Black Scat Does Balzac

September 24, 2013September 25, 2013Leave a comment

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 This unique limited edition includes an unpublished letter from Samuel Beckett to the translator.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.

GODEAU_cover

All Hands on Deck! The Future Has Arrived!

September 22, 2013December 29, 2013Leave a comment

Ahoy mates! —the fourth and final volume in the Captain Cap Collection has arrived—more madcap tales by the great French absurdist, Alphonse Allais. His hard-drinking, philosophizing, womanizing, & pioneering Captain Cap sails again to some hilariously strange shores. The pun-filled text has been brilliantly translated (and profusely illustrated) by Doug Skinner—and includes a penetrating preface and extensive notes on the text.

If you’ve never heard of “crocodile bridges” or “smell-buoys”, then you simply must read this literary landmark—the first English translation of “…one of the great masterpieces of humorous literature.”—nooSFere Littérature.

Come on in, the water’s fine…

CLICK HERE TO ORDER A COPY OF THIS LIMITED EDITION

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PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Volumes I – III are out of print..

Some Are Reading . . . (part 2)

August 11, 2013December 29, 2013Leave a comment

Nothing like a good book on a summer’s day.

Even better, reading a sublime paperback from Black Scat Books.

Better still, enjoying How I Became an Idiot by Francisque Sarcey (actually written by one Alphonse Allais), translated from the French by the venerable Doug Skinner. Mr. Skinner is seen here exhibiting his fine taste in summer reading matter while relaxing in the Hamptons. (NOTE: This photo was not taken in the Hamptons, but it could have been had Mr. Skinner gone there.)

How I Became an Idiot is filled with biting wit and scatological humor. It’s the perfect beach book, as long as it’s read upside down so the title cannot be detected. After all, no one wants to be mistaken for an idiot.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: THIS TITLE IS OUT OF PRINT

Captain Cap Rides Again!

August 4, 2013August 10, 2013Leave a comment

illustration by Doug Skinner

Hang on to your caps, folks, the Captain is back in a capsized edition designed to tease—Volume III in our hilarious 4-volume series.

Captain Cap: The Antifilter & Other Inventions by Alphonse Allais, translated and illustrated by Doug Skinner. This literary landmark is the first publication in English featuring Allais’s hilarious, booze-cruising captain of the high seas—the unthinkably unsinkable Captain Cap.

Over 100, profusely illustrated pages, The Antifilter is packed with strange, pataphysical inventions, quirky cons, cocktails, wordplay and absurd pranks. In short, it’s a feast for landlubbers and lover’s of French lit & humor.

DISCOVER: