The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

Part of Two Dollar Radio's "About" page:

"Two Dollar Radio is a family-run outfit founded in 2005 with the mission to reaffirm the cultural and artistic spirit of the publishing industry.

We aim to do this by presenting bold works of literary merit, each book, individually and collectively, providing a sonic progression that we believe to be too loud to ignore.

Two Dollar Radio was started in 2005 by Eric Obenauf and Eliza Wood-Obenauf, an idealistic, young husband-and-wife team with a love of books. We were living in San Diego at the time, and after boomeranging back to New York City for a brief stint, we finally settled in Columbus, Ohio, where we are now proudly based, with our two children and our brick-and-mortar. Two Dollar Radio was honored by GLIBA and MIBA with the "2020 Voice of the Heartland Award.""

Their page: https://twodollarradio.com/

I like some of the voices they are publishing. I have They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib waiting on my shelf. And while I can't say I loved Some of Us Are Very Hungry Now by Andre Perry, I am still glad to have read the essay collection.

I am looking forward to the publication of Born Into This by Adam Thompson, an indigenous writer from Tasmania.

I’ve got This Orange eats Creeps on my TBR stack

I read The Book of X earlier this year. A rather fascinating book. They Can’t Kill Us... is on my TBR list.

Marc wrote: "I read The Book of X earlier this year. A rather fascinating book. They Can’t Kill Us... is on my TBR list."

I highly recommend 2 Dollar Radio's The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish. The Newest Literary Fiction Group had a great discussion thread on it a couple of years ago.

Stacia wrote: "Part of Two Dollar Radio's "About" page:

"Two Dollar Radio is a family-run outfit founded in 2005 with the mission to reaffirm the cultural and artistic spirit of the publishing industry. We ai..."

I am wallowing in their website! They've got a 5 books for $49 deal that looks so tempting.....

I’m glad you created this thread, Stacia, and surprised I hadn’t. Based in Columbus OH, Two Dollar Radio is the closest indie press to me.
I second the recommendation for The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish.

I also have Alligator and Other Stories from Two Dollar Radio.

David, we can discuss I Will Die in a Foreign Land here since it’s a Two Dollar Radio book and we don’t have a thread of random titles.

I’m on page 93. How far are you and what troubles you?

I’m almost finished with it. The struggle I have is that the 2014 revolution was problematic - it was a coup against a democratically elected government and fought largely by far right militias, many members of which continue to revel in neo-n*zi ideology and symbolism. I’m not making a judgment about 2014, but just observing that it had problematic elements. This novel ignores all of that, following characters that are sympathetic to western readers. It feels like a propaganda piece in many ways.

I'm tempted to get I Will Die in a Foreign Land, as Ukraine is the hot news of the day and I feel I've not paid enough attention to what has been going on there in the past decade or so.

And thanks, Stacia, for starting the thread. As Nadine is, I'm very tempted to by that 5 for &49 deal.

The Deeper the Water, the Uglier the Fish sounds like a book that could induce depression. I am not a fan of books in which children are abused by parents - it happens way too often.

LindaJ^ wrote: "The Deeper the Water, the Uglier the Fish sounds like a book that could induce depression. I am not a fan of books in which children are abused by parents - it happens way too often...."

LindaJ, Generally, I avoid depression-inducing books, but I don't think Deeper is one of those, at least it wasn't for me. I read it a couple of years ago, but as I recall, there's no graphic abuse, no violence - it's more allusive. And there's humor, the girls are strong characters in different ways, so it's not a tale of pure victimhood.

A very belated thanks for your rec, Nadine (I think I missed it when originally posted above!).

David wrote: "I’m almost finished with it. The struggle I have is that the 2014 revolution was problematic - it was a coup against a democratically elected government and fought largely by far right militias, ma..."

Peacefully, I would like to point out that while there was indeed a faction of "far right militia/neo-n*zi" activity in re: to Ukraine in 2014, Russia has repeatedly & extensively amplified that as part of a long-term playbook of Russian propaganda/disinformation. Russia has also completely fabricated similar information.

For example: https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/08/02/...

https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2014/03...

Absolutely, Stacia. And to be clear, 2014 was a formative event for Ukraine and I’m very sympathetic to them right now.

I don’t know enough about the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, but we know from our own recent history that far-right fringe groups infiltrate what are supposed to be peaceful protests and wreak havoc to make the peaceful protestors look bad and to foment hatred for its own sake.

