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A Nice Piece of Astoria: A Narrative Guide
A Nice Piece of Astoria is a work of creative non-fiction that examines and updates the new and classic stories of Astoria. The book blends an eclectic variety of literary genres, including memoir, history, essay, vignette, reportage, guide, criticism, satire, stream of consciousness, meditation, review, commentary, and polemic.
In the book, Love tours you through Astoria's beer, bars, taverns, The Goonies, Lewis and Clark, sea lions, rain, salmon, coffee, Vikings, paperboys, professional wrestling, strippers, the Column, the Clatsop County Fair, the Columbia River, gentrification, hipsters, parks, The Ship Report and his first year in town. The book includes a preface by Meriwether Lewis.
A Nice Piece of Astoria also features woodcut illustrations from Astoria High School yearbooks, circa 1934-36. The book was printed by Pioneer Printing in Newport and is distributed exclusively through Nestucca Spit Press' web site, independent bookstores and at live events.
In the book, Love tours you through Astoria's beer, bars, taverns, The Goonies, Lewis and Clark, sea lions, rain, salmon, coffee, Vikings, paperboys, professional wrestling, strippers, the Column, the Clatsop County Fair, the Columbia River, gentrification, hipsters, parks, The Ship Report and his first year in town. The book includes a preface by Meriwether Lewis.
A Nice Piece of Astoria also features woodcut illustrations from Astoria High School yearbooks, circa 1934-36. The book was printed by Pioneer Printing in Newport and is distributed exclusively through Nestucca Spit Press' web site, independent bookstores and at live events.
- GenresNonfiction
220 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2015
15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 11, 2015
late in his newest book, a nice piece of astoria, matt love recounts moving to the oregon coast some 18 years ago (see also:
gimme refuge: the education of a caretaker
) as "perhaps the boldest decision of my life... a last ditch effort to become an oregonian of merit." having authored/edited 13 books about oregon, received the stewart h. holbrook literary legacy award ("in recognition of significant contributions that have enriched oregon’s literary community"), and founded a press (nestucca spit) that distributes its books solely through independent bookstores, its own website, and live events (logging about a half million miles to and from some 600 readings around the state), it's well evident love's so-called "last ditch effort" has paid off handsomely - most of all for those of us who love and cherish all things oregonian.
much as he did in 2009's super sunday in newport: notes from my first year in town , love has penned a narrative guide to his new home, with all of the requisite wit, humor, insight, rain worship, beach adoration, rock allusions, political asides, and iconoclasm one has come to expect in his writing. a nice piece of astoria is composed mostly of short vignettes (and myriad metaphors) on a variety of astoria-related subjects (and some non-germane ones as well) - covering everything from the history and founding of the port city to the current and ever-encroaching gentrification and ensuing hipsterdom.
if you haven't yet read any of matt love's books (and woe unto you, if you indeed have not), you'll find his passion for all things oregon utterly invigorating. as he continues to mine the beaver state for every last tellable story, we'll go on enjoying the fruits of his labor. matt love is the storyteller oregon deserves and it's likely she doesn't have a more tireless advocate and champion.
rip sonny
much as he did in 2009's super sunday in newport: notes from my first year in town , love has penned a narrative guide to his new home, with all of the requisite wit, humor, insight, rain worship, beach adoration, rock allusions, political asides, and iconoclasm one has come to expect in his writing. a nice piece of astoria is composed mostly of short vignettes (and myriad metaphors) on a variety of astoria-related subjects (and some non-germane ones as well) - covering everything from the history and founding of the port city to the current and ever-encroaching gentrification and ensuing hipsterdom.
if you haven't yet read any of matt love's books (and woe unto you, if you indeed have not), you'll find his passion for all things oregon utterly invigorating. as he continues to mine the beaver state for every last tellable story, we'll go on enjoying the fruits of his labor. matt love is the storyteller oregon deserves and it's likely she doesn't have a more tireless advocate and champion.
