The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host alumnus Christopher Morton for a reading and book signing to mark his debut publication – a compilation of 20 essays that provide humorous insight into life for one particular family guy in northern Maine. The event will take place on Monday, April 30 in the UMPI Library and include a reception and welcome at 6:30 p.m., a reading at 7 p.m., and a book signing to be held immediately following.
Morton’s book, You Kids Quit Pooping on the Lawn!, explores a wide range of unexpected topics. According to the back of the book, this includes: “Braised hippo tonsils. Whirling visionary Pentecostal dancers. Aliens. Accordions. Strange piles on the lawn. With gentle humor and a keen eye for deeper meaning, a simple man takes on the world swirling around him in a series of short essays. From family life and the terrors of fatherhood to the perils of hunting camp exorcisms, the essays are funny, poignant, sincere, occasionally bizarre, and always entertaining.”
A former columnist and staff writer for UMPI’s own University Times, Morton graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature. He writes for the Sharpened Axe blog and lives in Mapleton with his wife and four children.
Morton said he began compiling the essays in the summer of 2011 in the hope of achieving “fame, fortune, and notoriety by selling a wildly successful, critically-acclaimed collection of stories.” Unfortunately, he explained, You Kids Quit Pooping on the Lawn! is what happened instead.
“I’m grateful for the chance to return to my old ‘North of Ordinary’ campus to talk about the book that wouldn’t have happened without my time there,” Morton said. “But it does feel a little odd to be discussing my children’s fecal matter at my alma mater.”
The public is invited to attend this free event. Light refreshments will be served. Copies of the book will be on display and for sale.
You Kids Quit Pooping on the Lawn! is currently available for sale online at www.amazon.com in paperback and Kindle edition. For more information about this event, please contact the University’s Community and Media Relations Office at 768-9452 orsara.martin@maine.edu.
