B(oo)k! : Death Sweat of the Cluster

Demeter, nurse and mother of my art, Let me be worthy of thy Mysteries.     --Aeschylus from Frogs, Aristophanes

                                 

 

It has arrived! Those who have been patient, my sincerest thanks. 

27 essays taken from Groupname for Grapejuice from 2012 to 2015 plus one yet unseen introduction. Four hundred and two pages, seven major sections, their titles composing a Lovecraftian tale of seven lines. 

Gorgeous original cover and interior art by Kaylee Pickinpaugh -- a new zodiac gyring out or spiraling into an interior empyrean of the Earth and transfiguring the whole text into a magic item. Endless curling details. Flanked by Moon and Sun, bridged at usura and Eleusis, shining throughout. Thoth and Pan.

Editing and layout wizardry by Alan Abbadessa and Jason Barrera of Sync Book Press. A melange of fonts, formats and letter dimensions: start it anywhere, bibliomantic and aphoristic. A tactile object that's exactly the right smoothness, size and weight in one's hands.

"But can a blog be a book?" No, it turns out. This is nothing like a blog. Even though the words may be (mostly) the same, the whole has become something else. Through a process beyond intention, these pieces gel together and achieve autonomy. 

I was worried how relevant it would be. Yes, certain events, people, concerns have scrolled far down the feed, but now they've changed into symbols, ciphers of the dot-connection, aughts of the nought. I've tried to loom out a weavework between literature, other media and my own experiences, and the book has got all tangled up in the threading. I am in no sense still concerned.

Now that this is finally out -- just in time for the revolution and the deluge -- I should have more moments to spend here. That's the hope. I tremendously appreciate everyone who has continued to read this blog, even in the fallow months. More to come! Questions or comments below are always the most fulfilling part of this. If you have any I promise this time I'll respond. Thanks for truly helping to make this come about. I'd have lost my will to go on with this ages ago if you weren't there.

 

Death Sweat of the Cluster: Selected Essays from Groupname for Grapejuice