Bøger udgivet af Rare Bird Books

For years, when traveling, I found myself getting in conversations with people when I took their pictures, and started to consult with them¿showing them the digital shot, then retaking it until we had one they were happy with. It gave us a reason to interact, and a way to do so, even when we shared no language in common. These portraits are the result of those extended sessions, those moments of accidental intimacy on the road. Readers of my three travel books (Drinking Mare¿s Milk on the Roof of the World, And the Monkey Learned Nothing, and The Kindness of Strangers) may recognize some of the people, because a number of them feature in those stories. But each stands on its own¿each a testament to the human ability to connect across the fault lines that keep us precariously divided. And each is a tribute to the accidental intimacy of the road.

The stories in this here anthology may in fact be true true wild tales I've absorbed over time. Perhaps drenched with generous hyperbole? I'll let you decide.As one of the founding members of the seminal punk band Angry Samoans, Gregg Turner has seen his fair share of weird shit. From his time at Creem Magazine in the early 1970s to the formation of the Angry Samoans in Los Angeles, and all the travels, trials, and tribulations that occured after, Turner takes us through a wild ride of stories he's heard, stories he's lived, and some he may or may not have made up.With illustrations by Emmy and Klein-award winning illustrator Gary Panter, Hallucinations from Hell is an onslaught of a book that will appeal to any reader who loves a good story.

Slouching Towards Los Angeles is a love letter and thank you note to Joan Didion.In The White Album, Joan Didion famously wrote that “a place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively…loves it so radically that he remakes it in his image.” Cruising in her Daytona yellow Corvette Stingray, taking it all in behind dark glasses, Joan Didion claimed California for all time. Slouching Towards Los Angeles is a multi-faceted portrait of the literary icon who, in turn, belongs to us.This collection of original essays covers the turf that made Didion a sensation—Hollywood and Patty Hearst; Malibu, Manson and the Mojave; the Summer of Love and the Central Park Five—while bringing together some of the finest voices of today’s Los Angeles and beyond. Slouching Towards Los Angeles is a love letter and thank you note; personal memoir and social commentary; cultural history and literary critique. Fans of Didion, lovers of California, and fellow writers alike will all find something to dig into, in this rich exploration of the inner and outer landscapes Joan Didion traveled, shaping our own journeys in the process.Featuring essays byAnn FriedmanJori FinkelMargaret WapplerJessica HundleyChristine LennonCatherine WagleySu WuJoshua Wolf ShenkLauren SandlerMichelle ChiharaSarah TomlinsonLinda ImmediatoTracy McMillanDan CraneSteph ChaCaroline RyderJoe DonnellyMonica Corcoran HarelAlysia AbbottStacie StukinHeather John FogartyMarc WeingartenScott BenzelEzrha Jean Black

An oral history in the vein of Please Kill MeLeftöver Crack is a band of drug abusing, dumpster diving, cop-hating, queer positive, pro-choice, crust punks that successfully blend ska-punk, pop, hip-hop and death metal genres. They've been banned from clubs, states and counties and kicked off multiple record labels. They've received teen-idol adoration and death threats from their fans. They've played benefits for a multitude of causes while leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.But, if you dig below the crusty, black metal-patch encased surface, you'll find a contemplative, nuanced band that, quite literally, permanently changed the punk rock community. By combining catchy ska-punk with lyrics that referenced political theorist Michael Parenti, drug usage, and suicide, the band formed a unique mélange that was both provocative and challenging. In fact, the band's hooks were so sharp that after releasing their debut LP, Mediocre Generica, an entire culture of "Crack City Rockers" grew around the band, pushing the youth towards both the positive and negative aspects of extreme punk rock.Of course, being the combustible band that they are, the band has gotten involved in its far share of fiascoes: full-scale riots in Phoenix and NYC, getting punched out by their own fans, showing up to tour Florida with machetes after receiving death threats from the local gang.Architects of Self-Destruction: An Oral History of Leftöver Crack traces the band's entire history by speaking to the band members themselves, fellow musicians, their fans, and of course, those that still hold a grudge against the LoC... FYI, that's a lot of people.

