Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Scorch Atlas Destroyed & Ready for Love

Preordering is now available for Scorch Atlas direct from Featherproof, at an early price of $10, which = 33% off the list price before its official retail release on 9/9/9.

As a special treat for those who preorder, in addition the price cut, you can have the option of getting your book hand destroyed or beaten up or bitten or whiskey whipped and maybe humped by myself and the Featherproof crew, as seen here:

Scorch Atlas (destroyed) by Blake Butler from featherproof books on Vimeo.



Those who prefer a clean copy of the book (weaklings) can indicate as such with the order and will receive the book intact and like a fresh baby. (Destroyed copies will still be fully readable, and a lot more pretty).

Thanks in advance to all of those supporting the cause: it seriously is appreciated to the 9 ends. Any reposting of the video, preorder words, links, etc, I will love you.

Preorders will ship to arrive on 9/9/9.





Some more info on the book:

A novel of 14 interlocking stories set in ruined American locales where birds speak gibberish, the sky rains gravel, and millions starve, disappear or grow coats of mold. In 'The Disappeared,' a father is arrested for missing free throws, leaving his son to search alone for his lost mother. In 'The Ruined Child,' a boy swells to fill his parents' ransacked attic. Rendered in a variety of narrative forms, from a psychedelic fable to a skewed insurance claim questionnaire, Blake Butler's full-length fiction debut paints a gorgeously grotesque version of America, bringing to mind both Kelly Link and William Gass, yet turned with Butler's own eye for the apocalyptic and bizarre.






Blake Butler’s Scorch Atlas is precisely that —a series of maps, or worlds, “tied so tight they couldn’t crane their necks.” Everything is either destroyed, rotting or festering—and not only the physical objects, but allegiances, hopes, covenants. Yet these worlds are not abstract exercises, he is speaking of life as it is, where there might be or may be, “glass over grave sites in display,” and where we will be forced to make or where we have “made facemasks out of old newspapers.” The sole glimmer of light comes in recollection, as in: 
“a bear the size of several men... There in the woods 
behind our house, when I was still a girl like you.”

—Jesse Ball, author of The Way Through Doors 
and Samedi the Deafness


There’s something so big about Blake Butler’s writing. Big as men’s heads. Each inhale of Blake’s wheeze brings streamers of loose hair, the faces of lakes and oceans, whales washed up half-rotten. You can try putting on a facemask made out of old newspaper. You can breathe 
in smaller rhythms. But you won’t be able to keep this man out once you’ve opened his book. Open it!

—Ken Sparling, author of Dad Says He Saw You at the Mall


I am always looking for new writers like Blake Butler and rarely finding them, but Scorch Atlas is one of those truly original books that will make you remember where you were when you first read it. Scorch Atlas is relentless in its apocalyptic accumulation, the baroque language stunning in its brutality, and the result is a massive obliteration.

—Michael Kimball, author of Dear Everybody




For those interested, press kit is here.

Free mini book sampler of one of the texts is here.

Thanks again to everyone for listening and being rad.

Any interested press people who would like to review the book, interview or profile me about the book, etc, please contact me at blakebutler [at] gmail [dot] com






Beginning later this week: I am going to eat a copy of Scorch Atlas one page at a time over the rest of the year, with a variety of sauces and candlelights and tables. More on that soon.




Muchas muchas.

17 comments:

The Man Who Couldn't Blog said...

Yow.

The Man Who Couldn't Blog said...

Also, Burch gave some precious whiskey to the cause.

BLAKE BUTLER said...

we po it up

Matthew said...

Done. I requested blood.

BLAKE BUTLER said...

thanks matthew. you'll get blood.

Mel Bosworth said...

Great video.

Ordered a clean copy. If anyone is gonna kick its ass, it's gonna be me.

Keep on keeping, Blake.

BLAKE BUTLER said...

thanks mel, very much. take a bit teethbite out of it for me would you? not hurting hurts

Tao Lin said...

trying to watch video, isn't working right now (6:57 p.m.), will try again later, excited to see it

BLAKE BUTLER said...

hi tao, vimeo keeps doing that to me too, i think if you reload once it comes back. thank you for looking.

Molly Gaudry said...

I love the video. I love the book. Everybody is going to love this book, yes.

Jon Cone said...

Back in the 80s I was travelling in Europe reading Gunter Grass's THE FLOUNDER. After a period of time, I thought fuck this book is too god damn thick to lug everywhere around Europe so as I read a page I tore it out, a few days later near the end of the book I had a cover and one page, which out of spite I refused to read, I just threw the fucker away. Then later on the east coast of Canada I was reading BEING AND NOTHINGNESS by you know who, and everday going down to look at the sea, and one day again though something like fuck this shit, and threw the book into the sea. A couple of days later I went back and the book had washed up on shore, so I took, kept it for awhile. Then lost it or something. Typical French existentialist masterpiece.

Gee, Jon, thanks for sharing.

BLAKE BUTLER said...

reading that made me quite happy

christopher higgs said...

This is the good kind of destruction.

Very good.

Very exciting.

Brian Foley said...

That video is fucking radical. Makes me want to skateboard.

claire said...

yay! congrats Blake--can't wait to read it. xx, c.

Unknown said...

Inspired by your sensible destruction, I stank up a preorders of my chapbook. Lead us, holy Blake.

http://www.calebjross.com/2009/11/selling-stinky-books-set-to-music/

Darren Demers said...

Beginning later this week: I am going to eat a copy of Scorch Atlas one page at a time over the rest of the year, with a variety of sauces and candlelights and tables. More on that soon.
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