As of my last conversation with the editor at Feral House [2], my book (entitled Poop Culture: How America is Shaped by its Grossest National Product [3], in case you haven't yet tattooed the title to your wrist) is in layout. The designer is setting the type and complimenting my witty and enlightening prose with about thirty visuals ranging from 19th Century woodcuts depicting the dangers of the then-nascent sewage infrastructure to prints of Piero Manzoni's Merda d'Artista [4]. Once the design is complete, I'll examine a proof for typos and math errors, and then off to the printer it goes. I've been told to expect a late-April release, although Amazon claims May 1. (Yes, it's been listed on Amazon [5]! Yes, it's ranked #803,588 in sales!)
I'm passing the time until the book comes out by preparing for the second-most exciting thing on my schedule: the University of Iowa's Symposium on Obscenity [6]. On March 1, I'll be in glorious Iowa City itself to speak on a subject I'm passionate about [7]: the behavior of the news media when confronted by poop. The title of my presentation: "All Stinks Considered: The News Media, the Bathroom, and Fear of Matter Out of Place." Joining me at the conference are two fellow PoopReporters: Marisol Cortez, who wrote that great academic analysis of PoopReport ("Brown Meets Green: The Political Fecology of PoopReport.com" [8]), and Danny Gerling, whose work has graced this site [9] as well.
Will poop play in Iowa? I'll try to record my presentation and post it on Youtube so you can see for yourself.
Since my talk in Iowa precedes the book by about two months, I've printed some cool postcards to hand to anyone I meet. They encourage people to sign up for the contact list [10] so they're the first to know the release date, as well as information about interviews, readings, and anything else that may happen. If you want one, email me your address. (And if you want to help promote the book by sending them to your friends or family, let me and I'll send you some. Make sure you tell me how many you need.)
One thing people on the mailing list will hear more about: the book release party is tentatively -- and I mean tentatively -- scheduled for May 8 here in New York City. It'll feature poop-related musical performances, comedians, short films, and a reading by yours truly. If there's any interest, I'll also schedule an exclusive gathering just for any PoopReporters who want to come.
So March is exciting in Iowa, and May is exciting everywhere else. If you can't wait, there's always the The Journal [11], which I bring not just for shameless promotion, but also because I have literally only FOUR more copies of issue #2. And I won't be doing another print run until well after the book has been released. So if your feeling of impending release is as urgent and insatiable as mine, this is your last chance for literary excremental gratification until Poop Culture is released. Don't miss out.
