Thomas PynchonEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

Send us Fan Mail Season three kicks off with a fiftieth anniversary celebration of Thomas Pynchon's postmodernist whirl-a-gig Gravity's Rainbow . Originally published on February 28, 1973, this encyclopedic inquiry into the systematicity of existence, power, and technology was just this week described by Esquire as "one of the weirdest, richest, most frustrating, inscrutable, brilliant, gorgeous, exhilarating, inexplicable, disgusting, hilarious, remarkable, and goddamn frustrating again novels ever published in America"---a novel so discombobulating, in fact, that the Pulitzer board refused to award it the fiction prize it assuredly deserved for its sheer display of ambition and erudition. Ostensibly about an American Army lieutenant, Tyrone Slothrop, whose sexual adventures in World War II-blasted London predict German V2 rocket bombings, Gravity's Rainbow encompasses so much more than a plot. With nearly 400 (often wackily named) characters and wild tangents into shadowy conspiracies hatched by secret organizations with names like ACHTUNG and PISCES, the narrative tries to find some natural humanism within the wide battery of political bureaucracies and regulatory bodies that administrate lives and minds. As we decide, Pychon's heart is always with the counterforce, with those who by letting their lives run counter to the machine transcend the inevitable rainbow's arc of precision that's meant to keep us all in our place and the trains running on time. Love it or hate it, Rainbow's Gravity feels like riding a rocket: we can only strap in and feel the G-force. Canon Fodder: The Recognitions, by Gaddis; Infinite Jest by DF Wallace All opinions are the hosts' own and do not reflect the points of view of their employers, publishers, relatives, pets, or accountants. All show music is by Lobo Loco. The intro song is “Old Ralley”; the intermission is “The First Moment,” and the outro is “Inspector Invisible.” For more information visit: https://locolobomusic.com/ .

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

"A screaming comes across the sky. It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now." Such is the opening of Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow (1973), the novel that won the National Book Award but repulsed the Pulitzer Prize Committee. Pynchon's special blend of paranoia and postmodernism made him one of the hallmark authors of the Cold War era. In this episode, Jacke takes a look at Pynchon's life and works, then is joined by a contemporary author, Antoine Wilson ( Mouth to Mouth ), for a discussion of his writing process and his recent trip to Pynchonland. ANTOINE WILSON is the author of the novels Panorama City and The Interloper . His work has appeared in The Paris Review , StoryQuarterly , Best New American Voices , and The Los Angeles Times, among other publications, and he is a contributing editor of A Public Space . A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and recipient of a Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellowship from the University of Wisconsin, he lives in Los Angeles. His website is: AntoineWilson.com. Additional listening suggestions: 380 Ian Fleming | The Black James Bond 348 Philip Roth (with Mike Palindrome) 318 Lolita (with Jenny Minton Quigley) Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop . The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gregory Marks is an Australian PhD student writing his thesis on the posthuman and the Gothic in Thomas Pynchon. He has presented internationally on Pynchon’s novels and their ambiguous technological visions. He can be found on Twitter @thewastedworld and blogs at thewastedworld.wordpress.com --- If you wish to support Hermitix please see our links below: Hermitix Subscription - https://hermitix.net/subscribe/ Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/hermitix Donations: - https://www.paypal.me/hermitixpod Hermitix Merchandise - http://teespring.com/stores/hermitix-2 Bitcoin Donation Address: 3LAGEKBXEuE2pgc4oubExGTWtrKPuXDDLK Ethereum Donation Address: 0xfd2bbe86d6070004b9Cbf682aB2F25170046A996

In which the Idiots discuss Thomas Pynchon's cult novel of paranoia and mail conspiracy "The Crying of Lot 49" - discuss Bruce Forsythe's last show "Strictly Sane" - why does Batman love beating up mentally ill people? - a cat barber gives dating tips. With Special Guest Experts Nathan Roberts and Edward Pomblebee, a cat barber.