LAST GASP NEWSLETTER APRIL 6, 2012
Hi! This week's highlights include: a collection from Shanghai-born Danni Shinya Luo, one of the most important female voices in contemporary symbolic art, from our very own Last Gasp Press; a massive collection of vintage tattoo photographs from the collection of Rich Mingins; a unique book by tattoo artist Takahiro Kitamura (Horitaka); discussing the Japanese tattoo in the context of Ukiyo-e; the latest issue of "Hi-Fructose" magazine, with an eclectic mix of underground artists, pop surrealists, and awe inspiring spectacles; a showcase of artist extraordinaire Jeral Tidwell; a chronicle of the art of Michael Hussar, looking at one of his recurring aesthetic themes — white; a limited-edition deluxe Krazy & Ignatz hardcover, compiling the first nine years of Krazy Kat Sunday strips; and a whimsical and elegant steampunk coloring and activity book, Containing Illustrations, Recipes, Formulas & Other Activities to Entertain & Entice Creativity for the Prevention of Ennui & General Malaise Among the Youth of Today & Their Progenitors.
In our Adult catalog, we have a straight-talking and non-judgmental sex guide from sex expert Diana Cage, showing how confidence, health, and self-knowledge are the keys to a happier sex life, and teaching you how to achieve all three. As always, the adult titles are at the end of this newsletter, so if that's what you're looking for, you can jump ahead there now.
LAST GASP BOOKS
| FEATURED ITEM: SOFT CANDY Danni Shinya Luo – $24.95 – ISBN-13: 978-0-86719-762-4 This new collection explores shifting perspectives of beauty, attraction, lust and decency presented through alluring and decandent images of the female figure. Watercolor, ink and graphite give rise to Luo's vision of sexuality , innocence and whimsy. Visions of nymphs in a myriad of suggestive contexts are divided into five distinct chapters, each acknowledging a different aspect of sensuality as expressed through food frailty, fetish, fauna and fantasy. Erotic and always tasteful, Danni Shinya Luo's art is whimsically feminine; her watercolor paintings are meditations on the female figure. The colors are fresh and luscious, her line work fluid and organic, and her composition engaging and impactful. |
ART & PHOTOGRAPHY
| PAPER WORKS Wang Shaoqiang, editor – $34.95 – ISBN-13: 978-1-58423-432-6 A thorough visual exploration of the multitude of ways in which paper can be transformed and sculpted into abstract or realistic designs. It features everything from sculptural carved book arts and installation art spanning entire rooms to stunning avant-garde paper couture fashion and beautiful all-white animal masks reminiscent of classic Carnival attire. |
| SKY HIGH Sandy Kim – $20.00 Photogapher Sandy Kim moved to New York in 2009 and has continued to make a name for herself. This catalog contains work from her first solo show, plus rare images not published before. "She really knows how to use natural light, like early morning light, or sunset light in an apartment… Sandy brings her camera everywhere and she's always ready and waiting for the moment." -Ryan McGinley |
ART, LOWBROW
| FEATURED ITEM: DE NADA Jeral Tidwell – $34.99 – ISBN-13: 978-0-9824047-8-2 DeNada showcases the amazing talent of artist extraordinaire Jeral Tidwell. His work has been featured on everything from skate decks to video games, concert posters to radiators. His unique blend of hot-rod, pop art, tattoo, pin stripe, Kentucky Fried style is unmistakable and on display in this full color tour de force! |
| FEATURED ITEM: WHITE Michael Hussar – $50.00 – ISBN-13: 978-0-9845210-1-2 Over ten years in the making, the paintings and sketches in this book provide unprecedented insight into Hussar's process while presenting a historic look at one of his recurring aesthetic themes — white. This book is a chronicle of those efforts. Spectacularly produced with a white cloth cover, embossed outer band, gold-edged pages, vellum inserts, and spot-varnished title treatments. |
BEAT GENERATION
| BLUE HAND Deborah Baker – $15.00 – ISBN-13: 978-0-14-311483-3 In 1961, Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky traveled by boat to Bombay to join Gary Snyder and Joanne Kyger, beginning a fifteen-month journey that would take them from the ashrams of the Himalayan foothills to the opium dens of Calcutta and beyond. Drawing on forgotten journals and unearthed letters, the author's own quest adds a thread of mystery to this lost literary chapter. |
