Episode 2: Strong Motion

In this episode, Erin, Alex, and Eric are joined by Matt Zeitlin and Mark Krotov to discuss Jonathan Franzen’s second novel—and Mr. Difficult-consensus worst book—Strong Motion. Unlike The Twenty-Seventh City, this book almost feels like a Jonathan Franzen novel. Almost. Instead, it’s a convoluted, angry, and deeply horny book about earthquakes, radio station maintenance, and the environmental history of Boston that also might be the most 1990s novel ever written. Also, it contains a section narrated by a raccoon.

About Mr. Difficult

How did Jonathan Franzen become America’s most divisive novelist? Is he even good? And what’s the deal with his relationship with birds, anyway? Mr. Difficult is a podcast devoted to exploring these and many other questions related to this great American novelist. (Or is it the great American novelist?) Join co-hosts Erin Somers and Alex Shephard and producer Eric Jett as they discuss each of Franzen’s six novels, as well as his nonfiction.