Terrible news for book lovers with a taste for the classic American underground: Thunder’s Mouth Press will cease to exist. Corporate parent Perseus Books Group’s CEO David Steinberger has declared that Thunder’s Mouth “does not have a distinct identity”, according to Publisher’s Weekly.
No distinct identity? Ridiculous. Among Thunder’s Mouth’s titles: Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, which still sells strong eight years after publication, The Beat Generation (Jack Kerouac’s play), Billionaires For Bush: How to Rule the World for Fun and Profit, Chelsea Horror Hotel by the late great Dee Dee Ramone, the reissue of Diary of a Mad Housewife by Sue Kaufman with an introduction by Maggie Estep, Dr. Dre by Ronin Ro, Drinking with Bukowski by Danny Weitzman, Expelled From Eden: A William Vollmann Reader, From Totems to Hip-Hop edited by Ishmael Reed, Gangs of New York (Herbert Asbury’s classic book that inspired Scorsese’s terrible movie), The I Hate George W. Bush Reader by Clint Willis, If He Hollers Let Him Go by Chester Himes, Kerouac’s Spontaneous Poetics by Regina Weinreich, The Late Great Allen Ginsberg by photographer Christopher Felver, Lint by Steve Aylett, Mindfield by Gregory Corso, My Less Than Secret Life by Jonathan Ames, Offbeat by David Amram, Overclocked by Cory Doctorow, Poets Against The War edited by Sam Hamill, The Stars Above Veracruz by Barry Gifford, The Subgenius Psychoplaedia of Slack by J. R. “Bob” Dobbs, What Did I Do? The Unauthorized Autobiography of Larry Rivers.
No distinct identity? Absolute bullshit. Thunder’s Mouth covered the counter-culture with both new publications and essential reprints, and in this capacity they represent no insignificant part of my book collection. It’s sad that the corporate parent is dissolving this great company, and it’s offensive that they’re pretending it’s no big deal. Apparently Thunder’s Mouth had no distinct profits, but that doesn’t mean it had no distinct identity. For readers like me, Thunder’s Mouth is — was — a trusted and beloved brand.
5 Responses
This just kills meThunder’s
This just kills me
Thunder’s Mouth has always been that slice of publishing wherein I found sympathetic voices, as in voices which beat with mine. There *is* a distinct identity, no dout at all. It is the voice that rages against the machine and kisses the walls of the prison at the same time.
When this happenswhat will
When this happens
what will happen to all the books you listed? Will they stay in print? Does the parent company decide that on a book to book basis? What about the people who work for Thunder’s Mouth?
Bill, I can only guess at the
Bill, I can only guess at the answer, but here’s my guess.
The books: those that justify their own existence as backlist sellers will continue to be published under a different imprint.
The employees: I can’t imagine that they will be retained — reduction of payroll costs has got to be one of the primary reasons for this move.
work itSo…Thunder’s Mouth,
work it
So…Thunder’s Mouth, all indie’s, all publishers – publish some best-sellers if you want to stay in business. Guess what, people write – and they try to find publishers. Guess what, people publish their own books because publishers got shit for brains. Man if you can’t find and promote best-selling authors, don’t cry in my cereal.
That’s actually a good point,
That’s actually a good point, Stokey. Though it doesn’t make the loss of Thunder’s Mouth, a very active and good publisher, any less of a bad thing.