Attention, students! Today's lesson will cover Jakob von Gunten, a book that purports to be the diary of a pupil at a mysterious school for servants. It was written by Swiss flaneur Robert Walser, a man with an episodic life if there ever was one. Don your wool coat and prepare to discuss Nietszche! But whatever you do, don't mention Kafka.
Professor of Russian José Vergara recommends a dark story of family betrayal. Shchedrin's 1880 novel follows the fall of a miserly matriarch and the...
Returning guest Michael Barron joins us to discuss Roberto Bolaño's "curio" published near the end of his life. We talk about Bolaño's universe, his...
Writer and critic Vivian Gornick joins us to discuss My Father and Myself, a memoir written by J. R. Ackerley. We explore the mysteries...
