It is often misunderstood how such a dark work as the Divine Comedy may be called a "Comedy". The word “Comedy” in the classical sense refers to works which reflect belief in an ordered universe, in which events tend toward not only a happy or amusing ending but one influenced by a Providential will that orders all things to an ultimate good.  As Rami and I seem to always conclude we think there is a monstrously ironic absurdity in the contemporary world of publishers and editors which have their own rather private, particularly corrupt and elitist world and an entirely well-organized publishing Hell which we call the “Publishers Comedy” if you will. It is very parallel to Dante’s Divine Comedy which is a fascinating story about descending into the lower regions of Hell. I usually down a shot of cold absinthe sans sucre at some point when we discuss the subject. Rami is known for the fact he boycotted Amazon too. That surely took a huge amount of chutzpah and although sounding like career suicide, was not in the end. That is because it became his cause célèbre which only evokes admiration from most people. He even has the humour to have framed the rejection letter he received from Grove-Atlantic Publishers in 2010. It’s worth quoting in it’s entirety it’s so uproariously ridiculous :

Dear Rami,

Thank you to have submitted Train to Pokipse to Grove. I enjoyed reading it and it reminded me in theme and style of some of the wonderful novels that we published in the mid to late ‘80s – such as Gary Indiana and Dennis Cooper. You are a talented writer and I am sure that you will have a wonderful career ahead of you.

We have found that it is essential to have editors working on a given project be absolutely fervent about a book. Otherwise it does not have someone at the company who can take « ownership » of the project and get published effectively. I am sorry but I did not find an editor at Grove who was willing to acquire the novel and work with you on its publication.

Good luck with placing it at another house.

Cheers,
Eric Price

 First of all, who signs off « cheers » ? Really.

Second of all, apparently it’s the editor who is the creative force and most essential element of a novel being born, not the writer. As my dear friend Bill Burroughs once said to me when I was telling him that someone I trusted had deeply hurt my feelings, « I say fuck ‘em ». Well, I say « ditto » to Mr Eric « Cheers » Price.

I could go on for pages about how egregious and stupid I find this reply to a gifted author like Rami but shall only say there is a special place in Hell especially assigned for Mr. Eric Price, somewhere between the clergy frozen in ice and those douchbags, the Hitlers, the Stalins, you know, the real monsters of the world who now live eternally damned to fire. I happily imagine him there. Happily. The result of his letter though, ironically, was good though. Even after a messy, two-year-long lawsuit with Anchor International who published an unauthorized galley proof and despite the fact a federal court judged in his favour he ultimately felt corporate publishing was not for him. This is the only thing I allow as a good thing from Mr Price. So, maybe he should not be eternally damned, just enough to learn his lesson and hopefully admit what a schmuck he was for not feeling the great cosmic Über Gods above gave him a great opportunity, a cosmic gift, to have had the chance (though lose it) to publish Rami. The good which came from such a hilarious reject was that the letter inspired Rami to publish his novel himself. He had no trouble placing his work with someone he trusted. Himself and a friend. His trusted friend, a fellow artist is Adam Void. Hence the birth in 2012 of Rami’s launch into the world of indie self-publishing and his Underground Editons, who published the first edition of 911 copies of Train to Pokipse, each one signed and numbered with an endearing, very personal original print photo of Rami as a child attached to the inside back cover. He published it by saving his wages as a waiter in a Brooklyn restaurant, a loan of one thousand dollars from his mother and one from Adam Void and a great deal of patience and waiting,…..an endless, endless void of waiting. This is of course a very Dante-ian thing to do, to be damned to eternal waiting. Ah, irony, you funny little prankster.

A little about Adam Void, (though a little does not exactly do him justice) : He is a devoted friend to Rami and « transforms the debris of contemporary society into works that address social & political issues of class, control, and community”, according to his biography on his website. Fascinated by the sociological and artistic energies of countercultures which he has experienced he studies graffiti, DIY culture, hobo-type train travelling, mysticism, “Outsider” lifestyle and art as well as social activism. He says his work can be found in the collections of “Museum Directors, Futurologists, Pioneers of Hip Hop, Incarcerated Criminals, Angry Teenagers, and Panhandlers” and that his exhibitions are in prestigious museums but also and not limited to “Anarchist Infoshops, Dive Bars, Skate Shops, and Water Drainage Tunnels.” Seemingly autodidactic he has a Master’s of Fine Art degree from MICA's Mount Royal School of Art and a BA in Existential Philosophy. His scrawling handwriting and artwork is notably used to great effect promoting all sort of events and projects various things related to Occupy Wall Street and Train to Pokipse. He is the perfect foil to Rami and they seem to be tackling the world together.

