Ben Segal with No Record Press
Started in 2006 by “private donations,” No Record Press has already made splash in the lit world with its goal to be “an organization dedicated solely to publishing promising literary works by previously-unknown writers…new writers that, for various reasons, may find it difficult to interest mainstream publishers.”
There’s no question that Ben Segal would have found some difficulty getting his first book accepted in mainstream publishing: 78 STORIES: A CROSSWORD NOVELLA. This book is a giant fold-out with multiple puzzles and blocks of text (image from Diet Soap).
About the work: “As the price of oil skyrockets to heaven, NASA flights plummet back to earth, contemporary philosophy runs on dualistic fumes and the National Football League all but forbids end zone dance fiestas, you decided that humanity was officially out of good ideas. But you were thinking in terms of ‘left’ and ‘right.’ 78 Stories, unlike the vast majority of the Western hemisphere’s chirographic offerings, conceived of the world in terms of ‘across’ and ‘down.’ Challenging our core assumptions of textual linearity while tickling our funny bones, Ben Segal’s astonishingly original debut pirouettes from the Mayan Long Count, ghost/human romances, seedy Native American hotels, pie-creamed art critic, bears transfixed be cellular phone ringers, and much more. As in an American crossword puzzle, the text is readable in two directions.”
For more information about the work, visit No Record Press. Diet Soap has a brief review of the work with photos, and What to Wear During an Orange Alert posted an interview with Ben Segal.
