Easiest If I Had A Gun

by Michael Gerhard Martin

Like his mentors Chuck Kinder and Lewis Nordan, Michael Gerhard Martin writes deeply textured stories that take you into the minds and souls of the people you see in discount stores, grocery aisles, and gas stations. In the tradition of Raymond Carver, Martin's tales give dignity and grace to adults caught in the cold grip of poverty and to their children, who struggle mightily with broken homes, bullying, racism, and the constant hum of anger, violence, and resentment that is their lives.

In a voice ringing with emotion, the stories in Easiest If I Had A Gun will remind you what literature is for--that great project of taking us deeper into life, laying it bare, and transforming it with words into something we can hold in our hearts.

165 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2014

About the author

I was born in eastern-central PA, and went to school in Pittsburgh, where I lived for about 13 years.

I've worked in book stores, kitchens, a grocery store, and a slaughterhouse. Eventually, I got my MFA in fiction from U. Pitt, and started teaching at a Community College. From there, I moved on to LaRoche College, Northeastern U., and eventually Babson College.

I have also been an instructor for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) for 16 years. I took my first fiction workshop in that program when I was about 14 years old.

I live in Massachusetts, in an old house that overlooks a park and a public beach. My wife is the poet and memoirist Ellen Goldstein.

Reviews

[Melissa Andre]

You have a voracious reader on your Xmas list, don't you? Perhaps even one who once lived or currently lives in the "Pennsyltucky" area. Or maybe she just loves that much-maligned and overlooked genre, the short story. Or maybe your reader is a high schooler herself, trapped in that dark hellhole of hormonal confusion, social iniquity, and humiliating post-gym showers. If so you should buy your reader this book. It will make him think you are much cooler than you probably are, and may also make him confess his darkest high school secret to you, because you gave him or her the book that made him think-- or reminded her-- that he was not only not alone, but that the adults are just as screwed up in the head as the kids and he might as well get used to the idea for the rest of his life. That's the power of Michael Gerhard Martin's book.

[Gerry LaFemina]

These short stories of the social misfits growing up exemplify the rage, frustration, and potential redemption of the American outcast. The last story ends with the return of a previous protagonist, offering us some hope for characters we find ourselves rooting for because of their underdog status. Well written, this is a fine collection (if poorly proofread) of short stories.

[Eva Chaves]

borrowed from anna b! very quick easy read and was enjoyable, i liked the writing style bc i felt very immersed in each story but i did feel like i needed more from most of them bc they ended so abruptly

[Liana]

Propulsive, highly readable stories of teenagers and precarious adults. Spot-on dialogue, narratives that move along at a clip, and memorable, believable characters.

[Christie]

In Easiest if I Had a Gun Michael Gerhard Martin immerses the reader in a world of characters scrambling for love, acceptance, and understanding. Sometimes this exhibits in a character needing a gun, first as possibility for suicide, then later reconsidered in surprising ways. Sometimes it’s a character desperate to learn to fish, which then becomes a boy naked in his need for love and attention. These characters live in a world of poverty, addiction, and neglect – the world that surrounds us at all times yet so many often choose not see. Here the stories plunge us into gritty reality of people trying to survive unspeakable moments embarrassment reflected in poignant and skillful beauty.

What Michael Gerhard Martin’s work capitalizes on best are empathic reversals, drawing the reader into identifying with a character before revealing a moment of discomfort or even the grotesque causes the reader to recoil. It is in these turns that the reader is most engaged, at once realizing that it through these open and vulnerable parts of the character that one’s self is reflected and laid open to scars and memories. It is this triumph that makes Easiest if I Had a Gun a must read while lending itself to a sure favorite of both community and school reading programs striving for captivating discussions and characters exhibiting depth, love, and desire.

In the world of violence in which we live, Martin has captured what the world most. The author creates worlds in which we willingly immerse ourselves into characters who reflect worlds that are familiar. Although the Pennsylvania backdrop might be unknown to an LA urbanite, many readers can remember middle school or high school or college and the confusion, the resentment, the need to be acknowledged. It is in these moments that author challenges the reader as the character reveals his or her need, often in desperate ways. While we rarely willingly see ourselves as “the other,” here the characters we follow take us from a place of identity to a place of where we can see both our unlikeability and the many, many actions and events that created the character’s reaction.

In Easiest if I Had a Gun, Michael Gerhard Martin presents us with what should become the new Catcher in the Rye as a touchstone for the young and old yearning to find our place and to understand others. He gives us a collection that will show us the struggle for acceptance, the need for connection and validation, and a deeper understanding of the hurt self that resides deep within all of us.

[Anna]

I usually blow through short story collections, always kind of wishing I was reading a novel instead. But this book made me slow down-- I couldn't handle reading more than one or two stories a day. If novels are broth, these stories are demi-glace. Each one opens up a compelling world full of flawed, hurting, loving people. A more sadistic author, after drawing you in, would make you watch these people destroy each other. Martin just shows us ourselves and our loved ones, at our most human and raw. There's just enough hope and goodness to keep you going. As I was making my way through the stories, taking breaks to live my life, I found myself more patient and more curious about the people around me, more compassionate about whatever their invisible struggles were. Highly recommended.

[Amy Wissekerke]

A solid collection of stories that render the deep well of human need with tenderness and insight. This book deserves to be widely-read. Standout (knockout) stories include Shit Weasel is Late for Class (the most honest tale of the effects of bullying I've read), Made Just for Ewe!, Even the Dust, and my favorite, Dreamland.

[Needer]

What a ride of a book.