Episode 85: Roberto Bolaño

The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast

This week we’re joined by super reader Ron Restrepo for a discussion about Roberto Bolaño, whom Rodrigo Fresan described as “one of a kind, a writer who worked without a net, who went all out, with no brakes, and in doing so created a new way to be a great Latin American writer.”

Do we unlock the mysteries of Bolaño’s magic? Probably not. But we do have a great time digging into this fascinating author and his haunting books.

Summer Book Club

The book for the Mookse and the Gripes Summer Book Club 2024 is William Trevor’s The Story of Lucy Gault. You can start reading it whenever you want to!

We had to make a little change to our schedule. Where were were releasing the discussion episode as Episode 86 on August 8, we are now going to be releasing it two weeks later, August 22, as Episode 87. Apologies for the change in plans, but they were necessary to make sure this worked the way we want it to!

Shownotes

Books

* The Savage Detectives, by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Natasha Wimmer

* Chronicle of the Murdered House, by Lúcio Cardoso, translated by Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson

* Taming of the Divine Heron, by Sergio Pitol, translated by George Henson

* The Love Parade, by Sergio Pitol, translated by George Henson

* Lanark, by Alasdair Gray

* Pedro Páramo, by Juan Rulfo, translated by Douglas J. Weatherford

* The Art of Flight, by Sergio Pitol, translated by George Henson

* The Land Breakers, by John Ehle

* The Story of Lucy Gault, by William Trevor

* The Obscene Bird of Night, by José Donoso, translated by Megan McDowell and Leonard Mades

* Gravity’s Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon

* 2666, by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Natasha Wimmer

* By Night in Chile, by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews

* Nazi Literature in the Americas, by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews

* The Skating Rink, by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews

* Distant Star, by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews

* Last Evenings on Earth, by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews

* The Years, by Annie Ernaux, translated by Alison L. Strayer

* Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville

* The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

* Trieste, by Dasa Drndic, translated by Ellen Elias-Bursac

* The Trees, by Percival Everett

* Dead Girls, by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott

* Not a River, by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott

* Die, My Love, by Ariana Harwicz, translated by Sarah Moses and Carolina Orloff

* Feebleminded, by Ariana Harwicz, translated by Sarah Moses and Carolina Orloff

* Tender, by Ariana Harwicz, translated by Sarah Moses and Carolina Orloff

* Amulet, by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews

* A Little Lumpen Novelita, by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Natasha Wimmer

* Atwerp, by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Natasha Wimmer

* Roberto Bolaño’s Fiction: An Expanding Universe, by Chris Andrews

The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast is a book chat podcast. Every other week Paul and Trevor get together to talk about some bookish topic or another. We hope you’ll continue to join us!

Many thanks to those who helped make this possible! If you’d like to donate as well, you can do so on Substack or on our Patreon page. These subscribers get periodic bonus episode and early access to all episodes! Every supporter has their own feed that he or she can use in their podcast app of choice to download our episodes a few days early. Please go check it out!

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mookse.substack.com/subscribe