Who is Rich? - Softcover

An Amazon Best Book of July 2017: Matthew Klam is an immensely talented author: he’s funny, deep, easily readable, and sometimes honest to the point of being startling. He’s written a novel—about a white, middle-aged, once successful graphic novelist-turned-steadily-working-illustrator—that touches on family, love, aging, unhappiness, infidelity, life as a working artist, and money. Making his protagonist white and middle-aged was a brave choice, because Rich (the protagonist) does some complaining in this novel (and some cheating), and a lot of readers don’t like to see white, middle-aged men complain or cheat. If that’s you, you can stop reading now. But Rich is also an artist. He’s educated, he’s talented, and he’s frustrated that he still has to struggle to make ends meet. He’s made choices based on passion—passion for his art, for love—which is how it should be. But what happens when the passion begins to ebb? What are you left with then? Matthew Klam strikes me as a writer’s writer, and I think that other authors will love this work; he’s just so honest and talented. But there are other people out there who will be practically relieved to come across such rawness, honesty, and humor as well. Perhaps that’s you. --Chris Schluep, The Amazon Book Review

Matthew Klam was named one of the twenty best fiction writers in America under 40 by The New Yorker. He's a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Robert Bingham/PEN Award, a Whiting Writer's Award, and an O Henry Award. His first book, Sam The Cat and Other Stories, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book of the Year in the category of first fiction, was selected as a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times, Esquire Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The Kansas City Star, and by the Borders for their New Voices series. His work has been featured in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, Esquire, GQ Magazine, and The New York Times Magazine. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and Hollins College, and has taught creative writing in many places including Johns Hopkins University, St. Albans School, American University, and Stockholm University in Sweden.