Cheesy Book Review: The Tilt

Hey kids! Look who's here... It's M!

* * *

There have been many many times, gentle reader, that I
have been given things to listen to, read, or look at (you
know, A.R.T.) by friends and acquaintances. And, as you
all out there probably know too well, what is given by
friends for review and consideration is, much more often
than not, BAD.

Not good.

Dumb.

Trying to be funny but in fact is not.

Harsh and boring and trying too hard.

There have been, of course, exceptions to this rule.
One exception was when, amazingly, none other than
K. himself gave me a CD of songs he had written and
performed, and it was AWESOME. [K: In your face,
Springsteen!] But that story perhaps is for another
time. [K: wha..?]

Two recent exceptions to this hammer-to-the-head rule
I will expound upon here. One now, another later.

[K: This is where Monty Python would place a Viking
holding a rubber chicken, yelling 'Get on with it!']

A friend of mine, more of an acquaintance really,
[K: They've never met] named Robin Romm, told me
she had written a book and I should buy it.

Knowing "The Rule" (refer to paragraph one if you're a
bit confused) [K: But keep reading if you are already
very confused] my first instinct was to run, or maybe
cry. But instead I bought the book.

It's called The Tilt and it's fucking amazing. It's beautiful
and tender. It's unquestionably funny. It makes your
heart shine, like E.T.'s. It makes you cry like when E.T.
almost died. This story has nothing to do with E.T.

[K: Whatever happened to E.T. ? Didn't Lucas put
some E.T.'s. in one of his crappy "prequels"? Whatever
happened to those guys? Did they flee for safety, like
Yoda? Or did they become corrupt and evil E.T.'s who
serve the Emperor? Does Lucas even know? Fuck!]

Where was I?

[K: Something about E.T.]

The Tilt is a collection of short stories that all have
something to do with death. And it's funny sometimes.

[K: Unlike certain blogs.]

You can read one of the stories, here. It's not my
absolute favorite of the collection, but it's still really
good. And you can buy a copy, here or here.

Next time: Another brush with "The Rule"

- M.

* * *

M. lives in San Francisco. He is one half of the band,
The Speakers. He also plays guitar in Jolie Holland's
band -- touring the world and wooing hearts with his
uncomfortable stage presence and looks of pain
and doubt.