I picked up five boxes of books yesterday in overstock from AWP. I had originally intended to have them all get forwarded to the Asterism warehouse, but for various reasons they ended up at the Malarkey home office, which, it may surprise you to learn, is not housed in a high rise in Manhattan, but instead just a random house in Missouri. For reasons that probably won’t surprise you, I would like—my wife would really like—to not have all these books in our house.

Among the boxes are several copies of several titles that we have had in stock on the website for quite some time. These include, in no particular order:

Thumbsucker, poems by Kat Giordano.

“In Thumbsucker, the dingy dive bars, ex-loves, and junior high bullies of Kat Giordano’s life are portals to unexpected worlds. These poems are emotional snapshots of despair; no matter how blinding a light once was, the images always fade.”

—Graham Irvin, author of I Have A Gun

Having this back in stock means we’ve also got our poetry bundle available again. Right now you can get five poetry titles for $60

Malarkey Poetry Bundle

Backmask, a novel by OF Cieri

OF was supposed to be at AWP in Baltimore but got sick at the last minute and couldn’t go and now we have copies of Backmask, which is a rarity. One time I went into a bookstore and asked if they had a copy of Under the Volcano. The owner said he couldn’t ever keep it in stock. Then he told me a story about how anytime Henry Rollins came through town he would stop in. It’s the same thing with Backmask, except Henry Rollins doesn’t stop by my house anytime he’s in town, although we do have the same birthday so it’s basically the same.

White People on Vacation, a novel by Alex Miller

One of our most popular books. The cover and title are attention-getters, but the writing is what ultimately shines.

Here’s my favorite review:

“Brilliant.”

—Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac

Deliver Thy Pigs, a novel by Joey Hedger

Our first book to ever be featured in an NPR story (on a national level, that is). To be fair, the story wasn’t about Malarkey or Joey’s book. It’s about a vending machine in DC that vends books by DC-area authors, but you can see copies of two of our books, Deliver Thy Pigs and also Faith by Itoro Bassey, so I call that being featured in an NPR story.

Anyway, I love this book. Even though the story is driven by pain and betrayal and anger, it is written with all of Joey’s love and kindness and ends on a hopeful note that I know I needed, and I bet other people need it too.

I Blame Myself But Also You, stories by Spencer Fleury

Every story in here is really good. There’s no flash, no gimmicks, just lovely, honest writing. I don’t know if this sounds dramatic, but it’s been kind of life-affirming for me to see reactions to this book. It’s not a NY Times best-seller but I’ve seen quite a few people fall in love with these stories.

On a sidenote, we had a chance to publish Spencer’s novel The Shitbird, but I was too slow and it got picked up by the good folks at Stanchion. I’m not finding a preorder link, but you should keep an eye out for it later this year!

Thunder from a Clear Blue Sky, a novel by Justin Bryant

A dream. With all the layers of meaning that exist within this word, a dream.

Un-ruined, a novel by Roger Vaillancourt

One of my favorite books of all time, to be honest.

Fearless, a novel by Benjamin Warner

I have no idea how to describe this one, other than to say it’s exactly what I want to publish and I wish I had the magic combination of words to get this in more people’s hands. Here are some blurbs!

“A high-wattage thrilling comedic fantasy. A novel as FEARLESS as the title suggests in exploring the vast expanse of what it means to be courageous and vulnerable as we face the hazards of our own ambitions, insecurities, and our past. An absolute MUST read! It will hook you and never let you go.”

—Melissa Rauch, Actor, Writer, & Producer

“Like Vonnegut, Benjamin Warner writes with his whole head and his whole heart. Fearless is funny, surprising and moving, somehow both absurd and warm, with characters who could walk off the page. It’s magic.”

—Rob Roensch, author of The World and the Zoo and The Wildflowers of Baltimore

Ben has a new book out with Bloomsbury, which published his first novel, Thirst. The new one is called Speculative Fiction: A Writer’s Guide and Anthology, co-edited with Ron Tanner.

What I Thought of Ain’t Funny, stories inspired by Mitch Hedberg jokes

This is an anthology, curated by Caroljean Gavin, published several years ago with the approval of Hedberg’s widow and in partnership with Mythic Picnic, with stories by Jennifer Wortman, Jon Chaiim McConnell, Amy Stuber, and more. It’s only $13 and worth every penny.

Toadstones, stories by Eric Williams

Got just a couple copies on hand. Eric’s book is a a gem. One of a handful of lucky books to feature a cover design by me.

Most of these titles are on sale, but you can get an extra 15% off with code SELLOUT through March 31 in the Malarkey store.

In the interest of full disclosure, for the next week or two orders will be filled a little on the slow side, but they will be filled, and they will be filled with little extras, too—zines, stickers, bookmarks, probably an extra book for anyone who orders multiple items, and also love and gratitude. There are so many books being published all the time, and it always feels like a little miracle when people buy our books. Thank you to everyone out there who cares about this stuff!

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