Texas poet Esteban Rodriguez joins us to discuss an excerpt from Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 (1965). We talk about writing about stuff you hate and combining long and short sentence lengths for realism and momentum.

• Esteban recommends The Folly by Ivan Vladislavic (2015), An Explanation of the Birds by António Lobo Antunes (translated by Richard Zenith) (1981), and Rapture by Susan Mitchell (1992)
• Follow Esteban Rodriguez on Twitter at @estebanjrod11
• Emily recommends Melissa Febos’s new craft essay “A Big Shitty Party: Six Parables of Writing About Other People” in Kenyon Review

Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns.

Twitter: @goodwritingpod 

Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com