For episode 80, we welcome Jessica Anthony back to the show. She has long been one of our favorite writers and she returns this month with a new novel titled The Most (out July 30 from Little Brown).   Jessica Anthony is the author of three books of fiction, most recently the novel Enter the Aardvark, a finalist for the New England Book Award in Fiction. Her debut, The Convalescent, won the inaugural McSweeney’s Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award in 2004. A recipient of the Creative Capital Award in Literature, Anthony wrote The Most while guarding the Mária Valéria Bridge in Štúrovo, Sl ..read more

In this episode, Matt Bucher interviews Matt Lowell of the band Lo Moon.  They discuss the genesis of Lo Moon's new hit song, "Water." Lowell shares how he discovered David Foster Wallace's writing and he also breaks down his collaborative writing process. Later, he digs into some of his literary influences and the two Matts discuss Salinger, Fitzgerald, Knausgaard, and more. You can order the new album on vinyl here: https://www.lomoonofficial.com/ and there you can learn more about Lo Moon’s 2024 tour schedule here: https://lomoon.komi.io/.  Check out their private fan community, R ..read more

In this episode, Dave and Matt sit down with Adam Levin to discuss the publication of the Bar Mitzvah edition of that great novel, The Instructions. They discuss growing up in the land of Bar Mitzvahs, the writing process, and what happens to Gurion, among other things. Adam Levin's website is: https://www.adamlevinadamlevin.com/ You can order the new edition of the book direct from McSweeney's here: https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/the-instructions-bar-mitzvah-edition?taxon_id=1 And here's a friends-and-family discount code for 25% off: mazeltov   The Material is the new novel ..read more

It's our favorite annual episode on the show, when we get to look back at the best of our year in reading with someone else who has read cool stuff. This time it's with Ben Diamond, a very keen listener and patron from London, who for three years running has sent us an annual best of his year recording, always full of interesting books, shows, music, and films. We had an awesome conversation with Ben that we hope you'll enjoy.    Stay tuned for the Patreon bonus episode in two weeks that covers all other things we liked this year in pop-culture.   As always, this episode comes w ..read more

In Episode 75 we welcome poet Diego Báez back onto the show, to discuss his fantastic forthcoming book of poetry, Yaguareté White, which releases from University of Arizona Press on February 20, 2024.  You can pre-order it directly from the publisher or from Bookshop.org   Follow Diego on Twitter   Contact Dave & Matt:  Email - concavityshow@gmail.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/ Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threa ..read more

In this episode with speak with bestselling writer and journalist David Lipsky. To David Foster Wallace fans, Lipsky is, of course, familiar as the author of Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself which was the basis of the 2015 film The End of the Tour. David Lipsky is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Magazine Writing, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, and many others. He contributes to NPR's All Things Considered, and is the recipient of a ..read more

In this bonus episode, we have a special audio production from British literary scholar Saul Leslie and American writer Wendy Liu.  What do you think David Foster Wallace was really like in a tennis match? You are invited to listen to a tennis commentary of a fictional match played between David Foster Wallace and Martin Amis. This audio piece was part of DFW2023, held in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was written and presented by Saul Leslie, and features commentary by fictional Wimbledon champion and writer Elsa Canetti (voiced by Wendy Liu), and a guest 'courtside' appearance from liter ..read more

In Episode 73, Dave welcomes special guest Matt Bucher on the show to discuss his debut novel, The Belan Deck.  Buy Matt's book here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-belan-deck-matt-bucher/19943822?ean=9798888623428 Biblioklept review: https://biblioklept.org/2023/06/02/matt-buchers-the-belan-deck-is-an-unexpectedly-moving-argument-for-humanity-and-serious-triviality/ The Belan Deck on Goodreads (featuring reviews by many of our amazing listeners, like Phillip Freedenberg, Jack Waters, and Richie Speiser): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128126023-the-belan-deck Erick Eckel review: h ..read more

In Episode 72, we welcome friend of the show, Edith Wharton scholar, accordion/bagpiper extraordinaire, and prolific writer, Sheila Liming on to talk about her new book Hanging Out, delving into the myriad ways that unstructured hang time is a radical, life-affirming act that resists capitalist commodification.  The New York Times article on Sheila and the book: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/16/style/sheila-liming-hanging-out-interview.html Sheila on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/seeshespeak Buy the book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717263/hanging-out-by-sheila-lim ..read more

In this episode, we talk with prolific reader and accomplished musician Evan Stephens Hall from the band Pinegrove. We discuss his top books of the year and go through a few of our own favorite reading experiences from 2022.   Here is the David Foster Wallace & Richard Powers Q&A we mention.    And here is the reading poriton of that event that begins with DFW talking about the “brick” in his pocket.   The Pinegrove songs featured in this episode are Alaska and Habitat.  Thank you to Rough Trade Records, Pinegrove and Evan Stephens Hall for permission.  &n ..read more