Linda, I liked The Deeper the Water…and Nadine is right, the abuse is not physical, it’s much more twisted than that. It’s more psychological.

Thanks, David.

On a different note, I noticed that Hoopla has some Two Dollar Radio books. So maybe I'll be reading one of theirs soon (although I feel some trepidation about trying The Deeper the Water, at least right now. I'm not in the right headspace for it, I think.)

Stacia wrote: "David wrote: "I’m almost finished with it. The struggle I have is that the 2014 revolution was problematic - it was a coup against a democratically elected government and fought largely by far righ..."

Sorry to jump in, but I just want to point out that the far right factions (ultranationalists and neo-Nazis) were the driving force in 2014 and those who shaped its outcome. It was an illegal coup but the West still loved them in spite of their pedigree and political ideology because they were useful pawns in the game against Russia (just like al-Qaidah / jihadist groups were a useful tool against Assad in Syria)

The neo-Nazi Azov battalion was later incorporated into the Ukrainian army in whole and let loose on the Russian-speaking populations of the Donbas and elsewhere. It is still part of the Ukrainian army.

Not a single Western media outlet, any pundit or analyst, will give the necessary context and tell the full story because it would be career suicide. One can still abhor the invasion and still see the complete picture.

Propaganda and disinformation is a two-way street.

Not strictly relevant but Timothy Snyder's published a list of ways to provide practical support for Ukraine here, that may interest some people:

https://snyder.substack.com/p/a-few-w...

That was exactly what I was alluding to, Jibran. This book simply whitewashes the 2014 revolution, rather than adding context or balance. From the vantage point of 2022, Ukraine is certainly in a sympathetic position, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore the ultra ethno-nationalism that forged their identity over the last decade.

Jibran, yes, propaganda and disinformation are definitely a two-way street. It has certainly been a staple for the US too.

David, you make a good point about further context and balance might have strengthened the book. (I have no real opinion on that yet as I haven't yet read the book.)

Honestly, it's hard to judge a book like I Will Die in a Foreign Land because the current situation is so charged.

I appreciate the context, David and Jibran. The only one paragraph nod to the “other side” was the Ukrainian journalist who pointed out that some Ukrainians felt a cultural connection with Russia, no mention of near-right nationalism.

I recently read a draft of Brisbane by Eugene Vodolazkin that I got from GalleyNet. It is due to be published in English in May. The author is Russian. The main character's father was Ukranian and his mother Russian. He grew up in Ukraine and his father insisted he to a school that taught its subjects in Ukranian. This character considers Ukraine as part of Russia and that gets him in a couple of hot spots. While the politics are not a major theme, they are there. My review, which is the only way I can link to the English edition I read, as all that comes up on a GR search are the original and a couple of editions in Romanian, is at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

I just saw Brisbane mentioned somewhere Friday, Linda. Good review, I wondered what it was about.

Katya and Vera are important characters in I Will Die in a Foreign Land, too.

LindaJ^ wrote: "I recently read a draft of Brisbane by Eugene Vodolazkin that I got from GalleyNet. It is due to be published in English in May. The author is Russian. The main character's father..."

Linda, would you say this is a depressing book? I love Vodolazkin, but I keep putting it off.....

No, I did not find Brisbane depressing. Sad things happen and there a couple of brutal scenes. It is more like The Aviator than Laurus (my favorite).

LindaJ^ wrote: "No, I did not find Brisbane depressing. Sad things happen and there a couple of brutal scenes. It is more like The Aviator than Laurus (my favorite)."

Good to know. Laurus is my favorite too - one of my favorite books ever. I measure all historical fiction by it (well, along with the Wolf Hall trilogy.)

I loved Laurus as well so I’ve put Brisbane on my Wish List. Thanks for the review, Linda!

It’s been announced this morning that Two Dollar Radio has been acquired by Seven Stories Press.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...

two presses I love for their very different vibes...I guess this is mostly good news, though, if it makes them both stronger.

With this news and Deep Vellum sort of consolidating small presses, is this just a reflection of how hard it is for small presses these days? It just seems like I'm hearing more of this type of news or collaborative distribution efforts (NYRB distributing Dorothy books; Asterism Books as a central site for a lot of small presses, etc.). I'd much rather these presses survive than maintain their pure independence.