10 YEARS OF PUBLISHING!
Booksellers, help Melville House celebrate 10 years of publishing by participating in our 10th Anniversary bookseller promotion. For more information, please send us an email. The promotion includes the following books, our featured 10th anniversary poster, as well as shelf talkers for each book with descriptions written by co-publishers Dennis Johnson and Valerie Merians. The Publishers have also written a letter addressed to all the booksellers out there who have supported Melville House over the years. Download it here.
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EVERY MAN DIES ALONE
by Hans Fallada
“The greatest book ever written about German resistance to the Nazis.” —Primo Levi
Presents a rich detailed portrait of life in Berlin under the Nazis and tells a sweeping saga of one working-class couple who decides to take a stand against the Nazis when their only son is killed at the front. With nothing but their grief and each other against the awesome power of the Reich, they launch a simple, clandestine resistance campaign that soon has enraged Gestapo on their trail, and a world of terrified neighbors and cynical snitches ready to turn them in. In the end, it’s more than an edge-of-your-seat thriller, more than a moving romance, even more than literature of the highest order-it’s a deeply moving story of two people who stand up for what’s right, and for each other.
“The big houses ignored him for 60 years, but when I discovered Hans Fallada’s gripping tale about a middle-aged couple’s stand against the Nazis I knew it would be our biggest bestseller ever. And I guess I wasn’t that surprised that it turned into a world- wide phenomenon.” —DENNIS JOHNSON, Melville House co-founder
Download the Every Man Dies Alone shelf-talker
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POETRY AFTER 9/11
AN ANTHOLOGY OF NEW YORK POETS
With a foreward by Alicia Ostriker
“There was something more to be said that only poetry could say. It is eloquently said here by 45 notable poets.” —Publishers Weekly
After 9/11 poetry was everywhere—on telephone poles, on firehouse walls, in the bus shelters. People spontaneously turned to poetry to understand and cope with the tragedy of the attack. Full of humor, love, rage and fear, this diverse collection of poems attests to the power of poetry to express and to heal the human spirit.
“Our first book, put together to protest the rush to war after the 9/11 attacks, which Dennis and I witnessed firsthand. Shockingly to us as novice publishers, it turned out to be a hit. So we just kept going.” —VALERIE MERIANS, Melville House co-founder
Download the Poetry After 9/11 shelf-talker
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BARTLEBY THE SCRIVENER
by Herman Melville
Part of the Art of the Novella Series
“The novella, at long last, has found a worthy and consistent champion …” —The Atlantic
Academics hail it as the beginning of modernism, but to readers around the world—even those daunted by Moby-Dick—Bartleby the Scrivener is simply one of the most absorbing and moving novellas ever. Set in the mid-19th century on New York City’s Wall Street, it was also, perhaps, Herman Melville’s most prescient story: what if a young man caught up in the rat race of commerce finally just said, “I would prefer not to”?
“The story of the first protestor to occupy Wall Street was the first book in our Art of the Novella series. With Bartleby, Herman Melville created American modernism, and we thought someone should celebrate that, as well as the form of the novella itself, which—incredibly—no one else had a series in.” —DENNIS JOHNSON
Download the Bartleby the Scrivener shelf-talker
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EEEEE EEE EEEE
by Tao Lin
“[I]t’s funny and addictive and talks straight into your ear… Tao Lin’s sentences are so good they sometimes make me shudder.” —Bookslut
Confused yet intelligent animals attempt to interact with confused yet intelligent humans, resulting in the death of Elijah Wood, Salman Rushdie, and Wong Kar-Wai; the destruction of a Domino’s Pizza delivery car in Orlando; and a vegan dinner at a sushi restaurant in Manhattan attended by a dolphin, a bear, a moose, an alien, three humans, and the President of the United States of America, who lectures on the arbitrary nature of consciousness, truth, and the universe before getting drunk and playing poker.
