Nonstop Press

THE WASHINGTON POST posted a review of Robert Silverberg’s REFLECTIONS & REFRACTIONS by Michael Dirda at their site last night (and in today’s paper edition) calling Silverberg “The Philip Roth of the science fiction world”.

…his has been one of the most prodigious careers in all American letters.  /  Even readers who don’t know Silverberg’s fiction will certainly enjoy spending a few civilized hours with the man himself: In any movie of his life he would obviously be played by the meticulously urbane Jeremy Irons. Over the years Robert Silverberg has shown us many unsettling futures….

Of course we have published a few more books by Silverberg including the autobiographical OTHER SPACES, OTHER TIMES; LORD OF DARKNESS, a rare venture into historical fiction; and his follow-up to REFLECTIONS & REFRACTIONS, MUSINGS and MEDITATIONS: Reflections On Science Fiction, Science, And Other Matters.

THOUGH NOT published by us Gay Partington Terry’s new book, LIFE, DEATH AND BEYOND SMIGGLE’S BOTTOM, is now out. If you are a fan of her Meeting the Dog Girls you will also like this one. Highly recommended.

Felicity is an unforgettable character whose blow-your-mind-fantasy world is like nothing I have ever read. LIFE AND DEATH BEYOND SMIGGLE’S BOTTOM is hilarious and also might make you shed a tear or two. I could not put the book down.There is a great movie or TV series herein.

—Lloyd Kaufman, President, Troma Entertainment and Creator of The Toxic Avenger.

The Monkey’s Other Paw book trailer from Luis Ortiz on Vimeo.

TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY, July 5 we are offering free downloads of pdf editions of select Nonstop Press anthologies and story collections including: Meeting The Dog Girls_promo by Gay Partington Terry, Why New Yorkers Smoke_promo edited by Luis Ortiz and SteampunkPrime-promo edited by Mike Ashley.

HERE IS a short flip-through of CULT MAGAZINES: A to Z by Mark Frauenfelder of boing boing.

And another one from France (I think).

(Prelim spot art sketches by Jack Gaughan for Ace paperbacks c. 1965)

THE NEW YORKER magazine recently had a post titled “Bring Back the Illustrated Book!”. The piece outlines a time when profusely illustrated books were commonplace. When authors such as Dickens, Lewis Carroll, George Bernard Shaw and Dos Passos were paired with artists such as George Cruikshank,  John Tenniel, John Farleigh and Reginald Marsh. We are told, “ … in each case the author relied on the artwork not only to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the book but to add meaningfully to the story.” It seems that by the early 20^th Century this publishing custom was already on the wan. Today it is rare to find an adult fiction book with interior illustrations.

Many old time science fiction fans who collect science fiction pulp and digest magazines already known about the great illustrators that served to enhance these publications. Hannes Bok, Virgil Finlay, Ed Emshwiller, Kelly Freas and other gifted artists were a vital part of these magazines. But there was also a heyday during the latter part of the 1960s into the beginning part of the 1970s when quite a few science fiction books, mainly anthologies, also contained interior illustrations. The high point of this practice may have been Harlan Ellison’s Dangerous Visions anthologies, the first illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon and the second by Emshwiller.

One of our favorite artists Jack Gaughan illustrated a number of genre books for Ace Books, and later DAW, including the annual World’s Best Science Fiction series edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr. Growing up in New York City I would buy these collections in downtown used bookstores and remember wondering why all books weren’t similarly illustrated. I had the feeling even then that modern publishers considered the practice suitable only for juvenile books. But there was a time when it was mature enough for Dickens and George Bernard Shaw.

While we don’t see the wide-spread return of illustrated adult books, we would like to point out that every story in the Nonstop anthology  Steampunk Prime, edited by Mike Ashley, is illustrated in a manner inspired by Ace Books back in the day and Nonstop Press does have plans to do more anthologies using this format. They do work well as ebooks, serving to break up long blocks of text on e-reader screens, and of course improve the aesthetic appeal of the whole package.

THERE ARE a couple of our books that we truly believe should be on the Nominating Ballot of the 2013 Hugo Awards: SCIENCE FICTION: THE 101 BEST NOVELS and THE NONSTOP BOOK OF FANTASTIC TATTOO DESIGNS. Both books fall under the Best Related Work category (Any work related to the field of science fiction, fantasy, or fandom appearing for the first time during 2012 or which has been substantially modified during 2012, and which is either nonfiction or, if fictional, is noteworthy primarily for aspects other than the fictional text, and which is not eligible in any other category). If you participated in last year’s Chicon or have a membership to this year’s Worldcon you can go here to make your nominations. As always, we always appreciate your support. You only have until March 10th to make your nominations.

OR AS NONSTOP author Gay Partington Terry put it:

I’m looking forward to the new “Era” we’re promised by the Mayans.
Happy ‘end of the old one’…& other holidays.

We concur. Have a great holiday.

Image: Art by Ed Emshwiller from Emshwiller: Infinity X 2