Dalkey Archive Press

The ILL for the Konwicki came through yesterday. This has one of the best first paras of any novel I've ever touched!

Just looking at the archive by country: kinda feeling I know quite a few authors, love the work Dalkey does to bring dissident writers from the old Eastern bloc and Latin American exiles to the fore and how their backgrounds cross over with innovation in narrative techniques: I the Supreme is one of the better novels I have read from the imprint and the multiple shifts of narration to convey views of a supreme leader lead to powerful dissections.

But one thing I haven't really dug much out of are the American authors, like, apart from Harry Mathews and Djuna Barnes no names really register too much. Dislike Mulligan Stew, and I find myself getting less and less interested in Ben Marcus/Markson (and its not necessarily confined to Americans: I'm not as into the Noveau Roman, though I am v fond of Butor's The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ape).

On the other hand Felipe Alfau sounds interesting, mainly because to do with when it was written. Also interested in checking McElroy short story collection at some point.

Has anyone got more US names they'd like to rep for?

I mean its, with all the claims for bringing lit from other countries still the biggest section. About 200 titles. I think the next biggest is the French with about 50 or so.

Has anyone got more US names they'd like to rep for?

William Gass, The Tunnel.

Think of him more as a very fine writer in critic mode. Didn't it take him about 30 years to finish?

Just went to the Dalkey Archive sight and found a link to an interesting interview with Christopher Sorrentino about his unloved-by-ILX-except-for-me father http://www.matrixmagazine.org/2010/09/christopher-sorrentino-interviewed-by-john-goldbach/

Sorry about that. You have been a solid advocate for Sorrentino over the years.

Might try another one or two, the interviewer in your link does say the novels are v different.

I adored "Under The Shadow", which seemed to me closer to the spirit of surrealist painting/cinema than any (other?) surrealist book I've ever read. I've struggled with the other couple of GS's books I've randomly picked up.

(Not that I've made a point of reading much surrealist lit, btw.)

xyzzzz which Konwicki are you reading? A Minor Apocalypse? if so, rock on, I remember it kickin' ass

I love that book.

Yes, A Minor Apocalypse. Has this really corrosive tone that I seldom come across.

The aim is to enrage a censor, like every page for 2-3 sentences, at least. You get a feel that its one for the drawer, or for smuggling across the border. And reading about him (and of course the novel itself which is about him, as much as Poland at that time) you get a sense of making up for all the shameful stuff he must have written in his soviet realist phase.

Quite remarkable. This and Grusa's Questionnaire have that fantastical thing to it, as far removed from any even ground, as possible.

Also interesting to draw a parallel between Konwicki and maybe Bolano: how culture is hijacked by politics to present certain images abroad. Stuff which you come across anyway but here you get an insider view.

(Not that I've made a point of reading much surrealist lit, btw.)

Well I've recently read Blaise Cendrars (which was recommended on the my 'prose as novelists' thread by you, Tim, iirc). I've got a Rene Crevel novel (not the one published by Dalkey) and I'm gonna give that a go soon.

how was blaise cendrars?

Moravagine is brill! Guy frees a murderer and they go on a journey across the world together. Just an excuse to write great phrases tho'.

Given the bits and scraps I know about the art, its how I might have imagined a surrealist novel.

Should read more, its the only that I see 2nd hand.

I've never been too fond of Moravagine, but if you can find it Lice is a really great book

Oh right why not? I'll be on the lookout for Lice

Just got Mela Hartwig's “Am I a Redundant Human Being?” from Dalkey, which looks promising. And I really want to read the Konwicki--it's been 'in processing' at my library for about 3 months, so I might just give up on waiting and buy it.

Holiday sale is back. Kind've tempted by some of the issues of Review of Contemporary Fiction (Herman Melville's ; or The Whale, maybe the E.White/S.Delaney, New Catalan Fiction & the Future of Fiction ones ...) - is it fairly academic, or ...?

Managed to pick up both of the Michel Ajvaz books (here's hoping they'll translate The Empty Streets & his book on Borges), Juan Filloy's Op Oloop and Melville's The Confidence Man while in Europe - such a treat seeing large swathes of Dalkey/NYRB in bookstores compared to NZ.

Really? Can't see anything about that sale on the website.

http://www.dalkeyarchive.com/book/?GCOI=15647100655980
http://www.dalkeyarchive.com/book/?GCOI=15647100177270

OK, thanks!

thought this bump would be abt best euro fiction but is not out yet apparently

Joseph McElroy's Women and Men is no longer on their site. Hmm.

