Small Press Recommendations: On the Eve of the Eve of the New Year

Today’s small press recommendations come from Philly, San Fran, and New York. Doug Gordon is editor at New Door Books in Philadelphia. New Door Books formed in 2009 out of a writer’s collective that’s been around since 1985. Their first title, Hanah’s Paradise by Ligia Ravé, had been rejected by American presses but published in translation to much acclaim in Spain—New Door thought the book deserved an audience in its native language. Read more about New Door Books here: http://newdoorbooks.com/ Samantha Giles heads the San Francisco literary organization, Small Press Traffic, a literary center which started out in the back room of a Castro Street bookstore in 1974. Remaining above the petty politics of literary cliques, SPT has been dedicated to attracting writers from many backgrounds, and promoting independent presses and writing that pushes limits; the organization has grown over the years to run a reading series, hold writing workshops, curate a small press archive, publish a journal, and much more. Veronica Liu works at one small press during the day, and runs a great micro-press, Fractious Press, in her free time. I got to meet Veronica when she came to Pittsburgh to table for Fractious at a Progressive Library Skillshare in 2007. We plotted methods of a small-press world takeover, and although it hasn’t quite happened yet, we maintain hope. I enjoyed reading poet Elizabeth Harrington, who writes about her childhood home of Oklahoma from her current home of New York. The subjects and imagery of her poems read with honesty and emotion while the language continually surprises in both great and subtle ways.

*****

1. The Tables of the Law, Thomas Mann, trans. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann (Paul Dry Books, 2010)
This is a brilliant new translation of a neglected novella by Mann, a story of Moses commissioned in 1943 as a "defense" of Jewish law and culture against the Nazis, but so imbued with Mann's depth of vision that it challenges our understanding of religion.
http://pauldrybooks.com/

2. Degrees of Elevation: Short Stories of Contemporary Appalachia, ed. Charles Dodd White and Page Seay (Bottom Dog Press, 2010)
http://smithdocs.net/

3. Love Park, Jim Zervanos (Cable Publishing, 2009)
http://www.cablepublishing.com/

Recommended by
Doug Gordon, New Door Books
http://newdoorbooks.com/

*****

1. Killing Kanoko, Hiromi Ito (Action Books, 2009)

2. Humanimal: A Project for Future Children, Bhanu Kapil (Kelsey Street Press, 2009)

3. The Book of Frank, CA Conrad (Wave Books, 2010)

Recommended by
Samantha Giles, Executive Director, Small Press Traffic
http://smallpresstraffic.org/

*****

1. Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto, Shawn Micallef, illustrations by Marlena Zuber (Coach House Press)

2. Hyperart: Thomasson, Genpei Akasegawa (Kaya Press)

3. Local Motion: The Art of Civic Engagement in Toronto, edited by Dave Meslin, Christina Palassio, & Alana Wilcox (Coach House Press)

Recommended by
Veronica Liu, coordinator of Fractious Press
http://www.fractiouspress.com/

*****

1. Earthquake Came to Harlem, Jackie Sheeler (New York Quarterly Publications)

2. Equal to the Earth, Jee Leong Koh (Bench Press)

3. For My Father, Paula Brancato (Finishing Line Press)

Recommended by
Elizabeth Harrington, author of The Quick and the Dead, Grayson Books (First prize winner in Grayson Books chapbook competition)
http://www.eharringtonwrites.com

*****

Stay tuned for more guest reviews, and more book giveaways.

Small Press Recommendations: On the Third Day of Kwanzaa

Today’s recommendations come from two great small press booksellers. Ron Kolm has been a bookseller at various indies in Manhattan for 35 years, including some of the greats: St. Mark’s Bookshop, Strand, East Side Books, Coliseum, Posman Books. Known as the “Fuller Brush Man of the Lower East Side” because he is often carrying a bag of small press books to show or give you, Ron is also a prolific writer of prose and poetry and a founding member of the group of literary renegades, The Unbearables. He’s edited several anthologies of writing by the Unbearables, including one of the best small press books I read in 2010, called The Worst Book I Ever Read. I love that the writers included are mainly poets, novelists, and experimentalists, but happen to be talented and engaging nonfiction storytellers in their spare time. Yes, a bibliophile’s title of books writers hate: This is one of the best books about books (and reading) I’ve read in a while--and one of the best books of true stories, too.

