David Macpherson knew the artist Edward Gorey. Well, he knew him a little bit. When David was a young man, he volunteered in the same place Edward Gorey did. This book is a memoir of that time in Cape Cod. It is also a meditation on the people we remember and the people we name drop. What makes a person worth name dropping? Is it acceptable to name drop an artist that you barely knew?

Welcome to the world of crap you keep instead of throwing out.It's the stuff that you love to have around you but are not sure why.There are over fifty essays about the little things in life in this book. Like coloring books and nip bottles. Why do we keep them? Why do we find joy in these things.There are a variety of items that people collect and decorate their lives with: glass eyes, vomit bags, cardboard music records.There is a lot of random things that...

An argle-bargle is copious but meaningless talk or writing.In this argle-bargle, we tackle the question, why do single socks disappear and where the hell do they go?Spoiler alert: we offer a clear and definite answer. You will read this book and understand the life of socks better. And maybe you will be a better person. Actually, you might not be a better person after reading this, because we have had lunch with you and you should chew with your mouth shut.Not only ...

Who did you idolize as a kid? Who did you see as a hero?David Macpherson has asked that question to himself and assembled 100 heroes of his from before he was 13. When you are a kid, you are the most open to having a hero.Each hero gets a little essay describing why they mattered. Some of these are funny and absurd. Some are moving. There are a good deal of comic book and television heroes, but some of these were real. All too real.What David Macpherson has given yo...

Every fella needs a joint to sit down and have a beer at. The bar, O. Onions, caters to thirsty folk who also can bring the dead back to life. Just because they are reanimators doesn’t mean they don’t get thirsty.The FlipSwitch happened: where some people got some powers. That created telepaths, pyrokinetics and a bunch of other talents. For some reason, those who got the power to bring corpses back to life does not get the respect others do.They gather at O. Onions, where ...

He is seeing the movie Casablanca in the theater. It is the first movie he sees in a theater since the Covid shut-down. This is a meditation on film and movie going. It is a love letter to Casablanca, as well as other movies. There are angels. There are pickpockets. There are always angels and pickpockets.The Long Weekend Review is a new journal where each issue allows a writer to create whatever they want. The one rule is that it must be completed in 72 hours.

So you want to be a successful bad writer. Well, who doesn't? We all want that sweet sweet hack writer money. And why shouldn't you have your piece of that cash pie?Being a successful bad writer is easy. So easy. It's like knowing your ABCs. And that is what we have here. It is all you need to know to be a fabulously bad writer, from A to Z. We have one helpful tidbit of goodness for every letter of the alphabet.Compiled by the Institute of Bad Writing, this is the only boo...

Just a Pose is a collection of short, unrelated writings that were all inspired by the images from the 2024 Regional Art Show at the Fitchburg Art MuseumEach one of the ninety or so pieces of art has their own collection of words to explore and expand what was presented. Also, it was kind of fun to do.This is a small zine of improvisational writing. Whatever the images inspired are now contained in this zine.Funny, irreverent and just off. This is ekphrasis done lik...

This is a list of what to do when the government tells you to stay at home and try not to get sick. It is just one list. There can be others. There should be others. But you get this book, you get this list.The Hangover Hour Report is a new journal where each issue allows an author to write whatever they want. The one rule is that it must be completed in 72 hours.

Being a successful bad writer is not as easy as it looks. You need to know the tools of the bad writing trade. One of the best and most effective tools you can use is the cliché. Science fiction writing is so filled with clichés it is hard to find and use just the right one. We here at the Institute of Bad Writing have taken much of the leg work out and compiled some of the best science fiction clichés for you to use in your bad writing.This book is a small sampling of the wonderfu...

Is there fate or do you have control of your life?Mr. Lemon starts every day waiting for someone to come by and give him a list.Mr. Lemon's life is to go down the list.The list tells him to do things he does not understand. He has to kiss that man. He has to dump that woman's coffee out. He has to buy weed that he knows is oregano.He has to do what he is told to affect lives in ways he is not permitted to understand.For most of the t...

What is the ultimate goal of giving money to artists? Is it more than just making sure the artist doesn't go hungry? Is this the only way that art can be made, by throwing coins in a guitar case or pledging money into a Kickstarter campaign? Is this how art is made?This book is a mostly bullshit rumination about the things the writer backed on Kickstarter. He also looks at the times he would pass a bucket around for performing poets.This is a personal examination of what th...