Tag: Captain Cap

DO THE MATH

FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION

The incomparable humorist is in his prime here, spinning out dark fantasies on cycling in Ancient Rome, the taste of tears, the economic advantages of germ warfare, God’s dislike of Christmas, and the proper chemicals for a chaperone’s chamberpot. The intrepid Captain Cap pitches his bizarre inventions over cocktails, and Allais sends back notes from his travels to North America and Southern France. At 65 stories, this collection is Allais’s largest—PLUS two extra stories by Allais and two by Octave Mirbeau, on the pressing issue of ambulatory vegetables.

We’re tickled and thrilled to bring you the 12th title in our Alphonse Allais Collection: 2 + 2 = 5 —translated, with an introduction and notes on the text, by the absurdly gifted Doug Skinner.

Alphonse is in his prime here, spinning out dark fantasies on cycling in Ancient Rome, the taste of tears, the economic advantages of germ warfare, God’s dislike of Christmas, and the proper chemicals for a chaperone’s chamberpot. The intrepid Captain Cap pitches his bizarre inventions over cocktails, and Allais sends back notes from his travels to North America and Southern France. At 65 stories, this collection is the humorist’s largest—PLUS two extra stories by Allais and two by Octave Mirbeau, on the pressing issue of ambulatory vegetables. What does it all add up to? . . . Hilarity!

2 + 2 = 5
Alphonse Allais
Translated from the French by Doug Skinner
Original cover painting by Lilianne Milgrom
Trade paperback; 289 pp., $14.95

Buy Now

CLICK ON YOUR FLAG TO ORDER OUTSIDE THE USA

About the Author
ALPHONSE ALLAIS (1854-1905) was a peerless French humorist, celebrated posthumously by the Surrealists for his elegant style and disturbing imagination. In addition to composing absurdist texts for newspapers such as Le Chat Noir and Le Journal, he experimented with holorhymes, invented conceptual art, and created the earliest known example of a silent musical composition: Funeral March for the Obsequies of a Deaf Man (1884). Truly ahead of his time (as well as our own), Allais is needed now more than ever. His mischievous work remains fresh, funny, and always surprising.

Other books by Allais you’ll enjoy. . .

Surprise!

bday

Alphonse Allais (1854-1905) was France’s greatest humorist. His elegance, scientific curiosity, preoccupation with language and logic, wordplay and flashes of cruelty inspired Alfred Jarry, as well as succeeding generations of Surrealists, Pataphysicians, and Oulipians. Celebrate the master’s birthday with mirth, mischief, and cocktails!

And one of his sublime books translated by Doug Skinner, from Black Scat, of course.

The Blaireau Affair

Captain Cap: His Adventures, His Ideas, His Drinks

Selected Plays of Alphonse Allais

Masks

The Squadron’s Umbrella

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

toast_to_master

“To leave is to die a little, but to die is to leave a lot.” –-Alphonse Allais

Cheers!

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Poem for the Holidays

Leave a comment

If you missed the gala Captain Cap launch party last month at The Jalopy Theatre in Brooklyn, you’re in luck. We’ve prepared two video excerpts featuring Doug Skinner reading from his translation of Alphonse Allais’s masterpiece.

In the first video,  Doug reads “The Chameleon Child“—one of the good Captain’s rare poems.

In the video below, Captain Cap gives a masterful lesson in savoir-faire to an ignorant, European, and dimwitted bartender.

Finally, if Santa in his dotage neglected to leave a copy of CAPTAIN CAP under the tree, you can treat yourself to one here.

A Gala Reading of CAPTAIN CAP

Leave a comment

Doug Skinner read from (and signed copies of) his sparkling translation of Alphonse Allais’s Captain Cap: His Adventures, His Ideas, His Drinks at the Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn tonight. By all accounts it was a delightful performance and Alphonse would have been proud—not to mention inebriated, as Captain Cap cocktails were on the house.

photo-1

doug_reading

ds-sigining

If you missed the performance, don’t miss the book which is available on Amazon here.

<< Photographs by Farewell Debut. >>

The Ten-Percent Solution

Leave a comment

cc cover

 

Get 10% off our huge, Cap-sized edition of Alphonse Allais‘s CAPTAIN CAP: HIS ADVENTURES, HIS IDEAS, HIS DRINKS. This is the complete and unabridged translation of the original 1902 French classic, plus eight uncollected “Captain Cap” stories and a “Cappendix” of rare historical pictures. The book is illustrated throughout with witty drawings by Doug Skinner, in addition to his extensive notes and lively introduction.

ORDER IT HERE

Words for Today via Alphonse Allais

Leave a comment

Allais was going to Breuil with Gandillot, who had a trunk. Allais only had a shirt. “You can put it in my trunk,” says Gandillot. “What?” says Allais. “And I, do I ask you to put your trunk in my shirt?

—Jules Renard

You’ll find more wit and wisdom in CAPTAIN CAP: HIS ADVENTURES, HIS IDEAS, HIS DRINKS by Alphonse Allais, translated from the French with an introduction & illustrations by Doug Skinner.

cc cover

ORDER ON AMAZON

The Grand Madcap Edition of CAPTAIN CAP has Launched!

Leave a comment

cc cover

We’ve jumped the gun and released our mammoth deluxe trade paperback edition of Alphonse Allais’s  CAPTAIN CAP: HIS ADVENTURES, HIS IDEAS, HIS DRINKS—translated by Doug Skinner. This is the complete & unabridged edition of the original 1902 French classic. 370 pages, including  eight uncollected “Captain Cap” stories, plus a “Cappendix” of rare historical pictures.

The book is profusely illustrated with witty drawings by Doug Skinner, in addition to his extensive notes on the translation and swashbuckling  introduction.

If you missed any of the limited edition capsized Captain Cap chapbooks in our Absurdist Texts & Documents series, you can get the whole kit and caboodle now, plus oodles more.

ORDER YOUR COPY ON AMAZON

***

ALPHONSE ALLAIS (1854-1905) was a peerless French humorist, celebrated posthumously by the Surrealists for his elegant style and disturbing imagination. In addition to composing absurdist texts for newspapers such as Le Chat Noir and Le Journal, he experimented with holorhymes, invented conceptual art, and created the earliest known example of a silent musical composition: Funeral March for the Obsequies of a Deaf Man (1884). Truly ahead of his time (as well as ours), Allais is needed now more than ever. His mischievous work remains fresh, funny, and always surprising.

DOUG SKINNER has written numerous scores for theater and dance, particularly for actor/clown Bill Irwin (The Regard of Flight). His articles, cartoons, and translations have appeared in The Fortean Times, Fate, The Anomalist, Nickelodeon, Weirdo, Black Scat Review, and other periodicals. His translation of Isidore Isou’s Considerations on the Death and Burial of Tristan Tzara was published by Black Scat Books.

***

ARE YOU IN THE UK? CLICK HERE TO ORDER

ARE YOU IN FRANCE? CLICK HERE TO ORDER

ARE YOU IN GERMANY?  CLICK HERE TO ORDER