whenever i stroll the riverfront and see the decaying pilings bobble and tilt with the tides, the derelict piers with blackberries growing out of them, and inexplicable abandoned contraptions rusting like fine sculpture, astoria feels so wonderfully ancient, perpetually and unpretentiously quaint, like it will never fully modernize, because modernization is impossible. but on that same walk, i might also encounter a newcomer like myself, perhaps taking polaroid photographs of the oldness or writing a novel in longhand describing the newness, both artists trying to fathom and build upon what is going on here.
rip sonny
December 29, 2015
Bad puns aside, a nice cutesy narrative non-fiction piece about the Pacific Northwest. It captures some of the rough-and-ready tone of the PNW coast, and really not too bad to read during the height of a Tucson summer.
May 10, 2015
"Son of a bitch! A tourist couple had usurped my favorite writing table by the window, the one with the view of the Megler Bridge, which is clearly a man, just as the Yaquina Bay Bridge is clearly a woman. Imagine the offspring of that union." -13
"Other factors saved Astoria from becoming Coos Bay:...three or four marijuana dispensaries with many more coming because city fathers from nearby municipalities were too drunk to welcome marijuana...". -16-7
"We the people of Astoria...pledge to:
* Never abandon the hearty spirit of the Astor men who tried and failed to establish an empire here.
* Never lacquer over the carnality of this city like some fool crafter who lacquers over the driftwood he uses for his mobiles.
...
* Recognize that a city divided against itself is typically more interesting than a gated community of conformity.
...
* Never forget that this land was stolen from its original inhabitants.
...
* Never try to keep Astoria weird because the city's inherent contrasts already do so without affectation.
...
* Provide succor to the pajamas-in-public people among us.
* Never end up like the Flavels.
...
* Never drink Budweiser in such a mighty local beer town." -94-6
"At long last I...started tearing new Asstorias everywhere, but particularly in the developer class former Oregon Governor Tom McCall memorably and accurately described as 'grasping wastrels of the land.'" -136
"Just imagine if those two monumental catastrophes--one dictatorial sobriety, the other a conflagration--hadn't occurred to quash Astoria's Id." -189
"As we delve further into the subject of Astoria's gentrification, I would like to add that unless a rural city in Oregon somewhat distant from Portland that was formerly dependent on the natural resource economy won't or can't gentrify in some capacity, it will die by strangulation at the hands of the aggrieved Good Old Boys who like two kinds of music, country and western. These are the same men who run the first down chains at high school football games and call their volunteer service the height of civic duty." -202
"Other factors saved Astoria from becoming Coos Bay:...three or four marijuana dispensaries with many more coming because city fathers from nearby municipalities were too drunk to welcome marijuana...". -16-7
"We the people of Astoria...pledge to:
* Never abandon the hearty spirit of the Astor men who tried and failed to establish an empire here.
* Never lacquer over the carnality of this city like some fool crafter who lacquers over the driftwood he uses for his mobiles.
...
* Recognize that a city divided against itself is typically more interesting than a gated community of conformity.
...
* Never forget that this land was stolen from its original inhabitants.
...
* Never try to keep Astoria weird because the city's inherent contrasts already do so without affectation.
...
* Provide succor to the pajamas-in-public people among us.
* Never end up like the Flavels.
...
* Never drink Budweiser in such a mighty local beer town." -94-6
"At long last I...started tearing new Asstorias everywhere, but particularly in the developer class former Oregon Governor Tom McCall memorably and accurately described as 'grasping wastrels of the land.'" -136
"Just imagine if those two monumental catastrophes--one dictatorial sobriety, the other a conflagration--hadn't occurred to quash Astoria's Id." -189
"As we delve further into the subject of Astoria's gentrification, I would like to add that unless a rural city in Oregon somewhat distant from Portland that was formerly dependent on the natural resource economy won't or can't gentrify in some capacity, it will die by strangulation at the hands of the aggrieved Good Old Boys who like two kinds of music, country and western. These are the same men who run the first down chains at high school football games and call their volunteer service the height of civic duty." -202
May 11, 2015
It's always fun to read about a place that is close to your heart. It's also quite entertaining to hear the perspective of someone else who obviously loves the place as much as you do. Love's eye for the wet, the odd, the lesser known & the lewd parts of Astoria had me smiling & laughing out loud, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Poking fun at the hipsters that frequent Astoria was also amusing, however Love's admittance that he is/was one himself could have been admitted to earlier in the book. Maybe then I would not have had that unsettling feeling throughout reading it, knowing that this "new local" knows way too much about the "old local" way of thinking. I want to 5-star love this book, but the stubborn Finn in me says no. I still 4-star love it though. Thanks for the giggles, Matt.