Bill Boichel runs Copacetic Comics, one of my favorite bookstores in Pittsburgh or elsewhere. He’s been selling comics for over 30 years, and promoting Pittsburgh artists/educating Pittsburgh readers for almost as long through his always-eclectic wares and gatherings, first through multi-media, comics-oriented events like Transfer (and an accompanying comics anthology, Transformer); next through his hangout-store in east Pittsburgh, BEM; and most recently through the first annual PIX: Pittsburgh’s Indy Comics Expo. Copacetic is his second store (opened in 2000) and features much more than traditional comics: Marvel and DC favorites sit beside indie comics, art and photography monographs share the store with fiction and poetry, titles on cinema studies sit beside a highly-curated selection of CDs and DVDs. Consequently, Bill has the chance to introduce Superman fans to Julie Doucet, to lure in art students and fiction lovers and introduce them to graphic novels, or to be an unsuspecting neighborhood shopper’s first exposure to the existence of zines, the films of Hal Hartley, or the artists of Fantagraphics. Copacetic expanded in late 2009 to provide a gift shop for Pittsburgh's cartoon museum, Toonseum: There Bill features the history of comics on his shelves.

Ron and Bill have also contributed their small press expertise to library collections. Ron helps libraries build comprehensive small press archives, most notably at the Fales Special Collection at the New York University library. Bill helped build the graphic novel collection at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh by selecting the small press and other obscure titles to round out the superheroes.

I have to offer kudos to both Ron and Bill for their tireless evangelism on behalf of the small press!

*****

1. Haywire, Thaddeus Rutkowski (Starcherone Books)

2. Sasquatch Stories, Mike Topp (Publishing Genius)

3. Virgin Formica, Sharon Mesmer (Hanging Loose Press)

Recommended by
Ron Kolm, writer and editor at Unbearables Books and Autonomedia
http://www.unbearables.com/blog/

*****

1. Birchfield Close, Jon McNaught (NoBrow Press, $18)

2. Tele-Tales, Dan Zettwoch (self-published, $3)

3. Afrodisiac, Jim Rugg (AdHouse Books, $14.95)

Recommended by
Bill Boichel, owner of Copacetic Comics
http://www.copaceticcomics.com/

*****

The BFI Film Classics Series sits near the Cometbus zine anthology at Copacetic Comics.

Small Press Holiday Recommendations: On the Eve of Winter Solstice

Today’s small press picks come from New York, Louisville, and Chicago. Long before making her acquaintance, I remember poet Maggie Balistreri’s brilliant chapbook The Evasion-English Dictionary (since picked up by Melville House) from the consignment shelf at St. Mark’s Bookshop. Later I was thrilled when I heard she was going to library school, and again when she got a job as a librarian at the Poets House, now located in Battery Park City. Fiction writer Jason Jordan was the Beard Guy I used to see at all the New Yinzer literary events, but I finally met him officially when Amy Guth came into Pittsburgh for a reading. I remember seeing Amy talking to Jason at ModernFormations: Realizing how well she knew Beard Guy from cyberspace was one of the first moments I understood the extent of the online small press community. Jason has since left Pittsburgh and I miss seeing him around. I met the always-hilarious Ben Tanzer when Scott McClanahan suggested I arrange a reading for him in December 2009: Ben (a fiction writer based in Chicago) was coming through Pittsburgh en route to a reading in West Virginia. I got Savannah Schroll Guz involved, and the resulting reading launched the Seasonal Shorts reading series, now held four times a year in Pittsburgh (and run by Savannah). Thanks to Maggie, Jason, and Ben for sharing their Small Press Picks today:

*****

1. Wrens Fly Through This Opened Window, Amy Holman (Somondoco Press, June 2010)
http://www.amyholman.com/amys-poetry.html

2. The Touch, Cynthia Kraman (Bowery Books, 2010)
http://www.ybkpublishers.com/poetry.htm

3. In Paran, Larissa Shmailo (BlazeVox, 2010)
http://adamfieled.blogspot.com/2009/07/larissa-shmailo-in-paran.html

Recommended by
Maggie Balistreri, Librarian
Author of:
There Was a Young Lady Who Swallowed a Lie, written by Maggie Balistreri, illustrated by Ryn Gargulinski (Em Dash Group)
AND
Jabberfucky and Other Poems, edited by Maude Spekes and Sybilia Grogan (Em Dash Group)
(Maggie uses pseudonym Maude Spekes here)

*****

1. If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home, John Jodzio (Replacement Press)
http://www.replacementpress.com/

2. The Universe in Miniature in Miniature, Patrick Somerville (featherproof books)
http://www.featherproof.com/

3. Pathologies, William Walsh (Keyhole Press)
http://www.keyholemagazine.com/

Recommended by
Jason Jordan, editor of decomP (http://www.decompmagazine.com), and blogger at http://www.poweringthedevilscircus.blogspot.com.