In this landmark collection, William T. Vollmann offers a kaleidoscopic retrospective of the visual artwork he has produced over four decades, with new commentary from Vollmann on his process, inspiration, and the many intersections with his writing.The celebrated author of over twenty-five books (among them the National Book Award-wining novel Europe Central; the seven-volume Rising Up and Rising Down, based on Vollmann¿s career as a war correspondent; and the two-volume climate change investigation Carbon Ideologies), Vollmann¿s equally ambitious and prolific career as a photographer, printmaker, and painter reflects the artist¿s deep interest in people existing on the margins, a profound empathy for his subjects, and the humility and generosity to meet them on their terms.Shadows of Love, Shadows of Loneliness includes Kodachrome slides of Afghan Mujahideen from 1982; a handmade watercolor sketchbook from Subarctic Canada, complete with inscriptions to Vollmann from local Inuit teenagers; gum bichromate prints of American landscapes from Maui to Mount Desert Island; silver gelatin portfolios of insurgents, refugees, prostitutes, police, and criminals all over the world; photogenic drawings of Tahitian women; transgender self-portraits of ¿Dolores¿; Bible woodblock prints in which God and everyone else is female; acrylic paintings of California landscapes; cyanotypes, platinotypes, salt prints, and gold-toned Vandykes, to name just a few.Complementing these selections is a series of essays commissioned especially for this book to lay out Vollmann¿s views on what photographs can and should say, how he chooses what to represent (beauty, suffering, compassion, love, desire, ideology), thoughts on photographic consensuality, and any number of technical descriptions. Particularly useful for Vollmann fans and scholars are the cross-references between these artistic and photographic projects and his books.

This book is a partnership between Los Angeles indie presses Rare Bird and Unnamed PressMajor media outreachVollmann's books are almost always reviewed in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco ChronicleWe want to partner with local bookstores and art institutions in Houston, San Francisco, Sacramento, and New York for virtual eventsOutreach to art media outlets like Artforum, Bomb, and InterviewOutreach to art museum storesSpecial outreach to bookstores with large art and photography sections

"e;I'm the Mae West of 1968."e;Mercy Fontenot was a Zelig who grew up in the San Francisco Haight Ashbury scene, where she crossed paths with Charles Manson, went to the first Acid Test, and was friends with Jimi Hendrix (she was later in his movie Rainbow Bridge). She predicted the Altamont disaster when reading the Rolling Stones' tarot cards at a party and left San Francisco for the climes of Los Angeles in 1967 when the Haight 'lost its magic.'Miss Mercy's work in the GTOs, the Frank Zappa-produced all-female band, launched her into the pages of Rolling Stone in 1969. Her adventures saw her jumping out of a cake at Alice Cooper's first record release party, while high on PCP, and had her travel to Memphis where she met Al Green and got a job working for the Bar-Kays. Along the way, she married and then divorced Shuggie Otis, before transitioning to punk rock and working with the Rockats and Gears. This is her story as she lived and saw it.Written just prior to her death in 2020, Permanent Damage shows us the world of the 1960s and 1970s music scene through Mercy's eyes, as well as the fallout of that era-experiencing homelessness before sobering up and putting her life back together. Miss Mercy's journey is a can't miss for anyone who was there and can't remember, or just wishes they'd been there.

Christopher Zyda confronts the long-buried and painful memories of his harrowing fifteen-year journey in The Storm: One Voice from the AIDS Generation, a heart-wrenching love story and coming-of-age tale during the early years of the AIDS crisis in Los Angeles.It all begins in the spring of 1983, when Chris, a twenty-one-year-old UCLA English Literature major and aspiring writer, risks ostracism when he comes out of the closet to his fraternity brothers just as the AIDS pandemic is beginning to explode in gay communities across the United States. Soon afterward, Chris meets and falls in love with Stephen, a graduate of Yale University and Law School, and the two of them build a life together as their friends start to fall sick and die from the spreading storm of AIDS.Stephen begins showing symptoms of AIDS in early 1986, and Chris faces a difficult choice as he is certain that he, too, eventually will be stricken by the disease. He abandons his writing career and attends the UCLA business school so that he can earn enough money to pay for healthcare during Stephen's illness.The Storm is filled with heart, optimism, and love, interspersed with Los Angeles history, gay and lesbian history, AIDS history, and the backdrop of the 1980s and 1990s. It is an unflinching and, at times, raw memoir of perseverance, integrity, forgiveness, the power of love, spiritual growth, Carpe Diem, dreams, and, most of all: survival and ultimate triumph.

Fun, bright, and playful, Power Pop is a sometimes adored, sometimes maligned, often misunderstood genre of music. From its heyday in the 70`s and 80`s to its resurgence in the 90`s and 00`s, Power Pop has meant many things to many people. In Go Further, editors Paul Myers and S. W. Lauden have a whole new crop of writers going deep on what certain Power Pop bands and songs mean and have meant to them. Whether they love or hate it, Go Further is a dive into the Beatles-inspired pop rock of the last five decades.Featuring Ira Robbins, Alex Segura, Mary E. Donnelly, Pat DiPuccio, John Borack, Dave Hill, Will Birch, S. W. Lauden, Jordan Oakes, Brian Vander Ark, Anne K. Ream & R. Clifton Spargo, Chip Jacobs, Bill DeMain, Thierry Côté, Doug Brod, Jim Lindberg, Balin Schneider, Mike Randle, Butch Walker, Andrea Warner, Paul Myers,and Rex Broome's

