Funny, frantic, and with a subversive intelligence, Aaron Petrovich’s Keatonesque heroes, Detectives Smith and Smith, stumble upon a bizarre new religion while tracking a murder victim’s stolen organs. Their investigation leads them into a lunatic asylum that they may never leave. Written entirely in dialogue, Petrovich’s pitch-perfect language, reminiscent of Beckett, Chandler, and Duras, elevates rapid-fire banter to a transformative musical litany. His characters, however, remain tragically and hysterically human. Aaron Petrovich is a writer of fiction and theater living in Brooklyn.

The Session: A Novella in Dialogue

Literature & Fiction

Petrovich, Aaron

Contemporary

Akashic Books Ltd

In the tradition of Borges and Calvino, The Musical Illusionist is an interwoven collection of postmodern folk talesdisappearing manuscripts, neurological anomalies, teleporting bacteria, and an unforgettable composer who manipulates sound to bend perceptionthat masterfully blends scientific curiosity with magical-realist caprice. Alex Rose has published stories and essays for McSweeney’s, the North American Review, The Providence Journal, the Forward, The ScienceCreative Quarterly, and DIAGRAM. He has also directed a number of short films that have appeared on HBO, MTV, Comedy Central, Showtime, and the BBC.

The Musical Illusionist: and Other Tales (Hotel St. George)

Rose, Alex

Literary

Somewhere between prose poem and sacred incantation lies Bicycle. In spare, comically surreal and beautiful prose, Paul Fattaruso does for bicycles what Richard Brautigan did for trout—he elevates them to the status of an idol. An intimate, inventive, and vibrant book. Paul Fattaruso is the author of Travel in the Mouth of the Wolf. His work has appeared in Volt, Jubilat, Fence, Black Warrior Review, Another Chicago Magazine, The Tiny, and others. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife Kristin and his son Max. He rides a silver bicycle.

Bicycle (Hotel St. George)

Fattaruso, Paul

After a flu pandemic, a large-scale terrorist attack, and the total collapse of Wall Street, New York City is reduced to a shadow of its former self. As the city struggles to dig itself out of the wreckage, a nameless, obsessive-compulsive veteran with a spotty memory, a love for literature, and a strong if complex moral code (that doesn’t preclude acts of extreme violence) has taken up residence at the main branch of the New York Public Library on 42nd Street. Dubbed "Dewey Decimal" for his desire to reorganize the library's stock, our protagonist (who will reappear in the next novel in this series) gets by as bagman and muscle for New York City's unscrupulous district attorney. Decimal takes no pleasure in this kind of civic dirty work. He'd be perfectly content alone amongst his books. But this is not in the cards, as the DA calls on Dewey for a seemingly straightforward union-busting job. What unfolds throws Dewey into a bloody tangle of violence, shifting allegiances, and old vendettas, forcing him to face the darkness of his own past and the question of his buried identity. With its high body count and snarky dialogue, The Dewey Decimal System pays respects to Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Jim Thompson. Healthy amounts of black humor and speculative tendencies will appeal to fans of Charlie Huston, Nick Tosches, Duane Swierczynski, Victor Gischler, Robert Ferrigno, and early Jonathan Lethem. Nathan Larson is best known as an award-winning film music composer, having created the scores for over thirty movies such as Boys Don’t Cry, Dirty Pretty Things, and The Messenger. In the 1990s he was the lead guitarist for the influential prog-punk outfit Shudder to Think. This is his first novel. Larson lives in Harlem, New York City, with his wife and son.

The Dewey Decimal System (Akashic Urban Surreal)