*****

1. Big World, Mary Miller (Hobart)
As I read the stories in this collection I thought, man these are Carveresque, but when I was done, I thought eh, fuck that, they’re Milleresque.

2. Hush Up and Listen Stinky Poo Butt, Ken Sparling (Artistically Declined)
All the quotidian frustrations, triumphs, anxieties, joys, fury and awesomeness of parenting, like a handbook, almost, except that you might never have kids if you read this first.

3. Grease Stains, Kismet and Maternal Wisdom, Mel Bosworth (Brown Paper Publishing)
Mel Bosworth is love.

So sorry, but, also and:

Stories II by Scott McClanahan (Six Gallery Press), The National Virginity Pledge by Barry Graham (Another Sky Press) and Songs of Insurgency by Spencer Dew (Vagabond Press)
The first is Jesus and kidney stones, the second is tacos and prostitutes and third is paranoia and sex, and all are sparse and neat and slamming and humorous and profane and reflect the best kind of storytelling.

Well, and this too:

7. The Lost Episodes of Beatie Scareli, Ginnetta Correli (Marshmallow Press)
I am cheating here, I know, but this book which is almost too disturbing to read, much less put down, deserves more attention.

Recommended by
Ben Tanzer, author of 99 Problems (CCLaP Publishing)
http://bentanzer.blogspot.com/

*****

As always, if you are involved in the small press and want to contribute recommendations, please email me at eyescorpion@gmail.com

Small Press Holiday Recommendations: The Third Thursday of Advent

Tao Lin is everywhere, so I’m really surprised no one on this blog has recommended his newest book: the novel Richard Yates, put out by the powerhouse small press publisher, Brooklyn-based Melville House. Tao Lin is a poet and fiction writer, a blogger, a prankster, and a relentless self-promoter: If you’re on the literary web, Tao Lin’s name comes up at least three times a day. On my last visit to New York, I couldn’t go anywhere without seeing stickers for his books: on the street, in cafe bathrooms. I’ll admit I started asking all my favorite writers and small press people, “What’s the deal with this Tao Lin character? Is there any substance behind the hype?” And they all said immediately, “Richard Yates is a great book.” I haven’t yet read it, but I can pass on the fact that it was one of the most talked about, and most recommended, small press books of 2010. I will also pass on this hilarious review from New York Tyrant editor, Giancarlo DiTrapano, called I Like Tao Lin Now.

Small Press Holiday Recommendations at Lazy Fascist Press

Lazy Fascist Press is running a Holiday Gift Guide, fueled by their authors and friends. Each Lazy Fascist author gets a chance to recommend several books, and many include mini-reviews. The site is up to six posts so far--here are some highlights:

Mike Daily recommends Down Where the Hummingbird Goes to Die by Justin Hyde (Tainted Coffee Press)

Kevin L. Donihe recommends Motorman by David Ohle (3rd Bed)

Kris Saknussemm recommends It Came from Del Rio by Stephen Graham Jones (Trapdoor Books)

Alan M. Clark recommends Lost in Cat Brain Land by Cameron Pierce (Eraserhead Press)

Sam Pink recommends The Condemned by Noah Cicero (Six Gallery Press)

Riley Michael Parker recommends Everything Was Fine Until Whatever
by Chelsea Martin (Future Tense Books)

See more: http://lazyfascist.com/

On the 7th Day of Hanukkah: Small Press Picks, 2010

Welcome to our ongoing small press picks, which I've been blogging since November 10. Today’s small press recommendations come from Brooklyn and Chicago, with an author giveaway from Putnam County, New York. Brooklyn-based Ken Wohlrob (formerly founding editor of Bully Magazine) writes fiction that is often gritty, urban, and rough, but is never jaded or cynical. He reveals the ugliest side of his characters, and then manages to make you have a serious soft spot for them. I have no idea how he does it, but I recommended his last collection, The Love Book (2007), on this blog, and I’m excited to announce his newest story collection, Songs of Vagabonds, Misfits, and Sinners (Bully Press).