It's the dawn of 1980 in Los Angeles and everything's changing.Punks, dopers and assorted miscreants play in the decaying homes of Hollywood golden era stars. The playfully decadent, diverse LA punk scene is under threat from the violent, misogynistic hardcore scene not to mention the suddenly cheap, high grade heroin that's tempting many who haven't managed to get their artistic careers in gear yet.James Dual wants no part of that and inspired by the racially integrated punky ska revival in England starts the ON Klub, a ska, soul, and reggae club at the rough and ready pre-gentrified Silver Lake end of Sunset Blvd. He and partner in crime, actor spawn Drea Dresden, try their best to make the transition out of the 70's in one piece.As the hole in the hillside dump of a joint successfully explodes there's no fighting on the ON Klub dance floor shared by young Jamaicans, sharp-dressed Asian American girls, South Central kids, London escapees, mods on scooters from Orange County, Latino kids from the neighborhood-all united by the inspiring vinyl they can't hear on the radio or anywhere else in the US. This is they only place these kids can go where everyone's welcome and they are treated equally so it becomes home to them.All this attention, not to mention over capacity crowds and under age kids leads to a visit from the soon to be notorious Rampart police division who threaten closure and worse. A journalist friend brings a mob related music man connected to Bob Marley to visit the club, who becomes obsessed with the charismatic young Jamaican singer Loraine Sulley, who is performing that night. He lures James with promises to bring in iconic ska and reggae artists to perform at the club if James convinces Loraine to sign to Marshall's planned new record label. In the meantime, James and Drea are threatened by two corrupt Sheriff's homicide detectives who are still trying to nail an innocent James for the death of a band that occurred soon after he first arrived in LA.James arranges to have Drea hide out in London until things cool down. While there she meets controversial new English band Vortex and subsequently joins them for their first US tour where they warn what things could get like if the unthinkable happens and washed up B movie star, US Republican Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan is elected.Capturing the spirit of LA in 1980, Top Rankin' is populated with real-life characters from the music world in Los Angeles, New York, and London, and leads readers on a tour of the dangers and importance of providing refuge on the precipice of major political upheaval.

Tackling race in Los Angeles, but moreso in America in the criminal justice system at all levels, A Past That Breathes is a perfect book for the time we are living throughLooking at each side of a racially charged court case, Obiora gives a nuanced look at the problems in the American justice system and how it enacts punishment on Black folks whether or not they have committed a crime

Setting the example is almost the whole shebangEveryone wants to be happy. Everyone. We certainly have opinions about what choices someone might make to get there but we absolutely want happiness, and as much of it as possible.Six Truths is simple, accessible, cutting edge, edgy, and most of all, necessary. Sid Garza-Hillman has taken all he's learned as a nutritionist, philosopher, speaker, podcaster, Small Steps coach, ultramarathoner, father, and husband, and distilled it into Six Truths. Six Truths that, if you live by them, will deliver you a happy life.In Six Truths, Garza-Hillman, uses his usual funny, smart, no BS approach to helping you live your best life.

Signings in Boston, New York, and Los AngelesWe are doing some super deluxe art copies with slipcases and photos through the RareBirdBooks.com site, and have found that this helps encourage sales within the bookstore marketThe book will have 2 different covers with 2 different ISBNs, one SFW and one NSFWPromotion to metal magazinesFeatures in Revolver, Kerrang, Outburn, and morePromotion through various metal bands who have been photographed by JeremyMetal media outreach

Valentin Popov's art combines images of the superhero in American society with traditional religious iconic art from his native Ukraine. His work is in a number of major art museum collections including the National Museum of Ukrainian Art, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and more. Ironic Icons is his first book.

Although we tend to think of our cities as concrete jungles, our post-new urban environment is awash in plant life. Wild urban plants have taken root along roadsides and chain-link fences, between cracks of pavement, and within vacant lots, rubble dumps and highway medians. Spontaneously propagating, these resilient plants find distinctive niches to thrive in and inhabit our most derelict landscapes. The environmental benefits of these “weeds” go widely unrecognized when, in fact, reframing this often invisible urban ecology as a beneficial amenity can offer a fresh perspective on how cities perform.Spontaneous Urban Plants investigates the role of weeds in the urban ecosystem by profiling a cross section of weeds. The intent is to stimulate a discourse between ecologists, designers, artists and the general public that explores societal perceptions of weeds and questions the stigmas that surround them. Leveraging principles of urban ecology and environmental aesthetics, we are encouraging an objective debate of the value of wild urban plants and thereby challenging contemporary cultural perceptions.This four-color art book will raise awareness about the overlooked ecology of our cities and allow people to reconsider their preconceived notions about weeds through the lens of art. This project has the potential to catalyze a generation of emergent designers, artists, planners and thinkers to rethink our urban futures in the face of increased density and erratic climatic conditions.

