Tyrant Books

Tyrant Books is an independent book publisher based in Rome, Italy and New York, New York. It was created in 2009 by Giancarlo DiTrapano as an offshoot of New York Tyrant Magazine, which was also founded by DiTrapano, in 2006.

Tyrant Books
Founded2009 (2009)
FounderGiancarlo DiTrapano
Headquarters locationNew York City; Rome
Publication typesBooks, magazines
Official websitenytyrant.com

History

Tyrant Books was created to publish books less suited to large publishing houses, often because of their non-mainstream appeal. Giancarlo DiTrapano is quoted in the Los Angeles Review of Books as saying: "It would have taken forever for me to do anything I wanted to do [working for a traditional publishing house], but I had a little money, so I started a press."

In 2006, he founded New York Tyrant Magazine, which published "writers the big houses refused to touch". The magazine was put on hiatus until December 2016, when it was brought back as an online journal, with Dr. Jordan Castro as the editor.[1][2][3]

In 2009, the magazine marked the beginning of the publication's transition to book publishing when it published 500 copies of the novella Baby Leg by Brian Evenson.[4]

In 2013, Tyrant Books partnered with Fat Possum Records after DiTrapano met with Matthew Johnson, owner of Fat Possum Records. Johnson developed an interest in saving the publishing house — which was struggling financially — and became 50 percent owner. He took over the business aspects of Tyrant Books while DiTrapano was freed to focus more on the editorial side of the business.

In 2014, Tyrant Books published Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish, winner of the 2015 PEN/Faulkner Prize for fiction. As of January 2015, the book had sold 15,000 copies.[5]

DiTrapano, a native of Charleston, West Virginia, died in March 2021, at the age of 47.[6][7]

In 2022 family and friends of Giancarlo DiTrapano launched The Giancarlo DiTrapano Foundation for Literature and the Arts. Its stated  mission is "extending the legacy of the publisher by hosting creative residencies and cultural events, as well as maintaining and editorial archive" at a villa and cultural center in Sezze Romano, Italy.[8][9]

Publications of Tyrant Books
  • Baby Leg, Brian Evenson (2009) - Fiction
  • Firework, Eugene Marten (2010, 2017 re-release) - Fiction/Literary
  • Us, Michael Kimball (2011) - Fiction/Psychological
  • Life is With People, Atticus Lish (2011) - Drawings
  • Sky Saw, Blake Butler (2012) - Fiction/Gothic
  • Strange Cowboy, Lincoln Dahl Turns Five, Sam Michel (2012) - Fiction/Literary
  • Solip, Ken Baumann (2013) - Fiction/Literary
  • What Purpose Did I Serve In Your Life, Marie Calloway (2013) - Fiction/Short Stories
  • Hill William, Scott McClanahan (2013) - Fiction/Cultural Heritage
  • Preparation For The Next Life, Atticus Lish (2014) - Fiction/Literary
  • Bad Sex, Clancy Martin (2015) - Fiction/Literary
  • Supremacist, David Shapiro (2016) - Fiction/Literary
  • White Nights in Split Town City, Annie DeWitt (2016) - Fiction/Literary
  • Literally Show Me a Healthy Person, Darcie Wilder (2017) - Fiction/Literary
  • The Sarah Book, Scott McClanahan (2017) - Fiction/Literary[10]
  • Floating Notes, Babak Lakghomi (2018) - Fiction/Literary
  • Liveblog, Megan Boyle (2018) - Fiction/Literary
  • Under the Sea, Mark Leidner (2018) - Fiction/Literary
  • Welfare, Steve Anwyll (2019) - Fiction/Literary
  • Essays and Fictions, Brad Phillips (2019) - Fiction/Literary
  • The Great American Suction, David Nutt (2019) - Fiction/Literary
  • Vincent and Alice and Alice, Shane Jones (2019) - Fiction/Literary
  • The Complete Gary Lutz, Gary Lutz (2019) - Fiction/Literary
  • Pets, Jordan Castro (editor), 2020 - Fiction and Nonfiction/Literary

References
  1. Bible, Michael (September 5, 2013). "He Offered Me Cocaine: An Interview with Giancarlo DiTrapano of Tyrant Books". LA Review of Books.
  2. "NY Tyrant Titles". NY Tyrant.
  3. Tyrant Books website.
  4. Slayton Joslin, Jay (7 June 2016). "Interview: Giancarlo DiTrapano, Publisher at Tyrant Books, June 7, 2016". Cultured Vultures.
  5. Maloney, Jennifer (January 16, 2015). "How 'Preparation for the Next Life' Became a Big Hit for Tyrant". The Wall Street Journal.
  6. "Avant-Garde Publisher Giancarlo DiTrapano Dead at 47". AP News. April 2, 2021.
  7. Vadukul, Alex (April 15, 2021). "Giancarlo DiTrapano, Defiantly Independent Book Publisher, Dies at 47". The New York Times.
  8. https://www.ditrapanofoundation.com/
  9. https://lithub.com/the-sacred-and-profane-revisiting-a-2018-interview-with-giancarlo-ditrapano/
  10. "Tyrant Books Search Results". Consortium Book Sales & Distribution.
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