Tim Hall is a longtime friend and comrade, and his enthusiasm for the small press is at least half of the reason for my own involvement with it. We met through my first self-published novel and then solidified our mutual fandom with the publication of Tim’s bold debut novel about the horror of sobriety, Half Empty. That novel was also the debut of Tim’s publishing works, Undie Press (Undie = underground + indie), which recently grew into an amazing literary website where I’m lucky to be a contributor. The columns at this smart and edgy webmag highlight things that the media keeps telling us are going away: print books, indie bookstores, print newspapers; there's even a fiction serial about "the day money stopped."

*****

Giveaway Contest:
Mike Faloon (editor of the zine Go Metric) has generously offered to give away a copy of his story collection The Hanging Gardens of Split Rock (Gorsky Press) --the title is below on Ken’s recommends list. I’ll choose a winner from the comments. Just tell us:

1.) what you do in the small press

and

2.) what you’ve enjoyed about the 2010 small press recommendations on this blog, or what you’d like to see more of in the future.

I’ll take comments on Blogger, Facebook, or emails at eyescorpion@gmail.com. Previous winners are disqualified.

*****

1. The Hanging Gardens of Split Rock, Mike Faloon (Gorsky Press, 2010)
Mike is one of the funniest bastards I know. No one tells a yarn like him. It never seems forced. Like a blues player. My favorite line:

"Did I injure an autistic child to get my team into the Little League World Series? Yes and no."

2. The Journeymen, James Jay (Gorsky Press)

What I like about James' poetry is his sense of storytelling. The characters have blood in their veins. You feel the grit in your teeth. Favorite line:
"At the wheel of the V.W. bug,
Jesus, short-legged, pot-bellied,
he rounds up the kids from the trailers
of Kingman, of Birdland, of Butler.
He sticks his hands out the window
into the scorching summer air
as the V.W. takes slow wide turns
all on its own. 'The hands of God
now have the wheel!
You better believe.'
The Jesus of the V.W. hollers."

3. Repetition Patterns, Ben Tanzer (CCLaP Publishing, 2009)
In many ways, Ben's writing reminds me of Mike's in how unforced it all is. There seems no effort behind it. And the stories are always great. This e-only collection was a nice step up for Ben. He took it to a whole different level compared to his previous work. And I always like that he writes good female characters, something too many male writers can't do very well. I also liked that CCLaP was experimenting with a different publishing model for this release and doing it as a digital- only release. Favorite line:
"But the sounds that engulfed her outside of her home, these she could hide in, and revel in, creating a world that was hers and hers alone. Sound made sense; it provided her with both an anchor and a lifeline. Sound could be classified, explained, and organized, whereas regular life could not."

Recommended by
Ken Wohlrob, author of Songs of Vagabonds, Misfits, and Sinners (Bully Press)
http://kenwohlrob.com/

*****

1. Dick Briefer's Frankenstein, Dick Briefer (IDW Publishing)

I just learned of Dick Briefer's Frankenstein comics of the 1950s and 60s, which were recently reissued in a beautiful package by IDW. Briefer's monster is possibly the best rendition I've ever seen, and bizarre in the extreme--like putting the monster's nose above his eyes in most
panels.

http://www.amazon.com/Briefers-Frankenstein-Library-Horror-Comics/dp/1600107222

2. i am here And You Are Gone, Shome Dasgupta (Outsider Writers)
Okay, I'm biased on this one, since I got to cast the deciding vote that made this charming story of young love the winner of the 2010 Outsider Writers' chapbook contest.
http://www.outsiderwriters.org/publications/shome-dasguptas-i-am-here-and-you-are-gone

3. Daddy's, Lindsay Hunter (Featherproof)
I absolutely love Lindsay's work and think she's a breakout star on the Chicago lit scene. I've had the privilege of reading with her and her incantatory, non-stop, lilting gothic prose-poemish stories always floor me.

