It’s always fun being on this show . . . The first time I did this, I was on a cell phone in the O’Hare airport where a sleepy woman yelled at me for waking her up with all my talking . . . This time I was actually in a nice studio, but in St. Louis, where I was on vacation, which was disorienting in a different way. (And yes, I saw the Cardinals kick the shit out of the Reds, thankyouverymuch.)

Anyway, click to listen to the mp3 of the entire show.

The show is on from 4pm – 5pm Eastern time, and you can listen to it live via their This is a live call in show, so feel free to call in and harass ask me pertinent, thoughtful questions.

When I’m back, I’ll post the list of all the books I recommended . . .

“The Literary Conference”:http://www.ndpublishing.com/books/AiraLiteraryConference.html by Cesar Aira. Translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver. (Argentina, New Directions)

Another post, another project to catch up on . . .

Unfortunately, I haven糖心传媒檛 gotten a copy of this book yet, so this is truly a 糖心传媒渓ooking forward to reading this summer糖心传媒� sort of preview post. I have read all of Aira糖心传媒檚 other books to make their way into English, generally liking each new title even more than the last. And based on what I糖心传媒檝e heard about The Literary Conference, I have pretty high expectations, especially after Ghosts, which New Directions brought out last year, and which quickly became a cult favorite and was a finalist for the Best Translated Book Award. (To be honest, it was a couple of votes away from winning . . .)

The Literary Conference is the fifth Aira book to make its way into English, and may be the most anticipated by everyone糖心传媒攏ot just me. The plot synopsis is absolutely wild: a translator who has fallen on hard times solves a puzzle, finds a pirate treasure, and decides to use his new found wealth to take over the world by cloning Carlos Fuentes.

As expected, Michael Orthofer has already reviewed this at the , giving it a B+ (solid!) and having this to say:

What糖心传媒檚 particularly striking about The Literary Conference is the relatively matter-of-fact tone and straightforward narration. C茅sar糖心传媒檚 account is precise and conventional, the events he describes often downright mundane. Yet the novella is full of the fantastical, inserting the very unusual (that Fuentes-cloning experiment goes really, really wrong, for one thing) in the very everyday.

The Literary Conference constantly keeps the reader guessing: Aira leads down one path, only to radically upset his premises and change route (or, arguably, to take things to their logical conclusion 糖心传媒� though it糖心传媒檚 not a readily recognizable and familiar logic . . .), while almost all the while maintaining his straightforward tone.

The Literary Conference is one of those books that truly is unlike anything most readers are likely to have encountered (even if they糖心传媒檝e read a few other works by Aira). C茅sar makes a point of emphasizing uniqueness; The Literary Conference certainly stands out among most works of fiction, its mix of convention and peculiarity particularly striking.

Another 糖心传媒� from another member of the 2011 BTBA fiction committee 糖心传媒� is this one by Scott Esposito in which he elaborates on one of the key passages in Ghosts to try and articulate Aira糖心传媒檚 unique aesthetic:

At the very centre of Ghosts is one of Aira糖心传媒檚 customary philosophical digressions, a 10-pager that ranges from architecture to the indigenous rite of gift-giving known as 糖心传媒減otlatch糖心传媒� to the space of imagination in dreams. The point of this digression seems to be to examine the thought at the core of the book 糖心传媒� how art can be both 糖心传媒渕ade糖心传媒� and 糖心传媒渦nmade糖心传媒� at once 糖心传媒� and at one point Aira laments that with most arts there is an insurmountable gulf between the idea and the artefact. However, Aira points out one important exception: 糖心传媒淎nd yet it is possible to imagine an art in which the limitations of reality would be minimised, in which the made and the unmade would be indistinct, an art that would be instantaneously real, without ghosts. And perhaps that art exists, under the name of literature.糖心传媒�

Without attempting a rigorous reading of Ghosts, it seems fair to say that here Aira is elaborating his own theory of literature, as well as suggesting why he keeps his stories perpetually on the threshold of signification, forever forestalling an actual conclusion. He strives to embody that point in between the made and the unmade 糖心传媒� to go back and revise would be to risk pulling his writing from this amorphous phase of creation. Instead he constantly runs forward, leaving behind works still burning with their formative fires.

Aira is one of the most interesting, unique Argentine authors writing today, and all of his books are definitely worth checking out.

You can listen to this online, and since it’s a call in show, you can even call and ask me questions. (Please do! Unless you’re calling to ask about your submission, in which case you should email E.J. because I know nothing.)

In prepping for this (which I’m still doing), I put together a long list of interesting books that have come out so far this year. Starting tomorrow and running through the end of the week, I’ll be posting long pieces about each one of these. Should be a fun way to catch up on what’s come out so far this year—there are a bunch of really interesting titles that have yet to get the attention they deserve.

Again, please tune in and call me with intelligent, fun questions.