“I can still hear Dennis’ first reaction on reading a few pages into this manuscript, after he discovered Tao online—he just went, ‘Whoa. . .’ That was my reaction, too. Later, we told each other, people are going to love this or hate it, but they’ve never read anything like it.” —VALERIE MERIANS
Download the EEEEE EEE EEEE shelf-talker
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DEATH AND THE PENGUIN
by Andrey Kurkov
“Death and the Penguin comes across as an almost perfect little novel … fast-paced and witty and on the side of the angels.” —John Powers, NPR’s Fresh Air
Aspiring writer Viktor thinks he’s finally caught a break when he lands a well-paying job at the Kiev newspaper writing “living obituaries” of local dignitaries—articles to be filed for use when the time comes. The only thing is, it seems the time always comes as soon as Viktor writes the article. Slowly understanding that his own life may be in jeopardy, Viktor also realizes that the only thing that might be keeping him alive is Misha, his pet penguin.
“One of the first books in our crime series, we wanted to create a series that was both literary and political, because Valerie and I don’t quite get the idea of crime lit being about pure entertainment. Like Bulgakov meeting Chandler, this is a perfect example of what we were after.” —DENNIS JOHNSON
Download the Death and the Penguin shelf-talker
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AFTER MIDNIGHT
by Irmgard Keun
Part of the Neversink Library
“I cannot think of anything else that conjures up so powerfully the atmosphere of a nation turned insane… one of those pieces of fiction that illuminate fact.” —Sunday Telegraph
In 1937, German author Irmgard Keun had only recently fled Nazi Germany with her lover Joseph Roth when she wrote this slim, exquisite, and devastating book. It captures the unbearable tension, contradictions, and hysteria of pre-war Germany like no other novel. Yet even as it exposes human folly, the book exudes a hopeful humanism. It is full of humor and light, even as it describes the first moments of a nightmare. After Midnight is a masterpiece that deserves to be read and remembered anew.
“Another awesome book by a forgotten writer we’re proud to have rediscovered—name another woman writing from within Germany about a woman’s life under the Nazis. Suspenseful, poignant, beautiful, scary, and totally absorbing.” —VALERIE MERIANS
Download the After Midnight shelf-talker
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THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE CIGARETTE
by Benoit Duteurtre
“What I admire most about The Little Girl and the Cigarette: the clarity with which this novel unmasks the fundamental stupidity of our modern world; the black humor that transforms horror into a fascinating danse macabre.” —Milan Kundera
At the cutting edge of European fiction, controversial young author Benoit Duteurtre creates a world wildly askew, yet disconcertingly close to our own, in this daring, antic satire.
“Maybe the funniest satire we’ve ever published. We were hooked when we just heard the premise: A convict about to be executed asks for a last cigarette . . . in a non-smoking prison. Suffice it to say, chaos ensues.” —DENNIS JOHNSON
Download the The Little Girl and the Cigarette shelf-talker
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HAVANA REAL
by Yoani Sanchez
“Provides the world a unique window into the realities of daily life in Cuba… empowers fellow Cubans to express themselves through the use of technology.” —Barack Obama
Yoani Sánchez is an unusual dissident: no street protests, no attacks on big politicos, no calls for revolution. Rather, she produces a simple diary about what it means to live under the Castro regime in Cuba: the chronic hunger and the difficulty of shopping; the art of repairing ancient appliances; the struggles of living under a propaganda machine that pushes deep into public and private life. For these simple acts of truth-telling her life is one of constant threat. But she continues on, refusing to be silenced—a living response to all who have ceased to believe in a future for Cuba.
“She’s trapped living in a dictatorship that has kidnapped and beaten her more than once, but Yoani’s writing is hypnotically calm and convincing about maintaining daily dignity in an impoverished state. We were so inspired we couldn’t not publish it.” —VALERIE MERIANS
Download the Havana Real shelf-talker
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I COULD TELL YOU BUT THEN YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE DESTROYED BY ME
by Trevor Paglen
“These enigmatic dark-op images, in some cases probably designed by the participants themselves, are more personal, and also more disturbing, than most.” —New York Times Book Review
In a work that combines ingenious journalism and bizarrely encoded art, author/photographer/investigator Trevor Paglen uncovers 75 never-before-seen-in-public military patches that reveal a bizarre secret world of the American military. Paglen investigates classified weapons projects and intelligence operations by examining their own imagery and jargon, disclosing new facts about important classified military units—here known by peculiar names (“Goat Suckers,” “None of Your Fucking Business,” “Tastes Like Chicken”) and illustrated with occult symbols and ridiculous cartoons.
