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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

Dirty Books - a little help here?

20:09 / 19.03.07

Hey Barbelithers - long time no see... Need a little help here.

I'm starting my own publishing company. I work in publishing but I've been trying to find a way to make it affordable for me to have my own gig, and I have, and it might just work. Launching in a couple of months or so...

It's called Bookkake and it's going to specialise - at least initially - in classic, mostly dirty books, newly typeset to the highest standard, with newly comissioned intros by good, interesting people. Books which are badly served by the current literary world.

The launch list consists of Venus In Furs, Fanny Hill, William Hazlitt's Liber Amoris, Apollinaire's Rakehell, Octave Mirbeau's Torture Garden and a few others I'm still in negotiation for - some of which might be very cool.

Last time I asked for advice on here I got a really good haircut out of it, so I'm doing it again.

I'm looking for classic transgressive works - I think you can figure out what I mean by that. Experimental, dangerous, or just dirty - but of the highest literary merit. (The obvious touchstone is de Sade - unfortunately, all the translations are still in copyright, and I can't afford to buy them). If they're good and I like them, I'll publish them, basically.

I could say more, but I'll just throw it open here, and see how it goes. Tell me about books that fit my criteria that need reissuing.

Oh yeah, and sign up at bookkake.com if you want to see how it turns out.

20:28 / 19.03.07

You are talking about comic books, yes?

20:32 / 19.03.07

We can but hope.

20:49 / 19.03.07

Bookake?

Now I have images in my mind of a Japanese porn star having books thrown into her face repeatedly by a group of hunky nerds.

Wow, I never knew I had a fetish for that before...

21:07 / 19.03.07

You learn something new every day on Barbelith, don't you?

21:07 / 19.03.07

I'm serious, and no, not comic books. See my launch list...

Essential Dazzler

21:34 / 19.03.07

I see your launch list, and raise you the forum title.

21:40 / 19.03.07

You've posted to the Comic Book forum rather than Books, Writing and Criticism, the1truejames. I've posted in the Moderation Requests thread over in Policy and Help asking for a move.

Can't think of much to suggest beyond very obvious titles: The Story of O perhaps, some Anais Nin, Georges Bataille, etc.

21:56 / 19.03.07

Eek bollocks, apologies. Been a while. Let's move it...

12:37 / 20.03.07

So, yes, sorry I posted in the wrong forum - no idea how that happened, and thank you to the several people who've IM'd with ideas - Kathy Acker is a good one, and I'm going to check out where her copyright is, but the best ones will be authors who've been dead for 75 years or more - they're no longer in copyright, so they're up for grabs...

All Acting Regiment

13:48 / 20.03.07

Yes, and generally old dirty books, like old dirty pictures, are a lot more interesting, by dint of actually having a sense of humour. Mind you I still found Fanny Hill fairly execrable.

What about books of decadent 1890s woodcuts and so on? I beleive there are also some rude Italian novels worth checking out.

13:52 / 20.03.07

You could do worse than look into Alexander Trocchi's "dirty" books, though I'm uncertain regarding the status of the copyrights.

Regrettable Juvenilia

14:40 / 20.03.07

Yes, and generally old dirty books, like old dirty pictures, are a lot more interesting, by dint of actually having a sense of humour.

I'm really not sure about this, I have to say. How much contemporary published erotica have you read to come to this conclusion? I'm a bit wary of this idea that stuff from the previous century was funnier - some of that may well be retrospective interpretation, which veers a bit too close to ironic kitsch and nostalgia for my liking.

16:38 / 20.03.07

I'm not certain if it's dirty enough for you, but I would love to see Derek Monsey's "Its Ugly Head" back in print. It's a well-done sleazy novel from the early 1960s about a Britsh journalist, his underage socialite girlfriend, and his exotic dancer ex-wife.

