Gary Indiana's Utopia's Debris

We're publishing Gary Indiana's first novel since 2003's Do Everything in the Dark, The Shanghai Gesture. This book will be out in April of 2009.

However, right now, in our present moment, "one of America's leading cultural critics" has a new collection of essays fresh out from Basic Books, called Utopia's Debris.

It sounds pretty stellar, as the author riffs on topics ranging from Schwarzenegger's gubernatorial win to Bill Clinton's autobiography, from Celine to Wurlitzer.

Yes: believe it. There is an entire chapter on the works of Rudolph Wurlitzer.

From the preface of Utopia's Debris: "We live in the wreckage of a century I lived through the second half of, a century of false messiahs, twisted ideologies, shipwrecked hopes, pathetic answers."

From Kirkus: "Indiana's thorough and balanced research coagulates into a convincing argument that the ills of the world are not natural occurrences like glaciation; there is accountability, and these people are responsible. A polychrome pastiche that soars with delicious insights."

Is Going Grody the New Edgy?

Carolyn Kellogg, the lead blogger at the Los Angeles Times' book blog, Jacket Copy, considers whether "familiar literary tropes - sex, murder, betrayal, booze, isolation, love, war, warlocks, aliens - have become too worn at the edges?" And whether "ick is the last literary frontier" to explore.

To discuss her point, Kellogg mentions the worldwide bestseller Wetlands by German author Charlotte Roche, coming stateside spring '09, and Crust, by Lawrence Shainberg.

She says, regarding Crust: "Shainberg writes of a man who changes culture by picking his nose. No matter how well the book lampoons New Age movements, I'm still grossed out by the title and the premise. Nosepicking as a central metaphor sounds ridiculous and amusing - but it also makes me go 'ewww.'"

Blog Wars: East Coast vs West Coast

Unwittingly, we stirred up some old East Coast / West Coast dust that hasn't completely settled since the days of Tupac and Notorious BIG.

In a post on his blog, Chekhov's Mistress, Bud Parr mentions his move to Tivoli, New York, and suggests that the captains of the Two Dollar Radio team uproot and move up the Hudson River as well. He did make a particularly solid and smooth delivery at the release party for Crust (attention: Tivoli Town Council).

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, in the beatific forrested mountains of south Oregon, Tod Davies, editor and publisher of the about-to-assault-the-indie-publishing-scene Extreminating Angel Press, discusses regionalism and makes a convincing (and blunt) case for a Two Dollar Radio move to the Pacific Northwest:

"...and I’ve been thinking about my publishing mentors, Two Dollar Radio, Eric and Eliza Obenauf, who keep thinking about moving their act to New York because that’s where the independent press action is. And I’m saying now, Eric and Eliza, don’t do it! Get out here to Portland! We need you out here…and PDX is a shorthop skip and a jump to Manhattan any day. Come on out, and I’ll drive up, and we’ll go to Village Books together! And then we’ll drive back and have another drink with the guys from Powell’s…"

Adding to the West Coast discussion, was Bruce Rutledge, of our pals Chin Music Press (who we're also sharing a booth with at the 2009 BEA), who offered "free babysitting services for Rio whenever the $2 folks are in Seattle."

If you have a suggested destination for us (and you aren't related by blood to us), then we'd like to hear them (if you are related by blood [mom], then we wouldn't like to hear).

Celebrate Good Books.

We celebrated the release of Lawrence Shainberg's first novel in not one but two decades, Crust, in a wonderfully intimate loft in the Village.

Entertainment for the party was provided by Andrew Blauner, in the form of his never-ending supply of two dollar bills.

Pictured here are Eric O., the author, and Eliza.

Thanks to all those who came out and ate the food and drank the drinks and celebrated this wonderful book that - Larry told me - has been eight years in the making.

Crust - Los Angeles Times Book Review

Tod Goldberg (Living Dead Girl, Fake Liar Cheat, Simplify) reviews Crust very favorably in this Sunday's Los Angeles Times Book Review.

However, the review is presently available online.

Here is an upstanding excerpt:

"A postmodern examination of the self that teases the very idea of postmodernism. . . that rare bit of lampoonery that is both humorous and smart."

You should be reading this book.

The Cave Man / Xiaoda Xiao

We're extremely excited to announce that we'll be publishing the debut novel by Xiaoda Xiao, called The Cave Man, an exceptionally moving and fascinating portrait of a brutalized man named Ja Feng, imprisoned during Chairman Mao's rule.

The story begins as Ja Feng is contained within a 3' x 4.5' solitary confinement cell in a prison camp. He has survived this punishment for a miraculous nine months, a period of time that has forced him to question his basic human faculties and emotions.

The Cave Man follows Ja Feng as he is released from his solitary confinement, as he is forced to integrate with fellow prisoners who view his skeletal figure and erratic screaming fits as freakish, and his heartbreaking attempts to assimilate into Chinese culture, to reestablish familial bonds and to seek out an ordinary human experience.

XIAODA XIAO was arrested in 1971 for tearing a poster of Mao and was sentenced to a five-year prison term as a counterrevolutionary. As a result, he spent the next seven years in a prison labor reform brigade on an island in Taihu Lake in Jiangsu province. He came to Amherst, MA, in the spring of 1989 shortly before the break-out of the democratic movement in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, where he lives with his wife. He has published stories based on his prison experience during the last years of Mao’s regime in China in various magazines in the U.S., among them, The Atlantic Monthly.

The Cave Man should be out in the Fall of 2009.