“Weird, wild, funny and scary all at once, the story of these shoulder patches from military units engaged in espionage also makes a political point: The Pentagon military budget seems to be in the hands of 12-year-olds. One of our most lavish books, production and design-wise.” —DENNIS JOHNSON
Download the I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have To Be Destroyed By Me shelf-talker
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THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK
by Lewis Carroll; Illustrated by Mahendra Singh
“Delightfully surreal…save this book for the brightest and most adventurous young word-worms on your holiday shopping list…Singh’s daring illustrations will appeal to older children eager to leave the world of candy-colored cuteness behind.” —The New Yorker
A brilliant new illustrated version of Lewis Carroll’s nonsense masterpiece in heroic couplets-full of visual riddles, puns and mysteries.
“We were hooked on the idea for this book the minute we saw a sample of the amazing illustrations. They were astonishing, and then we started realizing all the hidden images, jokes and illusions. We already loved the poem. This was a no-brainer.” —VALERIE MERIANS
Download the The Hunting of the Snark shelf-talker
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THE LATE LORD BYRON
by Doris Langley Moore
Part of the Neversink Library
“The best biography of Lord Byron ever written.” —W.S. Merwin
Of the hundreds of books on Byron and his work, not one has been devoted to the immediate aftermath of his life; and yet it is these first twenty posthumous years that yield the most unexpected and exciting discoveries about the character of the poet and the behavior of those who once surrounded him—wife, sister, friends, enemies.
“Once upon a time we were lucky enough to have dinner with poet laureate W.S. Merwin and a bookseller. He asked her what poetry books worked best for her. She said biographies of poets, and he said, ‘Too bad, because the best bio ever written of a poet is out of print.’ We took note, and here it is. This book represents what our Neversink Library series is all about.” —DENNIS JOHNSON
Download the The Late Lord Byron shelf-talker
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ALL IN A WORD
by Vivian Cook
“A delightfully eclectic manual that gently guides the reader through the often infuriating vagaries of an evolving language.” —Independent on Sunday
Linguist Vivian Cook takes us on a brilliant series of excursions into the history and meaning of words: How do we learn words as a child? How are words born, and why do they die? Why do some never get spoken, and others never written?
“Quirky books about the language are a specialty of ours, based solely on our own affection for wordplay. And nobody writes quirkier—or more playfully—than Vivian Cook, so we jumped at the chance to work with him. After all, he’s from England. They invented the language.” —VALERIE MERIANS
Download the All in a Word shelf-talker
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RÔTIS
by Stephan Reynaud
“With Reynaud’s books, I always feel as if I can understand just where it is that French food comes from. The dishes tend toward hearty, approachable fare from the French countryside, but the recipes can guide a home cook to new comfort with a sometimes intimidating cuisine.” — Don and Samantha Lindgren, owners of Rabelais in Portland, Maine, in Bon Appetit
Think roasting takes all day? Not so. From the authority on soulful French cooking and author of Pork and Sons comes a definitive guide to roasting fish and meat, featuring 100 essential recipes …
“We’ve always tried to do cookbooks that were beautiful, useful, and genuine. Rôtis is a perfect example: Written by the son of a French butcher, it’s full of simple, out-of-this-world recipes that allow you to spend time with your company, not in the kitchen.” —VALERIE MERIANS
Download the Rotis shelf-talker
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THE CLOWN
by Heinrich Boll
“Böll is an expert marksman: the arrows are sharp, the feathers smooth, the targets numerous.” —The New York Times
A gripping examination of one man’s struggle to overcome guilt and rediscover his idealism in post-War Germany.
