Chum

by Mark Spitzer

An allegorical novel in the French literary tradition, and a compulsive page-turner. Warning! Chum is a sex-obsessed, scatological, deeply offensive, violent, disturbed, grim, funny, and horrific allegory, peopled by predatory sailors, murderous seahags, disillusioned bargirls, one shipwrecked porn star, and a degenerate legion of mentally retrograde alcoholic hicks and inbred grotesques. Based on an unpublished film treatment by Celine, and rooted in the tradition of Rimbaud, Bataille and Genet, Chum is literary absinthe to satisfy the worldly, and scald the uninitiated. " Chum is something that Kierkegaard, at his most suicidal moment, would feel right a home with." -Andrei Codrescu Mark Spitzer is the translator and editor of The Collected Poems of George Bataille (Dufour Editions), and author of Bottom Feeder , a novel (Creative Arts). He has translated works by Celine, Genet, Rimbaud, Cendrars and others. He lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where is assistant editor for Exquisite Corpse .

160 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2001

About the author

Mark Spitzer is the author of ten or twelve books, including "Season of the Gar" (creative nonfiction, University of Arkansas Press), "CHODE!" (novel, Six Gallery Press), "Age of the Demon Tools" (poetry, Ahadada Books), "The Pigs Drink from Infinity" (poetry, Spuyten Duyvil), "Chum" (novel, Zoland Books), "Bottom Feeder" (novel, Creative Arts), "Riding the Unit" (creative nonfiction, Six Gallery Press), "From Absinthe to Abyssinia" (Rimbaud translations, Creative Arts), "The Collected Poems of Georges Bataille" (Dufour Editions), "Divine Filth" (Bataille translations, Creation Books), "The Church" (Céline translation, Green Integer), "After the Orange Glow" (forthcoming from Monkey Puzzle Press), and "Writer in Residence" (forthcoming from the University of New Orleans Press). He has published hundreds of essays, poems, stories, literary translations, etc., and has cultivated a semi-cult following as an editor of the legendary lit journal "Exquisite Corpse" (www.corpse.org). After earning three degrees in Creative Writing (a BA from the U of MN, an MA from CU, and an MFA from LSU) he taught Creative Writing and Literature for five years at Truman State University in Missouri. He is now a professor in the Department of Writing at the University of Central Arkansas, where he lives on the shores of Lake Conway and checks his droplines daily for mongo one-eyed catfish, fugly prehistoric gars, and garbage-fish like largemouth bass. He is now Managing Editor of "The Exquisite Corpse Annual," and is married to the zombie writer Robin Becker.

Reviews

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perversely funny story that I found shocking at moments ... and I am not easily shocked. What could be better than an island inhabited by a community of inbred, sexually depraved psychopaths? I look forward to reading more by this author.

[Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give this book negative stars I would. I can honestly say I'm worse off for having read it.

[MarkMcgwire · Rating 3 out of 5]

i had to shower after reading this one