Read Nick Wadley‘s introduction to
CRITICS & MY TALKING DOG: Selected Stories, Essays, Lectures & a Play
by STEFAN THEMERSON
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE PDF
Author: Black Scat Books
Publishers of Sublime Art & Literature Since 2012
Welcome to America, Henry!
Descended from a long line of scribbles, Henry has arrived from the UK in time to accept the role of “Everyman” — a stick figure for our times. Although not fully formed (some might even say “crudely drawn”), he, like the rest of us, scrawls through life in wonder and confusion. He is sagebrush blown down a lonesome highway, a cloned cartoon at the mercy of fickle Fate. Henry doesn’t have answers, he dropped out of Doodle U. and the side effects of Nietzschian philosophy and post-Hegelian dualism have taken their toll. How else to explain that Czechoslovakian pimple on the end of his nose. We try not to laugh at his flubs and flaws, his Hollywood dreams and Kafkaesque nightmares, but it’s impossible. And that’s a good reason to grab this book.
THE ACCIDENTAL MOUSTACHE
Drawings by Peter McAdam
Chapbook, illustrated,
88 pp., $12
ISBN 13: 978-1-7331656-5-5
THIS TITLE IS OUT-OF-PRINT
AVANT-GUARDIAN!
“Some naive lovers of semantics believe that if only our rulers, our saviours (of all sorts), could understand the meaning of their own pronouncements, they would amend their ways. What an illusion! They, the saviours, know the mechanism of Language much better than all the Semanticists, Linguistic philosophers, and Logical formalists put together. That’s how they know how to use it to play upon the prejudices of the mob: you and me.”
—Stefan Thermerson (from his essay “The Aim of Aims”)
Stefan Themerson (1910-1988) defied simple categories; he was a legendary European writer, publisher, philosopher, and filmmaker. Together with his wife, Franciszka, they founded Gaberbocchus Press, the gold standard for avant-garde literary presses. This collection, edited by Paul Rosheim, gathers previously hard-to-find texts dealing with many of his principal concerns: ethics, semantics, conformity, misguided prejudice, and intuitive human decency. Also included are drawings by Franciszka, and an insightful introduction by art historian Nick Wadley.
PRAISE FOR STEFAN THEMERSON
“This writer is in the company of Carroll and Queneau, a master of controlled inconsequence…” —Guardian
“What an extraordinary writer Stefan Themerson is.” —Punch
“Stefan Themerson has an absolutely elegant sense of humor.” —New York Times
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CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE INTRODUCTION BY NICK WADLEY
HOT OFF THE PRESS!
A special issue, featuring Mark Axelrod, Angela Buck, Peter Cherches, Catherine D’Avis, Farewell Debut, Eckhard Gerdes, Bob Heman, Charles Holdefer, Rhys Hughes, Esteban Isnardi, Harold Jaffe, Alexander Krivitskiy, Olchar E. Lindsann, Joel Lipman, Laura Mazzenga, Jim McMenamin, Peter McAdam, Doug Rice, Jason E. Rolfe, Paul Rosheim, Doug Skinner,Gregory Wallace, and Tom Whalen.
PLUS works in translation by
ALFRED JARRY, CHARLES CROS, THEOPHILE GAUTIER, JULES JOUY, PAUL VERLAINE, and LAURENT TAILHADE.
Sublime art & literature guaranteed.
BLACK SCAT REVIEW #18
edited by Norman Conquest
122 pp., trade paperback, $20
Available worldwide on Amazon
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ONLINE “SCATALOG” OF BOOKS IN PRINT
Since Black Scat Books was first founded in 2012, we have issued three digital catalogs (inset). What makes this 4th edition unique is that it features all titles currently in print—including cover reproductions, descriptions, sizes, prices and “live” links to Amazon for convenient ordering.
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Onward & Upward!
Paternoster POSTER
FIRST PUBLICATION IN ENGLISH
The Pope’s Mustard-Maker (Le Moutardier du pape) was the last work that Alfred Jarry finished, a few months before his death in 1907. It is a bawdy three-act farce loosely based on the medieval legend of Pope Joan, with a huge cast and lively songs bubbling with rhymes and wordplay.
Readers who know Jarry only from Ubu or his novels may be surprised that he wrote operettas, but his are fully Jarryesque, with his usual gusto for smutty jokes, legend, folklore, puns, wild invention, and popular theater. In his hands, Pope Joan becomes Jane, who runs off with her lover and disguises herself as pope. How will she pass inspection on the slotted chair? What will she do when her husband shows up? And has there ever been another production number celebrating the spiritual virtues of enemas?
A sublime translation from the French by Doug Skinner.
Click to order this avant-garde masterpiece
