Scat happens.
Be here October 1st.
Category: forthcoming
Get Rich Quick!
Black Scat Does Balzac
Samuel Beckett’s classic absurdist play Waiting for Godot was first presented in Paris on January 5, 1953.
Flashback: Paris, 102 years earlier, where Honoré de Balzac ‘s comedy Mercadet had its inaugural performance at the Theatre du Gymnase-Dramatique on August 24, 1851.
Mercadet features a character named “Godeau” who never appears.
Hmm.
Beckett claimed he never read Balzac’s play.
We think not. Thus, next month, Black Scat Books is publishing Balzac’s three-act comedy—translated from the French by Mark Axelrod. This unique limited edition includes an unpublished letter from Samuel Beckett to the translator.
On October 15, 2013, you be the judge.
Another great leap forward…
Some Things Wicked This Way Come . . .
Top Ten Forthcoming Titles
The Facetiae Erotica of Poggio
by Poggio Bracciolini. With hand-lettered cover & drawing by Jana Vukovic
Captain Cap (Vol. III): The Antifilter & Other Inventions
by Alphonse Allais. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner
Oulipo Pornobongo 2: Anthology of Erotic Wordplay
edited by Norman Conquest
Blink: Visual Antiphonies
by Farewell Debut
Hotel Ortolan
by Tom Whalen. With photographs by Michel Varisco
Embryo World & Others Stripped Bare
by Opal Louis Nations
Moo Nudes
by Monika Mori
Contemporary Art for Rich Kids
by Peppo Bianchessi
Captain Cap: His Adventures, His Ideas, His Drinks
by Alphonse Allais. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner
(Illustrated trade paper edition)
Tintin Meets The Dragon Queen in The Return of the Maya to Manhattan
a novel by Alain Arias-Misson
A Bishop is Reassured . . .
A Bishop is Reassured Regarding his Loose Teeth
An old bishop, whom I knew, complained that he had already lost a number of his teeth, and that others were shaking so badly that he feared to lose these also.
At this a man of his district said: “Have no fear that you will lose your teeth.”
“Why not?” the bishop asked curiously.
“Well, my testicles have been hanging loose for the last forty years seeming always on the point of falling off, yet I have never lost them.”
from
The Facetiae Erotica of Poggio
by Poggio Bracciolini
Illustrations by Jana Vukovic
Coming in July in a Black Scat Classic Interim Edition
In the wings, some special things (second edition)…
Nearly 100 posts ago—on August 18th, 2012 to be precise—we published a roundup of forthcoming books called “In the wings, some special things…” There were only a few titles on our list back then, yet we were ambitious, eager, and inspired. Today, this little house has a bookshelf all its own. Moreover, we’re still putting our money on the printed word, despite the world’s panicky flight to digital.
There is (and must be) room for both eBooks and print.
Indeed, a few of our titles—as well as our magazine Black Scat Review—are available for Kindle and other digital platforms. But the emphasis remains on paperback editions to be held, squeezed, sniffed, licked, displayed and read.
Here are a few treats coming your way this summer.
The Facetiae Erotica of Poggio by Poggio Bracciolini.
Facetiae is a collection of humorous and indecent tales by Renaissance humanist Poggio Bracciolini (1380–1459), which was originally published in 1470. It features such stories as “Of a Fool, Who Thought His Wife Had Two Openings” and “Visio Francisci Philelphi,” the earliest recorded version of Carvel’s ring. This special Black Scat Classic edition includes a cover and illustrations by artist Jana Vukovic. Based in Belgrade, Serbia, Jana is well known for her unique, hand-lettered designs and book covers. Limited to just 69 copies, this edition is a must-have for one’s private library.
***
Be prepared to sail away with two more volumes in our Captain Cap series by Alphonse Allais. Translated and illustrated by the great Doug Skinner, these amusing pun-filled tales featuring Allais’s legendary, hard-drinking captain have never before appeared in English. Leonardo Reviews in the UK called Volume I “…a little gem.”
So head to the shore and keep your eyes peeled for Captain Cap (Vol. III): The Antifilter & Other Inventions, and Captain Cap (Vol. IV): The Sanatorium of the Future.
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Our world is drowning in a deluge of iPhone snapshots—billions of mirrors reflecting the detritus of daily life… evidence of the fast food we consume, the parade of strangers and passersby, the microscopic gestures pointing to the enshrinement of Self.
QUESTION: what happens when an artist arms herself with an iPhone?
ANSWER: Blink: Visual Antiphonies by Farewell Debut
photograph by farewell debut
***
Happy Summer Reading!
There will be no June Gloom here…
Get out your markers and circle June 1st. That’s publication day for How I Became an Idiot by Francisque Sarcey. Sarcey (1827-1899) was an esteemed French drama critic and the butt of derision at the cabaret Le Chat noir. He reviewed the premiere of Alfred Jarry‘s Ubu Roi with this visionary verdict: “…a filthy fraud which deserves nothing but the silence of contempt.”
Yes, he was a visionary idiot.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S IRONY.
In the good hands of Alphonse Allais, Sarcey became an Ubuesque piñata for the avant-garde artists and writers of Montmartre. The absurdist master wrote a series of wicked columns for the newspaper Le Chat noir under the name Francisque Sarcey and, as you might imagine, merdre hit the fan. Pies and fists were flying and high society was aghast.
Be prepared for some nasty laughs in How I Became an Idiot. Never before in English, this rare collection has been translated from the French by the great Doug Skinner and is being issued in an extremely limited edition of 60 copies.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: THIS TITLE IS OUT OF PRINT
Read more about forthcoming Interim Editions on the Bookends page here.
Pornobongo, mon amour
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