DADA LIVES AGAIN!

On August 17 1911—seven years before Max Ernst took up scissors and paste to create his early Dada  art—WHAT A LIFE! was published in London by Methuen & Co. The authors, Edward Verrall Lucas (humorist & travel writer) and George Morrow ( illustrator and regular contributor to Punch), produced their satirical pictorial autobiography using illustrations cut from the pages of Whiteley’s General Catalogue. This inspired act of vandalism was a precursor to many works of avant-garde collage art and satire.

Long out of print in the U.S., Black Scat is proud to  bring this proto-Dada classic  back to life as #34 in our Absurdist Texts & Documents series.

WHAT A LIFE ! was  exhibited at MoMA’s 1936 “Fantastic Art, Dada, and Surrealism” show.


WHAT A LIFE! seems to have made little impression, either in England or in France, even though it has the remarkable distinction of being illustrated solely by collages drawn from the catalogue of a large department store in London (Whiteley’s), and therefore of being—as much by the images as by the text that they comment on—one of the first manifestations of that spirit we call “modern.” Raymond Queneau, Bâtons, chiffres et lettres (1950)


What a Life!
E. V. Lucas & George Morrow

Absurdist Texts & Documents – No. 34
Perfect-bound,  illustrated; 134 pages
$12
click here to grab a copy on Amazon

 

EROS IS EROS IS EROS…

The Special “Eros” Issue of LE SCAT NOIR is now availablefeaturing titillating texts & images by Adrienne Auvray, Paulo Brito, Tom Bussmann, Norman Conquest, Esbey, Stephanie Gatos, Eckhard Gerdes, Georges Hugnut, Jim Johnson, Steve Katz, Michael Leigh, Terri Lloyd, Mantis Man, Derek Pell, Frank Pulaski, Paul Rosheim, Mercie Pedro e Silva, Doug Skinner, Nile Southern, Carol White. and Mihaly Zichy.  

***includes an excerpt from the novel POSH by Stephanie Gatos.

To preview and download this naughty noir,  CLICK HERE

Ceci n’est pas Magritte

Move over Mona Lisa, the subject of René Magritte’s classic painting Le fils de l’homme (1964) has been transformed into an iconic  Everyman — forced to confront the forces of contemporary life.

Portuguese artist Paulo Brito reanimates the  mysterious figure in a series of satirical  collages you won’t soon forget.

The future of Dada is here!

SONS OF MAN
by Paulo Brito
with a preface by mercie pedro e silva
Absurdist Texts & Documents No. 33
Illustrated, full color; perfect-bound; $15
$5 digital edition

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

The Game is Afoot!

“Pell’s satire doesn’t lack for sharp edges. His twisted humor is sure to appeal to crime-fiction lovers.” —THE RAP SHEET

Black Scat proudly presents Derek Pell’s  MISSING MYSTERIES — the most baffling and hilarious reference book ever published. This  special collector’s edition features a complete history of nonexistent mysteries (1840 – 2015) in one deluxe, large format paperback.

Packed with pulp, crimes, dicks, dames, thugs, puns, gumshoes and stoolies. Loaded with laughs, maps, gaffs, noir, conundrums, puzzles & quizzes. 196 pages crammed with over 100 full-color cover reproductions, plus startling excerpts, scathing reviews, outlandish blurbs and mysterious synopses.

PROMO-FINAL
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click on cover for larger view]

In the words of Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Lawrence Block: “Derek Pell is quite mad, in rather a brilliant way.”

Novelist Robert Coover has called Pell “…a wordplay master and a parodist of great wit and cunning,”  and MISSING MYSTERIES offers further evidence.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER DIRECT FROM OUR PRINTER  / CLICK HERE TO ORDER ON AMAZON

A Born-Again Classic Born Again!

2nd-printing

Is it a miracle? You be the judge. It’s definitely a Black Scat Classic Interim Edition, so have a cigar and help us celebrate the rebirth of Opal Louis Nations’ EMBRYO WORLD & OTHERS STRIPPED BARE. This out-of-print bundle of joy is now reborn and available in living color in a spanking new second printing (PLUS a fetid digital edition).

EMBRYO WORLD unveils a future ripe with dark foetal visions—surreal and ferociously  funny—fresh from the fertile Womb of Nations.

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If you missed this baby the first go round, now’s your chance to rock a collector’s item in your arms.

