WHAT IT IS: WHAT IT IS – Paul Maziar and Matt Maust
I’m extremely thrilled for my friend Paul, he’s just published his first book, a collaboration with Matt Maust – and i’m super proud! It was really interesting and fun to hang out with Paul while he was going through the process of putting the book together, I don’t know the first thing about taking on such an endeavor, so it was exciting to hear his plans while they were being made. I read a bit of it over the summer, and it got to me! I was feeling down, Paul had me read an excerpt to cheer me up, it was very poignant and touching, it made me cry in my overly emo state of mind, but it wasn’t supposed to! Paul apologized ; ) then I felt bad, but at the same time, it was all kind of funny, so I ended up laughing in the end. So, anyway, i’ve just ordered my copy, I can’t wait to take in the finished masterpiece. The reviews are amazing, congrats guys!!!
What It Is: What It Is
A Collaboration by Paul G. Maziar and Matt Maust
words: maziar, images: maust.
edited by shea M. gauer, and the lovely julia simon
WRITE BLOODY BOOKS, 2008
AVAILABLE NOW at writebloody.com
‘It’s not poetry, it’s not prose…what is it: what is it? With What It Is: What It Is, Cold War Kids bassist and visual artist Maust and wordsmith Maziar have succeeded in making a book that’s less of a book and more of a guided tour through places they’ve been, both actual and abstract. With prose poems about taking deep breaths from our collective unconscious and making exhalations of cold smoke into thin air, and photo-collage images of cities, faces, skies and subways, the work suggests a fractured postmodern world viewed through nostalgic eyes and voiced by a warm, familiar tongue that still sounds unique.’ – FILTER MAGAZINE
‘Revolt against mechanized living is one of the themes explored in Maziar’s new book of experimental prose and poetry, What It Is: What It Is, that features visuals by the artist Maust.’ – TIME OUT NEW YORK
‘The unorthodox endeavor fuses photography from around the world and beat-like prose’ - CMJ
From Paul . . .
Hello Comrades,
The book I’ve been working on for some time now with my good friend and talented designer, Maust, is finally finished. We’re psyched to tell you, it’s being put out through Derrick Brown’s publishing company Write Bloody.
This sweet action will also be available shortly through Insound.com, Borders, independent booksellers like OPEN in Long Beach and select indie record stores across the US.
I’ve been doing book readings in Brooklyn and NYC all year long, some with the musical accompaniment of Chase Pagan on piano– and I’ll be doing many more throughout the year. Please see the dates below, and our BKLYN release party info. And come, if yr in the area, it’s free!
Maust’s artwork is absolutely thrilling, and I’m ecstatic beyond belief to have this piece of work with him.
US Dates
Feb 7 – NYC, NY – The Living Room w/Chase Pagan
Feb 13 – New York, New York – Sound Fix Lounge BOOK RELEASE PARTY!! w/ Derrick Brown, Chase Pagan, and Matty Charles
Feb 14 – NYC, New York – The Living Room w/Chase Pagan
Feb 19 – - Philadelphia, PA – The Fire w/Chase Pagan
Feb 21 – New York, NY – The Living Room w/Chase Pagan
Feb 26 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fire w/Chase Pagan
Feb 28 – NYC, New York – The Living Room w/Chase Pagan
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13 @ 8:00 P.M.
SOUND FIX RECORDS AND WRITE BLOODY BOOKS PRESENT:
WHAT IT IS: WHAT IT IS
BOOK RELEASE SOIREE (FREE!)
Reading by Author Paul G. Maziar
Images by Maust
With a Special Premiere of THE LAST AMERICAN VALENTINE
by Poet Derrick Brown and Friends
Live Tunes From:
CHASE PAGAN
and MATTY CHARLES
Sound Fix Lounge
Bedford & N. 11th, Williamsburg
This is neat– visit writebloody.com, and click on the top left link. Write Bloody has set up a program where the first $50.00 of web sales go to the author’s favorite charity, for the first month of the book’s release, and they match that amount. They also have a donation button for fans to push extra into if they like, and at the end of that month they pass a chunky check to the cause in the author’s name. So we chose the Komen Foundation, a foundation devoted to curing breast cancer, as this awful disease took the life of my (Paul’s) Mama in ‘97. Every little bit counts.
For more of What It Is, visit www.myspace.com/whatitisbook or www.whatitiswhatitis.com
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