New Titles from Hawthorne Books

A lovely little crop of new titles from independent publisher Hawthorne Books arrived at Biblioklept World Headquarters earlier this week. We solicited for a reading copy of Monica Drake’s 2007 novel (okay, they weren’t all like, totally new) Clown Girl and the folks at Hawthorne were kind enough to send along their two newest titles as well, Frank Meeink’s The Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead and Loretta Stinson’s début novel, Little Green. Little Green tells the story of a teenage runaway coming of age in the drug culture of the Pacific Northwest in the late 1970s. Frank Meeink’s The Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead–told to Jody M. Roy (in the tradition of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told to Alex Haley)–chronicles how one of America’s most notorious neo-Nazis spiraled into a cycle of criminal violence before eventually finding redemption and purpose. Meeink was a guest on NPR’s Fresh Air a few months ago–you can listen to that story here. While Clown Girl doesn’t seem nearly as immediately grave as Meeink’s book or Little Green, it does have its gritty side. Set in the weird world of Baloneytown, Clown Girl follows the tragicomic life of Nita (aka Sniffles) as she tries to realize her dreams of artistic freedom through, uh, clowning. But economic realities threaten to force her into satisfying the dark needs of clown fetishists. Damn! Earlier this month Collider reported that SNLer Kristen Wiig is planning to write and star in an adaptation of Clown Girl.

Hawthorne has created some really marvelous aesthetic objects here, and the Portland, Oregon based indie seems to have achieved a pleasing house style. These trades are a bit taller than what most of the big publishing houses put out, with heavy, thick covers and double French flaps. The thick bright white acid-free pages are also a nice touch. Full, in-depth reviews forthcoming.