Category: book blab
Sweet! Sweet! Sweet!
Suzanne Burns knocked ’em dead at Powell’s in Portland last night. She read from her Black Scat novel Sweet and Vicious and customers were gobbling up copies. Suzanne’s book is must-read fiction and you can grab your copy on Amazon here.
An Interview with Jason E. Rolfe (How inconvenient!)
Jason E. Rolfe
We invite you to read an incisive, albeit inconvenient, interview with Jason E. Rolfe, author of An Inconvenient Corpse — a collection of short stories published recently in our Absurdist Texts & Documents series. The interview was conducted by one Paulo Brito and is published in Porta VIII, which appears to be based (inconveniently enough) somewhere in Portugal. To read the interview, simply click this LINK.
Once you’ve done so you’ll undoubtedly wish to purchase a copy of Mr. Rolfe’s book. To do so, just CLICK HERE.
Now wasn’t that convenient.
Stop Making Sense!—Nonsense Rules!
NOW AVAILABLE: A special double issue of BLACK SCAT REVIEW—128 pages packed with hogwash, baloney, moonshine, jive, tripe, drivel, bilge, bull, guff, bunk, bosh, BS, eyewash, piffle, poppycock, phooey, hooey, malarkey, hokum, twaddle, gobbledygook, codswallop, flapdoodle, hot air; and tommyrot. In short: UTTER NONSENSE!
Featuring art & texts by Jake Alexander, Alphonse Allais, Alain Arias-Misson, Mark Axelrod, Paulo Brito, Norman Conquest, Farewell Debut, Fiona Duffin, Tom La Farge, Allen Forrest, Ryan Forsythe, Eckhard Gerdes, Rhys Hughes, Janne Karlsson, Teri Lee Kline, Richard Kostelanetz, Jhaki M.S. Landgrebe, Michael Leigh, Terri Lloyd, David Macpherson, Samantha Memi, Monika Mori, Yarrow Paisley, Sheila Pell, Jason E. Rolfe, Doug Skinner, Wendy Walker, Carla M. Wilson, and D. Harlan Wilson.
BLACK SCAT REVIEW #9/10 – THE UTTER NONSENSE ISSUE
5¼” x 8¼”, Perfect-Bound. Full color. 128 pp.
$24.95 (Collector’s Edition) / $7.00 (Digital Edition) – CLICK HERE TO ORDER
In the wings, some special things (sixth edition)…
Black Scat’s Absurdist Texts & Documents series is divided into sets of six titles each. This year we’ll be closing out the fifth set with AN INCONVENIENT CORPSE by Jason E. Rolfe (#30) and HOROSCRAPES by Doug Skinner (#31). Both gems are imbued with the mischievous spirit of Alphonse Allais.
Indeed, we launched the series in the summer of 2012 with Allais’s story MASKS, and the great French absurdist remains the guiding light behind Black Scat Books–suitably sublime and obscure. You’ll find plenty of evidence in the just released trade paperback SELECTED PLAYS OF ALPHONSE ALLAIS.
Next month we’re publishing a novel by a talented young writer, Suzanne Burns.
“Sweet and Vicious is an inspired exploration of Waldeinsamkeit and (post)romantic angst that turns the mundane into something beautiful and wild. Burns is a gifted writer.” –D. Harlan Wilson. Coming October 15th, just in time for Halloween.
Need we say more?
Artist Terri Lloyd (THE LITTLE RED BOOK OF COMMIE PORN) returns with a new monstrosity that’s in preparation as we speak. For now, the nature of the book must remain under wraps to avoid causing panic. We can only report that it’s another collaboration with Norman Conquest. (Clearly these two don’t know when to stop.)
The grand “utter nonsense” issue of BLACK SCAT REVIEW (#9) is going to be our biggest issue yet. Publication date TBA.
Looking ahead to 2015, you’ll discover books by Mark Axelrod, Eckhard Gerdes, Alain Arias-Misson, Farewell Debut, Carla M. Wilson, Doug Rice, Richard Kostelanetz, and other luminaries.
HAPPY FALL!
Summer Scatastic!
Here’s a look ahead at some of the goodies coming your way in the next few months.
In August we’re bringing you a major new novel by Tom Whalen, The Straw That Broke—a stunning work of speculative metafiction— filled with wordplay and literary hijinks. This is seminal post-cyberpunk fiction with wicked Oulipian twists, crafted by a master of experimental fiction.
On Labor Day, Mao Zedong’s clandestine Long March reaches its revolutionary climax in The Little Red Book of Commie Porn. A collaboration between California artists Terri Lloyd and Norman Conquest, this outrageously funny collection of satirical art & text is unlike anything we’ve ever published. Indeed, the book is nearly impossible to describe and must be seen to be believed.
Another literary event you won’t want to miss: the first English translation of the Selected Plays of Alphonse Allais, compiled and translated by Doug Skinner. This special illustrated edition makes a nice companion volume to Allais’s Captain Cap: His Adventures, His Ideas, His Drinks. This new collection includes 24 works: eight monologues, three one-act plays, plus short skits, dialogues, and burlesques. For fans of the absurd, this is a must-have.
For armchair travelers who enjoy going nowhere in wickedly clever fashion, there’s David Slavitt’s absurdist chapbook Walloomsac: A Week on the River. It has already received advance praise from R. H. W. Dillard: “…I haven’t had this kind of significant fun since I stayed up ‘til dawn…breathlessly reading Pale Fire for the very first time.” This one’s a real treat.
