I will soon be releasing a new book by Jared Joseph via the small press I run, Five Nine. The book is titled Rose Mask: A Play in One Act and One Repeating Scene. Above is the cover photo which was taken by the talented Rob Williamson, and I suppose art directed by me, if you can call messaging a doodle of the concept and texting instructions between Los Angeles and Oakland “art direction.” As far as a description of the book goes, I will say that it is about serving at a restaurant, masked, shortly after in-person dining became a thing again during the more uncertain days of the COVID pandemic. I will have more to say about this release very soon, but for now I will merely leave further description to the below blurb.
“Jared Joseph’s Rose Mask is Beckettian banter, where the roles of customer and server become mythic in scope, even as they remain grounded in jokes and the inescapable power plays of our late capitalist hellscape. Brilliant, witty, satisfyingly aggressive while also somehow tender and even sweet, this original book becomes increasingly profound as it accumulates.”
- Kate Durbin, author of Hoarders; Wave Books, 2021
This is my press’ first foray into publishing literature, which I would like to make its greater focus in the future.I have added payment tiers to this blog. I am still sort of figuring it out due to certain limitations of the substack infrastructure, but for the time being subscribers now have the option to pay $5 per month or $50 per year to have access to some partially hidden posts, as well as receive a monthly zine in the mail if an address is provided. The zine is going to be called “GOOGLE,” and will certainly vary in degrees of quality, but I can almost promise at least an occasional banger, and certainly the consistency of cobbling together something not totally unappreciable once a month. I would be delighted if you were to subscribe. The first issue will go out next month.
I am moving out of Los Angeles in late May. I am technically considering the move a sabbatical, however I am not certain that I will return to Southern California, at least not to reside. I encourage anyone who lives down here and wishes to see me in person before they cannot to reach out.