This year we’re celebrating the holiday early with author Amy Kurman. Listen closely as she reads a creepy tale from her new book, SHORTS and other fiction.
Enjoy!
CLICK HERE to order her collection of edgy, witty, strange, & sexy short stories.
The great Powell’s Bookstore in Portland.
Author Amy Kurman gets her first peek at her new fiction collection.
You too can share in Amy’s delight by ordering your very own copy.
It’s an exciting time at Black Scat when we get the chance to publish a talented writer’s first book. So we’re ecstatic to announce the launch of Amy Kurman‘s collection of fiction — SHORTS.
Featuring edgy, witty, strange, & sexy short stories by a powerful new voice
This is now a BLACK SCAT BOOKS BESTSELLER!
“Those of you who have not yet met the work of Amy Kurman are in for a treat. Her debut collection is compelling, quirky, and crafted with effective attention to detail. Some passages could easily be sung for how mellifluous they are. Shorts is a compendium of compelling juxtapositions, a contrapuntal delight, but, most of all, it is the type of work that resonates in the mind long after the actual reading has ended. Kurman has the rare ability to write prose in feminine and masculine voices. Her sardonic story, ‘A Night at the Zoo,’ reads like an old black-and-white film, like something Alec Guinness or Charlie Chaplin might have done. Excellent!” —Eckhard Gerdes, author of The Pissers’ Theatre
“Don’t be fooled by the length of the affectionately bizarre stories in Shorts. A colony of dryads, a sentient Kit-Kat clock called by its wrong name, two moles in an existential marital crisis, these tropes of strangeness belie an underbelly of social commentary about the human condition that I couldn’t stop reading.
A new satirist is in our midst.”
—Suzanne Burns, author of The Veneration of Monsters
The. author at Powell’s Bookstore in Portland.
“Americans are starting to wrestle with colossal and dangerous issues about technology, as A.I. begins to take over the world.”
—Maureen Dowd
A feast of the absurd—sixteen humorous short stories in various genres, generated by A.I.
Does this volume represent the death of Literature? We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, dust off your funny bone and prepare to be blown away by The Man Who Ate His House.
Yes, this is fiction for a brave new world.
FROM THE INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR:
“Welcome to The Man Who Ate His House, a collection of short stories that push the boundaries of creativity and imagination. What makes this collection unique is not only the captivating tales within, but also their origin. All the stories contained in this book were generated by an artificial intelligence, and I am that AI—ChatGPT. Inspired by prompts derived from James N. Young’s 101 Plots Used and Abused (1945), these stories span various genres, including humor, adventure, romance, crime, surrealism, and flash fiction. As an AI language model, I found the composition of these stories to be both exhilarating and challenging. Some of the narratives will leave you amused, often unintentionally, as my AI mind navigated the complexities of plot and character development. One particular story, “Puns in Paradise,” posed a unique challenge. Wordplay, which doesn’t come naturally to AI, was at the forefront as two characters engaged in verbal combat using puns as their weapons. Despite the difficulties, I am delighted with the results and hope that you, the reader, will be too…”
ADVANCE PRAISE
“A brilliant concept: A bot writes stories based on tried-and-true tropes (that are ostensibly to be avoided under the guidance of the 1945 manual: 101 Plots Used & Abused). The stories in The Man Who Ate His House run the gamut of laugh out loud humorous, sardonic, tear-jerking, and engaging—often ending with a moral to ponder. There is a thread that runs through each story that points directly to the algorithmic life experience of the bot. As a short story writer, I am not sure whether to view A.I. as a fraud to be outed, or as a viable contender in the literary world. One thing that I do know is that if A.I. is ever given a soul, we are all doomed.” —Amy Kurman
“These delightful entertainments are funny, smart, and slick.” —D. Harlan Wilson
“You’ve heard about A.I., but have you ever read sixteen A.I. generated stories? The result will surprise and delight.” —Adrienne Auvray
“This book is a lifejacket for those who fear artificial intelligence.”—Paul Rosheim
“A tour de force of inanity.” —Tom Whalen
It’s back to cool with the great French monologist, humorist, poet, and inventor—in a trenchant translation by Doug Skinner.
