Literary,
Journalistic,
Irreverent Yet Oddly Serious
Literary,
Journalistic,
Irreverent Yet Oddly Serious
A new publishing imprint, BLUE BOOKS, is a home for high-quality fiction and nonfiction that reveals the friction, as startling as it is inevitable, when people and cultures find they have outgrown their past but can’t make sense of their future.
"A fascinating and cathartic read about an experience that is not over, but keeps getting weirder and more dangerous."
Dean Kuipers in Red Canary Magazine
A Journal of the Plague Years:
Words & Music from the Lost Days
Taking a leaf from Daniel Defoe, an impecunious journalist, novelist, and general disturber of the peace, the anthology of work from Journal of the Plague Years helps us face the future with a deeper knowledge of the events that have shaken our world - and our world view - over the past several years. With writing by Blanche McCrary Boyd, Mikal Gilmore, Steve Erickson, Thrity Umrigar, and many others.
Advance Praise for A Journal of the Plague Years
Journal of the Plague Years howls with writing (thinking!) that undermines the dumbassness of the excruciating reality we are living through. Donald Trump et al. won’t understand a word of it.
—Terry McDonell
As journalism struggles to find a new voice and American fiction risks irrelevance, Journal of the Plague Years appears, speaking a hybrid language, new and creative, urgent yet elegantly rational. Featuring work by some of America’s most gifted writers, this collection is the definitive record of the twin plagues of Covid-19 and authoritarianism, offering necessary perspective as the country faces its fate.
—Alex ShoumatoffThe Blue Store
A Journal of the Plague Years: Words & Music from the Lost Days
$35.00
Telling the stories of our recent lives, A Journal of the Plague Years: Words & Music from the Lost Days offers perspective on how the pandemic fueled personal, social, and political upheaval. Writing by such luminaries as Steve Erickson, Mikal Gilmore, Blanche McCrary Boyd, Thrity Umrigar, and others, with QR codes linking to musical playlists that work as commentary, counterpoint, and occasionally clever parody, this hip, well-designed paperback is saddle-stitched, with a high-quality cover including a French flap that allows you to keep your place, and color photographs. As you look back at events that changed our lives, this book will be a touchstone. Authors are available to sign for an extra charge. Shipping is free in the U.S. If you live elsewhere, send an email and we'll check prices. Questions? Email us: plaguejournal@gmail.comView more details...Quantity
How to Prepare for the Past: Travels in Music and Time
$50.00
Brian Cullman's long-awaited book of essays about music, life, families, lovers, and the world. One reviewer wrote: "What a fun and wonderful thing it is to stumble into a book that doesn’t just tell stories about music, but also makes you feel like you’re right there in the room with a radio in the background, cigarette smoke curling toward the ceiling, and the ghosts of songs still hanging in the air. Brian Cullman’s How To Prepare For The Past: Travels In Music and Time via ZE Books, does exactly that...part memoir, a quasi travelogue, and certainly all heart."
"Brian Cullman has found himself at the very heart of so many of music's defining moments that his place as a discerning observer gives
way to a kind of unguarded poetry that never fails to lift everyone out of the drabness of this world. What an artist!"
—YOUSSOU N’DOUR
Free tote bag included!Quantity
Steve Erickson's American Stutter - SIGNED COPY
$35.00
For all you Steve Erickson freaks out there - and I know there a lot of you - the Journal was stoked to publish Erickson's novella-length nonfiction account of Trump 1.0. American Stutter was later reprinted in book form, and it remains incantatory and timely. Only 7 copies left!Quantity
The Capacious Double-Sided Tote Bag
$40.00
The Big Kahuna, a gusseted tote that will carry all your groceries and maybe a small child. A puppy? Seriously, it's a solid bag that can stand on its own (more or less) which is where the gussets come in. Journal of the Plague Years magazine on one side, Blue Books on the other. Flip it depending on your mood. This bag will last longer than the mood, we promise! Free shipping within the U.S. If you live somewhere else, send us an email and we'll work it out.View more details...Quantity
The Practical Publisher Tote Bag
$25.00
This sturdy but low-cost tote bag marks you as a reader of distinction. Compact, in a tasteful shade of gray (because there are as many shades of gray as there are authors and readers) this bag carries the Blue Books logo wherever you go - the bookstore, the farmer's market, Tangier......Quantity
