BRONX RIVER PRESS NEWS
RAVE REVIEW OF MESLER BOOK IN
ARKANSAS REVIEW
From the Winter 2010 issue of Arkansas
Review:
Queneau, Arkansas [is] the fictional setting of
Corey Mesler’s hilarious new novel, where the
inhabitants are engaged in a non-stop romp of
Rabelaisian proportions… This is not the South of
Faulkner and Welty, but of Donald Harington and
George Singleton—a pagan place, where people pursue
their passions, which are mostly sexual and illicit,
unencumbered by Christian conscience. For all the
resemblances to the work of these humorists, however,
this is a novel unique in its vision… [H]owever
outrageous the events may be… Mesler’s tongue is
always firmly in his cheek, and because his prose is
often pompously satirical, the effect is ironic
rather than pornographic. In short, you have to
accept the book on its own terms, as a tall tale, a
ribald romp that certainly intends to make you laugh…
In its linguistic sophistication, if not in its
tawdry subject matter, the novel is unquestionably
literary, and it poses a question that is too often
shunned by somber, earnest intellectuals: is it
possible that the purpose of life is simply to have
fun? – Garry Craig Powell
BRONX RIVER PRESS NOMINATES MESLER
BOOK FOR AWARDS
In fall-winter 2010-11, Bronx River Press nominated
The Ballad of the Two Tom Mores by Corey Mesler
for four book awards:
LIT BLOG FEATURES BRONX RIVER PRESS
TITLES
IN WEEKLY "FREE BOOK FRIDAY" FEATURE
The blog Lit Drift featured Bronx River
Press titles on two consecutive weeks in July 2010, The Ballad of the Two Tom Mores on
July 2 and Walking Man on July 9. Each Friday,
Lit Drift gives away copies of "the best titles in
indie publishing for the low low price of nothing."
PHOTOS FROM MESLER BOOK RELEASE
PARTY
Corey Mesler reads from The Ballad
of the Two Tom Mores at Burke's Books, Memphis,
Tennessee, on May 7, 2010.
MESLER TO HOST HOME-TOWN BOOK
RELEASE PARTY ON MAY 7, 2010
Corey Mesler, author of The Ballad of the Two Tom
Mores, will appear at Burke’s Book Store in Memphis,
Tennessee, on Thursday, May 7th, at 6:00 p.m. He will
read from and sign copies of his two new novels,
Following Richard Brautigan (Livingston Press)
and The Ballad of the Two Tom Mores, and from
his new chapbook of poems, The Tense Past
(Flutter Press). Admission is free.
Mesler, who owns Burke’s Book Store, is a novelist,
poet and book reviewer. Come help him celebrate his
once-in-a-lifetime, three-books-published-at-once event
in Memphis' historic Cooper Young neighborhood during
Cooper Young Night Out. Burke's
Books is located at 936 South Cooper Street. For
additional information, please call 901-278-7484.
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW PRAISES MESLER
BOOK
Midwest Book Review praised The Ballad of
the Two Tom Mores in its May 2010 issue, saying: "A new face
always shakes up small town America. "The Ballad of the
Two Tom Mores" tells the story of Tom More and another
man called Tom More who walks into his life. When the
men of Queneau, Tom's town, start dropping dead, Tom's
story gets weirder and brings him much to find out and
wonder about. "The Ballad of the Two Tom Mores" is a
choice and very highly recommended read for general
fiction readers seeking something with a country tint."
BRONX RIVER PRESS RELEASES SECOND
BOOK
Bronx River Press released its second title, The
Ballad of the Two Tom Mores by Corey Mesler, on
March 31, 2010. Copies are available at select
bookstores, from the publisher,
through online retailers like amazon.com and from Small
Press Distribution.
MESLER PROFILED IN MEMPHIS FLYER
"He's created a whole town and
populated it, Robert Altman style."