Coming in September. we’re thrilled to be publishing Suzanne Burns’ experimental novel Sweet and Vicious. This new work by the gifted young author of Siblings and Misfits and other Heroes, is sure to enhance her reputation as one of the most innovative contemporary American writers.
And just in time for Halloween… the third volume of Oulipo Pornobongo: Anthology of Erotic Wordplay. The collection includes works by Maria Schurr, Paulo Brito, Tom La Farge, Lucy Selleck, Doug Skinner, Ellen Nations, Paul Forristal, and others.
Be sure to subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss out on these and other forthcoming titles.
The Terrible Twos!
JULY 4TH — Black Scat Books is celebrating two years of publishing sublime art and literature. In just 24 months we’ve published over 60 titles.
Since July 4th, 2012, we’ve had the honor to publish many innovative artists and writers from around the world, including Alphonse Allais (France), Alain Arias-Misson (France), Mark Axelrod, G. Mackenzie Bacon, Honoré de Balzac (France), Allan Bealy, Eleanor Bennett (UK), Peppo Bianchessi (Italy), Poggio Bracciolini (Italy), Pierre Henri Cami (France), Pedro Carolino (Portugal), Norman Conquest, John Crombie (Paris), Farewell Debut, Ryan Forsythe, Eckhard Gerdes, Judson Hamilton, C.S. Hibbard (UK), Isidore Isou (France), Harold Jaffe, M. Kasper, Ievgen Kharuk (Ukraine), Richard Kostelanetz, Michael Leigh (UK), Samantha Memi (UK), Monika Mori (Austria), Ellen Nations, Opal Louis Nations, John Nickle, Derek Pell, Gisèle Prassinos (France), Frank Pulaski, Doug Skinner, Terry Southern, Yuriy Tarnawsky, Michel Varisco, Jana Vukovic (Serbia), Tom Whalen, and Ed Wood.
And in the seven issues of our magazine (Black Scat Review) we’ve published many others. All these men and women are what make this little indie publishing house truly unique. After all, without them Black Scat Books would be nothing but blank pages.
A special thank you goes to all of our readers who have kept this ship afloat during troubled times. Without you…well, there wouldn’t even be a blank page.
Finally, for those who have yet to discover the joy of Scat, may we suggest these recent titles. They’re guaranteed to add some fireworks to your bookshelves.
THE UNKNOWN ADJECTIVE AND OTHER STORIES by Doug Skinner
CROCODILE SMILES: SHORT SHRIFT FICTIONS by Yuriy Tarnawsky
WOMEN THAT DON’T EXIST by Frank Pulaski
THE DERANGEMENT OF JULES TORQUEMAL by Robert Wexelblatt
REAR WINDOWS: AN INSIDE LOOK AT FIFTY FILM NOIR CLASSICS
‘S A BIRD by Eckhard Gerdes
SURREALIST TEXTS by Gisèle Prassinos
The special “LIT NOIR” issue of BLACK SCAT REVIEW
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!
Word Champions!
Last Saturday’s BLACK SCAT AUTHORS PUNCHOUT at the Emily Harvey Foundation in NYC was packed. The bloodthirsty crowd was eager to see a K.O. but had to settle for wine. Nothing beats a night of fiction and fisticuffs and these “Lit Bull” contenders were all victorious—Alain Arias-Misson, Yuriy Tarnawsky, Karen Moller, and (in absentia) Frank Pulaski.
Karina Tarnawsky deserves high praise for presiding over the unruly crowd as MC. Here are a few shots of the event.
Alain Arias-Misson, Yuriy Tarnawsky, Karen Moller
Yuriy Tarnawsky; Karina Tarnawsky (MC) Karen Moller, and Alain Arias-Misson
“Here’s mud in your eye!”
We’re pleased to announce that—based on this morning’s phenomenal sales—Allan Bealy‘s MUD BATH has become our #1 best seller. We advise fans of cutting edge collage to act quickly before this limited edition becomes an outrageously priced collector’s item. SOLD OUT
Happy May Day to all!
In the wings, some special things (fourth edition)…
Listen closely and you shall hear… the melodious sounds of a Scat-filled New Year.
- Surrealist Texts by Gisèle Prassinos
Transformative texts by one of Surrealism’s most gifted voices. Translated from the French by Ellen Nations. Includes eight original watercolor paintings by Bruce Hutchinson.
- The Unknown Adjective & Other Stories by Doug Skinner
A collection of cryptic comics and picture stories.
- The Straw That Broke by Tom Whalen
A “baffling and wonderfully funny” novel, featuring the legendary Encyclopedia Mouse.
- Selected Plays of Alphonse Allais
Rare theatrical works by the great French humorist, compiled and translated by Doug Skinner.
- Merde à La Belle Époque
Scatological texts by period luminaries, including Alphonse Allais, George Auriol, Georges Courteline, Edmond Haraucourt, Vincent Hyspa, Maurice MacNab, & Erik Satie. Compiled and translated by Doug Skinner. “Sparkling sewage!”
- The Sugar Numbers by Judson Hamilton
A kaleidoscopic novella in which two servants—Morel and Valentine—attempt to usurp their respective masters.
- Selected Poems of Edward D. Wood, Jr.
Lost poems by the enigmatic creator of Plan 9 from Outer Space.
- Crocodile Smiles by Yuriy Tarnawsy
Stories by the author of The Placebo Effect Trilogy.
- Desiring Specimens by Norman Conquest.
A collection of imaginary book titles hidden in typography specimen sheets.
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drawing at top of post by Léonce Burret
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