This week, Mason Rodrigue returned to Savage Wonder to talk about his debut book, Rock Eater. Our conversation spans everything from granular details about the book to foreign policy to the emotionally significant events in Mason's life. But the real takeaway should be what a fine piece of literature Rock Eater is. An autobiography disguised as poetry, I truly believe it will go down in the annals of military literature as one of the most jarring, vibrant, real looks at lower enlisted Marine Corps infantry life ever recorded - and made all the more indelible by Mason's belt-fed verse. Political but not partisan, not anti-war, not pro-war, Mason captures the nuances, the mistakes, the loss, the trauma, and the psyche of a warfighter in a consentingly abusive relationship with the Marine Corps.

Listen here

Buy Rock Eater

Support Mason here.

Come see Mason read Rock Eater live at the Savage Wonder Festival of veterans in the arts on May 29! Have you gotten your tickets yet?

The Savage Wonder Festival