Francis Levy - The Nerve Interview.

Interviewer Joseph Lazauskas of Nerve sat down with Francis Levy, author of Erotomania: A Romance, to discuss meaty fodder, such as the animalistic sex portrayed in the novel, monogamy, and the author's wife's reaction to the book.

He revisits the central topic weighing heavily on voters minds in recent days, a subject originally breached by the Village Voice: "Might golden showers be the blowjobs of tomorrow?" ("Whatever works, works.")

Lazauskas continues: "Though this is Levy's first novel, his background is in humor writing, and Erotomania wields a comedic punch that makes it, above all, a fun novel to read."

W. Picks His Nose.

In solidarity with Crust, by Lawrence Shainberg, here's a video of the soon-to-be former prez picking his nose at a Rangers ballgame.

Swim Party - Pixie Dust on the Blood Range.

Swim Party is a great band. And they have a great new album out, called Pixie Dust on the Blood Range.

I know you're probably saying, 'what the flip does this have to do with Two Dollar Radio?'

Swim Party played at the first literacy benefit concert that we helped sponsor in San Diego way back in '05.

Not to mention, bassist/vocalist Alex Devereaux crafted killer designs for our titles, The Drummer and Vagabond Blues.

You can get the album at iTunes, and some other places. Visit their website. Check 'er out.

New Viral Catalog.

We're very happy to have our new Fall / Winter 2008 catalog available online.

It's a clean way to peruse what's on our plate for the Fall through next Spring / Summer.

Be excited. Be, be excited.

Beneath the Pines / Erotomania Reading @ McNally Jackson.

Janet Beard, author of Beneath the Pines, and Francis Levy, author of Erotomania: A Romance, read last week to a packed house at McNally Jackson, an amazingly cool indie bookstore on Prince Street in Manhattan.

Afterwards, we celebrated the release of Beneath the Pines with a great group of friends at Vig Bar.

Janet is presently on tour throughout much of Virginia and Tennessee. If you're in the area, check out her reading schedule on the Two Dollar Radio events page.

Barney Rosset Wins Lifetime Achievement Award + Obscene.

Barney Rosset, icon of the publishing world and a personal hero, is the subject of a new documentary called "Obscene."

Barney will also receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Book Foundation.

I love this series of quotes from the article in today's New York Times:

Mr. Rosset went on: “All my life I followed the things that I liked — people, things, books — and when things were offered to me, I published them. I never did anything I really didn’t like. I had no set plan, but on the other hand we sometimes found ourselves on a trail. For example, out of Beckett came Pinter, and Pinter was responsible for Mamet. It was like a baseball team — Mamet to Pinter to Beckett.”

Mr. Rosset sipped from his drink and smiled. “Should we have had more of a business plan?” he added. “Probably. But then the publishers that did have business plans didn’t do any better.”

Barney is insanely rad.

The Sexiest Book Party Ever.

We had a blast at the book release party for Erotomania: A Romance, by author Francis Levy, this past week in NYC.

The party was at the Museum of Sex and was dubbed by publishing blog GalleyCat in a post the following day, "The Sexiest Book Party Ever."

The current installation in the museum was The Sex Lives of Animals, and featured sculptures of certain animals copulating (pandas, deer, etc).

Follow the link to GalleyCat to watch a carefully cropped video and an amusing interview with Francis about the party and book.

Pictured here are the author's wife, Hallie Cohen; Francis Levy; Eliza; Eric.

I Smile Back - Publishers Weekly review.

Check out this stellar review for Amy Koppelman's forthcoming novel, I Smile Back (Dec. 2008), which appeared in this week's issue of Publishers Weekly:

"This crushing novel by the author of A Mouthful of Air is a shocking portrait of suburban ennui gone horribly awry. Laney Brooks, approaching middle age in Short Hills, N.J., appears to have it all: doting husband, two beautiful children, the big house with a kidney-shaped pool. But beneath the facade of upper-middle-class perfection, Laney’s life descends into a chasm of indiscriminate sex and drug and alcohol abuse. Koppelman’s prose style is understated and crackling; each sentence is laden with a foreboding sense of menace, whether she’s describing a sunny Florida resort or the back alley of a seedy strip mall. Laney’s self-debasement can be a bit over-the-top at times, but like a crime scene or a flaming car wreck, it becomes impossible not to stare."

Sarah Palin, Book-Banner

Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska,
originally uploaded by J Medkeff.

I try to stay clear from discussing politics on here, but in today's New York Times, there's an "interesting" profile of VP nominee, Sarah Palin.

She scares me in a bad way. Here's (one of the many reasons) why, and how it is relevant to include here:

"Shortly after becoming mayor, former city officials and Wasilla residents said, Ms. Palin approached the town librarian about the possibility of banning some books, though she never followed through and it was unclear which books or passages were in question.

"Ann Kilkenny, a Democrat who said she attended every City Council meeting in Ms. Palin’s first year in office, said Ms. Palin brought up the idea of banning some books at one meeting. “They were somehow morally or socially objectionable to her,” Ms. Kilkenny said.

"The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at censorship,” Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin fired Ms. Emmons shortly after taking office but changed course after residents made a strong show of support. Ms. Emmons, who left her job and Wasilla a couple of years later, declined to comment for this article.

"In 1996, Ms. Palin suggested to the local paper, The Frontiersman, that the conversations about banning books were “rhetorical.”"

Just when you start to think that it'd be impossible to digress any farther after the last 8 years...