Eat Hell

by Joseph Mattson, Mel Kadel (Illustrator)

"Joseph Mattson is a monster of a writer." -- Beth Lisick, New York Times bestselling author of Everybody Into the Pool and Helping Me Help Myself.

Eat Hell: Plus Two Variations on the Heart Going Down in L.A. is the wrenching, funny, and gut-maniacal new book of stories of unrequited love by Joseph Mattson, author of the much-anticipated forthcoming novel Empty the Sun.

A Los Angeles trio of love gone south, Eat Hell occupies a special crux where humility, humanity, and insanity come together in the name of exquisite oblivion.

80 pages, Perfect Paperback

Published October 1, 2008

About the author

OUT NOW:

THE SPEED CHRONICLES (Editor/contributor. Anthology of new fiction about the drug speed, feat. William T. Vollmann, Sherman Alexie, Jerry Stahl, Beth Lisick, Megan Abbott, James Greer, and more. Akashic Books).

EMPTY THE SUN (Novel with Soundtrack by Six Organs of Admittance)

EAT HELL

TWO LETTERS COLLECTION OF ART & WRITING VOL. 2

GIRLVERT: A PORNO MEMOIR by ORIANA SMALL aka ASHLEY BLUE (Edited by Joseph Mattson)

Forthcoming/In-Progress:

COURTING THE JAGUAR (novel)
HEXICO (novel)
WESTERN VIOLENCE AND BRIEF SENSUALITY (screenplay)
ALL THAT MATTERS IS THE WOLF (poems)
LAST SEEN IN BARSTOW/LAST SCENE IN BARSTOW (play)
JESUS DICE (novel)
HUNTED BY SAVAGES (nonfiction)

Also editing VIRGINS IN REVERSE and THE INTRUSION, two excellent novellas by Gabriel Hart--Mr. Hart is known in sonic circles as vocalist/songwriter/big chief of the band JAIL WEDDINGS; Hart was formerly ringleader of the desperados THE STARVATIONS--stay tuned for his literary debut coming soon...

"Joseph Mattson is a monster of a writer." --Beth Lisick, author of EVERYBODY INTO THE POOL and HELPING ME HELP MYSELF

"Joseph Mattson writes like a guitar player with nineteen fingers--everywhere at once, stinging, dark and beautiful. EMPTY THE SUN will take you to some strange places, but the trip is amazing. Mattson has written a truly inventive and vivid novel." --Jerry Stahl, author of PERMANENT MIDNIGHT and PAIN KILLERS

"Several passages induced the shiver of aesthetic bliss in my spine that Nabokov famously described as the indicator of good and true writing. The whole thing is by turns hilarious and hilariously sad, artfully pin-holed with melancholy (my favorite drink)... EMPTY THE SUN is an impressive achievement, as well as an excellent and I believe as yet unused name for a rock band." --James Greer, author ARTIFICIAL LIGHT and GUIDED BY VOICES: A BRIEF HISTORY

"Joseph Mattson is one hell of a motherfucking writer."
--Jeff Garlin, author of MY FOOTPRINT: CARRYING THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD and co-star/executive producer of HBO's CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM

Reviews

[Ruth B · Rating 5 out of 5]

i will.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A trifecta of stories of booze-addled losers haunted by lost loves. While there's something narcissistic about these characters the scope of their pain is so much greater than anything than they ever believed possible that it's almost fun to watch them figure out what suffering is all about. They kind of revel in the stink of the lush life but when they find out they can't wash it off, that the stench clings to them, they don't know what to do. The characters are too young to be down for the count, but they're indisputably shattered. This is my favorite passage, I think: "When you left, I no longer had a right mind of the world. The imminent collapse we'd all be waiting for to come to Los Angeles finally came, but my name was the only one on its list."

[Brandi Briscoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was turned onto Joseph Mattson by a fellow bookworm, and quickly sought out more of his works. "Eat Hell" is two short stories of the debaucheries of human nature. You will not find happy endings in the words. Yet you may, if you pay attention, find you love your life a little harder.

(Warning, this book is tiny! I happened upon a signed copy, and feel it was worth every damned penny, while fitting in the palm of my greedy hand.)

[Carah Naseem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eat Hell is nothing short of... fetid.
The imagery and utter lack of grace leave a vomit-y sort of feeling in the gut.
But do we like this? Do we, in our sado-masochistic view of a sad, pitiful life outside the American Dream, like this?
[Eat:] Hell yeah, we do.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joseph Mattson is my favorite local writer here in Los Angeles. His style his pure raw. I truly felt like I was there, lost in a bucket of booze and trivial love conquests.
If ever you need reason to write it should be taken from why Mattson does!

[AndrewT · Rating 5 out of 5]

Down and dirty in LA. A quick, funny and dark look at love and trouble in 3 easy-to-read tales.