Recommended by
Tim Hall, author most recently of One Damn Thing After Another (Outsider Writers Press) and Full of It (Undie Press). Tim is editor of the new literary entertainment site, UndiePress.com.
http://www.undiepress.com/

Small Press Holiday Recommendations: Day 24

Today’s recommendations come from three multi-talented women of the small press. Lynn Alexander is a poet who also works non-stop behind the scenes: She’s one of the main creative forces behind the full-service Full of Crow, a press, literary website, online audio show, and distro. She’s also the creator of numerous zines, co-edits the journal Fashion for Collapse, works on production and distribution for the micro-fiction journal Blink-Ink, and was a force behind the latest incarnation of the Outsider Writers Collective. Andria Alefhi is a writer and zinester who hosts the radio show Zine Therapy and publishes the awesome non-fiction zine, We’ll Never Have Paris. The zine gets better-looking everytime another issue comes out, and I love that it’s dedicated to the theme of “all things never meant to be.” Christen Clifford is a fearless writer and performer of some powerful one-woman shows tackling taboo subjects, including the acclaimed “Baby Love”: This Off-Broadway show talked frankly about the sexuality of maternity, and started out as an essay on Nerve.com. I’m also a fan of Christen’s essay about moving out of Williamsburg (published at Evergreen Review) and of her illustrated memoir piece, My Home Birth at Smith Magazine. Christen offers three memoir recommendations today, while Lynn recommends poetry, and Andria focuses on zines and the micro-press.

*****

1. In Praise Of Absolute Interpretation, Felino A. Soriano (Desperanto-Foster, 2010)
See Lynn’s review here:
http://karenslibraryblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/guest-review-felino-soriano-reviewed-by.html

2. Prominences, John Swain (Flutter Press)
This was John's first chapbook, he has a few out now and actually we just printed one at Full Of Crow called "Burnt Palmistry". He is definitely one to keep an eye on.

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/prominences/6264172

3. Voices, Kyle Muntz (Enigmatic Ink)
See Lynn’s review here at Crow Reviews:
http://www.fullofcrow.com/crowreviews/2010/09/voices-by-muntz/

Recommended by
Lynn Alexander, co-editor at Full of Crow and Fashion For Collapse, and production assistant at Blink Ink
http://www.fullofcrow.com

*****

1. Aaron Lake Smith, self-published author of zines Big Hands and Unemployment
2. Tin House literary journal
3. I Like to Keep My Troubles on the Windy Side of Things, Buzz Poole (Fractious Press)
4. Microcosm Publishing and Parcell Press: two great, great websites for window shopping

Recommended by
Andria Alefhi, curator of the zine We'll Never Have Paris.

http://neverhaveparis.blogspot.com/
Andria is also working on a collection of her personal writings, essays and creative nonfiction, out on Fractious Press sometime in 2011.

*****

1. Inferno: A Poet’s Novel, Eileen Myles (O/R Books)
2. There's a Road to Everywhere Except Where You Came From, Bryan Charles (Open City Books)
3. The Adderall Diaries, Stephen Elliott (Greywolf Press)

Recommended by
Christen Clifford, writer and performer
Christen at Evergreen Review: http://www.evergreenreview.com/112/contents.htm
Christen at Smith Magazine:
"My Home Birth: A Graphic Graphic Memoir by Christen Clifford & David Heatley":

http://www.smithmag.net/memoirville/2009/05/06/my-home-birth-a-graphic-graphic-memoir-by-christen-clifford-and-david-heatley/

"Clippings": http://www.smithmag.net/memoirville/2007/06/15/clippings-by-christen-clifford/

*****

Stay tuned for more small press holiday gift recommendations, publisher giveaways, and guest reviews.

Small Press Holiday Recommendations: Day 21

I’ve often said that the small press is a place where you CAN judge a book by its cover. Sometimes the best editors and self-published authors have dead-on aesthetic judgement which includes the visual, too. Caketrain is one of those presses that knows how to make good reads into great-looking books. Three Caketrain titles have already been recommended on this holiday blog this season; today’s small press recommendations come from the Caketrain editors and one Caketrain author. Amanda Raczowski and Joseph Reed began Caketrain journal and press in 2003. Despite being based in Pittsburgh, Amanda and Joseph are too busy publishing their stylish books and issues to paint the town red, so I still haven’t really met them.

Matt Bell came to Pittsburgh to read at the New Yinzer Presents series a few months ago and did an awesome reading of The Collectors, a version of the Collyer Brothers story. (I grew up with a mother who told me that I was “going to end up like the Collyer Brothers” if I didn’t pick up my room, so I always appreciate a good Collyer Brothers yarn.) Matt’s story was published as a chapbook by Caketrain in 2009, and is now part of Matt’s new collection, How They Were Found. (When my boyfriend stops devouring the book, I’ll let you know how it is.)

