Matt Marinovich profile picture

Matt Marinovich

mattmarinovich

About Me

My first novel, "STRANGE SKIES" is out now from Harper Perennial. It's available at Barnes and Noble, Borders, and perhaps even your local bookstore.
.........THE REVIEWS ARE IN:
"I laughed so loud I upset my dog." -- Heather McElhatton, THE HUFFINGTON POST
"[An] artful debut…Paul’s an unsually self-aware scoundrel, and his adventures, including his dread of fatherhood, are very funny..." -- PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY
"Good fun...self-pitying, self-mocking, lively, sometimes hilarious...fast paced, entertaining..." --KIRKUS REVIEWS
"Matt Marinovich's debut novel dares to have its humourous way with the dread subject of cancer. Insurance salesman Paul Mauro discovers a lump on his arm, and everything therafter--from the chemo issue to a beguiling mother and child he meets at an airport--falls strangely, urgently, ecstatically into place for this likable Everyman embarked on a stare-down with time..." -- ELLE
"A survivor, this author could have taken the easy way out. Instead, Matt Marinovich has used his own struggles as inspiration for a truly remarkable novel. “Strange Skies” (Harper Perennial, 226 pp., $13.95) probably won’t be chosen by Oprah, nor will cancer survivor groups put it on their “must read” lists - and that’s a good thing. This book is too important - a rude yet hilarious story that reminds us why novels are so essential. “Strange Skies” captures the self-loathing of Paul, and his own degenerative path after being diagnosed with cancer, taking readers on an emotional adventure that recalls both Holden Caulfield and Fight Club."--BROOKLYN EAGLE
"A compulsive read...Marinovich's Paul is Meursault without an Arab to kill, and his story is a dark, delightful joyride, full of shakespearean plot twists." --Rebecca Curtis, author of TWENTY GRAND
"What a terrific bastard!" --Panio Gianopoulos, Editor, BLOOMSBURY

My Interests

I like to jog, hike, fish! Actually, I thought I liked to fish until I caught a tiny striped bass and had to beat it to death. I always forget that fish bleed. Like humans.

I'd like to meet:

The person I'd like to meet at the moment is....Tolstoy. Right around the time he hit his stride and was acting like David Koresh. Wandering around with all that white hair, sleeping with the help, trying to start his own religious movement. At the same time he was catty enough to bitch about other writers. So that's my choice for now. It would be nice to sit next to him for a few hours, listening to the trees, spitting out cherry pits, watching the clouds move...

Music:

I don't like music anymore. I'm too cheap to add one more song to my Sensa, so I keep on playing the ones I own over and over. Something has to give...

Books:

I'm really into one thousand page nonfiction history books right now. Give me a pointless ten-year war, a little flanking action, and I'm basically very happy. Did you know that Russian soldiers once used hot porridge to defend themselves against the Swedes? Are you there? You're nodding off, aren't you?

My Blog

Bill Knott Rocks

Bill Knott used to be a poetry teacher of mine at Emerson college. He wore thick prescription lenses that were taped in the middle. He blew his nose a lot. And best of all, he would leave the classroo...
Posted by Matt Marinovich on Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:26:00 PST

The Reading, a very short story

I had found myself at the slightly awkward point in my writing career when I found it necessary to please a single man, bald and heavy set, eating alone. We were the only two people in the brick-walle...
Posted by Matt Marinovich on Thu, 27 Dec 2007 06:50:00 PST

The Liquor Store Guy

Have you ever walked into a liquor store when they're doing a free tasting? I rushed into one the other day to get a bottle of wine. There's a guy offering free samples of a new vodka, I already forge...
Posted by Matt Marinovich on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:43:00 PST

The Tandem Asshole Theory

I'm working on something called The Tandem Asshole Theory. I'm convinced that when I run into one asshole, on an otherwise normal, lovely day, there's a one hundred percent chance that I'm going ...
Posted by Matt Marinovich on Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:05:00 PST

Grace Paley

I heard the sad news that Grace Paley died today. I was fortunate enough to study with her at Sarah Lawrence. She was a short woman with unruly white hair and a wonderful, craggy smile....
Posted by Matt Marinovich on Fri, 24 Aug 2007 05:52:00 PST

Please Don't Kill Me, I Just Want to Ride the Wonder Wheel

What is it about me that I always feel like I'm the guy who's one step ahead of the other guy and end up paying dearly for it? For instance, Coney Island yesterday. Blazing hot boardwalk, everyone aro...
Posted by Matt Marinovich on Sun, 29 Jul 2007 07:12:00 PST

The Night Poems

Well, first came The Office Poems. Now, prepare yourself for the offhand, seat-of-the-pants sequel, The Night Poems... 12:03 waiting for the Xanax to kick in and one loose quarter in the drier to s...
Posted by Matt Marinovich on Tue, 05 Jun 2007 10:50:00 PST

Marty Markowitz in the flesh

So, I went to Brooklyn Reads last night. Still not sure what it was exactly. Something to do with the book expo, or booksellers, or Brooklyn authors. I was there to mingle, push Strange Skies. Marty M...
Posted by Matt Marinovich on Thu, 31 May 2007 11:19:00 PST

The Office Poems

I don't know which came first, the boredom or the creativity. But I'm sitting here at my freelance job this morning, and the choice was daytrading or poetry. To stave off financial destruction I wrote...
Posted by Matt Marinovich on Thu, 31 May 2007 01:20:00 PST