PhD student Dylan Cashew abandons his thesis on D. H. Lawrence for the uncertain world of top secret aerospace editing, college teaching and then independent publishing. Dogged and even mentored by Lawrence and others from parallel Dimensions, Dylan finds himself immersed in a publishing venture that, with aid of his PR-savvy wife, interjections from the Internet, and a bottomless supply of scotch, nearly goes under before he receives an offer from a Chinese conglomerate that may be too good to refuse.
If you’re an author, published or unpublished, or wished you were one – or someone who’s worked in publishing, or wished you could – this book is for you. (Have we missed anyone?!)
This is David P Reiter’s latest sortie into the satiricsphere of digital narrative. His having won two Western Australian Premier’s Awards with Timelord Dreaming and My Planets Reunion Memoir has done nothing to curb his rash flirtation with innovation. Nearly 200 “internet call-outs” will tempt you away from the central storyline. Can you resist?
IP (Interactive Publications Pty Ltd) –
This is a thrilling fast-paced satire of life in the publishing industry that must now navigate multiple universes, consider colliding galaxies, and take instruction from guides such as D. H. Lawrence. All this while the text leaps from Biblical frameworks to internet content, giving a free and complex reading experience that takes in the irrelevancies of time and the breath-taking variations of dimension. You read some text and then you are guided to a short video – sheer delight. It might be music; or the text of Eleven Strange Facts You Didn’t Know – about something; or loud typing pool background effects; or some detailed information on space-time. Be amazed.
The possibilities here would seem to be endless. The technical skill of the whole production is superb. And in case you’re wondering, the characters lead ordinary lives, rendered in regular prose: “After the plane cleared the runway without incident, Dylan was feeling optimistic enough to lash out on a Johnny Walker on the rocks. He realised his interview was that very afternoon but a single scotch surely couldn’t do any harm. The woman next to him ordered an orange juice in what Dylan regarded as judgemental tone.” The characters also drink a fair bit of scotch. Do yourself a special favour and expand your reading universe.
– Carmel Bird, novelist, Winner 2016 Patrick White Award for Literature
IP (Interactive Publications Pty Ltd) –
If only independent publishing was as enjoyable as this novel about it! David Reiter proves himself to be an accomplished comic writer with an incisive satirical eye. Black Books Publishing is darkly funny.
– David Musgrave, novelist, poet and founder, Puncher & Wattman publishers
IP (Interactive Publications Pty Ltd) –
Just finished BBP. What a delightful, enjoyable read. And fast-paced. You’ve really created a character here, Dylan Cashew – likeable and real – that kept me awake (for longer than usual) at nights wanting to read more. Subtly funny, sometimes just funny, it was a good insight into the life – ‘misery’ – of small independent publishers, their ‘wannabe’ authors, and from those with a ‘few runs on the board’, the unrealistic expectations. Well done. Mazel tov! Can’t wait to read BBP II. Unless, wishful thinking, you’ve been taken over for a goodly sum by that number one China publisher!
– Barry Levy, author of The Terrorist