Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Into the Gutter



Henry Hill may have died, but Thuglit and Out of the Gutter have been resurrected! I'm pretty essited by what I hear coming from the Gutter camp - namely more platforms (print and digital), more content, fresh staff and, hey Gutter Books is releasing the one-two combo of W.R. Burnett's classics The Asphalt Jungle and High Sierra. I hope they continue to put out high-quality low-life originals like The Wrong Man by William Ingsley and Joe McKinney's Dodging Bullets, but the Burnett titles are a great step to brand recognition (along with their previous re-print of John D. MacDonald's On the Make). 

 Raoul Walsh and John Huston (sort of) did it, so now you can agree whole-heartedly with Viscosity director Paul von Stoetzel and Fuckload of Scotch Tape director Julian Grant that OOTG is one of the best places to go for original film content. Speaking of the dirty duo, it sounds like Julian and Paul are starting a mutual admiration society, which I will definitely be a due-paying member of, as I admire both those nutjobs. Sounds like Viscosity will be included on the DVD release of Fuckload of Scotch Tape as bonus material, which has me reaching for a hankie - of joy.

So, Gutter Books have got Burnett, New Pulp Press have got Gil Brewer, Mulholland is digitizing Jim Thompson and Open Road Media is dishing out Horace McCoy's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, but y'know who continues to unearth some of the best unjustly forgotten crime fiction from the age of pulps? Stark House Press. And they do that shit omnibus style which adds a level to the pulpy essperience. Love you guys for that and for delivering it in print - that still means something to this old fart. Of course, Stark House know their current crime fiction too and they're the ones doing the hell something about getting new Charlie Stella into your hands. Johnny Porno was their very first PBO and this summer they're pushing out a big steaming number two - Rough Riders. Fighting the good fight. Snubnose is proceeding with their mostly e-book press with forays into print which are good lookin (got myself Keith Rawson's Laughing at Dead Men and R. Thomas Brown's Hill Country). How good lookin and what could have been? Check out this gallery of cover images.

Barry Graham knows his shit. He recites it.
Scott Montgomery (legendary taste-maker and host and driving force behind N@B-Austin interviewed me and Peter Rozovsky 'bout the history of the event in this piece, and I took the opportunity to name-drop some really excellent  writers and readers we've hosted in our series - but, jeez, I was reading recaps of the Austin event by Peter FarrisBarry Graham and Jesse Sublett - damn, wish I coulda been there. Sounds like they had a blast.



This week Byron Kerman interviewed me and Scott Phillips separately for an upcoming article about N@B. Byron asked me about the forthcoming second volume of the Noir at the Bar anthology and any standout offerings I might want to draw attention to. Absolutely, hey Byron you gotta read Caleb J. Ross's  The Lipidopterist or Erik Lundy's Shootout at the K-Y Corral or Jane Bradley'The One Good Thing. I mean, I can't wait for folks to get a gander at the fuckin' scope of this thing. But as the interview went on, more and more stories came to mind and I'd interject them - just fling them at Byron, go read this now - until I'd damn near mentioned every piece I've thus far received. One of them that I know I forced upon him was Cooking With Rachael Ray by John Rector. What a fucked up piece that one is. Hmmm. Maybe that's one to open the book with. Got to start thinking of an order for this beast.

Get ready for the blurbedy on Vol. 2, too. Big thanks to folks like Vicki Hendricks, Tom Franklin, Josh Bazell, Jason Starr, Victor Gischler and John Connolly for responding so quickly and enthusiastically to our humble requests to be berated and belittled. You guys rock.

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