Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Grostbodulism

Some very nice recent blog responses to EVER by Ken Baumann & J.A. Tyler.

Thank you to everyone who has continued to read, mention, and comment about the book. It's really awesome.



On other fronts, pretty much the day after EVER was finalized I turned around and worked on finalizing SCORCH ATLAS, which is now in the design phases.

Zach from Featherproof and Bleached Whale Design asked me if I had an idea of what I wanted the book to look like, and I said something like one of those philosophy or science manuals from the 70's: he took that and made it look 'destroyed,' as if it had suffered through itself:





This image is for the distro catalogs and all so may not be the final book cover, but it will be hard to beat in my mind, as being exactly exactly what I wanted. I want to kiss it on the page ends and cut my tongue good. Zach is goddamn wizard.

I am also really stoked about Featherproof's new enterprise, Paper Egg Books, which sounds blisteringly rad, not to mention Amelia Gray's also beautifully covered AM/PM, which will be out in time for AWP!



If you are in Atlanta, tomorrow night our SOLAR ANUS reading series will be featuring a rad duo in Bruce Covey and Matt DeBenedictis, 7 PM at Beep Beep Gallery at 696 Charles Allen Dr. Come do that!



Friday after tomorrow, the 30th, I will be reading at Emory University's What's New In Poetry series with Jen Tynes, 8 PM at Harris Hall Parlour, if you happen to be around. Come do that!



This has been an entirely utilitarian blog post.



I will go back to making a mess soon.

22 comments:

DB said...

holy shit. is that book going to fall apart when i touch it?

BLAKE BUTLER said...

if all goes as planned, it will become a mush that you can take to bed and use to lube your body and make sores :)

* said...

Pleasingly fallingapartitly

p said...

that looks like sex

Matt DeBenedictis said...

That cover looks like it will feel like Wilfred Brimley's fist. Old rage is better than the new rage, but new rage gets in more pants I hear, fuck it.

I'm glad to know about that Emory reading. I'll so be there for that.

Matt DeBenedictis said...

Oh and I am honored to now have been named to be part of a "rad duo" without being in an action film.

ryan call said...

that looks really neat

sam pink said...

that cover is sick to the dick.

Gene said...

Fucking nice.

Ryan W. Bradley said...

possibly the best cover ever. nice.

Anonymous said...

OK PAUL

christopher higgs said...

I believe Kant would say that your book cover is Sublime rather than Beautiful because it evokes both terror and titillation simultaneously.

I would agree with Kant.

Montgomery Maxton said...

i love that cover. you're my #1 blogger crush, btw.

BLAKE BUTLER said...

i like that sublime def

hello mr maxton

Conor Robin Madigan said...

they're practically giving the books away at paper egg. How--thrilling, to say the least, I must say, you know and keep the helmet up so you can see they say, before you battle a moment.

Michael Kimball said...

I love that cover as much as I love the insides, which is a lot.

BLAKE BUTLER said...

paper egg is excited for sure, and too good a deal.

that is nice to say thank you michael

Anonymous said...

If Lee K. Abbott picked anything of mine to put in a "Best Of" anthology I would take a plunger to my mouth, still wet from use, and rip out my insides so I could die happy in that moment.

And that SCORCH ATLAS cover makes me want to rip my fist in ashes. I couldn't stop swearing. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK. That's a cover. Can't wait to read the insides.

Oh, and I got EVER in the mail yesterday, opened it today. What am I reading? This is high-pitched white noise in my throat. I love it.

BLAKE BUTLER said...

haha, nice michael. i am glad you are enjoying the noise of ever. vibration uploader. :) you are nice.

Molly Gaudry said...

What a great cover, Blake!

Anonymous said...

The cover is awesome. I would buy the book even not knowing anything about it. But I've heard great things about it and loved what I've read of you so far (read Ever in a day, on the train and at work - it did something to me that I didn't experience since Bright Segment by Theodore Sturgeon) and can't wait to read it.

BLAKE BUTLER said...

hi molly thank you

thank you luca, that is a nice comparison, though i have not read Bright Segment but i am now to add to my list....