| I CELEBRATE MYSELF Bill Morgan – $18.00 – ISBN-13: 978-0-14-311249-5 In the first biography of Ginsberg since his death in 1997 and the only one to cover the entire span of his life, Ginsberg's archivist Bill Morgan draws on his deep knowledge of Ginsberg's largely unpublished private journals to shed new light on some of the pivotal aspects of Ginsberg's life, and give readers an unparalleled and finely detailed portrait of one of America's most famous poets. |
| MINOR CHARACTERS Joyce Johnson – $16.00 – ISBN-13: 978-0-14-028357-0 21-year-old Joyce Johnson fell in love with Jack Kerouac on a blind date arranged by Allen Ginsberg, nine months before the publication of On the Road. While Kerouac traveled the world, Johnson roamed the East Village in the midst of the Beat revolution. Minor Characters portrays the turbulent years of her relationship with Kerouac with wit, love, and a cool, critical eye. |
| OVERTIME Philip Whalen – $20.00 – ISBN-13: 978-0-14-058918-4 An important addition to the Beat canon — the essential work of a master poet, scholar, and Zen monk. Confidant and ally to Kerouac and Ginsberg, Philip Whalen played a key role in the explosive poetic revolution of the fifties and sixties, and took both poetry and Zen seriously. His writing forms a monumental stream of consciousness of a wild, deeply read, independent American. |
| PORTABLE BEAT READER Ann Charters, editor – $20.00 – ISBN-13: 978-0-14-243753-7 Beginning in the late 1940s, American literature discovered a four letter word — "beat." Here is the most significant writing of the Beat Generation, including Neal Cassady, Gregory Corso, Diane di Prima, Bob Dylan, Leroi Jones, and Michael McClure, capturing the triumphant rudeness, energy, and exhiliration of a movement that swept through American letters with hurricane force. |
| SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION Ken Kesey – $18.00 – ISBN-13: 978-0-14-303986-0 The magnificant second novel from the legendary author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a wild-spirited and hugely powerful tale of an Oregon logging clan. A bitter strike is raging in a small lumber town along the Oregon coast. Out of the Stamper family's rivalries and betrayals, Ken Kesey has crafted a novel with the mythic impact of Greek tragedy. |
| VANITY OF DULUOZ Jack Kerouac – $16.00 – ISBN-13: 978-0-14-023639-2 Written in 1967 from the vantage point ot the psychedelic sixties, Vanity of Duluoz gives a fascinating portrait of the young Kerouac, dedicated and disciplined in his determination from an early age to be an important American writer. |
DRUG & ALCOHOL INFO
| MARIJUANA: LET'S GROW A POUND SeeMoreBuds – $19.95 – ISBN-13: 978-1-936807-01-7 Designed in a journal entry format, Let's Grow a Pound is an easy to follow day-by-day guide for growing a bigger, more potent crop in a small space with little financial investment. SeeMoreBuds has taken all the guesswork out of growing indoors and harvesting more than a pound of marijuana in under three months. For complete beginners or longtime growers looking to switch up grow methods. |
FICTION – GENERAL
| CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY Roald Dahl – $15.00 – ISBN-13: 978-0-14-3106-3-3 Twice turned into a feature film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a delectable classic about the eccentric chocolate- maker who makes a child's dreams come true. Willy Wonka's hallowed chocolate factory holds a worldwide contest awarding tours to the lucky — but only Charlie, the earnest hero, stands to win Wonka's empire. Cover art (front, back, and inside flaps) by Ivan Brunetti. |
| DEMON BOX Ken Kesey – $18.00 – ISBN-13: 978-0-14-008530-3 In these short stories, Ken Kesey challenges public and private demons with a wrestler's brave and deceptive embrace, making it clear that the energy of madness must live on. Kesey begins with his release from prison and his return to an unusual domestic life; recounts foreign excursions; looks at the hard lessons to be found in the deaths of Neal Cassady and John Lennon; and more. |
FILM & TEEVEE
