Good Luck!

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cover painting by Alice Pulaski

 

Are you superstitious? If so, this may be your lucky day. We’re accepting manuscripts for BLACK SCAT REVIEW‘s thirteenth issue, theme: “Superstition.”  Deadline: Sept. 30th, 2015.

Issue #13 may, in fact, precede #12 (“Roussel’s Revenge”). That’s just the way we roll around here. Meanwhile, we’re still looking for texts in the spirit of Raymond Roussel.

Manuscripts should be sent to: black scat (at) outlook (dot) com

We strongly advise that you read an issue before submitting.

 

Alphonse Rides Again!

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original-edOn July 4, 2012, we published Alphonse Allais’s MASKS in a limited edition of 50 copiesthe first title in our Absurdist Texts & Documents series. The chapbook quickly sold out and, today, is a coveted collector’s item. Since we’ve received many requests to reprint the book, we’re pleased to announce a revised and expanded edition. Translated from the French, adapted and illustrated by Norman Conquest, this new volume also features a most Allaisian introduction & notes on the text by the great Doug Skinner. Originally published in France under the title Un drame bien parisien (1890), this darkly humorous tale is quintessential Allaisa pataphysical text admired by the Surrealists (André Breton included it in his seminal Anthologie de l’humour noir). It was also celebrated by the French group Oulipo, and has been the subject of scholarly studies by the writer and semiotician Umberto Eco, Francis Corblin, and others. excerpt This is the first illustrated edition of this mini masterpiece. If you missed out on our first edition, now’s you chance to own a copy. MASKS Alphonse Allais Translation & illustrations by Norman Conquest With an introduction & notes on the text by Doug Skinner Absurdist Texts & Documents No. 1 Revised  & Expanded Second Edition 50 pp., perfect-bound; illustrated; Special limited launch price:  $12.00    (*$14 after June 4th)

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Back to the Future!

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Part Oulipian exercise, these meticulous scrapings reveal the future in all its sublime absurdity. The author approached the horoscope in his morning newspaper as if it were a puzzle, like the crossword or sudoku. By scraping out the middle part, and joining the beginning and end, he received a hidden message.

Reading outside the lines here one discovers an alternative fate more interesting than the fluff dispensed by run-of-the-mill soothsayers. Indeed, these predictions are pithy, profound, and astonishingly accurate.

In HOROSCRAPES, Doug Skinner offers up 366 clever twists of fate—something for every sign—guaranteed to alter forever how we view the universe.

Who knows what the future holds?

Doug Skinner knows.

HOROSCRAPES

HOROSCRAPES
by Doug Skinner
ABSURDIST TEXTS  & DOCUMENTS NO. 31

$15
Perfect-bound paperback, 66 pp.

ASTROLOGY / WORDPLAY / HUMOR

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

 

Oulipo Pornobongo 3. The doors are open. . .

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Pleased to announce the 29th volume in our Absurdist Texts & Documents series: OULIPO PORNOBONGO 3; ANTHOLOGY OF EROTIC WORDPLAY.

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Featuring constrained works by Maria Schurr, Tom La Farge, Paulo Brito, Lucy Selleck, Doug Skinner, Paul Forristal, Ellen Nations, and Norman Conquest.

A titillating anthology—provocative, funny, and uncommonly satisfying.

You can order a copy in print ($15) or the digital edition ($5.25) by clicking HERE.
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Pornobongo, Mon Amour

coming

…What’s that sound?…

The sound of Oulipo Pornobongo 2 stirring in the darkness?

Lunging, thumping, humping…

Yes, sequels are never subtle.

We will be publishing this sequel to the original Anthology of Erotic Wordplay later this year, and are currently searching for appropriate texts spiced with hot oulipian constraints.

Stay tuned.

If you’d like to view last year’s lovely pornobongo trailer, click here.

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A Note of Interest to Pornobongoids:

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Tomorrow, New Directions will officially release the 65th anniversary
edition of Raymond Queneau‘s inspirational classic Exercises in Style, translated by the late-great Barbara Wright. This edition includes previously unpublished exercises as well as episodes composed in the author’s honor by Frederic TutenLynne TillmanHarry Mathews, and others.

A splendid treat, despite a typo on the copyright page that credits Stefan Themerson‘s memorable cover image to “Stephen.”

CLICK HERE to order