César Aira
Episode 35: Author Focus
It’s time for another of our author focus episodes! This time we are delving into our experiences with the work of the productive, energetic Argentinian author César Aira!
Aira has a couple of unique writing habits. The first I’ll bring up here is that he goes to a cafe each morning to write a page or two of his book, purposefully trying to push himself into a writing problem, which he then fixes the next day before creating another. Consequently, his books are often frenetic and unstable, and this is part of the point. They are delightful! His other habit is more of a consequence of his first, but he publishes multiple novella-length books every year, and has done so for decades. With well over 100 books available in Spanish, it will be some time before we get a full picture of his oeuvre in English.
Fortunately for us who need the books to be in English to read them, New Directions does their best to keep up and we generally get one or two every year. I have read each of them. When his books arrive, I drop whatever it is I’m reading, sit down, buckle up, and try not to stop until the ride is over. Paul is a fan but has read only a few of his books.
Here is a list of Aira’s books available in English as of this episode [with one forthcoming at the end of the list]:
An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, translated by Chris Andrews
How I Became a Nun, translated by Chris Andrews
Ghosts, translated by Chris Andrews
The Literary Conference, translated by Katherine Silver
The Seamstress and the Wind, translated by Rosalie Knecht
Varamo, translated by Chris Andrews
The Miracle Cures of Dr. Aira, translated by Katherine Silver
The Hare, translated by Nick Caistor
Shantytown, translated by Chris Andrews
Conversations, translated by Katherine Silver
The Musical Brain: Stories, translated by Chris Andrews
Dinner, translated by Katherine Silver
Ema, the Captive, translated by Chris Andrews
The Little Buddhist Monk, translated by Nick Caistor
The Proof, translated by Nick Caistor
The Linden Tree, translated by Chris Andrews
Birthday, translated by Chris Andrews
Artforum, translated by Katherine Silver
The Divorce, translated by Chris Andrews
The Famous Magician, translated by Chris Andrews
Fulgentius, translated by Chris Andrews [forthcoming March 2023]
We love these author episodes, and we’d welcome your suggestions (though we have one chosen for Episode 45 already). If you haven’t listened to the prior episodes in this series, here is what we’ve done in the past:
New Giveaway
This summer Open Letter Books finished publishing Rodrigo Fresán’s trilogy that started with The Invented Part. In this episode we are giving away a copy of the most recent, The Remembered Part!
Listen to find out how easy it is to enter!
Upcoming Episodes
September 8: Epic Reads
September 22: Hotel Novels with Jacqui Wine
Episodes a released on Thursdays, though Patreon supporters get them two days earlier.
Thanks to Patreon Supporters
Once again, thanks to our Patreon supporters. It is due to that support that we are able to pay for the hosting services and have enough left over for giveaways and the like.
Every month we do a special Patreon bonus episode, which are often laid back conversations about . . . books! We’ll have one coming for August soon!
Episode 35 Books
Salka Valka, by Halldór Laxness, translated by Philip Roughton
The Remembered Part, by Rodrigo Fresán, translated by Will Vanderhyden
The Invented Part, by Rodrigo Fresán, translated by Will Vanderhyden
The Dreamed Part, by Rodrigo Fresán, translated by Will Vanderhyden
Trieste, by Dasa Drndic, translated by Ellen Elias-Bursac
Minor Detail, Adania Shibli, translated by Elizabeth Jaquette
The Forgery, by Ave Barrera, translated by Robin Myers and Ellen Jones
Hurricane Season, by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes
Paradais, by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes
The Employees, by Olga Ravn, translated by Martin Aitken
Living Pictures, by Polina Barskova, translated by Catherine Ciepiela
An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
Birthday, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
The Famous Magician, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
The Literary Conference, by César Aira, translated by Katherine Silver
Varamo, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
The Divorce, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
The Little Buddhist Monk, by César Aira, translated by Nick Caistor
How I Became a Nun, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
The Seamstess and the Wind, by César Aira, translated by Rosalie Knecht
Ghosts, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
The Linden Tree, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
Shantytown, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
Dinner, by César Aira, translated by Katherine Silver
The Miracle Cures of Dr. Aira, by César Aira, translated by Katherine Silver
The Musical Brain, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
Fulgentius, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
The Proof, by César Aira, translated by Nick Caistor
The Hare, by César Aira, translated by Nick Caistor
Ema, the Captive, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
Artforum, by César Aira, translated by Katherine Silver
Conversations, by César Aira, translated by Katherine Silver
About the Podcast
The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast is a book chat podcast. Every few weeks we are talking about some bookish topic or another.
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