In this episode, friend of the podcast and book club Eric Heiman joins David and Nathan to talk about W.G. Sebald's Rings of Saturn. The three get into the melancholic depiction of entropy eating away so much of human life, the sense of historical vertigo, and the (un)fictionality of the novel. Join the three as they discuss the style, form, and substance of Sebald's enigmatic work.

Books of Some Substance

78 - W.G. Sebald's The Rings of Saturn

Aatif Rashid, author of the novel Portrait of Sebastian Khan, joins the podcast to profess his love for Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time. The one with, like, a million volumes? The one that’s jam-packed with the subtleties of human interactions, relationships, and communications (or lack thereof)? The one that you saw on all of those “great books” lists, but has since slipped away from the shelves of contemporary readers? Yes, that one indeed. Listen in as Aatif and David chat about why this movement of all movements is still a must-read. You can find out more about Aatif Rashid here and you can find Portrait of Sebastian Khan via 7.13 Books.

77 - Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time (Guest: Aatif Rashid)

Ah yes, Hermann Hesse’s Siddartha. You probably read it in high school or college as a young seeker of truth, but have you read it later in life? Do the messages change after you too have gone out into the world and been both drawn to and broken by its sweet, empty promises? And most importantly, have you been pronouncing Siddartha properly all this time? (We haven’t.)   Join Nathan and David as they take another spin through Hesse’s most known novel. But just remember — we could tell you what this novel is about, but one can only share knowledge, not wisdom.

76 - Hermann Hesse's Siddartha

Down with Napoleon! Long live Mother Russia! Ole Kutuzov and the gang aren’t the only winners here. Anyone who has read through the entirety of War and Peace — David, Nathan, and Nick now counting themselves as part of the club — knows that Tolstoy’s masterpiece and its ruminations on free will, history, and tragedy of both micro and macro proportions is and absolute joy and rather hard to stop thinking about. Join us for the fourth — and final — episode in our series on War and Peace and partake in our endless interest and discussion. Whether or not you choose to move your arms while listening is entirely up to you. Or is it?

75 - Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace: Volume 4

Novelist Mark Haber joins the podcast to talk about one of his underdogs: Santiago Gamboa and his excellent novel Necropolis. Necropolis is a novel full of narratives, soaked in storytelling, and driven by a cast of colorful characters seeking some kind of redemption. Mark and David dive into the novel's plots and craft, and Mark touches upon his own conversations with Gamboa and Gamboa's other works of fiction available in English. Mark Haber's novel Reinhardt's Garden was published by Coffee House Press in 2019 and is "an exhilarating fever dream about the search for the secret of melancholy" according to Publisher's Weekly, and we here at BOSS think it's a damn fine novel indeed. Highly recommended.  

74 - Santiago Gamboa's Necropolis (Guest: Mark Haber)

Musician Ned Russin of Title Fight and Glitterer joins the podcast to share his love for Ben Lerner’s Leaving the Atocha Station and to also chat about his own latest creations: Glitterer’s new record Life Is Not a Lesson and his first published novel Horizontal Rust. It’s an all-encompassing conversation on experience, reality, and authenticity — all topics that get more elusive the more one tries to pin them down.  In other words: the best kind of topics. Life Is Not a Lesson is available now from ANTI- Records and Horizontal Rust is available now from Shining Life Press.

73 - Ben Lerner's Leaving the Atocha Station (Guest: Ned Russin of Title Fight and Glitterer)

Third time’s the charm! David, Nathan, and Nick march on through Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, having now conquered Volume 3. Listen in as they talk through Tolstoy’s increasingly direct commentary on the nature of history, Pierre’s Christ-like and/or quixotic vibes, and how it all relates to . . . cryptocurrency? If Tolstoy gets to include lengthy digressions on beehives, maybe we can make a few experimental analogies along the way, too, you know? Stick around for the final War and Peace episode in June because, after all, time and patience are a soldier’s (and reader’s) best friend.

72 - Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace: Volume 3

In celebration of National Poetry Month, singer-songwriter and poet Valerie June calls into the podcast and chats with Nick about her love of The Gift: Poems by Hafiz (Renderings by Daniel Ladinsky), the relationship between lyrics and poetry in her own work, and viewing the world through a positive lens. Additional topics include: Townes Van Zandt, time (i.e. what is it really?), and whether we humans will ever grow out of our comfort in discomfort.   Valerie has just released her new record, The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers, and a new collection of poetry, Maps for the Modern World. The two complement each other extremely well and just might be the medicine you need for all that ails you.

