We come to the thirteenth and final Chômu release of 2011, The Secret Life of the Panda, by Nick Jackson, a collection of exquisitely realised short stories that forms a fitting(ly unusual) cap to an exciting and rewarding year. So, what can you expect to find between the mysterious covers of this volume, with its beautiful and evocative artwork from Suzanne Norris? Many things as rare as the titular panda: a perfect mastery of the short fiction form that is both unmistakably contemporary and authentically beautiful, a fusion of realism and dream-like fantasy that is seamless, an ability to summon potent emotions with small details and show the internal through the external, and the spreading of a large imaginative canvas on which the characters remain vivid. A disappearing world of strange and private visions is here for you to discover.

Here are rumours of the secret life that have already reached us:

“With exquisite delicacy and a keen eye for the bizarre, Jackson (Visits to the Flea Circus) creates a series of moody vignettes taking readers from religious strife in 16th-century [Germany] to a jungle camp of [Cuban] guerrillas and the mundane hallways of a contemporary British school. … The spectacular “Boys’ Games” intertwines the confused cruelties of children in the schoolyard and men at war. And the otherworldly dedication involved in studying or recreating nature comes to life in “The City in Flames” and “Shell Fire,” respectively.”

- Publishers Weekly

“In romanticizing the uncanny, the fantastic and the horrific, Nick Jackson’s fiction emulates that of the great 19th century writers of suspense, Poe, Wilde and Shelley. With his unique marriage of subtlety and decadence Jackson is able to minimise the carnal horror whilst preserving the spine-tingling fear. Whether unleashing his ghosts or exorcising his demons, Jackson’s is an almost ethereal voice in a literary world of bloody over-abundance.”

- Rachel Kendall

“Nick Jackson’s fertile imagination is matched by his skill with the English language: writing about both mundane matter as well as fantasies made real seems so natural to him that the reader is left wondering why this shamanistic mind has not bloomed around the world – so many stories are here that suggest that his fount of inspiration is bottomless. He has perfected the art of short story writing (no mean feat): he makes us long for a novella or novel that would allow us to explore his talent even further.”

- Grady Harp

On Monday the 19th of December, there will also be a book launch for The Secret Life of the Panda at Olives in Norwich (40 Elm Hill, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 1HG). The event will take place between 7.30 and 9.00pm. Nick Jackson will be reading extracts from the collection, and from 8.30 there will be a musical set from singer-songwriter Kimberley Moore. If you’re anywhere near Norwich, or if you’re a travelling kind of person, please do drop in.

Prize Draw for uniquely inscribed copy of The Secret Life of the Panda

The winner of last month’s prize draw for an inscribed copy of Here Comes the Nice is Thomas Strømsholt, who will be receiving his prize in the post soon.

We are presenting another prize draw this month, this time, of course, for a uniquely inscribed copy of The Secret Life of the Panda. The same rules apply as before: To be entered for this draw, please sign up here to our mailing list (or using the ‘Free updates’ widget on our home page) and send an e-mail with the subject heading ‘Secret Life’ to info at chomupress dot com. If you are already on our mailing list, naturally there is no need to sign up again – simply send an e-mail with the ‘Secret Life’ subject heading to the address mentioned. Only one entry allowed per person. Deadline for draw, the 30th of December.

That today is the last day for entering the prize draw for an inscribed copy of Here Comes the Nice, by Jeremy Reed.

And that tomorrow, December the 1st, is the day of the book launch, for Here Comes the Nice. Doors open at 8pm and admission is £5, but this is refunded with a signed copy of the book which costs £10 (IE, you’ll save five quid on the usual price of the book). Copies of the book will be limited, of course, so this offer is first come first served, or, as they say ’subject to availability’.

The venue is Jamboree, 566 Cable Street, Limehouse, London. Jeremy Reed will be performing with The Ginger Light:

The support act is confirmed as Lord Magpie and the Prince of Cats:

November is here. There must be something in the air. On the 14th of this month (two days ago), The Who’s Quadrophenia: The Director’s Cut was released, a re-issue of the 1973 ‘mod opera’ and the tale of a young Mod called Jimmy. Today we look into the future and go also a little further into the past, with the literary fireworks of Jeremy Reed’s Here Comes the Nice, the tale of the Face, the proto-Mod who came out of nowhere with a quantum leap of style, and who may have leapt the bounds of time itself. Get the low-down on the High Numbers by picking up a copy here.

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly have this to say of the novel:

Pop culture revivals and obsessive style nostalgia are extrapolated to an almost frightening degree in this speed-rush of music, drugs, and time-travel mysticism. Paul is a journalist in a dystopian, gray, near-future London. As he works on a biography of 1960s fashion designer John Stephen, Paul begins running into a mod archetype called the Face, still young, riding his decked-out Vespa among the armored limousines and roving “hoodie gangs.” Is the Face a time traveler, a meth addict obsessed with the last generation’s fashions, or, like the aging bands and politicians, trying desperately to freeze time? Reed’s portrayal of the 1960s—the clothes, the language, the sex, and the music—is surreal and perfect. He doesn’t shy from the queer side of mod culture and accurately portrays the legendary young bands as kids, both amateurish and brilliant. Either a critique of retro chic or its most extreme expression, this page-turner is a volume knob-turner as well.

The legendary Jeremy Reed, with Here Comes the Nice, shows us the brilliant supernova of his creativity is still expanding. In a work that takes the reader back to the raw early gigs of The Small Faces, The Rolling Stones, The Pretty Things and The Who, and forward to the collapsing brink of the near-future, the time-travelling Mod has never been more NOW.

To add to the excitement, there is also the Here Comes the Nice book launch at Jamboree, 566 Cable Street, Limehouse, London, featuring Jeremy Reed performing with The Ginger Light.

Prize Draw for uniquely inscribed copy of Here Comes the Nice

We would also like to announce a prize draw for a signed and uniquely inscribed copy of Here Comes the Nice. You may know the drill by now, but here it is again: To be entered for this draw, please sign up to our mailing list (using the ‘Free updates’ widget on our home page) and send an e-mail with the subject heading ‘The Nice’ to info at chomupress dot com. If you are already on our mailing list, naturally there is no need to sign up again – simply send an e-mail with the ‘The Nice’ subject heading to the address mentioned. Only one entry allowed per person. Deadline for draw, the 30th of November.

In further news, and on the subject of The Orphan Palace, we are very pleased to announce that Issue #117 of Rue Morgue magazine contains as spotlight feature on Chômu Press, which includes a look at The Orphan Palace and an interview with Quentin S. Crisp. It also has a very fetching image of Lon Chaney’s Phantom of the Opera on the cover.

Coinciding, by chance or fate, with the Quadrophenia Director’s Cut box set next week, we have the release of Jeremy Reed’s brilliant Here Comes the Nice, more details of which will follow on the 16th of this month. For those living in London, or able to travel, don’t forget that there will be a book launch at Jamboree on Cable Street, featuring Jeremy Reed performing with The Ginger Light.

John Elliott Interview by chomuradioarchive

Last and not least, something calling itself the ‘Chomu Radio Archive’ (thanks to Joe Campbell) has uploaded a long, in-depth, audio interview with Chômu writer John Elliott. John Elliott talks to Quentin S. Crisp about Philip K. Dick, Lovecraft, Oulipo, John Calder, Queneau, Georges Perec, and many other things.