January 15, 2017
waste of the beautiful trees that were cut down to print this. it's like this guy visited once. and the cover? phallic much?
August 14, 2023
Some time back, I was in Powell's in the Oregon section (as you do) poking around. I like to see what kind of Portland books drift through, flip through the old picture books, see if anything fun or self published came in. I was in my cups (again, as you do), and found a handful of books by this guy, Matt Love.
They were all lovingly self-published, and, having no idea who he was, I figured he was just some guy who loved writing so much, he willed his published works into existence. I had a co-worker in Boston who loved writing, and every few years he'd finish a book, pay to get a hundred copies printed up, and then hand them all out, hide them in bookstores, etc. I figured Matt Love was like that (turns out, he kind of was).
I bought four of them, including this one. As we're finally going to Astoria this week, I figured I'd read this, get myself in the mood to return to my favorite Oregon coastal city. And it was very cute!
Love is a pretty good amateur writer, and the book feels like finding an old LiveJournal, clicking on the "Astoria" tag, and reading the entries in chronological order. The book is mostly about his moving to Astoria and living there, with digressions into writing about the rain (which we will probably not get, as it's a heat wave (102 in Portland the day we leave, 94 in Astoria while we're there...)) and some mild tourism recommendations. He often has a great turn of phrase or a lovely piece of prose, and occasionally it's even profound or beautiful.
The only thing he's really not good at is criticism. His critique of The Goonies is pretty much "It's not good because it is bad". It's NOT good, but for more reasons than "It's bad"! The small section about The Goonies felt like it was only in there because he felt like it had to be (he says as much), but it could have been about movies in Astoria in general, or he could have actually put a little work into explaining his position, because it came off as surprisingly petty and amateurish.
This was a nice, breezy read, I chuckled a little, rolled my eyes a little, and then it was over. I look forward to reading more of Love's stuff.
They were all lovingly self-published, and, having no idea who he was, I figured he was just some guy who loved writing so much, he willed his published works into existence. I had a co-worker in Boston who loved writing, and every few years he'd finish a book, pay to get a hundred copies printed up, and then hand them all out, hide them in bookstores, etc. I figured Matt Love was like that (turns out, he kind of was).
I bought four of them, including this one. As we're finally going to Astoria this week, I figured I'd read this, get myself in the mood to return to my favorite Oregon coastal city. And it was very cute!
Love is a pretty good amateur writer, and the book feels like finding an old LiveJournal, clicking on the "Astoria" tag, and reading the entries in chronological order. The book is mostly about his moving to Astoria and living there, with digressions into writing about the rain (which we will probably not get, as it's a heat wave (102 in Portland the day we leave, 94 in Astoria while we're there...)) and some mild tourism recommendations. He often has a great turn of phrase or a lovely piece of prose, and occasionally it's even profound or beautiful.
The only thing he's really not good at is criticism. His critique of The Goonies is pretty much "It's not good because it is bad". It's NOT good, but for more reasons than "It's bad"! The small section about The Goonies felt like it was only in there because he felt like it had to be (he says as much), but it could have been about movies in Astoria in general, or he could have actually put a little work into explaining his position, because it came off as surprisingly petty and amateurish.
This was a nice, breezy read, I chuckled a little, rolled my eyes a little, and then it was over. I look forward to reading more of Love's stuff.