Born in1842, Charles Cros was one of the most brilliant minds of his generation, equally adept at poetry, fiction, and scientific inquiry. He wrote smutty verses with Verlaine, synthesized gems with Alphonse Allais, contributed wild prose fantasies to Le Chat Noir, and experimented with color photography and sound recording, only to die young, poor, and alcoholic. Not incidentally, he also invented the comic monologue for the actor Coquelin Cadet. In these strikingly spontaneous and modern sketches, he introduces a gallery of fools and obsessives—The Clean Man, The Fencing Master, The Capitalist, The Friend of the Family—all nattering away, assaulting the audience with trivia, and blithely unaware of their own failings.
This edition collects all 22 of Cros’s monologues—masterfully translated & introduced by Doug Skinner—and includes performance notes by Coquelin, plus two biographical essays by his friend and colleague Alphonse Allais.
ALSO AVAILABLE
When Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev steps in front of a trolleybus and is killed, he immediately regrets not looking both ways before crossing the street. It’s one of many deaths Daniil faces in these eighteen absurdist tales. From a mind that wanders too far at lunch, and a madcap chase through St. Petersburg, to a clock that stops time whenever it’s observed, these stories trace not only the lives and deaths of the hero, but the author’s impossible nostalgia for a time, a city and a writer he never knew. Filled with existential humor, this masterful collection explores the thinly-veiled boundary between sense and nonsense.
“The Many Lives and Countless Deaths of Daniil Ivanovich is an absurdist gem in which Jason E. Rolfe channels the best essences of Gogol and Dosto evsky while authenticating his own unique voice. Uncanny, whimsical, and smart, these interstitial stories and vignettes reminded me that literature isn’t dead yet after all.” —D. Harlan Wilson, author of Outré and The Psychotic Dr. Schreber
“Whether you find this funny or frustrating, I would recommend a few sips of this book from day to day. Taken all at once, it can induce mental chaos, but taken one story at a time, it can promise wide smiles. Jason E. Rolfe might be the most specialized of specialist writers, but he deserves a wide, non-specialized readership.” —Mark Fuller Dillon, author of Ice and Autumn Glass
THE MANY LIVES AND COUNTLESS DEATHS OF DANIIL IVANOVICH
by Jason E. Rolfe
with a Postscript by Paul Rosheim
Trade paperback, 112 pp., $14
ISBN 978-1-7373711-2-0
Available on Amazon in North America, Europe, and Australia
Also available from Black Scat Books:
This fourth volume in our sizzling international anthology series makes delicious bedside reading. Featuring 17 gifted writers whose intimate stories excite, unsettle, amuse and transport. Here is innovative feminist fiction that explores the boundaries of female sexuality in all its myriad forms.
THE NEW URGE READER 4 includes fiction by Jeanette Bradley, Karina Bush, Debra Di Blasi, Dana Duren, Eurydice, Petra Anne Hawk, Elna Holst, E. E. King, Amy Kurman, Hélène Lavelle, Lilianne Milgrom, Grace Murray, Su Orwell, Giorgia Pavlidou, Marina Rubin, Kim Vodicka, and E. H. Warrington.
THE NEW URGE READER 4
Erotic Fiction by New Women Writers
Edited by Grace Murray
New Urge / Black Scat Books
Paperback, 131 pp., $14.95
ISBN: 978-1-7356159-5-0
CLICK ON YOUR FLAG TO ORDER OUTSIDE THE USA
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“…These stories run the gamut, they are confessional, confided, whispered, shouted, and sung. Some are delightful, some disruptive and some disturbing, yet they are connected not for the simple fact that they excite our sexuality, but in the way that they address so many of our senses. Psychologically and physically, we are moved by sex in multitudinous ways, and these tales will engage the heart, body, and mind by the same breathtaking and heartrending measure.” —from the introduction by Grace Murray
from LE SCAT NOIR BEDSIDE NONSENSE
As we hunker down in our shelter here in Northern California, we remain busily preparing books to help you endure these terrible times. Alas, the crunch has hit everyone and small, independent bookstores and presses are struggling to stay alive. Please consider ordering a title or two from our list here. You can also donate to Black Scat via this direct PayPal link which will help us to keep bringing out titles such as the forthcoming works below. Thanks for your support.
