Happy Rock

by Matthew Simmons

The characters in these quirky intelligent stories hoist the banner of solitude and misfit wit from the vast remote recesses of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.Young lovers discern self-revealing events in celestial skies. A man recounts his affectionate history with his 200-lbs mastiff, named Father. Tired workers nurse their hangovers before a loud local bar serves up contemplations of a brother’s tour in Iraq. Happy Rock brushes the dust and snow from the micro-verses of small towns and strange lives surrounded by the great outside.


Matthew Simmons lives in Seattle, WA. He works at the University Book Store, is the author of the novella A Jello Horse, and has been published in numerous print and online journals. He is the interviews editor for the journal Hobart, a frequent contributor to HTMLGIANT, and blogs as The Man Who Couldn't Blog.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

127 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 2012

About the author

I live in Seattle. I write. I edit the Instant Future eBook series. I had a cat. I wrote for HTML Giant. I edited interviews for Hobart.

Reviews

[Matthew]

I tried to do my best.

[tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This guy's got mad craft. Right from the get-go I felt transported into the heart of these stories. I tend to land on the side of the short story fence that enjoys the format while often wishing for something longer, something more, like right when the getting gets good, the ripcord's pulled. Not so here. Each of these stories feels complete and fully realized and together create a cohesive world unto itself. My only wish is that there be an extra zero at the end of total page count to extend the immersion in this wonderful place. I look forward with impatience to go where he conjures next. Mesmerizing.

[Scott Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Matthew Simmons earlier 'A Jello Horse' and so was looking forward to 'Hard Rock'. I have to say it exceeds any expectations I had by a long way. It took me longer than I expected to finish as the stories demanded slow, contemplative reading and sometimes re-reading on my part that was worth every second. I can name particular favourites such as 'The Residents', 'Grown In' and 'We never, ever went to the Moon' but really there is not a wasted word in the whole book. The inveterate romantic in me desperately hoped for a different ending for 'Eugenius' but it would have rang less meaningful than the one created by Matthew for our society.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more Simmons writes, the more you can tell that he's forging his own kind of territory. Sure, there are your standard ingredients of losers and meanies and achy breaky love, but there's also more unusual things going on as well. A sort of unreachable utopian spirit and bursts of true beauty or cringy horror. My favorite stories here were "Father," "Daredevils," and "Rabbit Fur Coat." In other words, I liked the most crushing ones.

[Michael Seidlinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Turn up the heavy metal and feel something. There's so much to be found in Simmons's unique collection.

[Seth Pollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Matthew's friend I am obviously inclined to find this book wonderful. I must say, however, I do feel extremely confident recommending this book to you. Echoing writers like Primo Levi, George Saunders, and Hemingway, but with a distinctive voice and style all his own, Matthew manages a rare feat: writing stories of heartbreak with tenderness and without schmoozey sentimentality. From the moon to Michigan, from childhood to emerging adulthood, the collection explores place and character in a way that inspires yearning and nostalgia and laughter--and, for me, the urge to write.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the many times I found myself in Michigan, in the upper areas that Happy Rock takes place, I was sneaking into a house because I heard the furniture had to be seen, how the house was set to be lived in had to be looked at -- and thought about. It demanded a part of your life. Happy Rock is a house worth breaking into.

[Frances Dinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story "Saxophone Lung Explodes" is seriously on the same level as anything George Saunders has ever written.

[Tobias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, wide-ranging work; there's realism of the magic and gritty varieties to be found here.

[Kris V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sean H. Doyle posted a picture of this book, and my fingers did the work to purchase a copy in minutes.
I took the hint because I was looking for one. Looking for comrades of verse in hoards, or small corners; basically wherever they could be found.
Picking at random after reading the first, the sighs of empathy collected behind every read page.

Matthew Simmons is a writer who knows himself, what he has to say, and the work that needs to be done to get there.
These stories all feel entwined with personal history, and my favorite, "Grown In" is a beautifully impolite testament to the foundation all the other's stand upon in this book.

It's a slim volume of heavy hitting prose. There's fantastical elements that keep you suspended - reminders that you're in a dream and safe - in the stories. There's sadness that aches in the mind like they've grown too ashen for the heart to remember. That is Michigan, its old landscapes sagging from disregard. As a reader, it is wonderful to come upon words and instantly know they solely belong to a particular voice.
In other words, no one can write like Simmons.
I'm glad for being impulsive. As a writer, this gave me something to be inspired, which is key. The work is never done, yet this book is a silent ninja.

[Peter Landau · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the great story, "Saxophone Lung Explodes," from the solid collection HAPPY ROCK by Matthew Simmons, there's a line of dialogue by a character, a used book and record store owner. He's talking about seeing Eric Dolphy live and how his music "could be serious and funny at the same time," which is an apt description of Simmons short stories. They can make you laugh from one line to the next and then you're moved to something more ernest. It's like that prize in the Cracker Jacks box, if the promise of what you're going to get was actually fulfilled by the present. It's also a lot like life, which is never as formulaic as often depicted in fiction. The plots, which aren't anchored by reality, never fly in the face of it like some pest, but pull forward and feel true to the story they're telling. And what's so special about reality anyway? It's not how we live our lives.

[Samuel Sattin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous collection full of characters with colliding dreams, sparks of surrealism, situated in the lush half-reality of a Calvino novel. I felt right with the world when I put Happy Rock down.

[Levi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just wish there were more of it . . .

[Rai · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magical collection of stories that beautifully shows the bright parts of humanity, the dark parts of humanity, and mostly the unique parts that make us all so amazingly human.

[Delaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matthew Simmons is able to capture the feeling of small town life, of growing up and growing old. Even though I didn't live there, I could see it clearly. Everything changes and everything stays the same. I especially loved the dash of magical realism and the themes of love, loss and figuring out what it means to be human. A lovely short story collection.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Eugenius" was my favorite story. I felt this book started strong but didn't hold it. Also, there were a surprising number of typos...