Three Percent #103: Back from Vacation to Rip on Jacket Copy

So after a month away, Chad and Tom are back, discussing the books they read over the summer and breaking down jacket copy for a number of recent books. They’re both astounded by how many meaningless phrases they come across (and references to how a book is “necessary”), and also talk about when and how to frame a particular author. Tom rants about how we’re reaching the bottom of the barrel in list-making, and Chad gives some love to the Iceland Men’s National Team.

Also, after some befuddling technical difficulties, the podcast is back up at iTunes, so please tell all your friends and family to subscribe and rate us. We’re determined to break into the top 200 of literary podcasts . . .

To listen to this podcast, either subscribe at the link above, or just copy this link to add our show’s feed to any podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

And, as always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to threepercentpodcast@gmail.com.

Here’s the (hopefully) complete list of books and authors discussed on this week’s podcast:

Imperium: A Fiction of the South Seas by Christian Kracht
Lovers on All Saints’ Day by Juan Gabriel Vasquez
Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman
You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman
3 to Kill by Jean-Patrick Manchette
The Dead Mountaineer’s Inn by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Definitely Maybe by Arkady and Boris Sturgatsky
Wind/Pinball by Haruki Murakami
So You Don’t Get Lost in the Neighborhood by Patrick Modiano
Ann Tenna by Marisa Acocella Marchetto
Oreo by Fran Ross
Submission by Michel Houellebecq
The Illogic of Kassel by Enrique Vila-Matas
Severina by Rodrigo Rey Rosa
The Wallcreeper by Nell Zink
How’s the Pain? and A26 and The Front Seat Passenger by Pascal Garnier
Billy and Girl by Deborah Levy
Zipper Mouth by Laurie Weeks
Traitors to All by Giorgio Scerbanenco
Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila
The Great Swindle by Pierre Lemaître
Savage Seasons by Kettly Mars

And, finally, the intro/outro music today is Father John Misty’s song The Ideal Husband from his 2015 album I Love You, Honeybear.