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Moving Foreword

Real Introductions to Totally Made-Up Books

Edited by Jon Chattman
Published by BenBella Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

LIST PRICE ₹456.00

PRICE MAY VARY BY RETAILER

About The Book

A great foreword is more than just a few pages of self-indulgent frippery that comes before a book. A great foreword adds zest. It sets the stage for the page turner you're about to open, and perhaps even puts you in the locked room where a mystery happens or in the high-button shoes of a year gone by.

A great foreword—sometimes—is even better than the book it precedes.

So why not skip the boring actual-book part?

Moving Foreword is a collection of introductions to imaginary books, written by real celebrities, comedians, musicians, and other writers with something to say. With a real foreword by Rainn Wilson, this book offers a no-holds-barred cacophony of laugh-out-loud funny, poignant, and thought-provoking writing that tackles everything from politics to pop culture, true crime to trout fishing, and Star Wars to skin flicks.

Highlights include:

  • Bustin' Through: Confessions of a Kool-Aid Man

    Foreword by "Pop Candy" columnist Whitney Matheson
  • Phil Rosenthal's Who's the Boss?: My Unlikely Rise to Rock Stardom

    Foreword by "Bruce Springsteen" (Phil Rosenthal)
  • Keep Your Gaze on Me: A True Story of Social Media, Obsession, and Murder

    Foreword by Shirley Manson, lead vocalist of Garbage
  • Sock Puppet Mozart: The Life and Gruesome Death of Randy Masterson

    Foreword by actor Thomas Lennon
  • Vance DeGeneris: An Unauthorized Biography

    Foreword by Vance DeGeneres
  • Everything You Need to Know About Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife Regulations

    Foreword by New Kids on the Block member Jonathan Knight
  • Fly Ball: How the New York Yankees Have Changed Lives

    Foreword by talk show host Jerry Springer
  • Terrible Band Names: A Chronology of Rock History

    Foreword by John Ondrasik, a.k.a. Five for Fighting
  • God's Wow, You're All F***ing This Up Big Time

    Foreword by singer-songwriter Mary Lambert


    . . . any many more!
  • Product Details

    • Publisher: BenBella Books (April 23, 2019)
    • Length: 240 pages
    • ISBN13: 9781948836197

    Raves and Reviews

    "
    ""A no-holds-barred cacophony of funny, poignant and even thought-provoking writing that tackles everything from politics to pop culture, true crime to trout fishing, and Star Wars to skin flicks.""

    BookTrib

    ""Most of these are hilarious and absurd, but some of them are unexpectedly unsettling and others tremendously engaging. One is absolutely beautiful — the one about a woman traveling the world to experience all different forms of love, in the hopes of finding one that will last. It's a heartbreakingly gorgeous idea, one that you wish was real.""

    —Seattle Book Review

    ""This is the most clever book I've ever read or my name isn't Steve Martin.""

    —Brian Kiley, comedian and writer for Conan

    ""Very smartly done. This is possibly the best collection of funny, insightful, and entertaining forewords to books you wish were real!""

    —Greg Sestero, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Disaster Artist

    ""Now that Jon has come up with an idea this simple and great, he's after my investors for a chain of movie theatres that only show trailers.""

    —Rob Barnett, former senior executive at MTV and VH1 and former president of programming for CBS Radio

    ""This book is not for the illiterate.""

    —Alan Zweibel, former Saturday Night Live writer and Thurber Prize–winning author of The Other Shulman

    ""Ah, the all-important foreword. They always remind me of the utter import of every introduction I hear the emcee make just before I take the stage as a stand-up comedian . . . The objective is to impress them before I take the stage—just the same as with a foreword. Remind the reader that they were correct to have made the effort to buy the book. That they are smart to have chosen this book among the sea of literary options. Fill them with the confidence of the best version of themselves. It's a total affirmation that they made the right choice . . . this time. Well, this is a whole book of perfect introductions to acts you'll never hear.""

    —Kevin Pollak, actor and comedian

    ""If one thing is certain in the book business, it's that nothing tops a good foreword. Especially if it's from someone famous. And I don't mean the sh*tty kind of famous, where only teenagers at the mall recognize you because they saw your face on a YouTube end credits screen once. I mean really famous. Famous Famous. The kind of fame where you can have people follow you around the world, throwing peanuts at your enemies, which is the kind of thing I hear Angelina Jolie does. Anyway, what was this for again?""

    —B.J. Mendelson, author of Social Media is Bullsh*t
    "

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