| DARK SHADOWS Kathryn Leigh Scott, Jim Pierson – $24.95 – ISBN-13: 978-0-938817-66-6 A look back at five decades of the classic ABC-TV Gothic horror soap opera that made sympathetic vampire Barnabas Collins a pop culture phenomenon and prompted the big screenn revival starring Johnny Depp, directed by Tim Burton. Includes hundreds of rare photographs and behind-the-scenes anecdotes from original actors, who appear in cameo roles in the new Gothic Epic. |
| FILM NOIR (TASCHEN 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) Alain Silver, James Ursini, Paul Duncan, editor – $16.99 – ISBN-13: 978-3-8365-3462-8 Shadows and smoke. Classic noir flicks of the 1940s-50s, illustrated and examined in eleven parts; what is 'Noir'; the Perfect Crime; the Fatalistic Nightmare; the Caper film; Women in film Noir…plus a chronology of the genre and a filmography including color photos of the movie release posters… plus director biographies throughout. |
| HORROR CINEMA (TASCHEN 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) Jonathan Penner, Steven Jay Schneider, Paul Duncan, editor – $16.99 – ISBN-13: 978-3-8365-3457-4 Film frights. The best scary movies of all time. With an introductio — What is 'Horror' plus ten parts from Slashers and Serial Killers; the Living Dead; Possession, Demons, & Tricksters, Vampires & Werewolves and more. With a chronology of the genre and a filmography, photo stills and behind the scenes. If you dare. |
GRAPHIC NOVELS
| FIB CHRONICLE Nemo Balkanski – $29.95 – ISBN-13: 978-0-9868440-0-3 An astonishing variety of versed drawing styles combined with a revolutionary way of storytelling. With its tempting visuals, this comic engages readers and absorbs them into a net of diverse, irrational sensations and unique, powerful impressions: disregarding the structure of comic book series, through short and striking forms, using disposable super-anti-heroes made of ordinary beings. |
| FEATURED ITEM: KRAZY & IGNATZ 1916-1924 George Herriman – $95.00 Final limited-edition deluxe Krazy hardcover collects the three Krazy & Ignatz softcover books which comprehensively compile the first nine years (1916 through 1924) of Krazy Kat Sunday strips. Not a slipcase, a single hardcover book. The covers to the original books are NOT included, but literally everything else is, including all the bonuses (other rare strips, the entire Us Husbands). |
| KRAZY & IGNATZ 1922-1924 George Herriman – $24.99 – ISBN-13: 978-1-60699-477-1 Krazy Kat, with its eternally beguiling love triangle of kat/dog/mouse, its fantastically inventive language, and its haunting, minimalist desert decor, has consistently been rated the best comic strip ever created. With the 13th volume, Krazy & Ignatz 1922-1924, the decades-in-the-making project of publishing every single Krazy Kat Sunday created by Herriman comes to a close. |
| LIFE WITH MR. DANGEROUS Paul Hornschemeier – $22.00 – ISBN-13: 978-0-345-49441-2 Somewhere in the Midwest, Amy Breis is going nowhere. Amy has a job she hates, a creep boyfriend she's just dumped, and a best friend she can't reach on the phone. But at least her mother bought her a pink unicorn sweatshirt for her birthday. Pink. Unicorn. For her 27th birthday. Hornschemeier shows his gift for insight and deadpan humor in an unlikely but welcome marriage of bleak and hopeful. |
| SILENCE OF OUR FRIENDS Mark Long, Jim Demonakos, Nate Powell – $16.99 – ISBN-13: 978-1-59643-618-3 This semi-autobiographical graphic novel is set in 1967 Texas, against the backdrop of the fight for civil rights. A white family from a notoriously racist neighborhood in the suburbs and a black family from its poorest ward cross Houston's color line, overcoming humiliation, degradation, and violence to win the freedom of five black college students unjustly charged with the murder of a policeman. |
| SIMPSONS COMICS CONFIDENTIAL Matt Groening – $15.99 – ISBN-13: 978-0-06-211532-4 The Simpsons notoriety will be hard to keep under wraps with a collection of comic stories that will catapult them onto the world stage. Bart and Lisa write to their new pen pals, but their humanitarian efforts lead to an international incident. Homer's secret vacation plans leave the family overexposed. The Olmec Indian head in the Simpsons' basement reveals mysteries of its own. And more! |
HOW-TO GUIDES
| CUSTOM ROAD BIKE Guy Andrews – $29.95 – ISBN-13: 978-1-85669-813-9 This book shows you how to put together your dream road bike, whether it's for weekend racing or a stage of the Tour de France. Featuring chapters on each of the key components, from the frame to the accesories, there is also advice on topics such as frame geometry and weight saving, and professional mechanics share their trade secrets, showing you how to make your bike run like clockwork. |
