Mutha: Vincent D’Onofrio on His Debut Book and Future Writings

Around these parts, Vincent D’Onofrio is known for his role as Kingpin in Netflix’s now-defunct Daredevil series. In a matter of days, the beloved actor is joining the world of publishing with Mutha: Stuff + Things, his debut book. Mutha doesn’t follow a single narrative structure, nor does it include an ensemble of characters you follow from one story to the next. As Cameron Books explains, Mutha is a “collection of irreverent and poetic short works” from the legendary actor.

If you follow D’Onofrio on Twitter, the poems inside are much like what you see him tweet on a daily basis. Brief stories about how he or a character he quickly dreamt up is feeling at any given moment. Some stories are downright hilarious, others more morose. The pieces within tackle any shape and size of topic, from serious self-help situations to the incredibly mundane.

Remember D’Onofrio’s viral pig tweet from a few years ago? That made the cut, as does a blurb about gorging oneself on an abundance of Girl Scout cookies. Whatever the case, the actor says he’s able to glean inspiration for anything around him. After all, that’s really the one way you can write.

“It’s just the absurdity of the world. I have dyslexia and other issues and I have a lot of thoughts that go through my head in fragmented ways all the time,” D’Onfrio says. He compares his thought process to a bunch of falling apples, while one apple may fall off the tree and bonk you in the head, the situation remains calm and your head is virtually clear. When it comes to Mutha and, more specifically, his writing style, the actor says instead of the single apple falling from the tree, it’s more like dumping a bushel of apples right on top of your head.

Like much of the world over the past year or so, D’Onofrio tells us he doesn’t do well sitting idle and always has to be up to something. More often than not, he puts pen to paper and gets to writing. The end result is something like Mutha, a collection of poems with no connection to the next.

“This is what happens when I’m idle. This is the kind of thing that goes on when I’m idle,” the actor adds. “When I’m not taking care of my sons and talking to my daughter, and when I’m not acting, I have to stick my nose into something and so, this became the thing. And now I write every day. It’s just endless.”

On top of the content itself, D’Onofrio got legendary comic book artist David Mack on board. Mack, known for his work on comic series like Jessica Jones and Daredevil, painted a portrait of the actor to use as the cover.

For fans of the actor, Mutha is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to writing. After this is released, D’Onofrio says two more books are likely to follow. One is a children’s book based on one of his journal entries included in Mutha, and the second is more traditional poetry. That’s already all on top of an active acting career and an additional project he’s working on with former Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb.

Mutha: Stuff + Things is due out May 18th wherever books are sold. D’Onofrio can be seen in all three seasons of Daredevil, now streaming on Netflix. You can pre-order MUTHA: Stuff + Things here.

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