João Reis is a Portuguese writer and literary translator. His books are published in Portugal, the USA, Brazil, Serbia, and Georgia. He writes both in Portuguese and English. He is the author of, among others, the excellent The Devastation of Silence.

He’d been to Hell (but not back), turned his gaze upon the Machinery of a System that would do everything in its power to keep its operation covert, and was dealt with in the only way that System knew how: dispersal and dismemberment. Ahhh America, a failure of Creativity.

Seth is a non-authoritative devotee of anything and everything related to Thomas Pynchon. He runs a small Instagram feed, YouTube channel, and SubStack, all focused on difficult and demanding literature. He sits down with B.O.S.S. to answer 13 questions.

Through the ages, literature has raised the question of control in many ways. Am I in control of my life? What forces outside of myself are influencing my reality? A surveying government? An imperial army? Invisible forces embedded in my culture or environment? How can I free myself? Is it even possible? In Season 2 of Books of Some Substance, we bring you six novels that raise such questions and explore how these ideas shape our own lives.