What Came Before
by Matthew Schultz
$20.95
The essays in What Came Before say without saying. Combining and blurring the genres of myth, essay, and poetry, these small works explore subjects as diverse as the death of Moses, the special relationship between gay men and cats, the movie “Titanic,” rock collections, and the afterlife.
“A breath of fresh air, surprising and delightful.” —Aram Saroyan
Format: Paperback
Published: September 2020
“Matthew Schultz’s What Came Before somehow infuses light and lightness into a philosophical and Midrashic quest to understand such agonizing things as oneself, love, God, the Torah, angels, heaven, sex….a vast, quirky book of essays in which we could again believe our own knowledges, wisdoms, and certainties.”
— Sarah Vap
“A breath of fresh air, surprising and delightful.” —Aram Saroyan
Additional information
| Weight | 0.25 lbs |
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MAUISM, PART ONE
A fact: Mau is my cat.
An article of faith: Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of the world.
MAUISM, PART TWO
Mau and Jesus have this in common: they both embody unconditional love for the whole world.
Caveat: Mau’s world is much smaller than the one in which Jesus lived, and consists only of several surfaces to lie on, a plant to eat, a mix of wet and dry food, and me.
MAUISM, PART THREE
In the beginning was the Word and then the Word became flesh.
The Word was “Mau.”
MAUISM, PART FOUR
Mau can sit upright and stare into space for hours.
He is enlightened.
Alternatively: He is stupid.
MAUISM, PART FIVE
Sometimes Mau stares out the window. He dreams of the outside world, of a breeze on his face, of sunlight and freedom.
Alternatively: the semiotic language of gesture is fundamentally different for cats than it is for humans, for whom window gazing almost universally implies a melancholic longing. All projections of desire onto a cat are thus as futile as trying to decipher the desires of God.
MAUISM, PART SIX
A fact: I exist.
An article of faith: Mau exists.
An article of faith: God exists.
Alternatively: It is a fact that God and Mau exist, and an article of faith that I do.
MAUISM, PART SEVEN
The ancient Egyptians regarded their cats as deities.
When asked why I don’t let Mau outside, I answer that it’s for his own good.
Alternatively: Deities, being articles of faith, are a private matter and best left confined to one’s home.
