Mental Whiplash
This is an email celebrating a book called Boxcutters, which is a collection of short stories, a varied collection of short stories, by John Chrostek. I want to also point out that he has a novel coming out called Feast of the Pale Leviathan. I have not got around to ordering myself a copy but I need to remedy that.
I love so many things about this book, but I think probably the coolest thing about it is it transcends genres. Malarkey has consistently refused to fix itself to any specific niche or genre, and so Boxcutters is the perfect book for this press. It is sometimes horror, sometimes speculative, sometimes science fiction, sometimes realist, but always literary, always beautiful.
And it is a beautiful book, physically, printed in Minnesota by the good people at Bookmobile. Every time I grab a copy to fill an order I feel a little thrill, and I stop to admire the cover, the feel of the pages as I flip through. We printed 300 copies of this first edition, with French flaps that provide a home to a bonus short story. Future editions won’t have the flaps. It is a remarkable thing to say that we’ve moved over 200 copies of a book, a story collection no less, without it being available on Amazon or through a distributor bigger than Asterism Books. (We are considering a second print on demand edition so that we can get the book on Bookshop, so if we go ahead with that the book will also be on Amazon, and all the other big retailers.)
Some praise for Boxcutters:
“Because of the varied nature of Chrostek’s stories, it seems important to issue a warning: Read in rapid succession, the stories in Boxcutters could cause mental whiplash. In a world of tightly-woven and linked story collections, Chrostek doesn’t offer the reader an easy merge between times, places, or people, but overall themes do emerge. Many characters feel trapped. Whether it be by societal norms or a literal glass cage, they are imprisoned in lives that aren’t necessarily the lives they want to live. And just like with all trapped things, it’s beautiful to see their full potential, their entire freedom, once they’ve been set free.”
—Nick Gardner, Independent Book Review
“Though Chrostek’s plots are often eccentric, the stories are nevertheless substantive, as they broach socio-political and economic subjects like miserable living conditions and exploitative jobs. This punchy and fast-paced collection demonstrates how systemic forces, notably—and often comically—ineptitude, crush the most vulnerable.”
—Emily Hall, Necessary Fiction
There are three ways to get a first edition French flap version of Boxcutters.
I have 20 copies left at the Malarkey warehouse/a box in my living room. You can get 15% off with code knucklehead at checkout at malarkeybooks.com. You’ll also get King Ludd’s Rag No. 23 and a couple stickers. (I will reserve at least 10 copies to have for Printers Row and/or a table in Iowa City in September, so it’s possible the Malarkey site will sell out of Boxcutters this week.)
John and his partner own a bookstore in Buffalo, NY, called Evening House, and you can order a signed copy through their website.
Boxcutters is distributed to stores and libraries through Asterism Books, but you can order retail through their website.
Actually there’s a fourth way: if you’re in Portland you can head over to Powell’s and grab a copy. There are a few other stores that carry it but Powell’s has consistently displayed it and sold it and ordered more copies.
We also have the ebook for $5.
I’ve said many times that Malarkey does not have a niche, but thinking about this book, and all the books we’ve put out, and the writers we’ve been so lucky to work with, I think we do have a niche: regardless of genre or form, we put out books by under-the-radar writers who very much should be on everyone’s radar.
Subscribers to the book club get books and zines and discounts, and until we run out a free t-shirt!