Category: absurdism

Cool is here. Happy New Year!

Here is the first publication in English of the master humorist’s collection, Vive la vie! —  stories culled from the pages of Le Chat Noir, packed with madcap (and bawdy) tales of love, adultery, the supernatural, military life, and fake news. These texts are quintessentially Allaisian, spiked with absurd digressions, parenthetical asides, footnotes, puns,  jokes, military jargon, Parisian slang, neologisms, dog Latin, literary quotations, and other unmentionable forms of wordplay. ORDER NOW

 

Le Scat Noir Encyclopædia contains entries from Acrostic to Zwine, and features contributors from around the world—some of whom are distinguished professors at prestigious universities. Others are Nobel Prize winners, while a few have been arrested on felony charges. Discover rare factoids, flash fiction, nubile moon spew, mythological arcana, cabalistic pathogens, pataphysical detritus, scatological schemata, crypto-heuristic scripture, and radical homomorphism. Over 100 pages of profusely illustrated weirdness. ORDER NOW

American Book Review hailed Carla M. Wilson’s  first book,  IMPOSSIBLE CONVERSATIONS, as “profound.”  Now her focus turns to film in this dazzling new fiction collection: CURIOUS IMPOSSIBILITIES:. Taking her cue from French New Wave films of the 1960s, Film Noir, and classics from the ‘70s and ‘80s, Wilson constructs a series of homages to ten visionary directors: Fellini, Tarkovsky, Duras, Robbe-Grillet, Godard, Marker, Truffaut, Bergman, Welles, and Ershadi. Her “cinematic riffs” offer creative interpretations of their iconic films that broke stylistic boundaries using non-traditional techniques. ORDER NOW

12 gifted women writers from around the world unveil intimate stories designed to unsettle, excite, transport, and arouse the reader. “As you move through these tales, points of pleasure will be touched, bliss sent in shock waves. You have uncovered sizzling mysteries, becoming swathed by them. These stimulating women’s voices will carry you through feelings and sensations as old as time.” THE NEW URGE READER 3 features Tamara Faith Berger, Elizabeth Bolton, Emma Gibb, Petra Anne Hawk, Marina Kris, Mandy Lee, Karen Moller, Pamela Naruta, Marina Rubin, Aurora Seymour, Sophia Smith, and Rebecca Woolston. ORDER NOW

 

Just in Time for Xmas!

ALL HUMAN KNOWLEDGE IN A SINGLE VOLUME!®

Le Scat Noir Encyclopædia contains entries from Acrostic to Zwine, and features forty-three contributors from around the globe—some of whom are distinguished professors at prestigious universities. Others are Nobel Prize winners, while a few have been arrested on felony charges. Discover rare factoids, flash fiction, nubile moon spew, mythological arcana, cabalistic pathogens, pataphysical detritus, scatological schemata, crypto-heuristic scripture, and radical homomorphism. Over 100 pages of profusely illustrated weirdness.

Only $12.95 — Available Worldwide on Amazon. CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Contributors include Mark Axelrod, Jeff Bagato, Jacques Bekaert, Doktor Bey, Paulo Brito, Adam Levon Brown, Theodore Carter, Brendan Connell, Norman Conquest, Sean Coolican, Catherine D’Avis, Farewell Debut, Edith Doove, Paul Forristal, Ryan A. Forsythe, Peter Gambaccini, Eckhard Gerdes, Amelia Gorman, Thomas Gresham, Charles Holdefer, James R. Hugunin, Harold Jaffe,  Richard Kostelanetz, Rachel Kushner, Terri Lloyd, Harry McCullagh, David Macpherson, Opal Louis Nations, Andy O’Clancy, Peter Payack, Caleb Puckett, Jason E. Rolfe, Paul Rosheim, Stephen Silke, Mercie Pedro e Silva,  Doug Skinner, Seth D. Slater, Yuriy Tarnawsky, Robert Wexelblatt, Tom Whalen, Gregg Williard, Carla M. Wilson, and D. Harlan Wilson.

 

 

LONG LIVE LIFE !

We’ll cheerfully drink to that, whilst  launching  this new book by France’s greatest humorist, Alphonse Allais. 

Just in time for the holidays, too,  the first publication in English of the master’s  collection, Vive la vie! — stories culled from the pages of Le Chat Noir, packed with madcap (and bawdy) tales of love, adultery, the supernatural, military life, and—yes—fake news. These texts are quintessentially Allaisian, spiked with absurd digressions, parenthetical asides, footnotes, puns, jokes, military jargon, Parisian slang, neologisms, dog Latin, literary quotations, and other unmentionable forms of wordplay.

“EXPLOSIONS OF LAUGHTER ARE BETTER THAN DYNAMITE. LONG LIVE LIFE, DAMN IT!”
—ALPHONSE ALLAIS

This special Black Scat edition features four additional short stories not included in the original French volume, as well as a lively introduction, illustrations, and fascinating notes on the text by Doug Skinner.

Explosions of laughter guaranteed.

Now available worldwide on Amazon. CLICK HERE to order your copies.