$14.00 print  /   $7.00 digital edition
Illustrated in full color. Perfect-bound. 52 pp.

SURREALISM / ART / BLACK HUMOR

 CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Direct from Red China—the Shocking Underground Classic!

COMMIE-COVER

As capitalist running dog days of August approach, we are preparing to release one of the most controversial books ever published—THE LITTLE RED BOOK OF COMMIE PORN.

Long suppressed and banned in Red China, this incendiary work has never before been seen by Western eyes. So shocking and graphic are its contents that anyone found possessing it in the People’s Republic faced years of re-education or—during Mao’s reign—execution. The Great Helmsman himself urged party members to “strike down pinko porno!” yet was rumored to have kept a copy under his pillow. Throughout Peking, anti-Commie Porn posters warned citizens to “Pound Bourgeois Stroke Books with Red Fists of Fury!”“Oppose Sex Worship!”... “Struggle Vigorously—Defeat Yankee-Panky!”, etc.

In 2013, two notorious California-based artists—Terri Lloyd and Norman Conquest—conspired to obtain a copy of the original banned edition. Disguised as tourists, they traveled to China and smuggled out a rare, running dog-eared copy.They have devoted nearly a year to disinfecting its pages, fine-scanning the lewd illustrations, and translating the often cryptic Red Guard “pornoganda” slogans into English.

EDITOR’S NOTE: THIS TITLE IS OUT OF PRINT AND NO LONGER AVAILABLE

“A Surrealist museum of femmes fatale!”

WOMEN cover

Not since André Breton’s Nadja has there been anything like this. Hallucinatory portraits, collaged, painted, scrawled by a visual poet of Chicago’s mean streets. Ephemeral, fresco’d goddesses drift out of reach, taunt us, haunt us, inspire desire and erotic obsessions. Indifferent brides, savage debutantes, sirens and succubi, erotic dream queens and mythical girls next door.

original-women
The artist’s one-of-kind hand-bound original.

Originally an extraordinary one-of-a-kind, hand-bound artist’s book, WOMEN THAT DON’T EXIST has been lovingly reproduced in sublime full color. 63 pages, perfect-bound in a limited collector’s edition of 100 copies. $16.00  / BLACK SCAT CLASSIC INTERIM EDITION #09

BACK-COVER
Back cover.

Frontis and title page

Frontis and title page

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 Frank Pulaski’s graffiti’d visions seduce the eye and fire the imagination.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Have you had your MUD BATH today?

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“Allan Bealy is a collagist with a profound knowledge of the form’s history, as well as art history—period. With a vision that’s wide-ranging but cohesive, he’s one of those artists who can serve up a banquet of images in seemingly disparate styles, yet you’ll always know who cooked them up. Dig in to this delectable feast for the eyes, but take the time to savor each course.”
Peter Cherches, author of Lift Your Right Arm

“At last, an album of Bealy’s edgy, layered, elegant collages. Incisive in both senses.”Michael Kasper

SOLD OUT

 

 

“Here’s mud in your eye!”

MUDBEST
We’re pleased to announce that—based on this morning’s phenomenal sales—Allan Bealy‘s MUD BATH has become our #1 best seller.  We advise fans of cutting edge collage to act quickly before this limited edition becomes an outrageously priced collector’s item.  SOLD OUT

Happy May Day to all!

The Cutting (and pasting) Edge

“At last, an album of Bealy’s edgy, layered, elegant collages. Incisive in both senses.”—Michael Kasper

MUDBATH

Allan Bealy has been making masterful, handmade collages for years. Working within art’s most accessible form, Bealy manages to consistently surprise the viewer. From a secret stash of source material, he has carved out a style all his own. His exquisite sense of design and powerful imagination combine to produce images you won’t soon forget. Now Black Scat Books brings you this remarkable artist’s first collection in a full color, 68-page perfect-bound collector’s chapbook.

TRIO

“Allan Bealy is a collagist with a profound knowledge of the form’s history, as well as art history—period. With a vision that’s wide-ranging but cohesive, he’s one of those artists who can serve up a banquet of images in seemingly disparate styles, yet you’ll always know who cooked them up. Dig in to this delectable feast for the eyes, but take the time to savor each course.”
Peter Cherches, author of Lift Your Right Arm

mudbath-cover-layout

Limited to 100 copies, this Black Scat Classic Interim Edition is the next best thing to a coffee table mud bath.

SOLD OUT