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Welcome to featherproof
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Written by featherproof
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Coming Soon:
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The Awful Possibilities
By Christian TeBordo
"Quentin Tarantino on short story juice. The violence and depravity
ride the surface, where I like them, and the heart is a lyrical heart.
Add to that creepy postcards with cryptic messages and this collection
attacks from all sides." —Jeff Parker, Author of Ovenman
April 2010! A girl masters the art of forgetting among kidney thieves. A motivational speaker skins his best friend to impress his wife. A man outlines the rules and regulations for sadistic childrearing. You’ve heard these people whispering in hallways, mumbling in diners, shouting in the apartment next door. In brilliantly strange set pieces that explode the boundaries of short fiction, Christian TeBordo locates the awe in the awful possibilities we could never have imagined.
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Daddy's
By Lindsay Hunter
“Wafer-thin stories by Lindsay Hunter tell more in a few sentences than most novels do. She writes like a Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s song. Karen O would be proud.” —Jason Rice, Three Guys One Book
Coming Fall 2010! You ever fed yourself something bad? Like a candied rattlesnake, or a couple fingers of antifreeze? Nope? You seen what it done to other people? Like while they’re flopping around on the floor you’re thinking about how they’re fighting to live. Like while they’re dying they never looked so alive? That’s what Daddy’s is like. In this collection of toxic southern gothics, packaged as a box of cigarettes, Lindsay Hunter offers an exploration not of the human heart but of the spine; mixing sex, violence and love into a harrowing, head-spinning read that’ll push you a little further toward flopping.
Lindsay Hunter lives in Chicago, where she is the co-host of Quickies! This is her first book. Read her blog at lindsayhunter.com
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The Universe in Miniature
in Miniature
By Patrick Somerville
Winner of the 2009 21st Century Award, given annually by the Chicago Public Library.
Coming Fall 2010! In this genre-busting book from award-winning novelist Patrick Somerville characters, stories, and stray thoughts revolve around the “The Machine of Understanding Other People,” the story of a Chicago man who is bequeathed a supernatural helmet that allows him to experience the inner worlds of those around him. Through his lonely lens we peer into the mind of an art student grappling with ennui, ethics and empathy as she comes to terms with her own beliefs in a godless world. We telescope out to the story of idiot extraterrestrials struggling to pilot a complicated spaceship. We follow a retired mercenary as he tries to save his marriage and questions his life abroad. Mind-bending and cracklingly new, Somerville’s broadly appealing and uniquely imaginative constructions probe the outer reaches of sympathy, death, and love in a world seen from the inside out.
Patrick Somerville's first book of stories, Trouble, and his novel, The Cradle, are awesome. Everyone thinks so. FInd out more at patricksomerville.com
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Out Now:
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Scorch Atlas
By Blake Butler
Butler is an original force who is fearless with form... The design is appropriately disarming, an apt part of the overall barrage by this inventive and deeply promising young author.—Time Out New York
A novel of 14 interlocking stories set in ruined American locales where birds speak gibberish, the sky rains gravel, and millions starve, disappear or grow coats of mold. In 'The Disappeared,' a father is arrested for missing free throws, leaving his son to search alone for his lost mother. In 'The Ruined Child,' a boy swells to fill his parents' ransacked attic. Rendered in a variety of narrative forms, from a psychedelic fable to a skewed insurance claim questionnaire, Blake Butler's full-length fiction debut paints a gorgeously grotesque version of America, bringing to mind both Kelly Link and William Gass, yet turned with Butler's own eye for the apocalyptic and bizarre.
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AM/PM
By Amelia Gray
At moments screwy, prickly and pleasantly surprising, Gray’s short shorts deliver youthful snapshots about being nuts in love... A delectable debut.—Publishers Weekly
If anything's going to save the characters in Amelia Gray's debut from their troubled romances, their social improprieties, or their hands turning into claws, it's a John Mayer concert tee. In AM/PM, Gray's flash-fiction collection, impish humor is on full display. Tour through the lives of 23 characters across 120 stories full of lizard tails, Schrödinger boxes and volcano love. Follow June, who wakes up one morning covered in seeds; Leonard, who falls in love with a chaise lounge; and Andrew, who talks to his house in times of crisis. An intermittent love story as seen through a darkly comic lens, Gray mixes poetry and prose, humor and hubris to create a truly original piece of fiction.
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More Books:
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Blog
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Written by featherproof
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Wow, long time no blog, eh? I guess we're going to blame hibernation. Birds do that, you know.
Most birds. Why is it that cardinals only appear when it's snowing? Not after, or before, but while it's snowing? It's disturbingly Dickensian. But we're asking, seriously. First (or funniest) person to answer wins the featherproof eBook of your choice. Take that, romantic winter scenery. (Just @ reply to featherproof on twitter. Contest ends Jan. 15.)
Might we suggest Scorch Atlas, which 3:AM Magazine named 2009 Novel of the Year. Or perhaps AM/PM, by Amelia Gray, now officially a genius.
Anticipating the long winter, we've buried some delicious stuff that we plan to dig up in 2010. First in the spring, The Awful Possibilities by Christian TeBordo promises to fill your mind full of twisty. You can peek at the cover on our site now. In the fall look out for Lindsay Hunter and Patrick Somerville. It's going to be a killer year.