Corey Mesler, author of The Ballad of the Two Tom
Mores, which is forthcoming from Bronx River Press
on March 31, 2010, was profiled in the March 18 issue
of the Memphis
Flyer. Corey discusses his life as a bookseller in
Memphis and his good luck in publishing two novels on
the same day. Regarding The Ballad of the Two Tom
Mores he emphasizes the book is first and foremost
a Southern Gothic comedy and more than a sex novel. "It
does have a lot of sex in it, which I hope I've made
cartoonish – funny in the Southern spirit of outrageous
small-town half-crazed inventions," he says.
Flyer writer Leonard Gill invokes the late film
director Robert Altman to describe the novel, in
particular its "big castload of Arkansas townspeople
and their sexual misadventures."
MESLER PUBLISHES TWO BOOKS IN ONE
DAY
Author a Corey Mesler has two reasons to celebrate
on March 31, 2010. Two novels of Mesler's, The
Ballad of the Two Tom Mores (Bronx River Press) and
Following Richard Brautigan (Livingston Press)
will be published on the same day.
This highly unusual event came about when the two
publishers independently and coincidentally scheduled
their respective book publication dates on March 31.
"Having a new novel published is a rare enough event, a
confluence of luck and literature, of Mammon and
Calliope. Having two published on the same day by two
different presses is the sort of good luck vouchsafed
few writers, perhaps only those whom the gods want to
belittle in other ways, only those who are, in the end,
holy fools," says Corey Mesler about his good fortune.
Quips Joe Taylor, Mesler's Livingston Press publisher,
"This is much better news for Corey than John Ciardi
received years ago when the change in tax structure for
publishers caused over a dozen of his books to go out
of print on the same day."
The list of authors publishing two novels on one day
is exceedingly short. The British writer Patrick Gale
published his novels Ease and The Aerodynamics of Pork
on the same day in 1985. Jill McCorkle, creative
writing professor at North Carolina State University,
published her first two novels on the same day with
Algonquin Books in 1984.
TWO TOM MORES SET FOR MARCH 31, 2010
PUBLICATION
The Ballad of the Two Tom Mores by Corey
Mesler is on target for release on March 31, 2010.
Coincidentally, another novel of Mesler's, Following
Richard Brautigan, his third from Livingston Press, is being
published on the same day.
MESLER POEM FEATURED BY GARRISON
KEILLOR
Garrison Keillor performed Corey Mesler's poem "God
Bless the Experimental Writers" in the December 4, 2009
edition of The Writer's Almanac. It was the
second time Keillor has featured one of Mesler's poems
on this nationally broadcast radio show.
TWO TOM MORES PUBLICATION
POSTPONED
Due to circumstances beyond the publisher's and
author's control, publication of The Ballad of the
Two Tom Mores has been postponed until March 31,
2010. To view a YouTube video in which the author reads
from The Ballad of the Two Tom Mores, click here.
EGGLESTON PHOTOGRAPH ACQUIRED FOR
MESLER COVER
Bronx River Press has acquired the right to use a
photograph by celebrated photographer William Eggleston
as the cover art for Corey Mesler's forthcoming novel,
The Ballad of the Two Tom Mores. The untitled
photograph, taken in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1975,
depicts an odd, rustic policeman sign with a brilliant
blue-sky background. BxRP and the author are profoundly
grateful to the Eggleston Artistic Trust for
permitting its use.
WALKING MAN FEATURED AT BOOK CLUB
SITE
A review of Walking Man and a
chat with its author are presently
featured at Book Club Queen, a comprehensive
resource of reviews, commentary and information for
book clubs and serious readers. Says Book Club Queen,
"This book has all the makings of the next cult
classic."
BRONX RIVER PRESS ANNOUNCES SECOND
BOOK
BxRP is pleased to announce the planned publication
of its second book, The Ballad of the Two Tom
Mores by Corey Mesler.