“We were knocked out when the estate of the great Nobel Prize-winner, one of the 20th century’s most important writers, chose Melville House as Böll’s American publisher. The Clown shows you why we were so psyched—it’s a fascinating tour de force about a man in postwar Germany who’s so overcome by guilt he doesn’t feel human.” —VALERIE MERIANS
Download the The Clown shelf-talker
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STUFFED AND STARVED
by Raj Patel
“For anyone attempting to make sense of the world food crisis, or understand the links between U.S. farm policy and the ability of the world’s poor to feed themselves, Stuffed and Starved is indispensable.” —Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma
It’s a perverse fact of modern life: There are more starving people in the world than ever before (800 million) while there are also more people overweight (1 billion).
“People thought we were psychic when we published this exposé about the food industry because it predicted a political uprising, and sure enough there were several big food riots the week this book first appeared. Since then, food riots have toppled governments, so we have revised and updated this, because clearly it’s just as urgent as ever.” —DENNIS JOHNSON
Download the Stuffed and Starved shelf-talker
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AURORARAMA
by Jean Christophe-Valtat
” … the novel glides on silver skates from the surreal to the absurd to the languorously decadent … Irresistible.” —Laura Miller, Salon
1908. New Venice — “the pearl of the Arctic” — a place of ice palaces and pneumatic tubes, of beautifully ornate carriage-sleds and elegant victorian garb, of long nights and vistas of ice.
“We’re not readers of sci-fi or fantasy, but this book really blew us away. Written by a French smarty-pants who told us he just wanted to be the next Jules Verne, we were fascinated by his wild language, amazing literary allusions, and bizarre-but-true historical references. Polar kangaroos, dirigibles, hermaphrodite Siamese twins, revolution—what’s not to love?” —VALERIE MERIANS
Download the Aurorarama shelf-talker
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MAY DAY
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald was better than he knew, for in fact and in the literary sense he invented a generation…. He might have interpreted them and even guided them, as in their middle years they saw a different and nobler freedom threatened with destruction.” —New York Times
May Day is Fitzgerald’s most raw, direct political commentary, and one of the most desperate works in his oeuvre.
“It was eye-opening to come across something by Fitzgerald—an elegant and subtle writer—that was so blunt and forceful, and more of a political statement than cultural commentary. It’s what the Art of the Novella series is all about—works by really famous writers that are lesser-known, but great nonetheless.” —DENNIS JOHNSON
Download the May Day shelf-talker
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LAMBERTO, LAMBERTO, LAMBERTO
by Gianni Rodari
“Gianni Rodari gave free reign to his imagination, with inspired panache and gleeful lightness.” —Italo Calvino
When we first meet Baron Lamberto (age ninety-three), he is very rich and very ill. He owns twenty-four banks and has been diagnosed with twenty-four serious ailments: only his butler Anselmo remembers them all …
“Italy’s most beloved children’s book author, never before translated into English, has written our kind of kids’ book: For adults, really, a fable inspired by the terrorism that struck Italy in the 1970s, with quirky illustrations and—hooray!—a bunch of bankers getting what’s theirs. All in a beautiful package. A Melville House take on the form if ever there was one.” —VALERIE MERIANS
Download the Lamberto Lamberto Lamberto shelf-talker
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FIASCO
by Imre Kertesz
“Heroic … Kertész is unique in Holocaust literature …[H]e seems to flaunt the thoughts and feelings that contradict the accepted narrative.”—Nan Goldberg, The Boston Globe
The heretofore untranslated “missing” book from the trilogy that won Imre Kertész the Nobel Prize.
“We were thrilled that this great, Nobel Prize-winning author left a bigger, much more famous publisher to come to Melville House. And this is one of his most important—and gripping—books: After surviving a Nazi death camp, the author describes what it was like to come back to a country run by a different kind of tyranny: the Communists.” —DENNIS JOHNSON
Download the Fiasco shelf-talker
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LUCINELLA
by Lore Segal
“Dizzy, shameless fun… scathing yet sweet…. The construction is clever, the style delicious.” —Los Angeles Times
Lore Segal’s brilliant and some-would-say scathing look at the New York literary scene was a hit when it was first released, and has been a cult classic ever since.
“A charming and achingly beautiful tale of loving reading and writing and the people who do both, with some biting humor about the New York literary scene. It’s hard to believe that its previous publisher let it go out of print. It just gives us such a thrill to rediscover stuff like this.” —VALERIE MERIANS