February 1, 2020
Although some of the places that Mr. Love reviewed have disappeared from the landscape - his feel for the town is spot on. It's funny and makes for a wonderful read aloud by the fire experience. He even instructs you how to become an Astorian. A walk through our town with Mr. Love as a guide - is such a rich experience.You can see what is and what was. The best guidebook on a town ever written!
October 6, 2015
Received this as a gift from my brother as payment for babysitting (How many times I had to sit through The Dark Knight!) - and he had come into possession of it himself as a gift from one of the real life characters in the travel guide (namedrop alert): the Robert E. Lee Window Washer.
I enjoyed it for what it was, y'know? It's by no means exhaustive - not one mention of Pig N' Pancake! I mean, their biscuits and gravy and silver dollar pancakes and milkshakes: wow, or Bach N' Rock (CD, albums, tapes, Fabulous Furry Freak Brother comics, "tobacco" pipes)...also, one interview with an Annie's Tavern dancer does not an Astoria guidebook book make (Oh, Carmen! My first, and naughtiest, Naughty Librarian fantasy in the flesh!) - but it still brought back many a fond memory of my adopted hometown. I mean, Video Horizons: amiright?! I still have dreams about that place (finding rare music on cassette, finding non-existent movies on VHS)
I could have done without the meditations on rain and the subtle mocking tone that Meriwether Lewis was gay (so??). Also, the travails of selling your self-published oeuvre at the Clatsop County Fair: self-serving, self-pitying.
Love's Astoria is not my Astoria, but it's a pretty good jumping-off point (as long as the jumping-off point isn't the Astoria Column) for the curious.
I enjoyed it for what it was, y'know? It's by no means exhaustive - not one mention of Pig N' Pancake! I mean, their biscuits and gravy and silver dollar pancakes and milkshakes: wow, or Bach N' Rock (CD, albums, tapes, Fabulous Furry Freak Brother comics, "tobacco" pipes)...also, one interview with an Annie's Tavern dancer does not an Astoria guidebook book make (Oh, Carmen! My first, and naughtiest, Naughty Librarian fantasy in the flesh!) - but it still brought back many a fond memory of my adopted hometown. I mean, Video Horizons: amiright?! I still have dreams about that place (finding rare music on cassette, finding non-existent movies on VHS)
I could have done without the meditations on rain and the subtle mocking tone that Meriwether Lewis was gay (so??). Also, the travails of selling your self-published oeuvre at the Clatsop County Fair: self-serving, self-pitying.
Love's Astoria is not my Astoria, but it's a pretty good jumping-off point (as long as the jumping-off point isn't the Astoria Column) for the curious.
March 7, 2016
I stole this book from the lobby of the Commodore Hotel in Astoria. I figured it was okay since they had a small stack of them on the Library's shelves.
I didn't know what I was in for, thinking that it was probably a walking guide for tourists who hated tours and guides. Like myself.
Turns out, the book is one resident writer's attempt at capturing the essence of the city he loves. I can appreciate that as well as the twists and turns he takes to get from Astoria's (and his book's) Alpha to its Omega. As to whether he succeeded or not, I think only a longtime (if not lifetime) resident of Astoria can fairly judge.
I will say that I enjoyed the read, was enlightened, and feel the call of rain and river myself.
I didn't know what I was in for, thinking that it was probably a walking guide for tourists who hated tours and guides. Like myself.
Turns out, the book is one resident writer's attempt at capturing the essence of the city he loves. I can appreciate that as well as the twists and turns he takes to get from Astoria's (and his book's) Alpha to its Omega. As to whether he succeeded or not, I think only a longtime (if not lifetime) resident of Astoria can fairly judge.
I will say that I enjoyed the read, was enlightened, and feel the call of rain and river myself.
May 21, 2016
Wonderfully written book about the corners and citizens of Astoria, Oregon. I hope I recognize Mr. Love someday, walking around town, and have enough fortitude to go up and introduce myself. We will both be laved in rain, preferably.
July 30, 2015
Enticing Astoria? Read Matt Love and see what you think. (Actually, just read Matt Love for this fabulously unique take on Oregon culture and history.)
December 2, 2015
Essential.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews