NOIR is Born!

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illustration by John Nickle Better not answer it, you never know who’s calling. Wait until the shadows pass. It’s safer in the light. John Nickle is a master of shadows. With colored pencils and acrylic paint he has created moody crime scenes for novels by the likes of Ross MacDonald, James Swain,  Sjöwall and Wahlöö, and many others. He’s well known for his distinctive, cinematic style—creepy and comic. A dark sense of humor lies just beneath the surface like a hastily buried corpse. illustration by John Nickle Even the artist’s popular children’s illustrations posses sinister overtones. Then again, it’s a dangerous world out there. illustration by John Nickle Black Scat Books proudly announces a limited edition collection of John Nickle’s best cover art and illustrations produced over the past 25 years—Nickle Noir: The Art of John Nickle—featuring a revealing introduction by the artist and full color reproductions. 144 pages to die for.

“Nickle is a conjurer of dread and remembrance. His works quickly bypass conscious examination and lodge themselves in the space between sleep and wakefulness. This is a book of dark joy. Welcome and beware.”

—p.g. sturges, author of Shortcut Man and Angel’s Gate

NICKLE NOIR

 

THIS TITLE IS OUT OF PRINT

Strangelove Go Code

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photo: Assaulty Cracker

Washington (CNN) — In an unprecedented action, an Air Force commander has stripped 17 of his officers of their authority to control and launch nuclear missiles.

The 17 are being sent to undergo 60 to 90 days of intensive refresher training on how to do their jobs. The action comes after their unit performed poorly on an inspection and one officer was investigated for potential compromise of nuclear launch codes, according to Lt. Col. John Dorrian, an Air Force spokesman.

The story was first reported by The Associated Press.

The action was taken by the deputy commander of the 91st Operations Group, Lt. Col. Jay Folds, whose officers run launch control centers for the Minuteman III nuclear missiles from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.

FURTHER READING:

TS

The Idiot Hath Arrived!

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No, not that idiot, this idiot…

How I Became an Idiot

Esteemed French drama critic (and the butt of derision at the cabaret Le Chat Noir), Francisque Sarcey reviewed the premiere of Alfred Jarry‘s Ubu Roi with this visionary verdict: ”…a filthy fraud which deserves nothing but the silence of contempt.”

Writer and humorist Alphonse Allais transformed Sarcey into an Ubuesque piñata in a series of wicked columns published under Sarcey’s name in the newspaper Le Chat Noir. 

Never before in English, this rare collection is introduced and translated from the French by Doug Skinner. Edition limited to 60 printed copies. #00 in our Black Scat Classics sub-series.

“How I Became an Idiot reminds me of Félix Fénéon’s excellent Novels in Three Lines… the unexpected is suddenly present, and there is rudeness, as well as a savagery of attack that we simply can’t imagine anyone doing to any well-known columnist of today and getting away with it.”
—Jeff Bursey, author of Verbatim: A Novel
Prepare yourself for some nasty laughs.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: THIS TITLE IS OUT OF PRINT.

May Allais

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Doug Skinner has shared some delicious Alphonse Allais tidbits—including a very rare photo of the master at his desk—over on the Ullage Group blog.

Meanwhile, volume three of Mr. Skinner’s translation of Allais’s Captain Cap is in the works.

For those interested in collecting the entire 4-volume set, copies of the first two are still available.

Captain Cap (Vol. I): Captain Cap Before the Electorate

Captain Cap (Vol. II): The Apparent Symbiosis Between the Boa and Giraffe

There will be no June Gloom here…

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ubu

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

idiot

Read more about forthcoming Interim Editions on the Bookends page here.

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T.S. on American Publishers (1957)

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“The way they work, they examine a manuscript for a
while and then they may say ‘Oh yes, this is like Look
Homeward Angel,’ and then they look up the sales
record of Look Homeward Angel, and if that’s all right
they’ll take it. But if the manuscript happens to be
just a bit original, you can save yourself the postage…
unless it’s five or six hundred pages, of course, then
they’re rather apt to take it, anything; they got that
idea from big cars—you know, ‘What’s good for
General Motors…by Cracky!’ ” —Terry Southern

from HOT HEART OF BOAR & Other Tastesillustration by Norman Conquest illustration by Norman Conquest, from Hot Heart of Boar