bonner’s ferryIDAHO

“my idea of a health trip is switching to menthols and getting a tan” denis johnson’s neonoir “nobody move” rips along like a tight, quick pop version of cormac mcarthy’s no country for old men. this tale is complete with hit men, a western backdrop, a femme fatale, and plenty of failures. the hapless luntz, with his barbershop chorus and gambling problem, puts a bullet in the wrong guy’s thigh triggering a series of coincidences that endanger everyone in the cast. the chase runs through bakersfield california and on to trailer parks and suburban malls with plenty of ambushes, shotgun shells, painkillers, and booze along for the ride.

brooklyn NEW YORK

25 year old dash SHAW’S bottomless belly button, published by fantagraphics, tells the story of the looney family as they come together one last time at their beach house before their parents divorce. 720 pages packed full of angst, humor, and sex with a few architectural plans thrown in. the plans are deployed to illustrate the looney beach house as well as the dynamics playing out in the family over the weekend. a family drama interwoven with moments of falling in love, falling out of love, and falling apart. dash’s realism is simple but compelling as he sprinkles surreal moments throughout the book such as the son, peter, who has a frog head or the sister claire’s permanent white gloves. he employs a structure which repeats similar scenes causing the characters emotions and reactions to be more fully exposed over time. he also does a series of stunning pages which catalog types of sand, fighting, water, and tears.

25 bc – ongoing

suckerPUNCH’s essential list of 100 books, manifestos, journals, catalogs, and monographs which inform and investigate the work found in the suckerPUNCH collection. listed in descending chronological order.

[CLICK HERE FOR LIST]

new york NEW YORK

richard PRICE’S lush life inhabits the characters and speech of the lower east side of 2003, a “candyland of a neighborhood” with a potent mix of wealthy young transplants, immigrant owned bodegas, drug pushers from the projects and plenty of booze. the gritty story centers around a homicide that occurs late in the night after some young, drunk males are mugged. the case looks bleak as most witnesses appear to have been too drunk to be reliable. typical of price, the dialogue between the detectives, victims, and perps bursts from the pages rendering a crackling portrait of the people and streets of lower new york complete with its terror, grief, indifference, and gallows humor. the book lurks up and down the blocks of the les and the cavernous basements beneath cafe berkmann a restaurant blending the history of the neighborhood with its tenements and synagogues now inhabited by upscale dining options and condos.

paris FRANCE

twenty-one year old protagonist, sally jay gorce, opens cult classic dud avocado sipping pernod in the middle of the afternoon decked out in a thrift store evening gown with a handsome stranger along for the ride. her mad-cap antics, incessant love affairs, and all night parties propel the reader effortlessly along her adventurous french summer, all on her rich uncle’s dime. written in 1958 and recently reissued by the new york review of books, elaine dundy’s snappy prose is sexy, hilarious and cracks with intelligent wit.

brooklyn NEW YORK

john WRAY’S lowboy drifts below the surface of the city and consciousness as it’s protagonist flees through the underworld of the new york city subway. the gripping tale of will, a teenage paranoid schizophrenic, being pursued by his mother and a detective is told in short punchy segments which glide between the characters and their versions of reality. the subterranean chase unfolds over the course of one day during which will comes to believe that the world will end in ten hours unless he can stop it. his surreal vantage point creates a sinking, hazy sensation as the story propels forward and reality begins to slide and the book swirls towards its conclusion.

philadelphiaPENNSYLVANIA

nunchucks, arcades, zip guns, skinheads, cookie-pus devouring mall sluts, and everything else the 80s had to offer delinquent youth comes spilling out of heartworm 23 curated by mac g MORTON. hilarious essays and artwork by morton, elgin james, kid congo powers, howie pyro, william pym, and arty the greek with titles such as “partying on edge of time” and “vidiots, deathwish kids, and change attendants mainline pac-man fever in a futuristic plug in city.”

theheartworm.com

philadelphia PENNSYLVANIA

ooking for the magic is max g MORTON’S follow up to indestructible wolves of the apocalypse junkyard. eleven stories chock full of depravity, angst, and humor moving from the suburbs of florida to the streets of new york city. who can resist chapter titles like “a direct to video portrayal of suburban life featuring a teenage klansman, a crackbaby count, and an autistic weatherman” and descriptions such as “ the three of us had our way with the night , and it was ugly. we looked like we just made love to a slaughterhouse, while the walls looked like a mental institution just threw an art show-slash-suicide-party.”

theheartworm.com

new york NEW YORK

the fashion illustrator ruben TOLDEO has created a new set of covers for penguin. the three available titles are wuthering heights, the scarlet letter, and pride and prejudice. toledo brings an eery, atmospheric look to these books with his sublime illustrations adorning the french fold covers. hester prynne never looked more seductive.

new york NEW YORK

penguin’s great loves series spills over with “tales of blissful and all encompassing, doomed and tragic, erotic and absurd, seductive and adulterous, innocent and murderous love.” the books are gorgeous with their sinister stamped covers and black spines. titles include d.h. LAWRENCE’S the virgin and the gypsy, NABOKOV’S mary, TOLSTOY’S the kreutzer sonata, KIERKEGAARD’S the seducer’s diary, and BOCCACCIO’S the eaten heart.