Also, if you've been checking your TripleQuick App as often as your Facebook and Twitter, we'll have relief for you soon. Next week look for new super shorts from Natalie Edwards, Gretchen Kalwinski, Brian Costello, and other awesomes.
Our re-emergence from hibernation is not just figurative. So come hang out. Zach has some prints from 'boring boring' up at the Dittmar Gallery now.
Sunday night marks the first Show 'n Tell Show of the new year, showcasing some fine book-makers. The Show 'n Tell Show is a late night-style show where the guests are the city's most dynamic designers, photographers, illustrators and poster-makers. They each present a single project in a lively evening full of drinks, laughs and design. The show is hosted by designers Michael Renaud and featherproofer Zach Dodson. But they would never show without SpokesMom, the spokesmodel that is also your mom. She provides clueless commentary and blind encouragement to the guests. Newcity just named her the Best Comic-Relief Sidekick in Chicago!
But the best part of the show are the show offs. The next show is our best yet. Guests include:
Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveler's Wife, Her Fearful Symmetry)
Stephen Farrell (VAS, SAIC Visual Communication)
Chris Eichenseer (Someoddpilot)
Joel Anderson (Optimus)
Felt (iO)
and presenting
Sonnenzimmer's Curious Cardigans
The details:
January 10th, 8pm
Schuba's
3159 N Southport
Chicago, IL
ALWAYS FREE
Then, on Tuesday, Jan. 12, go see Quickies! They have a really great lineup this month, and a new format. Also, they rule the school.
On Thursday, Opium's Literary Death Match rolls back into town. We're sending our prize fighter James Kennedy down to bloody some knuckles. If you've ever seen him read, you know that for James, it's always a Death Match, and if there are children in the audience he will scream wordy insults at them. This is not a joke. Fists will fly. Come cheer him on:
When: Doors at 7, show at 7:30, afterparty: downstairs at 9)
Where: Upstairs at Fizz, 3220 North Lincoln Avenue (map)
Cost: $10 (includes a free copy of Opium9, cover price of $12) For more details check out the Opium LDM link
If he doesn't win, we're all gonna go out in the snow afterwards and rough up some other birds. Cardinals, beware.
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Written by zach dodson
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We've been talking it up, and now it's finally here. Featherproof Books' most whiz-bangy thing-a-ma-jig yet. The TripleQuick Fiction iPhone app.
What's that you ask? Well, simply put: stories by some of today's most exciting young writers delivered straight to your iPhone or IPod touch. With the TripleQuick Fiction app you can download new stories in seconds and read them on the go, wherever you are.
And we're not calling it TripleQuick just cause we like how it rolls off the tongue. These short-shorts are only 333 words long. That's just 3 iPhone screens. You can read one in 3 minutes or less. They were written with the mobile attention span in mind. All the featherproof goodness you've come to know from our online downloadable mini-books, in a third of the time.
We've got some great writers included with the app's launch, including web favorites like Shane Jones, Matt Bell and Michael Kimball. There are featherproof novelists like Blake Butler, Amelia Gray, Lindsay Hunter and Patrick Somerville flourishing within the new form. You've never seen so few words pushed to such limits. Paul Fattaruso's story uses only the 100 most common words in the English language. There are some sample stories on the website: TripleQuick.com
Another exciting feature of TripleQuick is the ability to compose and submit your own stories, right on the iPhone. Those with writerly inclination can just type in three screens of their best work, type in a bio, even take an author photo using the iPhone's camera, and submit the story to the featherproof editors. When inspiration strikes, don't go hunting for a paper and pen, just send it to us, on the double. Or rather, on the triple.
We're pleased to announce Mary Hamilton, co-host of the awesome Chicago reading series Quickies!, is our TripleQuick editor. If there's one thing she knows, it's flash fiction. And she has zero tolerance for boring. So your iPhone stories are in good hands.
Sure you can get all sorts of eBooks and stories on your mobile device these days, but let's go over what makes the TripleQuick Fiction app from featherproof exceptional:
- A short-short form made just for reading on the go
- Exciting young talent from rising lit stars and underground web geniuses
- New stories all the time, when YOU want them
- A rating system, allowing you to find the best stories we've got
- A submission feature allowing you to compose and upload your own stories for publication
- The high quality content that distinguishes featherproof books
So, what more could you want? Oh yeah, an iPhone. Well now you have the best excuse yet: great literature compressed for the digital age.
TripleQuick Fiction is available in the iTunes app store NOW! Submissions are open to users of the app. And web-wide submissions will open shortly.
Let us know what you think! We're really excited about this one!
TripleQuick.com |
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Upcoming Events |
The Following are Pages Torn from our Most Favorite Imaginary Books - Art Show
Sat, Feb 13th, 2010, @6:00pm - OHNO!Doom, 1800 N Milwaukee Ave
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BRICK | a reading series launches!
Fri, Mar 12th, 2010, @7:00pm - Portland Brew, Nashville, TN
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The Show 'n Tell Show
Sun, Mar 28th, 2010, @8:00pm - Lincoln Hall
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