Happy Ending: Selected Writing
by Mike Topp
ISBN 1-892061-18-x
$5 US $7 Canada
Mike Topp has been a longtime favorite in the world of adventurous literary magazines and web sites. His short work blurs the lines of poetry, fiction, memoir, and disjointed logic. This 52-page mini-book includes some of Topp's best-loved work.
"Mike Topp is the Andy Warhol and Ralph Nader of literature."
--Andrei Codrescu
"Like, I don't know lots--but Topp's is tops."
--Robert Creeley
"I'm sorry, Mike, you know I love your work, but I'm just not whoring myself out for anyone else's jacket copy anymore."
--Jonathan Lethem
"Mike Topp is a disablingly funny writer--a miniaturist of nervous precisions, our supreme abridger of metropolitan startlement and inner fidgetry. He dazes and graces us."
--Gary Lutz
"Mike Topp adds his own slant to the asphalt jungle by turning the landscape of the city upside down until the truth falls out."
--Hal Sirowitz
"Constantly mistaken for an Italian underwear model or a beerhall humorist, Mike Topp is, in fact, one of the most gifted Surrealizing writers, and a Taoist immortal."
--Sparrow
"Mike Topp's irreducible art consists partly of recycling expandable parts of speech and revealing their unused genius. Other parts are fixed, like the sly orthography. Topp is the Andy Warhol and Ralph Nader of literature."
--Andrei Codrescu
"Mike Topp is a pithy and poignant pornographer, a bouncy bard, a Jack-out-of-the-box. His writings are silver Slinkies climbing UP the stairs."
--Denise Duhamel
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For the AUTHORS page
MIKE TOPP INTERVIEW
Q. What is your full real name?
A. Topp, T-o-p.
Q. When and where were you born?
A. I was born in Lisle, Illinois, on June 27, 1963.
Q. What is your height, weight and coloring?
A. I am five feet eleven inches tall, weigh 176 pounds, have black hair and
hazel eyes.
Q. Where do you live?
A. I live in a split-level home in Baltimore, Maryland, and I also have a
vacation home in Honolulu. I love the beaches of Hawaii.
Q. Who do you live with?
A. My mom, Thelma, and dad, John. I also have three brothers, Martin, Roy,
and Paul.
Q. Do you have any pets?
A. I have a poodle named Gigi, a retriever named Sabey, and a fox terrier
named Chipper.
Q. Do you have any hobbies?
A. I've become very interested in cars and bikes. I read a lot of specialist
magazines now.
Q. What is your favorite food?
A. Anything vegetarian.
Q. What are your favorite movies?
A. "Night of the Hunter," "Raging Bull."
Q. Who are your favorite musicians and why?
A. I like Daniel Johnston, for his beautiful voice and imaginative sense of
style.
Q. What is your favorite TV show?
A. The Sopranos!
Q. What's your favorite city and why?
A. Ottawa, Canada.
Q. What are your favorite colors?
A. Red.
Q. Are there any habits or mannerisms that stand out about you?
A. I can't see too well in the dark. My mom says it had something to do with
my diet when I was kid.
Q. Are you allergic to any foods?
A. I ate a cheese sandwich once and it feels like it's still in my stomach.
Q. Are you good at fixing things?
A. My brother can fix anything! You give him a piece of metal and by the end
of the week he'll have created a car!
Q. What do you think about drugs?
A. I hate drugs. I just think it makes people turn into vegetables and it's
really boring.
Q. Have you a secret longing?
A. I want to do something that will change things - something that's just
amazing.
Q. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose?
A. Los Angeles, California. It's on the West Coast and is full of acting
opportunities.
Q. Do you have any favorite quotes, any mottoes to live by?
A. "You can't pick the fruit if you don't go out on a limb."
Q. Do you have a favorite drink?
A. Rum and Coke.
Q. What is your earliest memory?
A. I don't remember very much at all before I went to school. My parents
have films of me when I was very small. It's really weird to see myself on
film and have absolutely no memory of being in that place and doing those
things.
Q. What's your next move?
A. I'd like to be able to fly. I'd like to fly helicopters and I fully
intend to learn.
Q. Do you exercise a lot?
A. I have to because I sometimes gain weight around my face and a bit around
my stomach.
Q. Do you have any pet peeves?
A. I hate having pizza delivered to my house and it arrives cold.
Q. Are you moody or temperamental?
A. No, not at all.
Q. What's most important to you in a relationship with a girl?
A. Mutual caring; wanting to be there for someone through the good times as
well as the bad times. I'm drawn to a girl who is down to earth.
Q. What do girls think of you?
A. They basically think I'm an okay guy.
Q. What's your ultimate ambition?
A. To be a good human being.
Q. Can you tell me when you had your first crush on a girl?
A. My grammar school teacher! I was six years old and she was in her
twenties. She had very long, blond, beautiful hair - I think I'm still in
love with her!
Q. What's your idea of a perfect date?
A. There'll probably be some music, but we'll manage to find a quiet place
where we can talk.
Q. True or false: You love to snack on bologna and mayonnaise sandwiches.
A. False! I hate mayonnaise!
Q. What kind of parties do you like to go to?
A. I like parties I throw myself because I can invite all my friends and
then I know everybody and I like everybody who comes.
Q. Who has helped you the most with your career?
A. My best friend. I owe him a lot.
Q. Do you ever cry?
A. No. I come from one of those families where you don't really let your
emotions show too much, you know?
Q. What do you like best about your work?
A. When I go home and forget my profession and be a regular guy like
everybody else.
Q. What do you dislike about your career?
A. I resent the fact that I can't walk down the street without people
recognizing me.
Q. When you die, have you thought about being cremated?
A. No, not at all.
Q. Where is the best place to write you?
A. 814 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201.