A Concise Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality is now out from Black Scat Books and available on Amazon! I was one of many scholars who contributed to this essential reference work. Here’s Black Scat’s description:

First came the groundbreaking Le Scat Noir Encyclopaedia in 2017. Three years later we launched the pataphysical classic Le Scat Noir Encyclopédie et Dictionnaire de la Pataphysique, des arts et du savoir humain: Volume Deux (in English of course). Today we’re pleased to announce a handy reference destined to become a bestseller among scholars and sex fiends: A Concise Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality — a conveniently sized paperback – perfect for beach orgies or boring church sermons. It’s a volume you’ll want to keep within reach in the bedroom or bath. And it’s guaranteed to answer all your questions. (If not, it’s packed with illustrations to ogle and drool over.)

The Encyclopedia features this distinguished panel of 24 experts of various sexual proclivities: Tim Anderson, Mark Axelrod, Tom Barrett, Cathy Bryant, Lenny Cavallaro, Norman Conquest, Rémy Dambron, R J Dent, Eckhard Gerdes, Jesse Glass, Malcolm Green, Rhys Hughes, Victor Hugo, Amy Kurman, Michael Leigh, David Moscovich, Opal Louis Nations, Peter Payack, Derek Pell, Sourav Roy, Jessica Ross-Dreher, Paul Rosheim, Doug Skinner, and Tom Whalen.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

That remarkable Welsh writer, Rhys Hughes, edited this delightful anthology, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: light verse about life and other heavy things. I’m one of 39 contributors, with seven fables in verse. It’s published by Gibbon Moon Books, and can be found on Amazon.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

The Man Who Ate His House is now available from Black Scat Books and available on Amazon!

For this curious little volume, Derek Pell and I selected plots from the cautionary writer’s manual 101 Plots Used and Abused (James N. Young, 1945), modified and combined them in various ways, and fed them to ChatGPT. The sixteen stories that resulted are funny, surprising, and not quite human. A.I. might never replace human literature, but we’re proud of our robot pal’s efforts.

A few reactions:

“A brilliant concept: A bot writes stories based on tried-and-true tropes (that are ostensibly to be avoided under the guidance of the 1945 manual: 101 Plots Used & Abused). The stories in The Man Who Ate His House run the gamut of laugh out loud humorous, sardonic, tear-jerking, and engaging—often ending with a moral to ponder. There is a thread that runs through each story that points directly to the algorithmic life experience of the bot. As a short story writer, I am not sure whether to view A.I. as a fraud to be outed, or as a viable contender in the literary world. One thing that I do know is that if A.I. is ever given a soul, we are all doomed.” —Amy Kurman

“These delightful entertainments are funny, smart, and slick.” —D. Harlan Wilson

“You’ve heard about A.I., but have you ever read sixteen A.I. generated stories? The result will surprise and delight.” —Adrienne Auvray

“This book is a lifejacket for those who fear artificial intelligence.”—Paul Rosheim

“A tour de force of inanity.” —Tom Whalen

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

There have been many card games that direct the players to collect panels from a comic strip. The earliest I’ve seen is this miniature deck featuring Richard Outcault’s popular characters Buster Brown and Tige. The cards can also be used as a regular deck, no doubt inspiring new stories. The back is also quite nice.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

Typo #2 is now out and ready to be read!

This sporadic periodical calls itself a “Journal of Lettrism, Surrealist Semantics, and Constrained Design.” I contributed brief articles on alien alphabets and the principles of double talk, the score for my musical transcription of “lorem ipsum dolor,” and translations of Guillaume Apollinaire, Pierre Albert-Birot, and Gaston de Pawlowski, The editor and designer is Norman Conquest (aka Derek Pell); the other contributors are Mark Axelrod-Sokolov, Tom Barrett, Allan Bealy, Miggs Burroughs, Jahan Cader, Janina Ciezadlo, Farewell Debut, R J Dent, Karen Eliot, Paul Éluard, Paul Forristal, Ryan Forsythe, Jesse Glass, Rick Henry, Rhys Hughes, Rory Hughes, Alfred Jarry, Richard Koman, Márton Koppány, Amy Kurman, Peter F. Murphy, Pata-No UN LTD, Harry Polkinhorn, Tom Prime, Jason E. Rolfe, Ded Rysel, Giovanni Antonio Tagliente, Félix Vallotton, Andrew C. Wenaus, Adolphe Willette, Carla Wilson, and William Wordsworth.

Available, like so many things, on Amazon.

An Afternoon in the Arboretum is now available on Bandcamp! This album contains solely instrumental music, mostly for keyboard, from as early as 1976 to as late as 2022. All selections were composed and performed by Doug Skinner, and recorded and mixed by Brian Dewan:

An Afternoon in the Arboretum (2020)
Radio Valentine (1976)
Ulterior Misgivings (2020)
Twinge (2021)
Stint (2012)
Nocturne (2012)
The Gateway to the Getaway (2022)
Aftermath (2020)
Spillover (2017)
Gilding the Pyrite (2001)
Under the Weather (1983)
A Slot Machine for Wooden Nickels (2022)
On a Theme by Lewis Carroll (1994)
Lorem Ipsum Dolor (2010)

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

Let’s Not Hit Each Other is now available from Black Scat Books!

This collection by the incomparable Alphonse Allais includes a flying whale, an inflatable colonel, telepathic snails, a summer crime, the insularization of France, missionary parrots, an amphibious herring, twin cousins, and proposals for billboard dogs, deodorized urine, calming the sea with varnish, and crossing the English Channel with swings. You will also meet Mr. Fish, who travels with capsules of American air, presaging Duchamp’s “Paris Air” by decades. This is the first English translation of this remarkable volume, first published in 1900.

Translated, annotated, and introduced by Doug Skinner, and designed by Norman Conquest. This edition includes an original portrait of Allais by Corinne Taunay.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

“The Game of Don’ts and Old Maid” was published in 1905 by McLoughlin. Players are instructed to collect pairs of cards showing wretched specimens of humanity, thereby teaching them (the players) not to be stupid, hoggish, silly, proud, untidy, a crank, a scold, etc. One of the things not to be is an old maid, so one of the cards can be removed to play Old Maid. This is our 33rd Old Maid, and here she is. You can’t read it on this scan, but the book she’s carrying is The Novels of Irving Bacheller:

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

If you’ve ever wondered how Santa Claus operates, here’s the answer. This illustration is taken from Flying Saucers Close Up, by John W. Dean, published in 1969 by Saucerian Books. Please click on it to see it better. Happy Holidays!

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

Winter is here, and the birds are flying south. This steel engraving by George Cruikshank is taken from The George Cruikshank Table-Book, Bell and Daldy, London, 1869. Please click to enlarge.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)