At Last There Is Nothing Left To Say

by Matthew Good

This is the landscape of At Last There Is Nothing Left To Say, Matthew Good's debut book of stories. Taking the form of an artist's journal, Good's tales grind through dark, often violent places animated by voices warped by hallucination and flesh chafed by reality. From the ramblings of an opium-riddled adventurer to treatises on life from a mind rattled by the world; from the tragic end of a teen queen to a day in the life of a rock star; from the execution of the Self by the Other to the pull between rules and freedom, this is a landscape located halfway between imagination and reality, a world that rocks between imagination and reality, a world that rocks between sleep and wakefulness, sanity and insanity, sobriety and inebriation. A must for fans of The Matthew Good Band, At Last There Is Nothing Left To Say sure isn't Disneyland, but it'll take you on a ride you'll never forget.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Canada, Music, Poetry, Art

184 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

Reviews

[Kat Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matthew Good is probably my all time favoriet musician. I love his cynisim and world political awareness. The darkness in his music defintely translate into this book. Love Love Love...is all I can say.

[TheDarkOrb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to recommend on its own, At Last There Is Nothing Left to Say will mostly, and perhaps solely, appeal to those that know Matthew Good as a Musician. Written while suffering from un-diagnosed bipolar, insomnia, and coping poorly with the realities of fame acquired through rock music; the short stories contained here were originally posted online in the late 90s and around the turn of the millennium.

Often rambling, frequently offensive (especially by modern standards), and always falling under what many would consider "weird" the stores also often contain delightfully dark insights on the human condition. It will not be most peoples "cup of tea" but those that do find themselves enjoying it will likely do so thoroughly.

[Jon FK · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book in the basement of a used book store. While standing there with it in my hands I had to research if it was by the musician: it is. I also had to decide if the reviews on the back were a good thing: they were. Kind of.

Some of these reviews are fairly spot on. The book is filled with, the majority of times, almost incoherent nonsense. However, amongst the ravings of what seems like a paranoid drug abusing schizophrenic person with alzheimer's stuck in a fever dream, there are some psychological and philosophical nuggets worth exploring. There's also a certain dark humor that hits home at times.

The formatting is unconventional and seems so just for its own sake. The work in itself mostly takes the form of short stories, half of which begin as autobiographical. Very short musings and ramblings are strewn without. It's a coffee table book, albeit a very odd one. With some very short and other times very long and tedious passages.

The read was disjointed and, I believe, not meant to be digested in quick succession. A part of me thinks that he wrote One true story in this book and designed the rest of the nonsensical works around it, to hide it. A romantic notion. Good luck.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally finished. That's not to say it is a bad book. I actually liked it. The author goes to the dark recesses of his drug filled mind. It's very much like the imagined ramblings of a rock star. It's a fun read, but better in smaller doses. He finds a way to revisit some of his earlier thoughts into later ones.

[Matthew McEachern · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm super happy I came across this book. Matthew Good has a wild imagination and I enjoyed every minute of it. Was given this book as a gift by a friend but I am sure glad I got to experience it!

[Orangetree]

This was a great read. I'd read it again. Matthew has a lot of thought provoking, intelligent things to say.

[Kristel · Rating 1 out of 5]

The blurbs on the back of the book pretty much say it all: "Complete crap from beginning to end." or "...extremely redundant and wandering. The kind of book that makes you feel like you've wasted precious hours of your life for nothing."

I enjoyed this book more when I was younger, now I just wonder how I didn't see then how utterly stupid it is. Here's a quotation from You Can Tell Them I'm Coming. And Hell's Coming With Me, which is probably the truest bit in this book:

So you're probably asking yourself, as you most assuredly must, does he have a point? Is he going to take this somewhere or be conveniently ambiguous so as to escape some kind of finality. Does he do it on purpose? They're valid questions. Questions that I one day hope to answer for you... My name's Matt and I have nowhere to go. I, like the roller coaster, always end in the same place. Right here, it would seem.

[Zoë Birss · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don't know how to rate this book. It is one of five or fewer books that has ever given me a profound sense of horror, to a degree that moved me beyond my control. Others that have moved me so include A Wrinkle in Time, when I was a child, 1984, issue 100 of The Walking Dead, and House of Leaves. All of those books I consider among the best I've ever read. The horror I experienced reading Matthew Good's book, however, was mixed with a thick disgust that grew with each page. I could not finish it, though I'd purchased the book, and love the music of Matthew Good. Whether this means the book is very good or very bad, I do not know.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I learned from this book:
Screwing with Tele-evangelists is highly amusing
If a porn star invites you back to her apartment, say no.
Do not swim in a hot tub full of spiked jello when drunk
How to fake multiple personality disorder
Always listen to The Handbook
Nobody knows what the purple switch does
Matthew Good writes fantastic short stories.

[Allison Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book from start to finish - Matt's collection of short stories bring a lot to the table. His satire and humor made the book that much better, and I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of Chuck Palahniuk or Douglas Copeland.
At Last there is nothing left to say has definitely become one of my favourite books.

[Dan Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of short storys was my inspiration to start writing my own short storys. Very well done indeed!

[daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

brilliantly entertaining.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this man.

[Jesseehenthorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

From this book: I learned the rules of life.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of ramblings by one of my favourite Canadian musicians. It's not hard to see where his song writing comes from when you read some of the more personal stories here.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odd, fragmented, weird and utterly lovely.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this book.