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin. With over 400 characters, the novel details everyday life in the Qing dynasty as well as some of the most extraordinary scenes put to paper.

It's our longest episode ever. Hear the complete version on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

We discuss Patrick Hamilton's 1947 novel The Slaves of Solitude with Spinster September creator Nora. The story concerns Miss Roach, an unmarried woman scraping through WWII on the outskirts of London. The episode covers the meaning of spinsterdom, Hamilton's black humor, and how crisis skews perspective.

Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

We test Dylan's theory that all stories can be classified as either an Iliad or Odyssey by going through the list of NYRB Classics that we've covered. 

Listen to the full episode on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Author, journalist, and critic Renata Adler joins us in person for a discussion of her novels Speedboat and Pitch Dark, both reprinted as NYRB Classics. We also talk about her career in journalism, reactions to criticism, and thoughts on persona.

In this episode, we break from our usual format and discuss a recent "literary" road trip through New England. We share our thoughts on the Moby-Dick-centrism of Herman Melville's Arrowhead and on Edith Wharton's humble writer's retreat The Mount, which could reasonably accomodate a pod of whales, not to mention Henry James, Howard Sturgis, and friends. In Lennox, we run into the owner of The Bookstore, who was recently the subject of a bittersweet documentary entitled Hello, Bookstore.

To hear all this and more, check out our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Critic Merve Emre joins us to discuss Oğuz Atay's short story collection Waiting for the Fear, newly translated from Turkish by Ralph Hubbell. These eight stories, inflected with humor and dread, deal with characters on the margins of society. We talk about the theme of alienation, Atay's relationship to Russian literature, and why so many of the stories take the form of letters.

Want to hear more Unburied Books? Sign up for our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Critic Steven Moore joins us to discuss his two-volume alternative history of the novel. He refutes popular claims that the novel is a European invention and tells us why constant innovation is the form's true tradition.

Hear the full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Link to pre-order The Adventures of Lady Egeria: https://sublunaryeditions.com/products/the-adventures-of-lady-egeria

Writer and Portuguese translator Padma Viswanathan joins us to discuss her translation of São Bernardo by Graciliano Ramos. The book follows the story of Paulo Honório, an enterprising field hand who goes on to own the land where he once toiled. We talk about finding the narrator's voice, the many layers of irony, and Graciliano's political perspective.

Read more about our guest's work here: https://padmaviswanathan.com/

Read one of the author's municipal reports: https://lithub.com/how-to-break-in-to-publishing-if-youre-a-smalltown-brazilian-mayor-in-the-1930s/

And, if you're up to it, peruse our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Chinese translator Canaan Morse returns to explain how Eliot Weinberger's critical (and often cutting) analysis can help us see classical writing in new ways.

Listen to the full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Dylan and Kassia return to discuss Castle Gripsholm written by Kurt Tucholsky and translated from German by Michael Hofmann. The novel tells the story of "the Princess" and her lover on holiday in Sweden. It's a simple summertime fairy tale ... or is it? We talk about metafiction, love and friendship, and the book's sly critique of 1930s Germany.

The Last Sane Woman review: https://therumpus.net/2024/07/16/the-archive-as-potters-field-hannah-regels-the-last-sane-woman/

NYRB Classics film adaptations list: https://letterboxd.com/greenchile42/list/nyrb-classics/

And finally, our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Dylan and Kassia read Strange Pilgrims, a short story collection suggested by a listener.

To hear the full episode, join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Dylan and Kassia discuss Howard Sturgis' 1904 novel Belchamber. It follows the coming of age of Sainty, a not-so-average English boy who prefers needlepoint to riding and Tennyson to girls. We talk about the novel's interweaving of comedy and tragedy, the nature of being a sissy, and, of course, Henry James' famous critiques.

If you want to hear extra episodes, explore our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Screenwriter Howard A. Rodman joins us to discuss Jean-Patrick Manchette's Skeletons in the Closet, translated from French by Alyson Waters. This is a private eye novel set in Paris after the failed revolution of May 68. We talk about Manchette's playfulness with genre, the brutal yet slapstick violence in his books, and his collapse of high-versus-low distinctions.

Check out our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Tolkien enthusiast Alex Cuellar joins us to discuss The Silmarillion. One of us has to test the limits of our edurance for the fantasy genre.

To hear the full episode, sign up to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Leaf by Leaf host Chris Via joins us to discuss John Ehle's 1964 novel The Land Breakers. It is a story of love, sacrifice, and survival in an unspoilt Appalachian landscape. We talk about the book's nuanced character development, the violent birthing pangs of early America, plus the similiarities and differences between Ehle's bear hunt and Melville's whale watch.

Explore our bonus material here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

In this clip, we hear about how McNally Editions editor Lucy Scholes came to rediscover English author Kay Dick and her dystopian novel They.

To listen to the full conversation, check out our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Author Linda Rosenkrantz joins us to discuss her 1968 "reality novel" Talk. In the summer of 65, Rosenkrantz took a tape recorder to the beach and documented her friends' conversations. She later shaped the transcripts from that trip into a sharp, funny, and unusually revealing book. We speak with her about her contrasting experiences with publishing then and now, her artistic inspirations, other tape recording projects, and more.

Explore our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

Novelist Amit Chaudhuri joins us for a wide-ranging conversation as his first three books (A Strange and Sublime Address, Afternoon Raag, and Freedom Song) are republished as NYRB Classics. We talk about his uneasy relationship with the realist novel, the literary market's distortions of value, and the role place plays in his creative project.

To hear the full episode, join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

In this brief clip, publisher Kate Macdonald shares the story of writer T. H. White's most beloved dog, Brownie. In the full episode, we talk about Sylvia Townsend Warner's approach to biography, White's Arthurian cycle, and the unglamorous side of being an author.

To listen, join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384