Of drink and greatness

"In Of Drink and Greatness, Matthew Jose has created a world populated by characters that may be down and out but still have the memory of better days and some hope that they might come again. His deeply personal poetry is jazz and blues, talking about the hard times and occasional triumphs of everyday people. These poems come at you like the growl of a Miles Davis solo or the sorrow of a Billie Holiday ballad, with 80 –proof images that go straight to your head and heart. They may be dark and smoky, filled with the longing for success and the struggle to find meaning in all of it, but he embraces whatever it is that life brings. Whether success or failure, “One should never want to lose the rough edges, right?” and although “This life is a fickle mistress and death is one patient son of a bitch”, “We continue the search for the fish that sings for if the fish could sing, what a perfect song it would be.” My advice is pour yourself a drink, cue up some down & dirty from your playlist and get into the rhythm of the gritty poetry of this remarkable book."--