A journey beyond fears and stereotypes The memes. ?Because Florida? jokes. ?Florida Man? stories. Tyler Gillespie was once embarrassed to call Florida home, concocting fantasies he?d been born somewhere else. In The Thing about Florida, Gillespie faces his Florida denial and takes readers on an exuberant search for the state behind the caricatures, cutting through the media storm with curiosity and humor. Gillespie?s journey leads him into unexpected places such as halfway houses, gator pits, rattlesnake rooms, and clothing-optional campgrounds, where he meets eclectic and unconventional Floridians. He interviews storm chasers, Civil War reenactors, cattle ranchers, drag queens, python hunters, and pet smugglers. His conversations delve into serious issues such as addiction, Florida?s racist past, and care options for the state?s LGBTQ senior citizens. With perspective and empathy derived from his background as a gay man raised Southern Baptist, Gillespie shows how important it is to understand the diversity and complexity of Florida today. ?It?s dangerous to meet our fears with fear,? he says as he confronts his own as well as the state?s monsters?invasive species, hurricanes, environmental destruction. He reminds us that Florida?s people and problems are vital parts of the nation?s future. A fresh and engaging voice, Gillespie captivates with a snappy pace, sly wit, and crisp observations. As he weaves his childhood memories and personal experiences alongside the stories of the individuals he encounters, Gillespie reconciles with his home state. He finds Florida?s humanity, a beautiful mix of hopes, dreams, and second chances.

The Thing about Florida: Exploring a Misunderstood State

Biographies & Memoirs

Gillespie, Tyler

Historical

University Press of Florida

Florida Man stories often go viral for their weirdness such as “Florida Man Arrested for Drunk Dialing 911 When He Wanted Vodka,” but there’s more to him than a punchline, which Tyler Gillespie breaks down through an exploration of his home state’s history, landscape, and his own recovery from substance abuse.In the tradition of C.D. Wright, Gillespie -- a reporter for national publications -- utilizes journalistic techniques in an innovative nonfiction hybrid that merges poetic sound and form in pieces that range from alligator anatomy to Southern heritage to growing up gay in a Christian school. As Gillespie writes, Florida is not only a vacation spot or a retirement destination but an ideal state for “A country full of people // who would spend their last / chance on a dream &amp; a plot / their happy ending.”Tyler Gillespie is an award-winning journalist who’s written for Rolling Stone, The Guardian, VICE, GQ, Playboy, and Salon. His poems recently appeared in Hobart, Prelude, Tahoma Literary Review, Cleaver, and Exposition Review. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans and an MA in Journalism &amp; Media Studies from the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg.“Tyler Gillespie’s Florida Man poems strip away the accepted myths of Florida and its inhabitants, using a lyric mix of journalism, science, history, family lore, and lived experience to reveal the complex realities of self and state… In Gillespie’s excellent Florida Man, redemption is wondrously messy and surprising, building empathy that recognizes both the many mistakes and misguided intentions that underlie the headlines and the deep conflict of reconciling a bad reputation and a beloved home.” —Abigail Beckel, co-founder and publisher of Rose Metal Press “Tyler Gillespie’s deft journo-poems blaze and sear down the page, shaping the nightmare trope of our national misfit – Florida Man – alongside the various tropes of our misfit nationalism – guns, drugs, poverty, stolen elections, absentee parenting, racism, rap sheets. At once identifying and reappropriating Gillespie’s own personal past along with our collective one, Florida Man develops into a kind of quest narrative, where investigative feature writing and lineated poetry team up to get to the bottom of what they repeatedly recognize as bottomless: past, place, and self. Native yet wild, the stories these poems tell you will haunt you.” – Geoff Bouvier, APR/Honickman Prize-winning author of Living Room and Glass Harmonica"This is a rollicking ride through the craziness that erupts all day and night, but Gillespie's poems have as much tenderness as absurdity. This is the side of Florida that only a true poet can illuminate."--Barbara Hamby author of Bird Odyssey

Florida Man: Poems

Literature & Fiction

Poetry

Red Flag Press

Based on the popular Tumblr, a collection of funny stories that commemorate the awkward phases in our lives. Back in the 1990s, when slap bracelets and Velcro ruled supreme, two adolescents were stumbling their way through life on gangly limbs. One, Claire Linic, had self-permed her bowl cut, and the other, Tyler Gillespie, had purchased self-tanner, telling the cashier it was for his girlfriend. Now in their twenties and still just a tiny bit awkward, Linic and Gillespie have joined forces to ask the question, If we could talk to our fourteen-year-old selves, what would we tell them now?” Based on the hit Tumblr The Awkward Phase,” this book answers that question with personal stories and cringe-worthy photos from seasoned comedians, YouTube stars, and people like the rest of us that cover everything from sweaty-palm moments to bad band photos. In these pages, you’ll hear about the moment Shaun Sperling realized he was gay at a Richard Simmons’s workout studio, how Bente Engelstoft made her own bra out of her dad's old underwear, and why even though Robert Bacon’s awkward phase was mortifying, it was the beginning of his new, happier life. Ultimately, The Awkward Phase encourages us to laugh and celebrate the moments that have helped shape who we are. As Gillespie and Linic say, Everyone is in on the joke. You don’t have to eat your lunch alone in the bathroom stall. You can sit with us.”

The Awkward Phase: The Uplifting Tales of Those Weird Kids You Went to School With

Humor & Entertainment

Linic, Claire

Humor

Skyhorse

Florida Man: Poems, Revisited

Burrow Press

The second issue of Alternating Current Press’ annual literary publication dedicated to past and contemporary views on history contains poetry, maps, photographs, fiction, essays, articles, and nonfiction by various authors about various historical topics. Within these pages, you will find contemporary outlooks on history right alongside little-known historical works that feel as fresh and as vibrant (and as scary) as if they were written today. Here, the old meets the new, and you’ll discover fascinating history from a personal, non-scholarly literary approach. In this issue, you’ll meet Jack the Ripper, Fanny Hooe, Jesse James, Geronimo, Lewis &amp; Clark, Nikolai Vavilov, and the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald. You’ll learn of the catastrophic Hartley Colliery mining disaster, the woman who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel, the lost language of the Clatsop, harvesting sugar beets during World War II, how Commonwealth Indians were treated during World War I, and the costs of artistic patronage. You’ll discover what Dorothy was like during the Great Depression and how Lucile Fitch gave birth to an atomic bomb. Writers speak about deafness, queerness, and birth control in the face of Margaret Sanger’s and Alexander Graham Bell’s abhorrent eugenics rants, alongside the effects of the Oklahoma City bombing, erasure poems of Jules Verne, and the sacrifices of historical witchcraft. The Featured Writer, Holly M. Wendt, mines 18th-century New England newspapers for responses to clippings about lost items, weeks at sea, feminism, and transporting lions. Her work is showcased next to the winners and finalists for the 2016 Charter Oak Award for Best Historical.

Footnote #2: A Literary Journal of History

Anderson, Cynthia

Current, Alternating

Angstman, Leah

Luczak, Raymond

Buchinger, Mary

Davies, John Paul

Wendt, Holly M.

Brown, Garrett J.

Bane Jr., Charles

Literary

Alternating Current

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