Permalink
― alimosina, Friday, 6 November 2009 03:30 (1 year ago)

Another publisher wanted to bring it out, so Dalkey turned it over. Then that same publisher turned down McElroy's next book, leading to acrimony.

"It's in limbo at the moment, but it will come back." says McElroy.

Thanks for clearing that up. It was worrisome.

Another publisher wanted to bring it out, so Dalkey turned it over. Then that same publisher turned down McElroy's next book, leading to acrimony.

That is quite funny...

anyone read or reading suicide? i'd quite like something short to read after the thing i'm reading, & zadie smith made it sound good in harper's

Yesterday I was thinking how much I enjoy books by authors where suicide is such a big part of their aesthetic, as an idea for a thread at some point...

Yeah, I was intrigued by that one too, schlump. Hopefully, Dalkey will be having another 60% off summer sale soon. They did one around this time last year.

Kinda want to read that recent book about David Markson

Yeah, I was intrigued by that one too, schlump. Hopefully, Dalkey will be having another 60% off summer sale soon. They did one around this time last year.

i just saw this in a store and leafed through the first pages (actually familiar because they're the focus of zadie's comparison between this & leve's earlier book), it looks good. and short. i should stick with dalkey because a lot of their books are short, and i can persevere with something i'm not sure about if it's <150pp

Just finished "Suicide". It's really good. Interesting article about book and author here:
http://berlinbooks.org/brb/2010/03/happiness-sadness-death/

Been meaning to pick up Suicide. Anyone pick up the Best Euro Fiction yet, and how does it compare to the previous offering? & has anyone dipped into Gert Jonke yet? Geometric Regional Novel is described as somewhere between Flatland and Peter Handke, ooer.

Dalkey Summer Sale going on now through June 15th. 10 books for $65 with free shipping in US.

http://www.dalkeyarchive.com/book/?GCOI=15647100916100

Aargh. David Markson book is in the "Scholarly Series" so sale does not apply. Which of course makes sense but...

Juan Filloy's Op Oloop

i think this is really good but im not really sure i can put together why.

The Michal Ajvaz books are both astonishing. The Other City is the more accessible, a fantasy of what goes on in Prague when you're not looking that reminded me of Bruno Schulz and the Little Nemo strips. Golden Age is more demanding, but worth sticking with. I will pre-order anything else that comes up in translation.

I loved The Golden Age, just got The Other City from the library

The Ajvaz are amazing - read The Other City a few years ago just before we spent a week in Prague, & The Golden Age reminds me of some of the Chinese classics.

Anyone read Wilfrido Nolledo's But For The Lovers or Salvador Espriu's Ariadne In The Grotesque Labyrinth? Really wish I still lived near a place where bookstores would have Dalkey Archive displays.

This is pretty crazy: http://www.dalkeyarchive.com/aboutus/?fa=Employment

Though I would seriously love to work at Dalkey... But still!

lol they fuckin nuts

wow

such a comprehensive way of changing your feelings toward dalkey archive press

thats really terrible

i couldn't be bothered reading all the way through but in this intern on intern deathmatch, is it the case that some of those who do not emerge triumphant will have given up their life, let their ill parents die without visiting &c & yet never be paid?

they're so gross

Any of the following will be grounds for immediate dismissal during the probationary period: coming in late or leaving early without prior permission; being unavailable at night or on the weekends; failing to meet any goals; giving unsolicited advice about how to run things; taking personal phone calls during work hours; gossiping; misusing company property, including surfing the internet while at work; submission of poorly written materials; creating an atmosphere of complaint or argument; failing to respond to emails in a timely way; not showing an interest in other aspects of publishing beyond editorial; making repeated mistakes; violating company policies. DO NOT APPLY if you have a work history containing any of the above.

DO NOT APPLY if you have ever been unavailable at night or on the weekends

Good riddance to these guys, then.

btw I was talking to some dude who worked at dalkey last year (this was last year, dont know what the sitch is now) but he said their best seller far and away was the the third policeman because it was featured in Lost for like 3 seconds so even if they were able to pay I doubt it would be any sort of living wage maybe i'm wrong idk

Well, being a small firm who might require some voluntary effort for the love of the work is one thing... actually sounding like an angry cult leader in your job posting is another...

https://twitter.com/DalkeyIntern/

id like to think the advert was vaguely meta or at least viralbait

i think on some level that would be more depressing than it being totally sincere