Having spent my early twenties pouring over the prose and poetry of rough-around-the-edges LA writers like John Fante and Charles Bukowski, it gives me a little twang of excitement to see a similar cigarette-in-hand LA-er coming to Kickstarter. Nick Miller’s out to self-publish Isn’t It Pretty To Think So?, a novel that rings with the Dirty Realist style that found its way into American literature in the ’70s and ’80s and brought stripped-down narratives and gritty honesty to store shelves.

Nick’s already done the classic job quitting and devoted all of his fibers to the beloved word, but gone are the days of eating oranges alone in the middle of the desert (à la poor and starving Fante characters) without anyone knowing or caring that you exist. He’s been getting tons of positive feedback from his Tumblr followers, and that has propelled him to take matters into his own hands. This is the bearded adverb-free author going public, grassroots-style, which hopefully means those minimalist dirty thoughts end up in interested parties’ hands that much faster.

Check out the first chapter of Isn’t It Pretty To Think So? and grab yourself a copy here.