Nov 27, 2022
Today's episode is a celebration of the joy we find in Fitzcarraldo Editions, an
independent publishing house that makes no concessions towards mass
appeal but instead offers up books that are consistently ambitious,
imaginative and innovative. Their hallmark is their plain
typographic covers that allow the words inside to speak for
themselves.
The editorial line maintained by publisher Jacques Testard since
the beginning has reaped rewards and he now publishes four Nobel
Prizewinning authors as well as Booker international and Pulitzer
prize winners and shortlistees. Not bad for a small publishing
house that was started in 2014 on a tiny budget with just one
employee, Jacques himself.
Listen in to hear the story of Fitzcarraldo - named after a film
that celebrates a seemingly impossible endeavour - and how in only
his second-ever Frankfurt book fair Jacques found himself
negotiating a 12-way bidding war for the English-language rights to
Secondhand Time by Nobel winner Sveltlana Alexievich.
And, because it’s us, you’ll also get to hear about the books. What
are our favourites? Which do we recommend? Why are so many of them
sad? We’re joined by Sam MacAuslan, keen Fitzcarraldo reader, to
uncover some gems from the list.
Like all good things, this episode has been a while in the making
but with Fitzcarraldo recently celebrating publishing their 100th
book it seemed the perfect time to release it out into the world,
we hope you enjoy it, and feel inspired to try a Fitzcarraldo or
two.
Books mentioned
Things I Don’t Want to Know Deborah Levy
Attention: A Short History by Joshua Cohen
Limonov: The Outrageous Adventures by Emannuel Carrère
Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich (Bela Shayevich)
Minor Detail by Adania Shibley (Elizabeth Jaquette)
Fifty Sounds by Polly Barton
Flights by Olga Tocarczuk (Jennifer Croft)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tocarczuk (Jennifer Croft)
The Books of Jacob by Olga Tocarczuk (Jennifer Croft)
Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tocarczuk (Antonia Lloyd Jones)
The Years by Annie Ernaux (Alison L. Strayer)
Exteriors by Annie Ernaux (Tanya Leslie)
Zone, Matthias Enard (Charlotte Mandell)
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
The Naked Don’t Fear the Water by Matthieu Aikins
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (Sophie Hughes)
Paradise by Fernanda Melchor (Sophie Hughes)
The Netanyahus, Joshua Cohen
Septology, Jon Fosse (Damion Searls)
Notes
The film Fitzcarraldo by Werner Herzog
Deborah Levy interview in The White Review
New Directions in the US
Giramondo in Australia
As for us
Follow us on Instagram @BookClubReviewpodcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. Find shownotes, transcript and comments forum over on our website https://thebookclubreview.co.uk and drop us a line, let us know your thoughts on this episode, or tell us about a Fitzcarraldo book you love.
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