Original Falcon has just released an interview with the late Christopher Hyatt, PhD and — believe it or not — Barbary Shore had a crucial role in the process!
You see, Jesse Hicks (editor and author of several articles in the Deek magazine anthology The Final Incident) interviewed the late doctor for an article that was never released. After years of hectoring Jesse gave me a copy, which we put in the hands of Nick Tharcher — and it is now available as an audio CD from Original Falcon Press.
Intrigued? Undoubtedly. Want to own a copy yourself? Of course you do! Click here to order.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Terrorist’s Novena by Joseph L. Flatley
The author of In Our Place of Quarantine as well as several Newbery Award-winning children’s books is back with a slim volume of verse that deals with the themes that make him such a hit with the ABC Family channel crowd, including: Gnosticism and mysticism, the “unfreedom” of capitalist society, and the impulse towards extremism. Available for $6.00: here.
All Things Are Lights by Robert Shea.
Barbary Shore is proud to announce that we will be making All Things Are Lights, Robert Shea’s long-out-of-print classic, available again. Robert Shea was a novelist and journalist best known for the Illuminatus! Trilogy, which he co-wrote with Robert Anton Wilson. Available for $15.00: here.
The Day The Empire Fell by Vincent Scotti Eirene
Vincent Scotti Eirené is a consummate storyteller. In this book he offers poetic vignettes about his family and his lifelong journey into nonviolent peacemaking. Along the way he takes us across the country, from Pittsburgh to Chicago, Colorado, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, the White House, New Orleans, Atlanta, and even beyond, to Fallujah and Baghdad. We meet an assortment of colorful characters, people like Grandma Molly, Phillip Berrigan, Hungry Bear, Uncle Joe, Black Panther Malik Rahim, Martin Sheen, judges, lawyers, activists and others. Stitched together, the stories serve as a striking miniature of our age. They form a snapshot of a time in American history, flashes of what Jack Kerouac did for an earlier era with his book On the Road.
Available for $8.00: here.
The Final Incident by Matt Stroud, Jesse Hicks, Joseph L. Flatley (editors)
Deek Magazine lived for a few years in the midst of the “roaring 2000’s.” This was a tumultuous decade, even for sleepy Pittsburgh. An unnecessary war, an imploding worldwide economy, disasters both natural and man-made, and the return of that early-80s phenomenon “punk-funk” were on everybody’s mind. Each issue of Deek Magazine revolved around a specific “incident.” War, Madness, Sex and The Future were among the topics explored, dissected and just plain ridiculed. This anthology includes interviews with Robert Anton Wilson, RU Sirius, Tera Patrick and original stories, essays and journalism.
Available for $12.00: here.
In Our Place Of Quarantine by Joseph L. Flatley
In this so-called “speculative memoir,” the author finds himself at odds with the world he lives in. Eventually under-employment, an ill-considered romance, and some serious soul-searching lead to either a genuine visionary experience or a minor case of the psychosis. This is a novel of ideas, a work of magickal realism, and a comic farce.
“…passes through a modern nation as if it were an ancient land, all ruin and portent, prophecy and decay.” (Greil Marcus)
Available for $10.00: here.
My introduction to Norman Mailer was The Time of Our Time, the anthology of his work published on the fiftieth anniversary of his first book, The Naked and The Dead. Time was like one of the old Audubon bird books, a full color catalog of one man’s ecosystem. This guy rough handled the 20th century much in the same way Didion did, except at the end of the day no one really wants to have a beer with Joan Didion.
Mailer was large; so large, in fact, that he sometimes contradicted himself — he contained multitudes, in the words of Mr. Leaves of Grass. He made “mistakes,” committed artistic crimes that were obvious to everyone but himself. He made boring / compelling films, committed existential violence that on occasion spilled over into very real violence, and he said silly things about feminism. And in the end, this is why Mailer matters — he was an excessively honest writer, and when you’re being honest you can’t always be appealing.
One reaches a point where they must choose between commercial appeal and what they feel — and I don’t think Mailer ever seriously considered anyone but himself when it came time to put pen to paper. And this is evident in his work: his books are flawed, but they’re masterpieces, and even when they’re terrible they’re compelling. And this is why he’s still the champ.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Paceless, tasteless, graceless… marooned on a point of no intellectual return. (From the TIME Magazine review of Norman Mailer’s Barbary Shore.)
Barbary Shore is a term that refers to the seamy side of town, the areas that are somewhat edgy, somewhat dangerous — still somewhat interesting, for that matter. The places where you find the marginalized, the thrill seekers, the outsiders. These are the voices of the Barbary Shore Publishing Company.
In a world where literature is considered irrelevant, and where the publishing industry is devoted to celebrity cookbooks and TV talk show “book clubs,” we have the perfect opportunity to strip literature down to its essence… and rediscover it, free of the rules of commerce or academia.
Barbary Shore publications are like telegrams from a distant battlefield. Produced quickly and cheaply, they are meant to convey stories, ideas and information on an informal, personal basis.
For more information, email us at: barbary.shore@gmail.com
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Founded in 2007, Barbary Shore is committed to publishing honest, intelligent writing - work that really sheds light on what it means to be alive in the post-American century. And we're committed to cadging free drinks.
