With a Cup of Tea | M. H. Van Keuren
Channel: This House of Books
Date: 2018-10-28

M.H. Van Keuren, known to his friends as “M.H.”, is the author of five books. The man has a remarkable imagination as well as a gift for story telling. If you like science fiction, he is worth getting to know.
His first book, Rhubarb, is based in the delightful premise that space aliens from all over the galaxy are traveling to a diner in Montana to eat the rhubarb pie at a local truck stop. Another book, Legitimacy, includes a character that is really a robotic lemur!
His current book, Trash: A Love Story, is based in a real, world-wide problem. What happens to the things we throw away? Exploring one solution proposed in a TED talk, M.H. created some characters and explored what it would be like to really try it. The results are wonderful.
I can’t think of anyone quite like M.H. He has been compared to Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash), and the humor found in his books has been compared to that of Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) but really he is one of a kind. 
It is difficult to classify M.H.’s work. His books are sometimes shelved with “young adult” fiction, and they are all suitable to that audience. However, good young adult literature is better described simply as good literature. His books are engaging for older adults, too. Also, he is often regarded as a science fiction writer. Indeed, all of his books could fit into that genera. However, while some of his books contain elements typical for science fiction, Trash is more based in current reality.  
M.H. does not appear in public much and we were wondering if he would accept our invitation. It turned out that we should have invited him much earlier. Not only did he give a lovely reading, the interview we recorded with him was terrific. Our guest interviewer is Louisa Frank, who sparkles on camera with her gentle enthusiasm.