Proving Nothing to Anyone

$15.00

86 pages
Released in July 2013

Reviews:
Michael Dennis Blog

Review at Coal Hill
Review at HTMLGIANT
2013 Tour Info


Matt Cook declared Poet Laureate of Milwaukee

ADVANCE PRAISE
David Cross
: “The thing about Matt’s writing, ‘poetry’ if you will, is that it’s funny. Not ‘funny for poetry’ but straight up funny. And thoughtful. And human. You won’t have to dig deep into layers of metaphorical self-indulgent word play to enjoy it either. It’s all right there for you. I enjoy Matt’s work on the same level that I do Daniel Clowes or Jack Handey. In fact he’s kind of the poetry version of their baby. If Daniel and Jack had a baby. I’m not sure that Daniel Clowes and Jack Handey have even met. But also they aren’t capable of having a baby so never mind. But you get my point.”

Leigh Stein: Matt Cook’s poems are very funny, but they are also little love notes from a man to his wife “who can’t find any of her socks,” to his best friends who “all have rocks in their heads,” and to his mother, who holds his hand “like it’s the last swordfish burrito on earth.” I would like to drink beer with Matt Cook and learn his secret to writing the fucking best sestinas.

Sommer Browning: “Matt Cook sings the unsung—the restaurant supply store, the backs of paintings—while teasing our unexamined lives. His poems point to our emotional slippage, revealing the Spanish Cement Mixer to be much more than the Spanish Cement Mixer. You’re all like ‘Nuh uh’ and these poems are all like ‘Uh huh’. I love this book.”

Sampson Starkweather: “Matt Cook is a walking Imagination, and naturally, the imagination has perfect comic timing and speaks with an amazing Midwestern accent. Matt Cook makes me want to move to Milwaukee. Now that is powerful poetry.”

Read: Two poems at Everyday Genius

Additional information

Dimensions9 × 6 × .5 in