The Ballad of the Two Tom Mores is set in the
fictional Queneau, Arkansas. Restaurant reviewer Tom
More is living the good life, small town style. He is a
cad, a rural Romeo. But his sense of self is abruptly
shaken when another man with the same name moves into
Queneau. Meanwhile, as the inhabitants of this
countrified Peyton Place are lustily carrying on, there
is another darker energy at work. Somebody is bumping
off the male inhabitants of Queneau. Someone, it would
seem, is on a self-appointed mission of extermination.
The Ballad of the Two Tom Mores is dark comedy
at its most outrageous -- imagine a three-way between
Carson McCullers, Henry Miller and Peter DeVries.
A resident of Memphis, Tennessee, where he is owner
of Burke’s Book Store, Corey Mesler is the author of
two novels, Talk: A Novel in Dialogue
(Livingston Press, 2002) and We are Billion-Year-Old
Carbon (Livingston Press, 2006), and the poetry
collection Some Identity Problems (Foothills
Publishing, 2008). A short story of Mesler's was chosen
for the 2002 edition of New Stories from the South:
The Year's Best (Algonquin Books), and one of his
poems was chosen for Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s
Almanac.
Publication is scheduled for October 2009. Read more
about the author at www.coreymesler.com.
MORE REVIEWS OF WALKING MAN
Additional post-publication reviews of Walking
Man have appeared, including:
WALKING MAN MENTIONED AT
GALLEYCAT
Walking Man was prominently mentioned in the
introduction to a guest essay about zines published
by the book's author, Tim W. Brown, at the popular
literary blog GalleyCat.
FIRST REVIEWS OF WALKING MAN
APPEARING
BxRP is excited to learn that its first title,
Walking Man, is receiving excellent reviews in
print publications and online blogs. We thank the
critics who found value in Walking Man, and we
invite more critics to give it a read.
WALKING MAN BOOK-SIGNING TOUR
In April and May 2008, the author of our first book,
Tim W. Brown, is traveling on the East Coast and in the
Midwest on a book-signing tour in support of Walking
Man. He will be appearing in bookstores and
literary centers in New York, Boston, Philadelphia,
Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis, among other cities.
Please visit the author's web site, www.timwbrown.com, for complete
details.
BRONX RIVER PRESS RELEASES FIRST
BOOK
BxRP is pleased to announce that its first title,
Walking Man, by Tim W. Brown, was officially
released on April 7, 2008 and is now available at
select bookstores, from the publisher (bronxriverpress.com),
from online retailers like amazon.com,
or direct from the distributor (www.spdbooks.org).
BRONX RIVER PRESS BOOKS
AVAILABLE THROUGH INGRAM
In March 2008 Bronx River Press completed an
arrangement with Ingram Book
Company to be BxRP's wholesale distributor of its
titles to booksellers, librarians and online retailers
such as amazon.com. This
important step means that BxRP's books will be
available to the widest possible range of book
buyers.
BRONX RIVER PRESS FEATURED IN
2008 SMALL PRESS MONTH NATIONWIDE READING
New York edition of nationwide Small Press Month
reading marathon honoring small presses, including:
Eileen Myles (Wave Books), Noella Kocottomblin (Wave
Books), Lynne Tillman (Soft Skull), Jen Benka (Soft
Skull), Brenda Coultas (Coffee House Press), Ted Mathys
(Coffee House Press), Alex Rose (Akashic Books),
Camelia Entekhabifard (Seven Stories Press), Hattie
Gossett (Seven Stories Press), Veronica Liu (Seven
Stories Press), Rachel Sherman (Open City Books), Leni
Zumas (Open City Books), Sharon Mesmer (Hanging Loose
Press), Marie Carter (Hanging Loose Press), Dedra
Johnson (Ig Publishing), Grant Bailie (Ig Publishing),
Camilla Trinchieri (Soho Press), Anne Landsman (Soho
Press), Jason Schneiderman (Four Way Books), David
Lawrence (Four Way Books), Rachel Levitsky (Belladonna
Books), Tim W. Brown (Bronx River Press),
Corrine Fitzpatrick (Sona Books), Paul Mills (Bowery
Books), Bob Holman (Bowery Books).
