Dave Hill

The comedic essays in Dave’s new book revolve around his relationship with his elderly father, which has been both movingly and uproariously redefined since the death of his mother a few years back. Unexpectedly, his mother’s passing has presented him with the opportunity to get better acquainted with the quiet, mysterious man he’s been running into for years down in the basement of their suburban Cleveland home. Through the process of his father’s eventual move to a retirement community, Dave and his dad bonded over the things in life that really matter: scorching-hot rock jams, the gluten allergy craze, eighteen-wheelers, Italian food (pizza and spaghetti), and whatever else could possibly be left after that. Meanwhile, Dave discovered his late-blooming manhood via experiences as disparate and dangerous as a visit to a remote Mexican prison, where he learned that people everywhere love the Eagles, and a martial arts class that pushed his resolve and his groin to their limit. In addition, Dave dips into his more distant and at times even sordid past to share some as-yet-untold tales. He goes to prison (again), writes ringtone lines for Donald Trump, and “a bunch of other stuff besides that stuff,” in twenty delightful essays, including these and more: • “My Old Man and the Sea.” Dave takes a fishing trip to Lake Erie (with Cheetos-baited hooks) with his father and brother in lieu of a much-desired visit to Red Lobster. • “A Meeting of the Minds.” Dave whips up a few dozen ringtone lines for Donald Trump (“I’m Donald Trump and this is the call of a lifetime!”). At the recording session, Trump barks, “Who wrote these things?” After being informed by at least five other flunkies who Dave suspects would happily stab him right then and there if Trump would only say the word, Trump momentarily drops his perpetual scowl and says, “You’re a very good writer.” • “Traveling Men.” Dave and his dad consider traveling to Japan, Rome, and London, but ultimately settle for an outing to the local Panera. • “Quality Time.” For the first time in his life, Dave spends time alone with his father, who forbids him to order both pizza and spaghetti in a single meal, and asks him, “Shouldn’t you be finding stuff to do?” • “The Joy of Cooking.” How Dave’s harried mother—who gave birth to him and his four siblings in the space of five and a half years, and also held down a full-time job—mistakenly marinates a steak in Murphy’s Oil Soap. • “A Bustle in My Hedgerow.” Dave chronicles his teenage determination to shred “Stairway to Heaven.” And when his father tackles it on the piano at the age of eighty-two, Dave looks forward to the day when they can play it together as a “way of making things right after all these years” and he can “rip a face-melting solo guitar all over it.” • “Power for Living.” Dave’s parents insist he get a life coach when he still doesn’t have a recognizable career by the age of thirty. • “Mexcellent.” Dave plays guitar with the inmates of a Mexican prison where a priest friend is a chaplain, but the trip is almost ruined when an ex-con threatens to kill him and his friends with a machete in the middle of the night. “I was surprised to discover how ‘in the moment’ these circumstances made me feel,” he writes. • “Cleveland Noir.” Dave cruises the dive bars of his hometown, converses with a Hells Angel, and gets locked out of his father’s house. “How’d you sleep last night?,” he asks his dad the next day? “I was woken up by some nut calling the house over and over again a little after midnight,” he answers, “but other than that I slept like a baby.” In DAVE HILL DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE, Hill’s voice is sharp, carefree, and he is—seemingly despite himself—deeply empathetic as he portrays a difficult time in his family’s life and grows up just enough to realize that maybe he and his dad aren’t so different after all. About the Author Dave Hill is a comedian, writer, and musician originally from Cleveland but now living in New York City. He has written for The New York Times, The Paris Review, Salon, GQ, McSweeney’s, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Guitar World, among other publications. He is a regular contributor to public radio’s This American Life and hosts his own radio show, The Goddamn Dave Hill Show on WFMU in Jersey City, New Jersey. Dave has starred in his own TV series, The King of Miami, on the MOJO Network, which was canceled even though Dave really liked it. He has also appeared on Comedy Central, BBC America, MTV, and Adult Swim, among others, and is a regular host on HBO and Cinemax. Dave performs live comedy in theaters and basements all over the world. He also plays guitar and sings in his own rock band, Valley Lodge, whose song “Go” is the theme song for HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Dave Hill Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is his second collection of nonfiction essays.