#big venerable

[behnamriahi]

Written by Matt Rowan. Edited by Behnam Riahi.

“Oh God, my bodily parts,” Herbert accidentally said aloud, grabbing with both hands for his chest.

From Big Venerable, available on Amazon and at CCLAPCENTER.com

[behnamriahi]

The release party for the short story collection I edited, Big Venerable, by Matt Rowan. Here’s the playbill:

Come celebrate the release of my book, Big Venerable. I want you to do so! Call this a command, especially if treating it as such makes your attendance more likely. Here is something I swear I didn't write that speaks about the book and me in a flattering way: A darkly surreal yet absurdly funny short-fiction writer, Matt Rowan has been a Chicago local secret for years; but now this latest collection of pieces, all of which originally appeared in the pages of the CCLaP Weekender in 2014 and '15, is set to garner him the national recognition his stories deserve, a Millennial George Saunders who is one of the most popular authors in the city's notorious late-night literary performance community. Shocking? Thought-provoking? Strangely humorous? Uncomfortable yet insightful on a regular basis? YES PLEASE. Other praise: "I love this book. The day-to-day reality of a burger joint is almost magical, while the future fantasy of a synthetic forest is so profoundly real we could hike there together tomorrow. Inside these wildly imaginative, near-cinematic stories, Rowan is asking big questions: What constitutes true change? And what part do we want to play in it? I'll go back to Big Venerable again and again. I can't get it out of my head." - Megan Stielstra, Once I Was Cool "Neither fabulist not realist instead I would describe Rowan as a comic realist of the fake and a monologist of the strange." - Joseph G. Peterson, Twilight of the Idiots "Big Venerable reads like a collection of modern fables, peppered with workplace anxiety, mutating families, absurd quests, and faulty sages delivering self-centered advice. A very funny book from a very funny man." - Halle Butler, Jillian Readers include: Ben Tanzer Joseph G. Peterson and Halle Butler

Come check it out.

[behnamriahi]

When working with Matt Rowan, I learned a lot of things that every writer ought to know. Mostly, no matter how narrow your perspective is on quality literature, there will always be those writers--the ones who truly make art--that break that notion and convey ideas and emotions more complex than the page should allow for. Today, the pieces that Matt wrote and that I simply struggled to keep up with are out in print. If you're looking for brilliant writing that's built on a foundation of both whimsy and the serendipitous, you need not look any further.  

[behnamriahi]

A darkly surreal yet absurdly funny short-fiction writer, Matt Rowan has been a Chicago local secret for years; but now this latest collection of pieces, all of which originally appeared in the pages of the CCLaP Weekender in 2014 and '15, is set to garner him the national recognition his stories deserve, a Millennial George Saunders who is one of the most popular authors in the city's notorious late-night literary performance community. Shocking? Thought-provoking? Strangely humorous? Uncomfortable yet insightful on a regular basis? YES PLEASE.

"Big Venerable reads like a collection of modern fables, peppered with workplace anxiety, mutating families, absurd quests, and faulty sages delivering self-centered advice. A very funny book from a very funny man." --Halle Butler, author of Jillian