| ESSENTIAL URBAN FARMER Novella Carpenter, Willow Carpenter – $25.00 – ISBN-13: 978-0-14-311871-8 Farm City author Novella Carpenter and leading urban farming educator Willow Rosenthal share practical blueprints — with rich visual material — for novice and experienced farmers working within city limits. They guide potential urban farmers from day one to market day, advising on how to find the perfect site, design a landscape, cultivate crops and raise livestock. |
KIDS, 12 AND UNDER
| ODDFELLOW'S ORPHANAGE Emily Winfield Martin – $14.99 – ISBN-13: 978-0-375-86995-2 Emily Martin brings a very strange place to life with her unique style of art and writing. What do an onion-headed boy, a child-sized hedgehog, and a tattooed girl have in common? They are all orphans at Oddfellow's Orphanage! Author/illustrator Martin has fleshed out this world with an episodic story that follows a new orphan, Delia, as she discovers the delights of her new home. |
| FEATURED ITEM: STEAMPUNK COLORING & ACTIVITY BOOK Phoebe Longhi – $11.95 – ISBN-13: 978-1-933149-63-9 See POP CULTURE below. |
MAGAZINES & ZINES
| DICE MAGAZINE #43 Matt Davis, Dean Micetich, editors – $6.95 Cycles, cars, girls. Many color photos of all three. In this issue: Tammi, Eddie, Max, Matt, Scotty, WWNWW Part 3, Milo, Jon, Cycle Headz, Lance, JD, Rabbit Hole, Caleb, Tiz, Jessie, more. |
| FEATURED ITEM: HI-FRUCTOSE MAGAZINE #23 Attaboy, Annie Owens, editors – $6.95 From Attaboy, Annie Owens, and Yumfactory, an eclectic mix of underground artists, pop surrealists, emerging and rediscovered counter cultures, and awe inspiring spectacles. In this issue: Hi Fructose travels the globe! VHILS, Chilean painter Victor Castillo, Dirk Staschke, Joyce Ho, the glass pane paintings of Xia Xiaowan, Joao Ruas, Mark Dean Veca, Junko Mizuno, Casey Riordan, Skinner, more. |
| HIGH TIMES MAGAZINE #437 (JUNE 2012) Dan Skye, editor – $5.99 Marijuana activism, pictures of marijuana, rock and roll, etc. In this issue: inside the automatic growroom; grow this, not that; Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson; fast flowering seeds; L.A.'s top rated strains; brew your own natural nutrients; cannabis cookbooks recipes; more. |
| PINSTRIPING & KUSTOM GRAPHICS MAGAZINE #31 (MAR/APR 2012) Lynda Johnson – $9.95 The first dedicated pinstriping and airbrushing magazine for the UK and EU. Pinstripe, airbrush, tattoo, lifestyle, more. In this issue: Pro Pinstripe Techniques, Part 1 of 3; Beth Kearney; Dionne Clarke; Dawn Woodhouse; Alley Cat; Linda Tolind; Rachel McCarthy; Jesica Gough; Yrr Baldursdottir; Fern Gadd; Foz; JNS Studios; Gail Hendricks; Lorena Straffi; Henriette Murdoch; Marissa Oosterlee; more. |
| STEAMPUNK MAGAZINE #8 Margaret Killjoy – $8.00 – ISBN-13: 978-0-9834971-8-9 The term "Steampunk" was coined to refer to a branch of cyberpunk fiction cinvolving Victorian-era technology. It is now a burgeoning subculture that pays respect to the visceral nature of antiquated technology. In this issue: Seven fiction stories, Screaming Mathilda, Professor Calamity, Michael Ivan Eriksson, Katherine Casey, Larry Amyett, Jr., Miriam Rosenberg Rocek, DIY, interviews, more. |
POLITICS & SOCIETY
| EVIL AXIS OF FINANCE Richard Westra – $24.95 – ISBN-13: 978-0-932863-90-4 The Evil Axis of Finance fills in pages left blank in the flurry of meltdown writings with a highly accessible account of the insidious forces at work in the global economy. From its Wall Street command centre, and funded by Japan and China, the United States ensnares the world's states and people in a sinister, rigged, zero-sum game. We ignore the arguments of this book at our peril. |
POP CULTURE
| FEATURED ITEM: STEAMPUNK COLORING & ACTIVITY BOOK Phoebe Longhi – $11.95 – ISBN-13: 978-1-933149-63-9 Containing Illustrations, Recipes, Formulas & Other Activities to Entertain & Entice Creativity for the Prevention of Ennui & General Malaise Among the Youth of Today & Their Progenitors. In a whimsical and elegant world powered by steam, where odd flying machines rule the skies and submersibles from Captain Nemo's wildest dreams explore the deep, this future that never was is ready for some color. |
TATTOO/PIERCING/BODY MOD.