Rami has very potent scrupules and has a high standard of morals. He makes me seem like a heathen, a spoilt Dionysus. His scruples seem impeccable. He also believes firmly in freedom of speech, equal human rights, and a variety of responsible human ideas, theories and groups from early N.O.W Feminists to Radical Faeries. He was one of the original Occupy Wall Street people, there are many pictures of his sit down strike cuddling up with other fellow Occupy-ers whom he considers his « peeps » and he has great unwavering « love » for them, even still when they all got together years later as a sort of reunion. He has protested for « Free Pussy Riot », puts political graffiti on old abandoned bridges and trains with an additional tag for Train to Pokipse, protested against Baltimore police, has had Freddie Grey protests such as a Disarm the NYPD protest, has participated in the preservation of Barney Rosset’s last artistic work, a huge wall mural in his former apartment and supports all of the counterculture friends and artists. He has a huge political activist archive, stashed at a his mom’s apartment in Brooklyn and in variety of friends homes. His reading material, besides classic literature are things like the Anarchist’s Basics, various Noam Chomsky things like The Responsibility of Intellectuals and a myriad of his writings about the anti-war collective Resist, and let’s not forget Henri David Thoreau’s Disobedience. Sigh. He is heroic and I have a great deal of respect for him, and frankly, do not know how he manages to be so….so noble. It’s like he is a very down-to-earth dreamer, which is such a contrasted mélange, he is a Seven11 of high morals, open 24/7.

Rami is extremely convivial and open. With his already built-in sense of scruples and combined with an almost affectionate way with people, it seems humans are drawn to him. I think when the DNA helix was forming upon his conception; a “Alpha Nice” gene was strongly built into it, probably a set of giddy, delightful and wonderfully adorable fuchsia and sky blue balls on DNA sticks. He laughs a lot despite his adamant fights against artistic injustices and social ones.

He charms me just as easily and as well as most of those who already know him for years. It took about five minutes into talking to him for the first time. That is because simply put; he is easy to like and listen to, especially after reading his book. He has a raucous laugh (and a fist full of astray diphthongs) like a gaggle of literary geese honking at you as his bromantic inner taxi cab driver sticks it head out of the window of his eyes to ask directions to the last exit to Brooklyn.

The book is a long culled work that had a few difficult starts and many, many edits but is a joy to read. Boycotting Amazon and despite this, the first edition of 911 copies sold out. He is a recipient of the 2013 Acker Award for fiction. He gave talks to empower fellow authors and developed throughout the USA, one-by-one, a 40 strong list of bookshops who are independent and to sell and promote Train to Pokipse. This is no mean feat for one individual who has written and published his own book. Being sort of, or rather very selfless he gave back to the community of indie authors by making a distribution map to help others like himself opt out of corporate publishing. As of 2013 it has been called an “invaluable resource for the independant distribution of books.”

Dispelling many publishing myths with his book, Rami has not stopped with this first edition. The most exciting news right now is that the ever-passionate Rami is doing a May, 2015 Kickstarter campaign to produce a second edition of 1984 copies, the famous Orwell-ian date which has struck a cord in many a young artist and is a contradictory date in the heinous cut-throat world imagined by Ayn Rand, who was perhaps one of the most messed up influences of the later part of the 20th-century and the beginning of the 21st century where Monsanto seems to be killing all the bees, Fukishima may contaminate the world’s oceans and Nestlé’s Senior CEO wants to make water a commodity to sell. A world Rami seems to be particularly conscience of, with all of its evils and his many varied fights against them. This date holds dear to Rami as its symbol reflects his awareness of the world we live in as did the first edition of 911 copies. Even with his number of books, he is making a political statement. Though he has contributed and supported many, many political protests against nearly everything corporate and evil, he is truly just a sensitive poet who, when pen is put to paper excels in making the words marry and love each other. He is dyed in the wool true Old Skool writer first and foremost.

The book is a great read, I cannot say this enough. Of it, Micah White said, "TRAIN TO POKIPSE is the best indie novel of the Occupy generation." Truly a dazzling waterfall and downward decent of the pleasure of reading, its an hilarious ride of slipping and flying above the earth down a water park slide covered in Astrogel. Perhaps somewhat, though not entirely demi-autofictional, it does tell the contemporary story of coming of age in the sex, drug and nihilistic world of today, the world young pre-middle-aged gay men, and even people in general are obliged to either sink or swim in. I highly recommend reading it and perhaps even contributing to his current Kickstarter. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed. Rami is a unique individual and deserves more recognition for his outstanding talent. Not only is he talented but he is a marvellous friend. Humans, when they have an artistic talent PLUS are truly lovely people are extra special in this world and we have to take care of them, they merit full and utterly total support. If you like or like myself, love reading and still like old-y world-y books that you hold in your hands please….support the re-edition of Train to Pokipse and treat yourself to the joy of reading something pertinent in a world of selfies and narcissistic do-nothing pseudo celebrities. It will give you a genuine and formidable mental boner. Follow Rami on social media, he has the usual stuff though only recently got on to Instagram where you can see images linked to his creative spirit and understand so much of not only the man but the book. You’ll be very intrigued and happy to get to know him through the voyeuristic media of today. It’s one of its only saving graces; you can actually see a living artist in his daily life as he creates his art. Rami is a true man of today and in contrast, a guaranteed Old Skool artist and writer. He has endless,....tons and tons of mensch-itude. It's pouring out of his gifted fingers. Support him, read him, love him. Feel the feels!

BillyBoy*, May 1st, 2015
Layout by Lala

LATEST NEWS : THE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN reached its goals and beyond.
Congratulations to Rami Shamir!