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...

Erotomania: In Transit (a reader's testimonial)

We received this through top-secret channels of communication. A reader of Erotomania: A Romance, novel by Francis Levy, on New York City's subway system.

"I started reading the book on the subway. People around me quickly noticed the effect the book was having on me and became curious. Soon, they were asking, hey man, what you reading. Then it was, hey man, read it out loud. The whole car was insistent. What choice did I have.

"So I started to read it aloud. I am no actor, but I read well. I read slowly, calmly, carefully. I did not ham it up. I did not overemphasize the racy parts. But then the writing doesn't need that, does it. Perhaps my calm reading only increased the effect.

"I was focused on my reading, nose in the book. So I didn't at first see what was going on. People stayed on, let their stops pass by. They become flushed and a bit squirmy. At first, they didn't know what to do. But then one man and woman who were not traveling together, moved to sit together. Soon the entire car had paired up. Some of the pairs were a bit weird, ages and styles that did not belong together, but no one wanted to be alone. I just kept reading. I was totally engaged and I guess became oblivious to those around me. When I finally came to a point where I needed to pause, I looked up. Every single couple, young, old, in between, mixed up, were lying back in post coital bliss. The car was now heavy not only with the words, but also the sounds, smell and taste of sex.

"It was like the old cigar factories. One worker would read stories while therest worked. I was the reader, they worked, so to speak.

"Though i had not participated, not had the satisfaction the others achieved, I still felt very good. I hadn't written the book and I hadn't had thepleasure of letting it take me over. But clearly I had helped increase the pleasure in the world by a small amount in one subway car.

"I left the car then to allow them all to put themselves back together and resume their anonymous travels. No one said a thing as I exited."

I'd like to encourage this sort of behavior. It's good for people.

As the reader notes, the book has a tendency to make you squirm. Anyone with an experience of reading (doesn't have to be aloud) Erotomania in a public place is strongly encouraged to either share by commenting on this blog, or emailing to twodollar [at] twodollarradio.com.

When I Grow Up, I Want to be Reviewed Like This.

Erotomania: A Romance, the first novel from Francis Levy:

The Village Voice
Read Francis Levy's Erotomania, Wash Hands.
Are golden showers the blowjobs of tomorrow? Just ask this satirical novelist.
Review by Zach Baron
[link: http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-08-05/books/read-francis-levy-s-erotomania-wash-hands/]

"[A] hilariously satirical debut novel: sex, leavened by comedy, shimmying enthusiastically in the echo chamber of a century of writing on the once-taboo subject. Miller, Lawrence, and Genet stop by like proud ancestors, godfathers of modern literature's pornographic impulse. But it's a more recent generation of mischievous, deviant writers (Nicholson Baker, Mary Gaitskill) that truly looms large—"

"Gaitskill and Baker's French-kissing cousin."

Exquisite Corpse
Review by Andrei Codrescu
link: http://www.corpse.org/content/view/127/40/]

"Erotomania is a spiritual quest: substitute the word "God" for "fuck," and there you have it, the silence filled with joy.

"It's a great book, written with flawless verve by a tremendous fictioneer and thinker, and it deserves glory. It is published by a small press that may yet become great if it manages to set Erotomania as the high-bar of its offerings. In any case, have it on my word, a reader, run and buy this book, it's a classic."

Amy Koppelman Will Be Required Reading in Schools One Day.

There feels like an amazing buzz of anticipation about the release of Amy Koppelman's forthcoming novel, I Smile Back.

Get giddy with these ringing endorsements:

"Amy Koppelman’s I Smile Back is amazing. There’s wit, speed, range, and complete authority here. Among other qualities, it has presence — you hold in your hands a pretty wild ride."
—Darin Strauss

“Amy Koppelman probes deeply into the dark and cavernous recesses of a picture-perfect suburban mom, and emerges with one of the most terrifying novels I’ve read in ages. It’s a glorious little explosion of a book.”
—Dani Shapiro

“Like the outlaw movies that Laney likes, Amy Koppelman’s unforgettable heroine is dangerous, raw and untamable. Like Laney, Koppelman refuses to tone down, be polite, or color in the lines - which is what makes I Smile Back so brilliant and devastating.”
—Susan Shapiro

“Amy Koppelman writes with beauty and precision about a life turned ugly and disoriented. Laney Brooks is a heroine on par with Joan Didion’s Maria Wyeth. She captivates not only because she recognizes the darkness closing in around her, but because a part of her welcomes it.”
—David Benioff

“One of today’s most fearless and brilliant writers, Koppelman peels away at the dark side of the suburban dream. The prose gleams like poetry, and she’s given us a heroine so original and disquieting, that I dare any reader to forget her — or Koppelman.”
—Caroline Leavitt

“Amy Koppelman’s portrait of a contemporary American couple will slash and burn every idea you ever had about marriage. Koppelman’s vision is both dark and ferocious; once you are in her grip, she’ll never let you go.”
—Yona Zeldis McDonough

(December is when I Smile Back will be released.)

(Check out Amy's pic, where she dons a TDR tee.)

2 Publishers Weekly "Big Books" Selections.

Both Erotomania: A Romance, by Francis Levy, and Crust, by Lawrence Shainberg, were included by Judith Rosen in her August 4th article in Publishers Weekly called "Big Books, On Campus and Off. Hot independent and university press titles for the fall."

Regarding Erotomania, Rosen says: "Three year-old Two Dollar Radio plans to launch this nontraditional love story, with traces of Bukowski and Henry Miller, at New York City's Museum of Sex."

Regarding Crust: "This novel stands out for several reasons, not least its subject matter, nose picking, but also its more than two dozen four-color illustrations."

One Thing That Meant the World to Me.

I'm pretty excited. We're going to be publishing a first novel by this writer named Joshua Mohr, a terrificly talented new voice.

The title alone packs a wallop: Some Things That Meant the World to Me.

Stephen Elliott, author of Happy Baby said this about the book: "A startling debut. Joshua Mohr takes us to a different city, but a city we know, populated by the dark side of ourselves."

Feast on this first paragraph from the novel:
I’d like to brag about the night I saved a hooker’s life. Like to tell you how quiet everything else in the world was while I helped her. This was in San Francisco. Late 2007. I’d been drinking in Damascus, my favorite dive bar, which was painted entirely black—floor, walls, and ceiling. Being surrounded by all that darkness had this slowing effect on time, like a shunned astronaut meandering in space.

It's sharp, it's potent, it will make you swoon.