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A Jello Horse
by
Matthew Simmons (Goodreads Author)
Fiction. When his new roommate's brother dies tragically, the unnamed narrator of A JELLO HORSE offers to drive him home to the Midwest. Feeling anxious and displaced, he embarks on another roadtrip to visit the bizarre attractions and quirky museums in America's heartland. "Matthew Simmons has found a beautiful and extraordinary way to tell a story about the sweetness of...more
Paperback, 67 pages
Published
June 2nd 2009
by Publishing Genius
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Finding a great book from a small press is a lot like finding a great B movie. Some of them are crap; quite a few are surprisingly okay, though not outstanding, if you’re open to something a little different; but every so often one comes along that is so good one can’t help but wonder why it isn’t a New York Times Bestseller. Well, of course, it isn’t a Bestseller because Bestsellers are almost always terrible books in the same way that quintuple platinum albums are terrible; they’re not meant t...more
You are given a small, thin book by AEB. AEB is your wife and she often gives you good things to read. AEB explains that the book, while it has no pictures, is very short and therefore perfect for you. You thank her and begin to read it. You are a bedtime reader and so you find it hard to get through more than 20 or 30 pages a night. Even at that it, the book is so small you finish it in 3 days.
Overall you find the book to be a bit pretentious and over-thought. You find the use of tense to be a...more
Overall you find the book to be a bit pretentious and over-thought. You find the use of tense to be a...more
I don't remember ever writing one of these things, so I'll spare you the foreplay. This is the single finest account told from the second person perspective that I've read, and I can honestly say that it has changed my life. Not in the way that catching a green light when your running late will change your life. No, no. What I experienced was more meaningful, and I will always be grateful to local author Matthew Simmons for that.
If you feel like reading something truly exquisite and expertly wr...more
If you feel like reading something truly exquisite and expertly wr...more
While I'm a sucker for a detached narrator, surrealism, and dream states, I like this book as much for the language - similar in style to the slacker poetry of a Tao Lin, but maybe more poetic - as for the weirdness and existentialism. I read it in the Portland airport at 11pm. If you can arrange to read it there, I recommend it. It is about being in transit, and the venue of an airport (and one would assume a train or bus station, the back of a taxi, or on horseback would work as well) seems to...more
Matthew Simmons’ delicate prose in his book “A Jello Horse” is a
wondrous read on a quiet night within an hour of lying around
relaxing. After reading each pretty paragraph, going back and reading
it again out loud is recommended to add to the magic of listening to
the unraveling of a heart-touching story of a man dealing with a
traumatic suicidal event affecting himself and his closest friends. On
the road, we observe his recollections of past love’s failures. We
are also exposed to his vivid percepti...more
Altogether heartbreaking and profoundly generous, A Jello Horse captures the uncertainty of surviving your 20's without losing your imagination in the process. You see enormous animals devouring Madison, Wisconsin. You see death and abuse and the unfettered love of friends. Mathew Simmons' compact sentences churn with emotional vigor that will make you think, "I remember that,"... though maybe you really don't. But that's ok. A phone is ringing and someone is waiting to talk to you.
more a short story than a novel at 67 pages. this story in the second person tells of a road trip to a roommate's brothers funeral in Nebraska. when the funeral proves too much he goes on his own road trip and visits a raft of bizarre roadside attractions including the house of 2000 telephones.
I was surprised at how engrossing this short piece of fiction became
I was surprised at how engrossing this short piece of fiction became
I read this book about a week ago on a bus from Ann Arbor to Chicago. It made the trip a whole lot better. I keep remembering certain things, like how the narrator calls himself a "carcinogen to women." I love that. The book is really cute, too, and I like that Matthew signed mine. I wish it were longer, but that's only because I would have liked more.
Q: What is lonelier than feeding a herd of sickly jackalopes the day after finding you have genital warts?
A: The 1 phone in the House of 2000 Phones that has never rung.
It would be really nice to see a sequel, or 2 more novellas smashed onto the end.
I'd recommend it to any fan of Jean-Philippe Toussaint.