02:40 / 21.03.07

If you could stoop to such pornography and filth and literary vomit, I'd recommend Ulysses/

Kiltartan Cross

07:09 / 21.03.07

There's an old magazine called The Pearl (which, I hasten to say, I only picked up on 'cause I was digging for references in the first League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) which I believe is long out of copyright. There's a full text of it online somewhere, which for those of you who aren't behind works 'net filters can probably be got at via Wikipedia. Not my cup of tea at all, but possibly of interest.

All Acting Regiment

14:50 / 21.03.07

I:Yes, and generally old dirty books, like old dirty pictures, are a lot more interesting, by dint of actually having a sense of humour.

Fly:I'm really not sure about this, I have to say. How much contemporary published erotica have you read to come to this conclusion? I'm a bit wary of this idea that stuff from the previous century was funnier - some of that may well be retrospective interpretation, which veers a bit too close to ironic kitsch and nostalgia for my liking.

I suppose so - but I would argue that the period details make the repetition (constant in most erotica) less boring, because it happens in an unfamilar context, and the (undoubtedly unhealthy) hang-ups about putting absolutely everything out there contribute to some interesting diversions/euphemisms/symbology. The modern stuff I've read has seemed over-American, and a bit post-internet-porn, really. I'd be happy to be proved wrong.

Or am I being too literate and not sexy enough?

lord nuneaton savage

15:46 / 21.03.07

I shall scan my oak-paneled library and be back. I'm sure I have some killer recomendations for this project. It sounds really interesting. Make sure you keep us all informed.

11:45 / 22.03.07

Nighthawk - Unfortunately all under strict copyright control. Story of O I'd particularly like to have, but it's well in print, and Penguin Classics have got their claws in Nin and Bataille.

Allecto Regina - I want to do some stuff on Beardsley, for sure. Also old Italian stuff - like this?
http://www.pornokrates.com/aretino.html

Blake Head - Don't want to say too much, at this stage, but way ahead of you...

Flyboy - I want contemporary stuff to. However, market forces dictate that I first raise some cash by republishing older stuff that I don't have to pay for. If you've got contemporary recommendations that you think I should hear, hit me. For example, I'm a big Kenji Siratori fan, and my press would be perfect for him...

gridley - Ta for that. Have ordered a copy from Abe Books and shall take a peek.

Raw Norton - I agree it meets my standards, but it's already fairly well served. If it ever needs support, though...

Copper Caterpillar - Oooh, nice one. I saw it in another Moore actually - Lost Girls (highly recommended, anyone who hasn't read it - and very close to Bookkake in feelings). I'll be looking into that.

Thanks for all of those, and please keep them coming. I'll keep you all informed about the project's progress...

11:52 / 22.03.07

Also, on the subject of classic literary erotica - one of the complaints many people have about Sade and others is the repetition - if you've read it, you know what I mean. This repetition is common to all pornography.

Yet some of my favourite avant-garde novelists like Lynne Tillman and Stewart Home (full disclosure - I publish him in the day job - but that's because I like him so much, not v.v.) use exactly this repetition to create the most modern literatures. In fact, googling for an example, Home's review of Tillman describes this repetition best: http://www.stewarthomesociety.org/sex/tillman.htm

I'll stop now, but I hear another thread coming...

lord nuneaton savage

08:51 / 30.03.07

Sorry, I've been meaning to reply to this post for ages but a certain amount of dislocation has meant that I can't get to my bookshelves as readily as I could.

Instead I'll point you in the direction of my blog which has a review of Louis Aragon's 'Le Con D'Irene' and a brief bit on Decadent erotica. Hope you enjoy it.

lord nuneaton savage

09:00 / 30.03.07

Sorry.

Here

09:44 / 30.03.07

Venus in Furs is amazing. You, good sir, rock.

12:41 / 02.04.07

@savage - Thanks, I'm looking into that

@gridley - my copy of 'Its Ungly Head' arrived - it is rather good isn't it? Going to be difficult to trace the rights, as the author has a different name on the 'About' page, and there are nocopyright details!

Cheers all, keep 'em coming...