Things We Don't Know We Don't Know [Paperback]

Matt Mason (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0976523183 | ISBN-13: 978-0976523185 | Publication Date: March 28, 2006

Original poetry by the Omaha Nebraska Master of Slam.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Rebel With a Cause - Matt Mason is a revolutionary. And not just when he's writing about vigorous political outrage (the title of his new collection is from a Donald Rumsfeld quote). Even Mason's poems filled with gentle insight, kindness, humor and grace are small, feisty acts of rebellion - crystallizing a new way of thinking, feeling, behaving." --Michael Burke

"The only thing better than reading these poems is to hear Matt Mason himself read them." --Marjorie Saiser, author of Bones of a Very Fine Hand

"Matt Mason must be declared the poet laureate of the Midwest! No other native son celebrates the overlooked America, its unsung citizens (from the anonymous poets to the part-time English teachers), and its expansive indigenous landscape, as well as he does. Mason's poetry is humorous when he wants to be quirky, heartbreaking when he wants to be eloquent, and though he moves effortlessly into other moods and geographies, he always returns to his first and most enduring love (and to what he knows best)-his homeland." --Rigoberto Gonzalez, author of So Often The Pitcher Goes to Water Before It Breaks and Other Fugitives And Other Strangers

"Although Mason takes his title from Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's nonclarification of U.S. policy regarding "the war on terror," this exuberant poet helps us to see clearly a cornucopia of things we too often forget we know. Whether turning his attention to kiwifruit, Wild Kingdom's Marlin Perkins, the Strategic Air Command Museum, or lovers who with luck may come to resemble a no-expiration-date snack cake, Mason sheds some of his Nebraskan light on our universally human proceedings. And anyone who can actually say, for the poem-record, "I believe that aliens built the Pyramids, Stonehenge, / and most of my ex-girlfriends" surely knows, by heart, a few more things we only think we may be better off not knowing." --David Clewell, author of Now We're Getting Somewhere and The Low End of Higher Things

About the Author

After earning his MA in Creative Writing from the University of California at Davis, Matt Mason, of course, moved to Omaha where he lives with his wonderful wife Sarah and baby daughter Sophia. He has won 2 Nebraska Book Awards and over 100 magazines and anthologies have published his poems, including Laurel Review, Prairie Schooner, The Morpo Review, the online edition of Mississippi Review and Mark Eleveld's The Spoken Word Revolution Redux. New Michigan Press released his chapbook Mistranslating Neruda in 2003; not to be outdone, Lone Willow Press put out When The Bough Breaks in 2005.

Mason has read poetry everywhere from behind the podiums of the Nebraska Book Festival to the stages of the National Poetry Slam as well as at universities, high schools, libraries, book stores, radio shows, state fairs, art museums, bars, ice cream parlors, and coffee shops across the country, even appearing as the stand-in for Poet Laureate Ted Kooser and Oscar winning director Alexander Payne at rehearsals for the opening of a performing arts center. He was appointed an Admiral in the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska by Governor Mike Johanns in 2004, enjoy donuts, and sometimes do write about cows.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: The Backwaters Press (March 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976523183
• ISBN-13: 978-0976523185
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,208,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's more to life than just cows, June 17, 2006

By 

V. M. Brasseur (CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Things We Don't Know We Don't Know (Paperback)

Yes, I admit to being a friend of the author. A friend who does not usually appreciate much modern poetry, to be exact. Yet I've always enjoyed Matt's work. Though he has the rare ability to craft poems which are quirky or sincerely humorous, this book does a great job of showing not only the depth of his heart but also his skill at recognizing often mundane details about the world around us and highlighting them to show just how special a place it is in which we all live.

This is not poetry purely for the sake of the poet but poetry for all of us. For that reason more than any I bought and enjoy this book. I think you should, too.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Midwestern Treasure, June 18, 2006

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William E. OBryan - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Things We Don't Know We Don't Know (Paperback)

Mason follows in the best traditions of poets like Billy Collins and Ted Kooser in using everyday experiences and seemingly innocuous objects to build a deep connection with his reader. Rather than bury his message in thick language and metaphor, he uses a playful and quirky delivery to describe things we all think we know, but in a way that cuts much deeper and sticks with you long after you put the book down.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Things we know we don't know, June 17, 2006

By 

Friend - See all my reviews

This review is from: Things We Don't Know We Don't Know (Paperback)

Matt Mason is one of the best young poets today. His book is sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and always thought provoking.