Budding writer Giovanni Zappacosta-O'Hara suspects that there's more to his family's legacy than he's been told. His parents recount the history in devastating, scandalous and rollicking stories, while Gio and his boyfriend joke that there must be lies woven into the details. When his boyfriend is struck with cancer, the laughter stops. Gio can't bear watching the disease eat away his life, his sanity and the person he loves.

Full of shame, Gio flees to New York, using his family history as a feeble excuse - he's going to get to the bottom of it. What happens next forces Gio to confront his cowardice and find a different motivation for his book: redemption. As he retells the stories, he discovers family secrets that make him question his identity. The hilarious and heartfelt characters he finds along the way give him surprising chances to get over himself - but will he take them?

Matthew Fox is the Associate Editor of Maisonneuve Magazine in Montreal. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from the New School University in New York, and a B.A. from Concordia University in Montreal. His work has been previously published in The Toronto Star, A Room at the Heart of Things, La Petite Zine, Maisonneuve, and Wascana Review. Matthew currently lives in Montreal.

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"Matthew Fox's This Is It - about the stories and secrets that bind families and lovers - is nothing less than a modern masterpiece. Gut-wrenching, sharply observed, and deeply funny, the novel excavates generations of Zappacosta family lore to take the reader on an emotional journey unlike any other. Each sentence is a gift, wrapped in Matthew's gorgeously dry wit. A tour de force that will leave you breathless!" - Carley Fortune, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Meet Me at the Lake and This Summer Will Be Different

" This Is It moves through multiple cities, decades, and historical moments to excavate both gut-punching emotional trauma and domestic farce, as its many characters use dialogue to wound one another and to shield themselves from hurt. Fox has the rare ability to be heartbreaking and hilarious in a single line." - Nathan Whitlock, author of Lump and Congratulations On Everything

"I've never read anything like This Is It . No secret can ultimately withstand the brilliant and unusual way this family epic unfolds, especially not when an unruly queer is looking into the genealogy. The cast inhabit a kingdom where laughing at tragedy is sometimes the only way through. Bold and unforgiving, but never without empathy - This Is It will take you to totally unexpected places." - Daniel Allen Cox, author of I Felt the End Before It Came, Mouthquake, Shuck, and Basement of Wolves