A: The 1 phone in the House of 2000 Phones that has never rung.
It would be really nice to see a sequel, or 2 more novellas smashed onto the end.
I'd recommend it to any fan of Jean-Philippe Toussaint.
A novella that reminds me of Drug Store Cowboy in a way. Its not about drugs but has that same somber sensibility that is embedded in the entire story. The writer's upfront style of piecing together the emotions is moving and at times hard to read, but well worth the reading.
This book had some decent elements (unusual roadside attractions and a vivid way of depicting being in the presence of extreme grief) but overall it felt disjointed and too angst-y for my tastes. It strives for a Surrealist feel but winds up being fragmented and heavy.
Is it wrong that I rated my book? Is it okay that I only gave it four stars? Does that make stuff better?
Probably not. I like this book, though. I like that I wrote it. I like how it came out. I'd also like to know what you think.
Probably not. I like this book, though. I like that I wrote it. I like how it came out. I'd also like to know what you think.
The story took me in a lot of directions I appreciated and enjoyed, but I wanted to live in those moments and see where they took me before moving on. I loved the House wtih 2000 phones. This concept alone could have benn the focus of the whole book. I also wanted to know more about the animals that follow the main character.
In his tenth book, Matthew Simmons complicates all previous renderings of American history. This is a book that only Matthew Simmons could have written. At times it even reads like a farewell to an old seismograph.
from Kevin Sampsell, via Huffington Post: An odd little road story, complete with surreal roadside attractions and a melancholy tone that will pleasantly haunt you when it's all over.
I've been meaning to read this for much longer than it took to read, but it will stay with me for
much longer than I waited.
much longer than I waited.
Probably my favorite chapbook that I read this year.
honestly these things about no idea i have
it's like the RCP90 gun in Goldeneye.
This book is pretty interesting. Super short. Read it in like 30 mins. It's the first story I ever read that's written entirely in the second person. It's pretty funny and enjoyable.
It seems like I'm sitting next to Matthew Simmons while he tells me this story of quiet and introspective velocity. It is a sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking adventure that reveals the strange cyclone of grief and friendship. The House of 2000 Telephones is simply brilliant.
The following sentence made me laugh loudly in the waiting room of doctor's office packed with stoic patients... "Jesus fuck, Nebraska."
The following sentence made me laugh loudly in the waiting room of doctor's office packed with stoic patients... "Jesus fuck, Nebraska."
Just read this for the second time in a few days (the first time was not in one sitting, which really is the best way to read this book). Everyone should read this book. I only wish it were in libraries across America (the fact that it's not in the Seattle Public Library leads me to assume that it's not in most libraries) in order to give more people the opportunity. I would really like to visit the house of 2000 telephones.
A bit of American-Surrealism about depressed young adults in the Mid-West. House of 2000 telephones is great. Reminds me a lot of The Dream Life of Balso Snell by N.West. Book has energy from being written quickly (and clearly), but I wonder if a more calculated plan and elaboration and development of the episodes might have made the book better. It wasn't bad, just kind of slight.
The house of 2000 telephones at the end was quite cool and I wish that had been given more space. Good arc and the road trip revved things up from the early slowness. The all caps for character names was a bit weird and added to the detachment, which was perhaps the idea, but it kept pushing me out of the story.
It started a little sluggish for me but as the story gets more surreal, it also gets more engaging. The House of 2000 Telephones is worthy of its own novella. Maybe a sequel? The oddness of the 2nd half of the book somehow (brilliantly) gives the melancholy of the narration a lingering heaviness.
Tapers into a prism, separates the light into the visible spectrum, then simply turns off the light, leaves the room, quietly closes the door.
I liked this. I was surprised by how good an idea the two sections I heard before reading the book myself gave me of the entire work. Will read more from Matthew.
Liked this book for maybe 40-50 pages. Loved the last ten pages.
Simmons never lets the thing devolve into pointless surrealism.
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I live in Seattle. I had a cat. I write for HTML Giant. I edit interviews for Hobart.
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May 17, 2010 05:57pm