LONG LIVE LIFE!
by Alphonse Allais
Translated from the French by Doug Skinner
Trade paperback; 184 pp.,  $14

 

LE SCAT NOIR #228 HAS ARRIVED!

As you might imagine, putting out a monthly journal such as LSN requires many man-hours (that may sound sexist but the alternative sounds like crap), i.e., hours of intense labor, stress, irritation, befuddlement, blood, sweat, and farts. September’s “Cryptlipo” issue marked our eleventh month as “the only free journal of its kind in America.” Now, with number 228 heralding a year of digital thrills, LSN becomes “the only journal of its kind in America.” That still says a lot.

Alas, in order to continue publishing we were forced to stamp a small price on our cover, but  we believe you’ll find this issue more than worth the cost of admission. Why, just take a look at all the whiz-bang you get for your buck: stories by Alphonse Allais, Paulo Brito, Eckhard Gerdes, Boris Glikman, Jason E. Rolfe, David Macpherson; poetry by Jeff Begato and Paul Rosheim; sublime translations by Mercie Pedro e Silva and Doug Skinner; incomparable art and photography by Farewell Debut, Jim McMenamin, Quixote, and Gail Schneider; original sheet music by Doug Skinner; a mini-feature film by Terri Lloyd; and a special supplement by Norman Conquest. Plus the features you’ve come to rely on: News in a Nutshell, Musical Instruments, Simple Acts of Sabotage, Madame’s Wicked Pack of Cards, and Trump’s Tweetstorm.

Dig in: http://blackscatbooks.net/le-scat-noir.html

 

STAND AND SALUTE!

What happens when you combine patriotism and ‘pataphysics (the science of imaginary solutions)? That’s right, you get a big BANG and fireworks — all packed inside the new
LE SCAT NOIR.  

The July issue features incendiary works by Alain Arias-Misson, Paulo Brito, Norman Conquest, Mitchell Eva, Eckhard Gerdes, Harold Jaffe, Alfred Jarry, Richard Kostelanetz, Terri Lloyd, Frank Pulaski, Jason E. Rolfe, Paul Rosheim, Mercie Pedro e Silva, and Doug Skinner. 

#225 marks the first interactive edition with “live” links and an EXCLUSIVE screen-video of Alfred Jarry’s resurrection!  

As always, it’s free to read online or download to your device, so stand and salute! Then  CLICK HERE.

CHEER UP — IT’S FREE!

The June Gloom issue of LE SCAT NOIR is now available for download. We won’t bother mentioning that  it’s free because  you  already know that. #224 features an international roster of artists and writers, including Alphonse Allais, Adrienne Auvray, Mark Axelrod, Paulo Brito, Norman Conquest, Farewell Debut, Félix Fénéon, Pippa Anais Gaubert, Eckhard Gerdes, Thomas Gresham, Adao Iturrusgarai, Jim Johnson, Rick Krieger, Terri Lloyd, Jim McMenamin, Andy O’Clancy, Frank Pulaski, Jason E. Rolfe, Paul Rosheim, Marina Rubin, Doug Skinner, and Rebecka Skog.

Ceci n’est pas Magritte

Move over Mona Lisa, the subject of René Magritte’s classic painting Le fils de l’homme (1964) has been transformed into an iconic  Everyman — forced to confront the forces of contemporary life.

Portuguese artist Paulo Brito reanimates the  mysterious figure in a series of satirical  collages you won’t soon forget.

The future of Dada is here!

SONS OF MAN
by Paulo Brito
with a preface by mercie pedro e silva
Absurdist Texts & Documents No. 33
Illustrated, full color; perfect-bound; $15
$5 digital edition

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

THE IDIOT GETS A RAVE

“Every time I write about Doug Skinner’s translations of Alphonse Allais – the new one is I Am Sarcey  – I say that Allais’s humor columns and so on ought to be period pieces, historical ephemera, but are better than that, are good.  Still funny; still fun.  This is my only idea about Allais, apparently.  If anything this is even more the case with I Am Sarcey – more ephemeral yet not, but even more so.’

—Wuthering Expectations

CLICK HERE to read the complete review.

And then CLICK HERE and enjoy the book for yourself.

Sarcey and His Muse

Black Scat author and translator Doug Skinner recently informed us about a book of poems he’s reading  by Raoul Ponchon. One  poem in particular struck his fancy as it’s  about the conservative French drama critic  Francisque Sarcey (1827-1899).  The poem — “Our Uncle’s Aunt” — mocks Sarcey,  saying his reviews were influenced by his elderly aunt. Lucien Boucher‘s illustration .is reproduced here.

Sarcey was the frequent  butt of jokes  by artists and writers  in the pages of the bohemian journal Le Chat Noir. But it was  the brilliant humorist Alphonse Allais who took the mockery to  extremes  and single-handedly transformed the critic into an Ubuesque piñata in a series of columns published under Sarcey’s name. This sustained journalistic prank has been  preserved in  I AM SARCEY by Alphonse Allais — compiled and translated by Doug Skinner.

 

This is one of the funniest books we’ve ever published — and that’s saying a lot. If you’re looking for a hilarious example of black humor, don’t miss it.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER ON AMAZON