The sixth book in the Tiny Thinkers series covers Garrett Morgan!Garrett Morgan invented the respiratory device that powered WWI gas masks, as well as chemical hair straighteners and and improved sewing machine. A trailblazer in many aspects of his life, Morgan's story is one that kids and adults will love! Follow Garrett Morgan as he builds his store, and begins to invent some of the items we still rely on today.

Deluxe Hardcover edition, featuring a photo insert, surfing map of Southern California, 8 pages of the original script to the film Big Wednedsday, essays by Roger McGrath, Tatsuo, Don James, and Peter Townend, as well as John Milius' original pitch letter to Lynn Nesbit, a surf term glossary, and new afterword!Big Wednesday, based on the cult 1978 film by the same name, follows three California beach buddies begin to realize there is more to life than waxing down their surfboards as they ditch their alcoholic and unruly ways to go fight in the Vietnam War. When they reunite ten years later, they find that things in Malibu are much different after fighting a war.

In this elegant but pocketable edition, passionate bibliophile Michael Ross has curated 106 favorite literary quotes from the collection of over 1500 well-read books on his shelves-but this isn't your typical rehashing of Bartlett's quotations. Michael Ross brings together quotes from such a new perspective even the authors themselves will probably find this book useful and insightful.Authors quoted include Tom Robbins, John Gardner, A.A. Milne, Anne Tyler, Bernard Malamud, Elizabeth Goudge, John O'Hara, Jim Harrison, Vladimir Nabokov, Ivan Doig, Richard Russo, Graham Swift, John Casey, George Garrett, Martin Davies, Cormac McCarthy, Willa Cather, Richard Brautigan, Colin Wilson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gore Vidal, Leon Uris, Walker Percy, V.S. Naipaul, Thornton Wilder, John Updike, Anthony Burgess, Paul Auster, Richard Powers, Richard Russo, William Martin, Robert Penn Warren, John Gardner, Aldous Huxley, John Hersey, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Antoine Laurain, Dave Eggers, Honore de Balzac, John Cheever, Oscar Wilde, Edward Abbey, Garrison Keillor, Lorrie Moore, Doris Lessing, Elia Kazan, Tom Wolfe, Sinclair Lewis, William Kotzwinkle, Eric Ambler, Thomas McGuane, Graham Greene, W. Somerset Maugham, Ethan Canin, Milan Kundera, and Hunter S. Thompson.Also included are original illustrations by Cara Lowe of Hunter S. Thompson, Willa Cather, John O'Hara, Thomas McGuane, Eric Ambler, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Honore de Balzac, Dave Eggers, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Anthony Burgess, John Updike, Richard Brautigan, Cormac McCarthy, Richard Russo, Elizabeth Goudge, and Anne Tyler.

James (of the Dum Dum Girls) shares some of her most stirring and intimate compositions taken from the road alongside original, handwritten text in a collection sure to inspire and fascinate with every page.

Life isn't easy when you're single, pushing 50, and still haunted by the ghosts of your rock 'n' roll past--but if anyone can find the funny in it, Sunset Strip video vixen Brown can. Hilarious, sweet, and bitingly honest, Cherry On Top reveals how one gorgeous, potty-mouthed blonde took back Hollywood in middle age, and embarked on a fresh search for love--one fart joke at a time.at a time.

When the notorious necromancer, Maecidion, dies, the reading of his will goes awry. Powerful heirlooms are given to rivals of the deceased's kin, Irion, who are no strangers to black magic. Soon, Irion embarks on a bitter quest to retrieve what should rightfully be his.Tinged with traces of horror and humor, erotica and satire, the world of Mulgara plays host to an ensemble of dark characters. Not only necromancers, but grave robbers, thieves, and a bubbly witch, all caught in a web of friend or foe, and through their tales, Maecidion's plan is ultimately revealed.

Simpsonistas: Tales from the Simpson Literary Project, Vol. 2 highlights brilliant work by associates of the Simpson Project: Joyce Carol Oates, Anthony Marra, Laila Lalami, Sigrid Nunez, and many others, including Simpson Fellows as well as young writers appearing for the first time in print.Simpsonistas is the anthology of the New Literary Project, which is committed to the proposition that storytelling is the foundation of a literate society: newliteraryproject.org.The New Literary Project promotes storytellers and storytelling across the generations, and across a tremendous spectrum: from incarcerated young men and women to high school-age students to creative writers teaching high school to distinguished mid-career authors. Simpson Fellows from UC Berkeley lead workshops for fledgling writers, Jack Hazard Fellows receive $5,000 in support of an ongoing writing project, and the annual Joyce Carol Oates Prize Recipient receives an award of $50,000 in support of a burgeoning career.