Last
Wednesday I attended the Matthew Kirkpatrick reading. Not knowing what to
expect I went in with an open mind and was completely blown away by his witty
writing. While he did not say very much about his stories or how he came to
write them he did share that his one tale was based off working for a rather
corrupt cell phone company.
At
first I was a little confused by the very abstract style of his first piece
that he read for us and frankly was not especially enjoying myself. Yet his
second story about working for the cell phone company completely made up for
it. Filled with very ironic humor, the story pointed out the corruption in the
office in an almost oblivious manner that really worked. I could really picture
an office where the employees lazily shuffle papers and secretly hate their job
and everyone around them.
Another
rather unconventional aspect of the reading that I believe everyone really
enjoyed was the fact that Matthew Kirkpatrick’s parents attended the reading.
Having never read his work to them before, he would just smirk and apologize
before every inappropriate or vulgar line. This definitely added some humor to
the entire situation that everyone (including his parents) got a kick out of.
It
was really neat to hear him talk about how he worked a very stereotypical
office job for years only to give it up in order to pursue writing as a
profession. Matthew was also very relatable since he himself graduated from
Penn State. I am really glad that it worked out that I attended this reading
because I truly enjoyed it and wish to read more of Matthew Kirkpatrick’s work.