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.

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 The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 2012 ...

'' as saying: "It would have taken forever for me to do anything I wanted to do orking 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. 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 Brian Evenson (born August 12, 1966) is an American academic and writer of both literary fiction and popular fiction, some of the latter being published under B. K. Evenson. His fiction is often described as literary minimalism, but also draws in ...

. In 2013, Tyrant Books partnered with

Fat Possum Records Fat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Water Valley and Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording previously unknown Mississippi blues artists (typically from Oxford or Holly Spri ...

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 Atticus Lish (born 1972) is an American novelist. His debut, ''Preparation for the Next Life'', caught its independent publisher, Tyrant, "off guard" by becoming a surprise success, winning a number of awards including the PEN/Faulkner Award for ...

, winner of the 2015 PEN/Faulkner Prize for fiction. As of January 2015, the book had sold 15,000 copies. DiTrapano, a native of Charleston, West Virginia, died in March 2021, at the age of 47.

Publications of Tyrant Books

* ''Baby Leg'',

(2009) - Fiction * ''Firework'', Eugene Marten (2010, 2017 re-release) - Fiction/Literary * ''Us'', Michael Kimball (2011) - Fiction/Psychological * ''Life is With People'',

(2011) - Drawings * ''Sky Saw'',

Blake Butler John David Blake Butler (22 October 1924 – 15 April 1981) was an English actor best known for his role as the lecherous chief librarian Mr. Wainwright during the first and third series of '' Last of the Summer Wine'' in 1973 and 1976 re ...

(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 Marie Calloway is an American author. Her first book, ''what purpose did i serve in your life?'', was published by Tyrant Books and generated controversy. Part of the volume recounts the author's romantic relationship with a married journalist ...

(2013) - Fiction/Short Stories * ''Hill William'', Scott McClanahan (2013) - Fiction/Cultural Heritage * ''Preparation For The Next Life'',

(2014) - Fiction/Literary * ''Bad Sex'',

Clancy Martin Clancy Martin (born May 7, 1967) is a Canadian philosopher, novelist, and essayist. His interests focuses on 19th century philosophy, existentialism, moral psychology, philosophy and literature, ethics & behavioral health, applied and professiona ...

(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 * ''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 Garielle Lutz (born 26 October 1955) is an American writer of fiction. In 2021, simultaneous with the publication of her book ''Worsted'', Lutz came out as a transgender woman. In 2022, she was twice mentioned as an unlikely contender for the Nob ...

(2019) - Fiction/Literary * ''Pets'', Jordan Castro (editor), 2020 - Fiction and Nonfiction/Literary

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

NY Tyrant official webpage
Publishing companies established in 2009 Book publishing companies of Italy Book publishing companies of the United States Italian companies established in 2009