Behind The Blurb part 3 of 3 Matt Hart

Our final blurb for Gravity & Spectacle was from the first person we asked: Matt Hart

Like Rosemarie's blurb, this was also too big to fit on the back of our book cover, so here is the full unedited version:

Who’s weirder than all of us? And why does it always feel like our “alienation is being filmed before a live studio audience”? If you’ve ever asked those questions, or if you’ve ever had a cactus for a head with eyes all over it, blinking wildly in the sun—or, if you’ve ever wondered why you can’t stop going to punk rock shows, even though everyone else thinks you’re too old for punk rock shows, so you stand in the back feeling odd or invisible or both of them at once—well, the photographs and poems in Gravity and Spectacle are a biography, a field guide, a hymnal, and battle plan of, and for, the rest of your life. Yeah, you might just be that strange. I know I am, and as a result this book is somehow a great comfort to me, even as it complicates and celebrates my bewilderment. It reminds me just how bizarre (in the best ways) being alive right NOW really is—a reminder to attend to it with ferocity and joy, but most importantly with imagination and empathy by any means necessary. 

~ Matt Hart, author of Everything Breaking/for Good and editor-in-chief of Forklift, Ohio: A Journal of Poetry, Cooking, & Light Industrial Safety

We first met Matt Hart when he came to town on a Southwest tour with another memorable poet named Jeff Sirkin in 2016. I hosted a poetry reading for them at an art gallery in Phoenix and we were able to hang out before and after the event for food, drinks and stories. Jia and I were only 1 year into this project, but we showed him some of our early photographs and he didn't laugh or scoff. In fact, he encouraged us, which was extremely important at that stage of development.

Matt is a powerhouse writer. His two recent books are no fluke or exception, so check out Everything Breaking/For Good from YesYes Books and The Obliterations from Ledge Mule Press.

As the editor-in-chief for Forklift, Ohio: A Journal of Poetry, Cooking, & Light Industrial Safety, he published some of the most impressive and innovative issues in indie-lit. Which is why we had to have him on our Punk Rock Presses panel at the AWP conference in Portland.

Matt has also played and toured with various bands over the years. Here's a song from his current band Nevernew that's worth heavy rotation:

 

But most importantly, Matt is the best Mentor / Hero / Friend that you could hope to find.

   

Copies of Gravity & Spectacle can be ordered from Tolsun Books, Small Press Distribution, and even Amazon.

Or if you'd like to get a signed copy from me, just send $20 (free shipping)
through PayPal https://www.paypal.me/ShawnteOrion
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