Shag Carpet Action is Matthew Firth’s boldest and brashest collection of stories to date. These are absurd, raunchy, funny stories whose sharp, salty characters are boldly credible and wonderfully rendered by one of Canada’s most adventurous and courageous fiction writers.
Firth’s gimlet-eyed, deep mining of the bowels of contemporary Canadian life is unwavering. Here are tales of some of Canada’s forgotten people—strivers who are down, but not quite out—surviving by their wits and guts during these harsh times.
Praise for Shag Carpet Action:
“Firth’s strength lies not simply in provocatively deploying overt sexuality, but rather the way he leverages bald carnality to make broader, potent statements about the human condition.”
—Quill & Quire
“Short stories work best when they’re memorable, and Firth’s gift is to lodge a vivid image in the reader’s numb brain to keep him from nodding off and perhaps linger on. This gift is clever, concise writing – no superfluous flowery shit. To the point, bold, matter of fact.”
—OttawaXpress
“Firth’s stories remind us of the realities of being human; what we think, feel, and do. The writing is easy to read, raw-to-the-bone honest, and refreshingly real. And that’s why I highly recommend you forget about your clean-cut CanLit filler and get your knees dirty with something a little more to the floor—Shag Carpet Action.”
—Jerrod Edson (Blog)
“Matt Firth is the literary incarnation of the boy your mama warned you about. These short stories, as tightly clenched as an angry fist, are not for the faint-hearted. Firth will probably never win any big prizes, because he cock-punches the kind of pastoral/historical claptrap that passes for literature among wine-drinking book clubbers.”
—Jenn Farrell, author of Sugar Bush and Other Stories and The Devil You Know
“Matthew Firth is one of my favourite writers. I wait for new Firth books with all of the same sense of need and anticipation that I once felt while waiting for my heroin dealer to show.” —Tony O’Neill, author of Sick City
MATTHEW FIRTH lives in Ottawa. He doesn’t divide his time in any other city or town. He lives a life centred on love, lacrosse, beer, books, old-timers hockey, community, and family. He is the author of four short story collections, including Shag Carpet Action and Suburban Pornography (both published by Anvil Press). He is a regular contributor to subTerrain magazine, where he writes the ever-softening column Crank ’n File. Asking for Directions is his first full-length collection of poems.
