Hamilton Brownstone’s father died when he was six. At the funeral he met a strange, angry boy named Gardner: the brother from another family that neither he nor his mother had known about.
In the years since that meeting, Gardner won the lottery and has used the money on a campaign of self-destruction, largely through his hobby of applying for minimum wage jobs. His goal is rock-bottom, something he can't ever seem to pull off. Hamilton’s bigggest accomplishment since their meeting is a job at a disco-themed hot dog counter.
Faced with no accomplishements of note, Hamilton has decided to live out the lives of famous writers in order to channel them and write a book.
However between his mother’s neediness, his girlfriend’s acting ambitions and his boss’s constant attempts to make him manager, Hamilton bizarrely decides the only way he’ll be able to finish his book is in prison.
And there’s only one person willing to help Hamilton end up there: his brother Gardner.
“Josh has a talent for creating an instant connection with a character and his or her story that, unfortunately seems to be rare in the world of writing today.” -The Idaho Statesman
“The originality in his approach and his grip of humor writing knock the wind out of me.” -Boulder Weekly
“[His] are the kind of soul-molesting stories that are difficult to forget, and would be a shame to miss out on.” -LauraReviewsBooks.com

The Hack

Literature & Fiction

Gross, Josh

Humor & Satire

Iconoplasty Industries

A collection of the last scenes--in words and pictures--of sixty of America's favorite movies captures the emotional pre-fade out moments of such classics as Gone with the Wind, The African Queen, The Wizard of Oz, E.T., and others. Original.

Last Word: Final Scenes from Your Favorite Motion Pictures

Vintage

"The originality in his approach and his grip of humor writing knock the wind out of me." -Boulder Weekly When thick wildfire smoke lingers in a small Oregon town, daily life begins to more closely resemble an apocalyptic sci-fi film than summer vacation, and the locals all go a bit nuts. However, the Gilbert family just goes a bit more nuts than usual. The father, Greg, is so depressed he barely gets out of bed, choosing instead to haunt online conspiracy forums about why the fire hasn't yet been extinguished. The mother, Lina, tries to volunteer at various charities to alleviate her guilt over the state of the environment, but consistently ditches to smoke pot. Emma, the daughter who just returned from college as a vegan eco-radical, spends her evenings in campaigns of petty sabotage directed at anyone over thirty for their complicity in climate change. And the high school age son, Shannon, seeks literal escape by taking a job as trail guide to a Bigfoot seeker in the mountains beyond the smoke's reach, but finds that the constant trips in and out of the smoke begin to warp his sense of reality. Each chapter is told from a different character's POV, weaving multiple plot threads together as the Gilbert family unravels. They are each simultaneously at war with the weather, with each other, and with their fracturing senses of self and order to the universe. By summer's end, nothing will be the same. "[His] are the kind of soul-molesting stories that are difficult to forget, and would be a shame to miss out on." -LauraReviewsBooks.com "Sweet, merciful Christ thank you so much for something decent, delightful, original, and inventive to edit. The shit-eating grin hasn't left my face since the first page." -Joan Rogers, copyeditor for Summer of Smoke

Summer of Smoke

Outsider Press

The essential founding principle of liberal society is free speech, the ability to express oneself openly without retribution or permission from the government. In America, and many other nations, it is a constitutional right. Those same nations also commonly regulate sound through volume restrictions and noise permitting processes. This paradigm shattering text argues that sound is an essential component of free speech, central not just to forms of creative expression like music, but to political speech and economic self-reliance, and that sound's restriction and regulation through noise codes is an unconscionable infringement on human rights. It details how seemingly innocuous noise codes create ripple effects across class, race, public safety, police misconduct, the environment, the economy, and more, further oppressing the poor and rotting democracy from the inside.Both a nuanced philosophical exploration of sound as a political concept and a call to arms, The S.O.U.N.D. Manifesto shows that nearly everything the public believes about sound is backwards-and just what it will take to make our speech truly free. And once you've read it, there's no going back.

The S.O.U.N.D. Manifesto: A Radical Call for Sonic Liberty

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Independently published

Stalking your pet's former owners. Faking your death to get out of paying back your student loans. Stealing your co-worker's cat to teach her a lesson about hygiene. These are secrets and these are lies. Sometimes they're both. They're also just a few of the stories in Secrets and Lies, author Josh Gross's debut collection examining things people prefer to hush up and gloss over.
In this book, you'll get inside the head of a cynical competitive debater forced to logically justify the existence of love, see an alternate history in which Congress banned heartbreak after the tragic events of February 14th and even experience abortion from a male perspective.
With Gross's wicked wit and wordplay focused through a lens equal parts existentialist and absurd, you'll be riveted from cover to cover.
In fiction, everything is a lie. Unless it's a secret.
“Josh has a talent for creating an instant connection with a character and his or her story that, unfortunately seems to be rare in the world of writing today.” -The Idaho Statesman
“The originality in his approach and his grip of humor writing knock the wind out of me.”-Boulder Weekly
“[His] are the kind of soul-molesting stories that are difficult to forget, and would be a shame to miss out on.”-LauraReviewsBooks.com

Secrets & Lies

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Named one of the "40 Best Books of 2016" by The New York Post Inoki can use his bare fists. He can use karate. This is serious. There’s $10 million involved. I wouldn’t pull a fraud on the public. This is real. There’s no plan. The blood. The holds. The pain. Everything is going to be real. I’m not here in this time of my life to come out with some phony action. I want you to know this is real." Muhammad Ali, June 14, 1976, The Tonight Show On June 26, 1976, Muhammad Ali fought in a mixed-rules contest against iconic pro wrestling champion Antonio Inoki for the so-called martial arts championship of the world.” Broadcast from Tokyo to a potential audience of 1.4 billion in 34 countries, the spectacle foreshadowed and, in many ways, led to the rise of mixed martial arts as a major sport. The unique contest was controversial and panned by wrestling and boxing supporters alike, but the real action was behind the scenes. Egos, competing interests, and a general sense of apprehension over what would happen in the ring led to hodgepodge rules thrown together at the last minute. Bizarre plans to save” Ali if the fight got out of hand were even concocted. In Ali vs. Inoki, author Josh Gross gets inside Ali’s head leading up to the match by resurrecting pre-fight interviews. Gross also introduces us to Inoki, the most famous face in Japan who was instrumental in shaping modern mixed martial arts.

Ali vs. Inoki: The Forgotten Fight That Inspired Mixed Martial Arts and Launched Sports Entertainment

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

BenBella Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gross, Josh. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Gross, Josh

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gross, Josh. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Hack

Last Word: Final Scenes from Your Favorite Motion Pictures

Summer of Smoke

The S.O.U.N.D. Manifesto: A Radical Call for Sonic Liberty

Secrets & Lies

Ali vs. Inoki: The Forgotten Fight That Inspired Mixed Martial Arts and Launched Sports Entertainment

Summer of Smoke