*****

1. End of the Fire Cult, Angela Woodward (Ravenna)
http://www.ravennapress.com/books/title.php?tid=20031

2. Scary, No Scary, Zachary Schomburg (Black Ocean)
http://www.blackocean.org/scary-no-scary/

3. The Physics of Imaginary Objects, Tina May Hall (University of Pittsburgh)
http://www.upress.pitt.edu/BookDetails.aspx?bookId=36152

Recommended by
Amanda Raczkowski and Joseph Reed, editors of Caketrain Journal and Press
http://www.caketrain.org

*****

1. The Physics of Imaginary Objects, Tina May Hall (University of Pittsburgh Press)
2. Firework, Eugene Marten (NY Tyrant Press)
3. Asunder, Robert Lopez (Dzanc Books)

Recommended by
Matt Bell, author of How They Were Found (Keyhole Press)
http://www.mdbell.com/

Small Press Holiday Recommendations: Day 20

I’m really surprised that only one person on my seasonal blog has recommended INFERNO: A POET’S NOVEL by Eileen Myles (OR Books), because it’s definitely been the most talked about and enthusiastically recommended book among my Facebook friends and acquaintances. Many of these recommendations have just been in the form of: Buy it. NOW. Others have been a bit longer winded, like, “Buy this book for every female artist you know.” Still others have paraphrased ideas from the book in their status line, like “Eileen Myles writes that she knew she was probably a lesbian, but wanted to become a poet first.” I really liked a concept that one writer paraphrased: “Eileen Myles’ Inferno reminds us that for a scene to be COOL, there must be mixing of the classes. There's a cash transaction to support the artists, but the artists come with gifts, fresh from the struggle to live.” (Since Myles often writes about her working class background but most artists I know do everything they can to wish away their dayjobs, I remembered this in my mind as “Artists need to learn how to earn a living, because part of their job is to depict the struggle to live.”)

One of my newest Facebook pals talked to Eileen Myles about writing and publishing the book, here: BombBlog podcast—Eileen Myles and Jackie Wang.

INFERNO is available mainly from the publisher, OR Books, or from select independent bookstores. I just bought my copy from my favorite New York bookstore and am anticipating its arrival on my doorstep. I can't wait.

http://www.orbooks.com/our-books/inferno-a-poets-novel/

Small Press Holiday Recommendations: Day 19

Today’s recommendations come from two New York poets. Not even “New York-based” poets, but gen-u-ine native New Yorker, born there, stayed there, writers. Jackie Sheeler contacted me a few years ago when I was trying to get my friend, poet and vet Richard Leck, a proper burial. Though we didn’t end up needing to raise money to bury him, Jackie agreed to participate in his memorial reading, so I got to experience her voice on stage first hand. Jackie’s a talented wordsmith, an activist, and a force of nature. Her heart’s always in the right place and when she writes, she also says something worth listening to.

I’m “meeting” Tony Gloeggler for the first time through these small press recommendations but I already feel richer for reading a few of his poems. I’m looking forward to checking out his books and also the small presses they are on: his publication list reminds me to look closer at Ohio’s Pavement Saw Press and introduces me to the existence of Jane Street Press.

*****

1. inheriting craziness is like a soft halo of light, Thomas Fucaloro (Three Rooms Press)

2. The Quick and the Dead, Elizabeth Harrington (Grayson Books chapbook competition winner)

3. The Last Lie, Tony Gloeggler (NYQ Books)

Recommended by
Jackie Sheeler, poet & songwriter, most recently the author of Earthquake Came to Harlem (NYQ Books, 2010)
http://jackiesheeler.com

*****

1. Bones & Jokes, Ted Jonathan (NYQ Books)

2. Girl On A Bridge, Suzanne Frischkorn (Main Street Rag)

3. Earthquake Comes to Harlem, Jackie Sheeler (NYQ Books)

Recommended by
Tony Gloeggler, author most recently of The Last Lie on NYQ Books.
http://www.nyqbooks.org/title/thelastlie

Small Press Books: Steer Gift-Givers to the Nearest Indie Bookstore

Live from Small Business Saturday: With today's post, I'm hoping to steer you to a method of receiving some of your holiday small press book wishes while supporting indie bookstores.