Thursday, March 6, 2008; 7-11 pm; Bowery Poetry
Club, 308 Bowery, NYC, 212-614-0505; $5. For more
information visit www.smallpressmonth.org.
BRONX RIVER PRESS BOOKS
AVAILABLE FROM SMALL PRESS DISTRIBUTION
In January 2008 Bronx River Press signed an
agreement with Berkeley, California-based Small
Press Distribution to provide distribution and
fulfillment services for BxRP. Look for BxRP's first
published title, Walking Man, in SPD's online
catalog.
BRONX RIVER PRESS FEATURED IN
2007 SMALL PRESS MONTH MARATHON READING
Small Press Month salutes extraordinary writers and
the presses that publish them in a marathon reading
featuring:
Nahid Rachlin (City Lights); Felicia Luna Lemus
(Akashic Books); T. Cooper (Akashic Books); Lauren
Sanders (Akashic Books); Lynne Tillman (Soft Skull
Press); Matthew Sharpe (Soft Skull Press); David
Silverman (Soft Skull Press); Tim W. Brown (Bronx
River Press); Rachel Sherman (Open City Books); Sam
Brumbaugh (Open City Books); Paul Foster Johnson
(Apostrophe Press); Martha Oatis (Portable Press Yo-Yo
Labs); Stacy Szymaszek (Litmus Press); Brenda Iijima
(Litmus Press); Tracy Grinnell (O Books); Rachel
Levitsky (Belladonna Books); Lila Zemborain (Belladonna
Books); Marcella Durand (Belladonna Books); Erica
Kaufman (Belladonna Books); Jen Benka (Soft Skull
Press); David Cameron (Ugly Duckling Presse); Dan
Machlin (Ugly Duckling Presse); Prageeta Sharma (Fence
Books); Kevin Bartelme (Cool Grove); Ihsan Bracy (Cool
Grove); Akilah Oliver (Portable Press Yo-Yo Labs); Tisa
Bryant (Leon Works); Aaron Petrovich (Akashic Books);
Deepa Fernandez (Seven Stories Press); Abby Denson
(Manic D Press).
Friday, March 16, 2007; 6-10 pm; Mo Pitkin’s House
of Satisfaction, 34 Avenue A, NYC; 212-777-5660; $5.
For more information visit www.smallpressmonth.org.
BRONX RIVER PRESS SELECTS FIRST
TITLE FOR PUBLICATION:
WALKING MAN, A NOVEL BY TIM W. BROWN
Bronx River Press (BxRP) has selected its first
title for publication, Walking Man, a novel by
Tim W. Brown. Walking Man is scheduled for
publication in April 2008.
From the same metafictional universe as the films
Best in Show and This is Spinal Tap,
Walking Man documents the life and times of
Brian Walker, publisher of the zine Walking Man.
Through a fateful encounter between his foot and a
yuppie's BMW, Brian becomes the most famous zine
publisher in America. Set in Chicago during the late
1980s and early 1990s, this "mock biography" satirizes
alternative culture while it displays affection for the
zine scene, which the Internet has all but replaced in
recent years. Click here
for the early buzz on Walking Man.
Tim W. Brown is the author of two previously
published novels, Deconstruction Acres and
Left of the Loop. Before moving to New York in
2003 he lived in Chicago for eighteen years. From 1982
to 1999 he published Tomorrow Magazine, a poetry
zine, and he helped to organize the Underground Press
Conference, a gathering of zine publishers held
annually in the 1990s. Presently, he writes fiction,
reviews books and serves on the Executive Council of
the Small Press Center in New York City.
Bronx River Press is a new publisher located in the
Bronx, New York. Its mission is to publish high-quality
trade paperback editions of challenging but readable
contemporary fiction. BxRP believes that readers of
serious fiction are underserved by the current
publishing climate, having to choose between
"mainstream" or "experimental" fiction. The press aims
to fulfill the demand it sees for a different kind of
fiction than what is currently being published.
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