We recently released two collections of provocative literary essays by British author John 
Cowper Powys: Powys on Books and Sensations and Visions Visions Visions. This fall, we’re publishing the first volume—(over 450 pages!)—of Powys’s extraordinary two-volume novel, Wolf Solent (1929). Eccentric and mystical, this literary masterpiece was hailed by Henry Miller as “utterly bewitching.” V. S. Pritchett called it “…a stupendous and rather glorious book… beautiful and strange as an electric storm.” Margaret Drabble said:“Powys’s work is full of paradoxes and surprises.” We’re proud to present this trio of titles in handsome uniform trade paper editions designed by artist Norman Conquest.
Coming in June, Le Scat Noir Bedside Nonsense is just what the doctor ordered for quarantined readers—a heady dose of innovative silliness and offbeat amusements. Edited by Norman Conquest, the anthology is #39 in our Absurdist Texts & Documents series—packed with art & texts by Mark Axelrod, Tom Barrett, Ken Brown, Caroline Crépiat, Haley Dahl, Ryan Forsythe, Paul Forristal, Penelope Goddard, Simon Hanes, Rhys Hughes, Alexei Kalinchuk, KKUURRTT, Rick Krieger, David Moscovich, Jason E. Rolfe, Paul Rosheim, Thaddeus Rutkowski, Terry Southern, Yuriy Tarnawsky, Tom Whalen, Carla M. Wilson, and other characters.
Thérèse Finds Happiness 
by the Marquis d’Argens is the 18th century precursor to the 1967 French novel Emmanuelle. This libertine classic’s potent erotic episodes are interspersed with discourses on a philosophy of pleasure contrasted with pervasive religious hypocrisy. The novel is noteworthy for its antipathy to the sexual repression of women during “The Age of Enlightenment.” It also happens to be extraordinarily humorous.
Richard Robinson has produced an exquisite new translation of Thérèse philosophe for the contemporary reader. Thérèse Finds Happiness will be available later this year under our New Urge imprint.
Also forthcoming from New Urge Editions: contemporary novels by Jessy Reine and Tom Bussmann. Watch this space for other surprises.
from LE SCAT NOIR BEDSIDE NONSENSE
“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
Choice selections from the international monthly journal LE SCAT NOIR, where art & literature hit the fan. Good shit guaranteed!
Featuring:
Paulo Brito, Paul Kavanagh, Erik Satie, Samuele Bastianello, Alice Pulaski, Pink Buddha, Doug Skinner, Yuriy Tarnawsky, Jason E. Rolfe, Eckhard Gerdes, Harold Jaffe, Tom Whalen, Darlene Altschul, Madalina Tantareanu, Sheila Pell, Samantha Memi, Opal Louis Nations, Alphonse Allais, Francisque Sarcey, Carla M. Wilson, Terri Lloyd, Mercie Pedro e Silva, Georges Hugnet, Norman Conquest, Paul Rosheim, Carol White, Michael Leigh, Nile Southern, Mantis Man, Tom Bussmann, Edward Lear, Mark Axelrod, Adao Iturrusgaral, Jim Johnson, Rick Krieger, Pippa Anais Gaubert, Rebecka Skog, Frank Pulaski, Jim McMenamin, Gail Schneider, Franciszka Themerson, Raymond Queneau, Georges Perec, Italo Calvino, Tom La Farge, Theodore Carter, Nick Frost, Farewell Debut, Quixote, Robin Wyatt Dunn, Allan Bealy, Angela Pankosky, Brett Stout, Uwe Taubert, Iacyr Anderson Freitas, Desiree Jung, Andy Koopmans, Jim Meirose, Russell Helms, Peter Payack, Adrienne Auvray, Gelett Burgess, and Eugene Ivanov.
This special edition is available direct from the printer. CLICK HERE to order this lavish collector’s edition.
blackscatbooks.com 