Treehouse

from John A. McDermott, author of Inappropriate Gifts for Infants:

1. Sugarhouse by Matthew Batt—funny and sad, this memoir will teach you something about Salt Lake City and home renovation and love.¹
2. Dogfight, A Love Story by Matt Burgess—funny and sad, this novel will teach you something about Queens and crime, both petty and not, and love.²
3. Sermons and Lectures Both Blank and Relentless by Matt Hart—funny and sad, this poetry will teach you something about Cincinnati and punk rock and love.³
4. All-American Poem by Matthew Dickman. Funny and sad…oh, hell, the title sums it up.⁴
5. Come on All You Ghosts by Matthew Zapruder—funny and sad, this poetry will teach you something about America and airports and love letters and love. And ghosts.⁵

¹ Admission: I know Matt Batt. We briefly taught at the same university here in Texas. He’s a sweet, sharp guy who wrote a sweet, sharp book. His wife Jenae is a beautiful force of nature. The book’s about her, too.

² Admission: I’ve met Matt Burgess. Once. He married my second-cousin. He seemed nice. But I read the book because it sounded good. It is. Much better than good. Oh, my second-cousin is pretty cool. They live in the Twin Cities. Hey, so do Matt and Jenae. Matt, meet Matt. Jenae, Matt.  Georgia, Matt. Georgia, Jenae.  I think y’all would get along.

³ I do not know Matt Hart. I saw him read last month. It was like watching a one-man rock concert in a small and smoky club. We were not in a small, smoky club but I think anywhere this guy reads might feel like that. He took the top of my head off. Seriously, if you can catch him at a reading, go. And his stuff is even better on the page.

⁴ I do not know Matthew Dickman. I just really like his work. But you knew that.

⁵ I do not know Matthew Zapruder. He’s Matthew Freaking Zapruder. You don’t know Matthew Zapruder? Read his book. You’ll feel like you do. But that might just be his poetry.