71 - Hafiz's The Gift (Guest: Valerie June)

David, Nathan, and Nick continue their journey through Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, this time tackling Volume Two. Characterized by a little less war and a lot more peace, this volume offers plenty of saucy romance, costume-fueled shenanigans, and overly long hunting scenes. Listen in as we recap the many love triangles, discuss the nature of moral fiction, and reveal who most identifies with the character of Anatole.   If you are reading along with us: Do not give up the good fight! Episodes on Volume Three and Volume Four to come in May and June of 2021.

70 - Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace: Volume 2

Nick chats with Jesse Cash, guitarist and vocalist of the progressive metal band ERRA, about Cormac McCarthy on this latest episode of the Books of Some Substance podcast. The book at hand is Suttree, a tale of a troubled man who has left an affluent past to live in a dilapidated houseboat and hang out in the underbelly of society. The two discuss McCarthy’s masterful use of both complex and simple sentences, the vague origin of Cornelius Suttree’s deeply embedded pain, and also whether or not an artist needs misery in order to create.   ERRA’s new self-titled record is available now via UNFD. And you can learn a thing or two about shredding by following Jesse Cash on Instagram.

69 - Cormac McCarthy's Suttree (Guest: Jesse Cash of ERRA)

David, Eric, and Nick discuss Volume 1 of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace in the first of four episodes on the heaviest of heavy books.  Topics include: War and Peace as the ur-text for all war novels to come, the nature and role of translation, and how Tolstoy’s realism can be surprisingly light and humorous when dealing with dark subjects.   But the question remains: Are there more casualties on the battlefields of Schöngrabern and Austerlitz or in the soirées of Moscow and St. Petersburg? Grab a fifth of vodka, listen in, and decide for yourself.   Read along and look for episodes on War and Peace: Volumes 2 - 4 in April, May, and June 2021.

68 - Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace: Volume 1

George Salis, author of Sea Above, Sun Below joins David to discuss The Satanic Verses, the controversial, exuberant, magical, and magnificent novel by Sir Salman Rushdie. They discuss the poetry, the allusions, and the history of this "Everything" novel in their own labyrinthine and interconnected way. 

67 - Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses (Guest: George Salis)

Meet Alfred Brown IV, educator and vocalist of the LA hardcore punk band Dangers. He’s into Amy Hempel. Like, really into Amy Hempel. Listen in for a deep conversation covering everything from the unintended emptiness of slogan-heavy lyrics to Hempel’s short story rhythm to questioning the need to categorize any type of writing — fiction, non-fiction, memoir, et al. — as anything other than just prose. Make sure you check out Alfred Brown IV as well as his work in Dangers and Cultural Materials. Oh, and grab a copy of that Hempel collection and signal to the world that you are most definitely on the correct wavelength.

66 - Amy Hempel's Collected Stories (Guest: Alfred Brown IV)

Dear World, Kōbō Abe sees your absurdity and raises you one box! A box to live in, specifically. And a box to meld with the psyche of the inhabitant. If it’s not clear, we’re talking about Abe’s 1973 novel The Box Man, a how-to guide on how to construct your own box in which to dwell and/or a challenging narrative (or, perhaps, narratives?) on the nature of voyeurism and anonymity in modern society. Don’t worry, it’s not quite clear to Nathan, David, and Nick either. Listen in for another rousing discussion in which the irrational becomes rational, the meaningful becomes meaningless, and the absurd becomes commonplace. Just don't expect to leave knowing who the narrator(s) is (are).

65 - Kōbō Abe's The Box Man

Clarice Lispector’s 1946 novel The Chandelier is the topic of fervent discussion for David, Nathan, and Nick in this latest episode. Not for the faint of heart (but perhaps for those near to wild ones), this modernist work probes a deep abyss of metaphysical questions including, but not limited to: What is anything? etc. etc. Forever dividing a single moment of time into increasingly smaller slices of moments in time, Lispector asymptotically approaches the concept of defining a single instant and leaves the reader dizzy from attempts to tag along.  Life is beautiful, but do we expect a writer to curate this beauty or to hook us up to the firehose and come back a few days later? Even if there isn’t an answer, The Chandelier’s got enough poetic imagery and deep questions to make anyone feel something.  Just exactly what might not be clear.

64 - Clarice Lispector's The Chandelier

The unofficial podcast of literary misfits everywhere who want to engage with books of "substance" (i.e. serious, respected, heavy, philosophical, classic), or at least considered such.

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Books of Some Substance

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