Does spontaneous combustion exist? Mark Polanzak says it does in his 2016 book Pop! His pop died tragically while playing tennis. Pop! Was it spontaneous combustion? The book opens with the story of how it all went down. Here’s an excerpt from that story:
“Mark’s dad tossed the ball up, and when he made contact, there was a dull bang as if a bottle rocket had gone off, not loud, more like a pop. A little white smoke lingered where his dad had been in the act of serving.”
This little story, which begins the book, ends with a groaner of a “dad joke.” Fitting.
Nice story. But does spontaneous combustion exist?
Well, maybe not. In the next section of the book, Polanzak admits that he tells funny, fictional stories about his dad’s death because the death—he actually died of a heart attack—was not at all funny.
What follows in the book is unexpected, unpredictable. I loved it for this reason. I have to admit, I am tired of the average book that the publishing industry churns out. In many ways, they are all the same, even if their specifics are different. I loved reading Pop! because it was quirky and unusual, and I had absolutely no idea what was coming next.
This is a book that can’t be called a memoir because of its many fictional elements, but can’t be called fiction because so much of it is true. (View the cover to see a parodic take on the usual “A Novel” or “A Memoir” on book covers.) Fictional stories about Polanzak’s family are interspersed with nonfictional commentary on the stories themselves and on the writing life, and all of this is interspersed with the story of one week in the author’s life, which is at least partly fictionalized, but again, much of it is true, or at least some of it is true.
I bought Pop! at the Gaithersburg Book Festival. Stillhouse Press had a booth there. This indie press is run by George Mason University students and alumni, which is very cool. This is the type of book you’re probably not going to see coming out of a major “Big 5” publishing house. It’s unpolished and raw, in a good way. Highly recommended!
That’s all fine and good, but I’m reading this blog post because I want to find out, does spontaneous combustion exist?
Look, I don’t know. This is a book blog. I’m pretty sure you’re in the wrong place, unless you want to know about an awesome book that entertains the idea of spontaneous human combustion in a comedic way. Because I’m a nice person, I’ll go out of my way to direct you to this Popular Science article, where you can read about the wacky theories and gory details of spontaneous human combustion.
I don’t feel like clicking a link. Please just tell me—does spontaneous combustion exist?
Yes. It happened to Mark Polanzak’s dad. It was tragic. Somebody died. Pop!
Have you ever made jokes in the face of tragedy?
Featured in this post: Pop! by Mark Polanzak Buy it now
