With a Difference

by Nick Gregorio, Francis Daulerio

Cowritten by poet Francis Daulerio and fiction writer Nick Gregorio, With a Difference is inspired in part by Rancid and NoFX's 2002 BYO cover split album. Gregorio has adapted ten of Daulerio's poems into stories, and Daulerio has turned ten of Gregorio's stories into poems. Like a vinyl record, the book must be flipped over to read both "sides."

112 pages, Paperback

Published May 29, 2020

About the author

Nick Gregorio is a father, husband, dog-dad, writer, reader, nerd, punk, mall-walker, movie guy, and teeth-grinder living just outside of Philadelphia with his family. He is the author of five books; the most recent of which, Launch Me to the Stars, I'm Finished Here, was released by Trident Press in 2023.

For more, please visit www.nickgregorio.com.

Reviews

[Josh Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea of a Split EP enters the literary realm. A tribute to both writers, written by each other, With A Difference annunciates both fiction and poetry and how the reader experience can easily mirror the writer’s intention. An intuitive read that also leads one to explore more works.

[Christina Rosso · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does something so different than what I've seen before! Two authors write covers of one another's work. The poems and short stories in this collection are beautiful, funny, and bizarre. They will stay with you for a long time.

[Nick Mehalick · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a fan of the split 7” I was intrigued to see how Nick and Fran would pull this off. In short, they have. They seem to both have been forced to shift perspective and approach and the distillation of narrative that is the product here is often times very affecting and effective.

[Ken Nicosia · Rating 5 out of 5]

If the originality of the idea to take the concept of a cover album but made into book form isn’t enough to get your attention, then hopefully it’s content will.

As with all of Gregorio’s written works (have you read This Distance yet? cause you’re missing out), he’ll push and stretch your reality just a bit. Making this life seem all just a little more fantastic, and you feel it too — whether it’s joy or a faint pang — and your mind in turn gets that same push and stretch just a bit.

Some stories might make you say “good lord”, others leave you with a slight smile, or something to think on. There’s a bittersweet burn to them, but it’s the good kind like nostalgia, that makes you stop and put down the book — even though you want to turn the page to the next one — so what you just read can sink in a little bit longer.

Briefly on shorter section of the book of poems by Francis Daulerio — I don’t think I’ve read a line of poetry past high school back when I had to. Daulerio makes me want to read poetry. That’s about the highest compliment I can give on the subject matter. Sometimes brief is best.