Larson, Nathan

United States

"Mr. Fish dissects the journalistic responsibility he faces as a cartoonist to make it make sense. It being his raw emotional output in response to a given stimuli (government, society, et al) manifesting itself via pen on paper without regard to the cleverly pointed punchline that will accompany and ultimately define it. . . The drawings are a celebration of the technical mastery and unbridled emotional truth of Dwayne Booth -- the Clark Kent to Superman's Mr. Fish." --Huffington Post "Fish’s work makes you want to do something--even if you’re not entirely sure what that something is--to change things for the better, and the feeling stays with you long after the book is closed." --Verbicide Magazine "Few individuals are as clued in to the volatility of the current political climate as iconic cartoonist Dwayne Booth (aka Mr. Fish). . . known for pointed and piquant single-panel cartoons that fearlessly and relentlessly take on the most sacred of cows in public life." --LA Weekly "A vibrant example of political cartooning as it is practiced at its heights Anyone who thinks political cartooning is stale need only take a closer look at this body of work Certifiably brilliant The photographic elegance and immediacy with which this drawing is executed is typical of the most refined Mr. Fish style." --Los Angeles Review of Book This debut volume of political cartoons from the revered Mr. Fish spans politics, popular culture, the economic crisis, the Obama presidency, and much more, where nobody--right, left, or middle--is safe from his razor-edged satire. The volume also includes original essays by Mr. Fish. Mr. Fish has been a freelance writer and cartoonist for eighteen years, publishing under both his real name (Dwayne Booth) and the penname of Mr. Fish with many of the nation's most reputable and prestigious magazines, journals, and newspapers. In addition to his weekly cartoon for Harper's and daily contributions to Truthdig.com, he has also contributed to the Los Angeles Times, the Village Voice, the LA Weekly, the Atlantic, the Huffington Post, Vanity Fair, Mother Jones, the Advocate, Z Magazine, the Utne Reader, Slate.com, MSNBC.com, and others.

Go Fish: How to Win Contempt and Influence People

Fish, Mr.

Arts & Photography

Finalist for the 2012 NAACP Image Award in Literature!
"George is an ace at interlacing the real dramas of the world...the book's slim length and flyweight depth could make it an artifact of this particular zeitgeist in American history. Playas and haters and celebrity cameos fuel a novel that is wickedly entertaining while being frozen in time." --Kirkus Reviews
"This hard-boiled tale is jazzed up with authentic street slang and name-dropping (Biggie, Mary J. Blige, Lil Wayne, and Chuck D)...George's tightly packaged mystery pivots on a believable conspiracy...and his street cred shines in his descriptions of Harlem and Brownsville's mean streets." --Library Journal
"George is a well-known, respected hip-hop chronicler...Now he adds crime fiction to his resume with a carefully plotted crime novel peopled by believable characters and real-life hip-hop personalities." --Booklist
"George's prose sparkles with an effortless humanity, bringing his characters to life in a way that seems true and beautiful. The story--and the conspiracy behind it--is one we all need to hear as consumers and creators in the post-hardcore hip-hop world." --Shelf Awareness
"Part procedural murder mystery, part conspiracy-theory manifesto, Nelson George's The Plot Against Hip Hop reads like the PTSD fever dream of a renegade who's done several tours of duty in the trenches...Plot's combination of record-biz knowledge and ghetto fabulosity could have been written only by venerable music journalist Nelson George, who knows his hip-hop history...The writing is as New York as 'Empire State of Mind,' and D is a detective compelling enough to anchor a series." --Time Out New York
"A breakbeat detective story...George invents as much as he curates, as outlandish conspiracy theories clash with real-life figures. But what makes the book such a fascinating read is its simultaneous strict adherence to hip-hop's archetypes and tropes while candidly acknowledging the absurdity of the music's current big-business era. There's a late-capitalism logic at work here. If this book had been written in the early '90s, it would have been about the insurgent artistry of hip-hop musicians and the social-justice strides the genre was effecting. Today, it's a procedural about the death of principles." --Time Out Chicago
"Like good hip hop, there is social commentary and a blurring of the lines between great storytelling and all-to-real happenings. The Plot Against Hip Hop reads almost like Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, but in the world of rap music. Brilliant prose, vast conspiracy, (at times) borderline trippy narrative. If you love crime fiction and you love hip hop, this book is a must read." --BookRiot
"The Plot Against Hip Hop is a quick-moving murder mystery that educates its audience on Hip Hop's pioneer generation along the way...it is a nostalgic look at a magical and manic moment in time." --New York Journal of Books
"George very masterfully has created a novel that informs as well as entertains." --Huffington Post
The Plot Against Hip Hop is a noir novel set in the world of hip hop culture. The stabbing murder of esteemed music critic Dwayne Robinson in a Soho office building is dismissed by the NYPD as a gang initiation. But his old friend, bodyguard and security expert D Hunter, suspects there are larger forces at work.
D Hunter's investigation into his mentor's murder leads into a parallel history of hip hop, a place where renegade government agents, behind-the-scenes power brokers, and paranoid journalists know a truth that only a few hardcore fans suspect. This rewrite of hip hop history mixes real-life figures with characters pulled from the culture's hidden world, including Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Russell Simmons.