I'll admit that I utilize evil Amazon (as a catalog) a lot for their many useful web functions, and their Wish List is one of them. But where I used to tell people to look at my Amazon book-list but please, please, buy the book at a local indie bookstore--today I discovered that IndieBound (formerly BookSense, a coalition of indie bookstores that formed in reaction to the predatory practices of the chain bookstores) has a Wish List function on their website, too. It's quick and easy to make:

1. Go to http://www.indiebound.org/join to create a username and password and register your email (no real names necessary)
2. Go to Wish Lists and start adding desired books by author name, book title, or ISBN

3. Go to the Indie Stores tab and become a "fan" of one or more of your favorite bookstores

3a. You'll find the Become a Fan button when you find a bookstore and go to its profile page

3b. I suggest you fan the obvious bookstores where your friends and relatives might shop, in addition to your own favorite bookstores

4. Send interested friends and relatives the link to your Wish List

While it's true that not all micro-press books will be found in IndieBound's database, there are many small press books that do show up. A quick look just landed me catalog listings for Matt Bell's How They Were Found on Keyhole Books, Michael Kimball's Dear Everybody on Alma Books, Dalkey Archive's Best European Fiction (2010), Felino A. Soriano's In Praise of Absolute Interpretation (Desperanto-Foster), and Shome Dasgupta's new book on Outsider Writers Press.

Small Press Holiday Recommendations: Day 17

Today's small press recommendations come from two writers I met via Pittsburgh small press events. I first encountered poet Claire Donato in 2006 when we were tabling near each other at an event that would prove to be the predecessor to what is now an annual Small Press Festival in Pittsburgh. Claire was representing the magazine, the New Yinzer, and we talked about poetry, publishing, public transit, Pittsburgh, and New York. I had recently moved to Steel City from Brooklyn, and now Claire and I have traded places. Brooklyn is lucky to have Claire, and Pittsburgh misses her!

Actually, I met Burning River Press editor Chris Bowen through the New Yinzer, too. Although he tabled at the aforementioned Small Press Festival Expo in 2009, I didn't meet him until he came to read at The New Yinzer Presents series in April 2010. Burning River is a great little press out of Cleveland; Chris read some moving short stories that night and so did Michelle Reale, whose book, Natural Habitat, Burning River had just published.

*****

1. Meddle English, Caroline Bergvall (forthcoming from Nightboat Books)

2. selections from the novel Leaving the Atocha Station, Ben Lerner (chapbook published by The Physiocrats, 2010)

3. Best European Fiction 2010 (Dalkey Archive Press)

Recommended by
Claire Donato, author of Someone Else's Body and co-editor of Dewclaw
www.somanytumbleweeds.com

*****

1. I am here And You are Gone, Shome Dasgupta (Outside Writers Press)

This book is simple and innocent in its growth of the two main characters. It is beautiful.

--Review by Chris Bowen at Book Punch here.

2. Sweetgrass, Micah Ling (Sunnyoutside Press)
I’ve listened to the author of this book read from the text during a reading in Pittsburgh, the event before their Small Press Festival Expo sponsored by Open Thread. Micah Ling makes her stance elegant in a somewhat dangerous, rough and misunderstood setting. The book is a collection of prose poems, short and sweet, like the name.

3. We Were Eternal and Gigantic, Evelyn Hampton (Magic Helicopter Press)

This book, like its cover, roars. The writing is proud, bold and a good mixture of Hampton’s abilities.

Recommended by

Chris Bowen, editor of Burning River Press

http://burningriver.info/

*****

Thanks to all who have been following the Small Press Holiday Recommendations! If you're involved with the small press and want to send your three picks or a guest review, write to me at eyescorpion@gmail.com

Small Press Holiday Recommendations: Day 14

Today’s small press recommendations come from two writers I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and the privilege of reading with at the Six Gallery Press Showcase readings at ModernFormations Gallery in Pittsburgh. I met Scott McClanahan probably in 2008, and his West Virginia storytelling promptly blew me away. Michael Begnal was someone I’d been introduced to on email and finally got to meet in person when he came to Pittsburgh in 2009. More than just readings, both writers give engaging performances—Scott reads almost directly to the audience, and the last time I saw him read, he had us singing "The Long Black Veil." Michael Begnal has a dynamic, high-energy stage presence, with echoes of the Beats and other 20th Century rock stars.

