"Michael Martone" is its own appendix, comprising fifty "contributors notes," each of which identifies in exorbitant biographical detail the author...
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Jan 03, 2009
John
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Michael Martone's got a imagination that ticks, one in which the manifold cogs & springs crank up something extra at each revolution of an idea. The idea in the case of MICHAEL MARTONE BY MICHAEL MARTONE, a canny & disturbing exercise -- disturbing in best sense, the sense that doesn't interfere w/ the man's quick finger on the pulsing detail or w/ his wit, capable of fluxing up to laugh-inducing fullness & then down to a sobering diminuendo in the space of few perfectly-ironized lines -- the
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Nov 28, 2008
Tanya
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I learned from Michael Martone that the "Contributor's Notes" in this book he actually sent out to magazines/journals and a lot have been printed in them. Some even asked for a contributor's note to go with the contributor's note, and instead Martone sent in another fictionalized one, which I find hilarious.
Michael Martone is a very funny man, and this is a highly enjoyable book.
Michael Martone is a very funny man, and this is a highly enjoyable book.
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Aug 30, 2009
Ian
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This was on Deb Unferth's "Books You Should Read" list she gave us when I took fiction writing II from her. The list is invaluable and I've found some real fucking gems on it. Granted, it's sprinkled with haughty shit like Proust (which I want to read, I promise, but it's just so fucking looonnnngggg and I'm a terribly slow reader) and shit I should have already read. But the new neo-fiction she recommends has been utterly solid. This is a play on form, a book told entirely in falsifie
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Aug 13, 2008
Robin
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Like his Blue Guide to Indiana (often accompanied by a disclaimer explaining that it is not a "real" Blue Guide, just in case the inclusion of the Trans-Indiana Mayonnaise Pipeline didn't tip you off) Michael Martone by Michael Martone is a lively patchwork of facts, fabrications, trivia, exaggerations and narrative play.
Composed of forty-two Contributor's Notes, an Acknowledgement, an About the Author, and a Vita, Michael Martone by Michael Martone gives a partial compos More...
Composed of forty-two Contributor's Notes, an Acknowledgement, an About the Author, and a Vita, Michael Martone by Michael Martone gives a partial compos More...
Aug 07, 2011
Jamie
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As I finish this book I think that this is probably one of the most interesting books I have ever read. Composed of "Contributor's Notes" and a few other sections, it paints the life-story (fictional or non-fictional, I am never sure) of the author, Michael Martone. Through the repetitious Notes, a whole life is developed and unfolds. The reader feels very close to Martone, his family, his experiences, his travels, his writings and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Highly recommended.
Dec 04, 2008
Jason
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Michael Martone is a quirky, clever idea that actually works as a full-length book. While there's little dramatic tension and dialogue, I found myself eager to continue reading, which surprised me. I'm torn as to whether this would work better as nonfiction, though, so that I'd know I could believe it all. I also understand possible turnoffs about this book--repetitive, too long, ugly cover art--but I liked it.
Mar 31, 2009
Gabriel
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Here I was going to write: "If all of the works of a writer can be thought of as one big serial work-in-progress, this would be the index of Michael Martone's Big Story Collection," but then I realized that it would, of course, be his "About the Author".
Dec 05, 2008
Laura
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Hilarious book of book blurbs written about and by Michael Martone. I heard him read in Vermont. He was fabulous.
Jun 11, 2011
Michelle
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I liked this book because I felt like it was saying in the end, whether it's a true story or fiction, a story is told.
Dec 31, 2009
Rachel
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Michael Martone was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. You will read that sentence many many times. It will be worth it.
Jan 01, 2010
David
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Interesting Project. Adding it to my MFA Booklist because of the way it blurs the fiction/nonfiction line.
Jan 03, 2008
Andy
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Here Martone is extremely clever, and I like clever writing (yes, I'm serious). And since he is my teacher, I especially love the piece about him killing John Barth's lawn (although I was disappointed that he didn't read that particular piece when he and Barth read at AWP in Atlanta in 2007). Anyway, I love the seemingly endless permutations of the life Martone has lived and the lives Martone could've lived as told through contributor's notes (although, for the most part, actual contributor's
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Jul 25, 2009
The Broken Zebra
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Unique. Not always thrilling, but creative, which I appreciate.
Apr 18, 2008
Ben
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Clever in a low-key sort of way. Not much in the way of verbal pyrotechnics or plot twists. Basically what you'd expect from someone who writes obsessively about the Midwest. It's warm, it's comfortable, and it's a little quirky. All of the pieces have something very likable about them, but they tend to (predictably) blur together due to their similar structure, length, and tone. Not something I'd recommend reading all in one day, as I did.
I have a feeling it's a collection I'll reme More...
I have a feeling it's a collection I'll reme More...
Nov 01, 2008
robert
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my teacher thinks this isn't a one trick pony, but i would have to disagree. the novel, if you want to call it that, is a series of contributors notes of the sort one gives to a journal as biography. and each separate note is creatively written, with both pathos and humor. the thing that bothers me is that you never really get, to my mind, a sense of accumulation between the notes, so it never feels to me like it's really growing.
Oct 20, 2008
Colin
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Divorced from their original contexts of the actual "contributor's note" sections of literary magazines, Martone's semi-biographical fictions lose their pleasant surprise nature and instead take on a fascinating accrued effect. The constant reinvention of self here seems to be both a clever means of exploring new media's obsession with multiple selves and a method by which to rebuild the author's identity. Great stuff.
Feb 19, 2008
Ken
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I read this book when the author came to speak on campus. He was a great and lively speaker and friendly. The book, which gives a series of "author's notes" about Martone himself (some of which are fictional and some of which are sort-of-true) is intertersting for someone who studies autobiography (me), but perhaps less so for others. Many of the "author's notes" are funny.
Aug 19, 2007
Mike
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Neat book. It's hard to do justice to it by description, but it's a really tremendous semi-fictional experiment with the idea of Contributors' Notes. The book is made up entirely of them and nothing else. Some maybe true, some maybe false, all very touching and entertaining. An easy, quick read that kind of turns things on their head a bit. Read it.
Sep 16, 2007
Jen
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MIchael Martone was my favorite professor at Syracuse University well over a decade ago, and this unique short story collection reminded me of why he was so popular. It's clever, witty, entertaining, warm and vaguely eccentric, just like him. Each story is in the guise of a Contributor's Note, a fun device for fiction.
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