The Plot Against Hip Hop: A Novel (A D Hunter Mystery)

George, Nelson

A Reader's Digest "25 Funniest Books of All Time"
"Nothing has driven home a certain truth about my generation, which is approaching the apex of its childbearing years, quite like this." --The New Yorker
"A parenting zeitgeist" --Washington Post
"A hilarious take on that age-old problem: getting the beloved child to go to sleep." --National Public Radio
"A new Bible for weary parents" --New York Times
"Resonates powerfully with almost everyone" --Boston Globe
"This children's book parody earns its place on the list by being a much-needed bit of catharsis that every parent needs." --Fatherly, one of the 10 Best Parenting Books of the Decade
"Go the F**k to Sleep challenges stereotypes, opens up prototypes, and acknowledges that shared sense of failure that comes to all parents who weary of ever getting their darling(s) to sleep and briefly resuming the illusion of a life of their own." --Midwest Book Review
Go the F**k to Sleep is a bedtime book for parents who live in the real world, where a few snoozing kitties and cutesy rhymes don't always send a toddler sailing blissfully off to dreamland. Profane, affectionate, and radically honest, California Book Award-winning author Adam Mansbach's verses perfectly capture the familiar--and unspoken--tribulations of putting your little angel down for the night. In the process, they open up a conversation about parenting, granting us permission to admit our frustrations, and laugh at their absurdity.
With illustrations by Ricardo Cortes, Go the F**k to Sleep is beautiful, subversive, and pants-wettingly funny--a book for parents new, old, and expectant. You probably should not read it to your children.
Seriously, Just Go to Sleep, a children's book inspired by Go the F**k to Sleep and appropriate for kids of all ages, is also available, as well as Seriously, You Have to Eat for finicky ones everywhere!

Go the Fuck to Sleep (Go the F to Sleep)

Humor & Entertainment

ADAM MANSBACH

Humor

"Oates's introduction to Akashic's noir volume dedicated to the Garden State, with its evocative definition of the genre, is alone worth the price of the book . . . Poems by C.K. Williams, Paul Muldoon, and others--plus photos by Gerald Slota--enhance this distinguished entry." --Publishers Weekly "It was inevitable that this fine noir series would reach New Jersey. It took longer than some readers might have wanted, but, oh boy, was it worth the wait . . . More than most of the entries in the series, this volume is about mood and atmosphere more than it is about plot and character . . . It should go without saying that regular readers of the noir series will seek this one out, but beyond that, the book also serves as a very good introduction to what is a popular but often misunderstood term and style of writing." --Booklist, Starred Review "A lovingly collected assortment of tales and poems that range from the disturbing to the darkly humorous." --Shelf Awareness Featuring brand-new stories (and a few poems) by: Joyce Carol Oates, Jonathan Safran Foer, Robert Pinsky, Edmund White &amp; Michael Carroll, Richard Burgin, Paul Muldoon, Sheila Kohler, C.K. Williams, Gerald Stern, Lou Manfredo, S.A. Solomon, Bradford Morrow, Jonathan Santlofer, Jeffrey Ford, S.J. Rozan, Barry N. Malzberg &amp; Bill Pronzini, Hirsh Sawhney, and Robert Arellano. From the introduction by Joyce Carol Oates: ". . . The most civilized and 'decent' among us find that we are complicit with the most brutal murderers. We enter into literally unspeakable alliances--of which we dare not speak except through the obliquities and indirections of fiction, poetry, and visual art of the sort gathered here in New Jersey Noir."