Six Gallery Press authors John Thomas Menesini & Scott McClanahan, Fall 2008, ModernFormations in Pittsburgh

*****

1. Person, Sam Pink (Lazy Fascist Press)
2. Everything is Quiet, Kendra Grant Malone (The Scrambler)
3. The Insurgent, Noah Cicero (Blatt Books)

Recommended by
Scott McClanahan, author of Stories and Stories II (both on Six Gallery Press) and the in-progress novel called Hillbilly

http://hollerpresents.com/scottstories.html

*****

1. Strasbourg, Alan Jude Moore (Salmon Poetry, 2010)
Alan Jude Moore is one of the best of the newer Irish poets, and he's set to read in Pittsburgh in the New Yinzer series in early February 2011.

2. Optic Verve, Catherine Walsh (Shearsman, 2009)
Her publisher, Shearsman, bills Walsh as "perhaps Ireland's most radical experimental woman poet" -- I would strike the word "perhaps"! This great book, a long poem (132 pp.), shows why.

3. Chain Gang/Blood Songs, Bill Hughes (Six Gallery Press, 2010)
Hughes is a young Pittsburgh-based poet who puts me in mind of the spirit of Rimbaud, a visionary!

Recommended by
Michael Begnal, author of Ancestor Worship (Salmon Poetry, 2007). Begnal's new collection is forthcoming from Salmon Poetry in 2011, titled Future Blues. His other titles are Mercury, the Dime (Six Gallery Press, 2005) and The Lakes of Coma (Six Gallery Press, 2003).
http://www.mikebegnal.blogspot.com/

Small Press Holiday Recommendations: Day 6

Today's book recommendations start with Kevin Sampsell, a powerhouse of the small press. When I first "met" Kevin ten years ago (I think I wrote him a letter), it was because I was trying to get my first novel placed on consignment at Powell's Books, where Kevin earns his living. It was much later that I started recognizing Kevin's name as a byline on edgy, sexy fiction; as the publisher of the innovative Future Tense Books; and as editor of eye-catching anthologies like The Insomniac Reader: Stories of the Night, and Portland Noir from Akashic's noir series. (Savannah Schroll Guz and I recently asked Kevin to read in Pittsburgh, but alas, we didn't have any airplane money to back up our invitation.) I had the pleasure of meeting the charming Kari Larsen (another writer/bookseller) when she was at the recent Small Press Festival Expo in Pittsburgh. She was tabling with Pennsylvania's Seven Kitchens Press, where she's the production designer of gorgeous chapbooks of poetry and short prose. Robert Rosen wrote a small press book I loved, Nowhere Man (originally published on Soft Skull), about John Lennon. The back story of the book, which is part of the book, fascinated me: Robert was commissioned to transcribe Lennon's late diaries. But after feverish months of doing so, he was told to go on vacation, only to return to the diaries and their transcriptions having been stolen from his ransacked apartment. That part of the story is shrouded in mystery, but the rest of the book is the equally compelling tale of John Lennon's last years--paraphrased from Robert's memory of his intense months spent with Lennon's diaries. I recently "met" Robert Rosen online, after I wrote about reading Nowhere Man behind the register when I was a bookseller.

*****

1. Ghost Machine, Ben Mirov (Caketrain Press)
2. Blink and the World Goes Blind, Filbert Conroy (On Lives Press)
3. We Were Eternal and Gigantic, Evelyn Hampton (Magic Helicopter)

Recommended by
Kevin Sampsell, publisher of Future Tense Books
www.kevinsampsell.com

*****

1. O Fallen Angel, Kate Zambreno (Chiasmus Press)
2. The Mothering Coven, Joanna Ruocco (Ellipses Press)
3. Cure All, Kim Parko (Caketrain Press)

Recommended by
Kari Larsen, Production Designer at Seven Kitchens Press
http://coldrubies.diaryland.com/

*****

It's All Good: A John Sinclair Reader, John Sinclair (Headpress)
I met John Sinclair when I was in London last year, and saw him perform with his blues band. He gave me a copy of "It's All Good," a collection of his prose, poetry, and interviews going back to his days in Detroit as manager of MC5. The title of the book refers to the quality of marijuana available in Amsterdam, where he now lives. My favorite poem is called "ain't nobody's bizness." It begins: “we have a right to our bad habits/& if we want to blow our minds/or fuck up our lives, shoot dope/or smoke cocaine,... “ Well worth checking out this anthology of a 60s legend who's the subject of a song by John Lennon.

Recommended by
Robert Rosen, author of Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon (Soft Skull Press)
http://www.robertrosennyc.com/

*****

Stay tuned for more small press recommendations, from now until Xmas.