| FEATURED ITEM: MINGINS PHOTO COLLECTION Henk Schiffmacher, Arlette Kouwenhoven – $89.00 – ISBN-13: 978-949139-401-0 A massive collection of vintage tattoo photographs from the collection of Rich Mingins. Minigins' scrapbooks convey a beautiful overview of the world of tattoos and attitudes towards them during the first half of the twentieth century. Tattoo artist George Bone is one of the few surviving people with tattoos by Mingins, who was an enigmatic man about whom very little is known. |
| FEATURED ITEM: TATTOOS OF THE FLOATING WORLD Takahiro Kitamura – $49.95 – ISBN-13: 978-90-74822-45-9 This unique book by tattoo artist Takahiro Kitamura (Horitaka, a pupil of Horiyoshi III) discusses the art of the Japanese tattoo in the context of Ukiyo-e, concentrating on the parallel histories of the woodblock print and the tattoo. Through high quality illustrations it shows that Japanese tattoo is highly linked to the woodblock print and that it deserves a position among other art forms. |
TINTIN & HERGE
| CRAB WITH THE GOLDEN CLAWS Herge – $8.99 – ISBN-13: 978-0-316-19876-9 This new format, crafted for younger readers, features the original Tintin graphic novel plus brand-new content. Fun facts about people, places and antiquities that Herge drew from, lots of pictures, easy-to-read text! A can of crab meat turns out to be a small clue to a big mystery! Tintin meets Captain Haddock in his escape and his plan to track down the crooks takes him to an exotic desert city. |
| SHOOTING STAR Herge – $8.99 – ISBN-13: 978-0-316-19875-2 This new format, crafted for younger readers, features the original Tintin graphic novel plus brand-new content. Fun facts about people, places and antiquities that Herge drew from, lots of pictures, easy-to-read text! A meteorite collides with Earth! Tintin is part of the expedition to the Arctic Ocean to locate the fallen star. But someone is trying to sabotage Tintin and his team! |
VARIOUS ODDS & ENDS
| CRAPHOUND GIFT WRAP Sean Tejaratchi – $14.00 When you need to wrap that special something for that special someone that means something…or if you are tired of gift wrapping with paper bags and newspaper. Bats, ghosts, black cats, skulls, moths…moths??? |
ADULT CATALOG
ADULT NONFICTION
| FEATURED ITEM: MIND BLOWING SEX Diana Cage – $16.00 – ISBN-13: 978-1-58005-389-1 Confidence, health, and self-knowledge are the keys to a happier sex life, and sex expert Diana Cage is here to teach you how to achieve all three. Straight-talking and non-judgmental, this inclusive, hands-on guide to making sex more enjoyable will help women — straight and queer — open their minds, reject stereotypes, educate themselves and their lovers, and learn how to enjoy sex more than ever. |
More new items can be found on our Website at: http://www.lastgasp.com/1/6/0/ Or, if you prefer a "list without pictures format": http://www.lastgasp.com/2/0/