New Jersey Noir (Akashic Noir)

OATES,JOYCE CAROL

"Tyrewala’s insightful introduction greatly enhances the reading experience, and the glossary helps, too . . . The collection is astonishingly diverse . . . Tyrewala’s anthology [offers] a sampling of brand-new authors and [a] superb introduction. It might provide a fictional contrast to Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers." --Library Journal (Starred review) "Most of the 14 short stories in Akashic’s workmanlike Mumbai volume draw inspiration from the criminal networks and the sordid underbelly the city is infamous for . . . Armchair travelers will find plenty of amusement in touring the seedier parts of this island city in perfect safety." --Publishers Weekly The fifteen contributors to Mumbai Noir . . . provide a cool composite narrative of a unique human-intensive metropolitan system, whose magnitude, complexity, diversity, and pace can hardly be captured in writing or, for that matter, any other medium. [Mumbai Noir is] rich and diverse in character and characterization.” --Rain Taxi Review of Books Featuring brand-new stories by: Annie Zaidi, R. Raj Rao, Abbas Tyrewala, Avtar Singh, Ahmed Bunglowala, Smita Harish Jain, Sonia Faleiro, Altaf Tyrewala, Namita Devidayal, Jerry Pinto, Kalpish Ratna, Riaz Mulla, Paromita Vohra, and Devashish Makhija. Bombay’s communal riots of 1992--in which Hindus were alleged to be the primary perpetratorswere followed by retaliatory bomb blasts in 1993, masterminded by the Muslim-dominated underworld. Over a thousand citizens lost their lives in these internecine bouts of violence and thousands more became refugees in their own city. In a matter of months, Bombay ceased to be the cosmopolitan, wholesome, and middle-class bastion it had been for decades. When the city was renamed Mumbai in 1995, it merely formalized the widespread perception that the Bombay everyone knew and remembered had been lost forever. Today Mumbai is like any other Asian city on the rise, with gigantic construction cranes winding atop upcoming skyscrapers and malls . . . Right-wing violence, failing electricity and water supplies, overcrowding, and the ever-looming threat of terrorist attacksthese are some of the gruesome ground realities that Mumbai’s middle and working classes must deal with every day, while the city’s super-rich . . . zip from roof to roof in their private choppers. Abandoned by its wealthy, mistreated by its politicians and administrators, Mumbai continues to thrive primarily because of the helpless resilience of its hardworking, upright citizens. The stories in Mumbai Noir depict the many ways in which the city’s ever-present shadowy aspects often force themselves onto the lives of ordinary people. . . . What emerges is the sense of a city that, despite its new name and triumphant tryst with capitalism, is yet to heal from the wounds of the early '90s, and from all the subsequent acts of havoc wreaked within its precincts by both local and outside forces.

Mumbai Noir (Akashic Noir)

Short Stories & Anthologies

"Akashic launches a new series of crime anthologies, each focused on a different controlled substance, with this addictive volume." --Publishers Weekly "All told, The Speed Chronicles deserves great praise for the audacity of the topic, the depth of the discussion, the diversity of its voices, and plain, old, good storytelling." --New York Journal of Books "The Speed Chronicles represents a surprising range of experiences. The promise of the collection is that it will neither vilify nor romanticize its subject matter." --Portland Mercury "The contributors to The Speed Chronicles amply demonstrate the paradox of life under the influence of chemically induced acceleration. At the best moments, the use of stimulants can celebrate the beauty and intensity of human experience. As some of these stories reveal, despite the mainstream cultural narrative of 'tweakers' as amoral zombies, the persistent will to live in the face of adversity and affliction is a hallmark of many addicts’ lives." --The Rumpus "In Speed, Joseph Mattson has assembled an impressive, surprisingly diverse group of authors presenting their equally diverse impressions of a drug that the editor describes in his poetic, but hard-hitting introduction thusly . . . --Bookgasm Brand-new stories by: Sherman Alexie, William T. Vollmann, James Franco, Megan Abbott, Jerry Stahl, Beth Lisick, Jess Walter, Scott Phillips, James Greer, Tao Lin, Joseph Mattson, Natalie Diaz, Kenji Jasper, and Rose Bunch. The subject of speed is so innately intimidating yet so undeniably present that it begs to be written about. It is no secret that the drug has historically tuned up the lives of writers, including Jack Kerouac, Susan Sontag, Philip K. Dick, and scores more. Too rarely, though, has it been written about, and its jolt to the bones of the American landscape continues to peak. Akashic Books dares to bring forth the first contemporary collection of all new literary short fiction on the drug from an array of today's most compelling and respected authors. These are no stereotypical tales of tweakers--the element of crime and the bleary-eyed, shaky zombies at dawn are here right alongside heart-wrenching narratives of everyday people, good intentions gone terribly awry, the skewed American Dream going up in flames, and even some accounts of pure joy.

The Speed Chronicles (Akashic Drug Chronicles)

Mattson, Joseph

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