Corona\Samizdat returns November 2026

Rick Harsch's Corona\Samizdat will have books for sale again by November. We've been told to refrain from ordering titles before then.

Rick Harsch, rare edition

Rick Harsch's signed second novel in "fine" or "as new" condition is a rare find.

Greetings from Rick in Slovenia

Rick Harsch's Rick & Jack in Croatia is one of five Corona\Samizdat titles I've read. The others were by Gary Amdahl, Roberto Arlt, W.C. Clarke, and João Reis.

Rick Harsch's friends offer tribute and reflection

A good number of literary friends and acquaintances acknowledged Rick Harsch's passing: W.D. Clarke, author of two of Rick's Corona\Samizdat titles; Louis Armand, author of The Combinations and Rick's literary friend in Central Europe who broke the news for most of us; Art Winslow, former literary editor at The Nation; Tom Bowden who posted an extensive interview with Rick; Draxtor, patron and reader; avid reader and gardener Shoba at Substack; poet Bob Black; and the folks at Equus Press. 

I've read four or five Corona\Samizdat titles including Rick's slim Rick & Jack in Croatia. Rick and I were not close friends, but we had exchanged many emails, and he'd read all or substantial portions of both Fight for Your Long Day and the unpublished Spark Park: A Tale in Two Parts. He told me in one of the last emails I received from him that he was "trying to do too much"; publishing one of my books moved off the table only four to six weeks before Rick's initial serious medical event, and then Louis Armand seems to be telling us that Rick never left the room where he was recovering from the stroke and coma. He lived in that room for close to a year, but before that, he had an amazing run. He was published by traditional presses more than several times before he began producing his own books, sold the rights to The Manifold Destiny of Eddie Vegas to Zerogram Press, and launched W.D. Clarke and others into print for the first time as novelists.

Rick Harsch was an incredibly prolific author and publisher—a genuinely dedicated man of letters. Rick & Jack in Croatia is a slim memoir that partly concerns two of the greatest literary topics of all—at least according to the famous Irishman who passed through Trieste, like Rick, on the way to literary notoriety. I'm hopeful that Louis Armand or Rick's family will be able to liberate the remaining Corona\Samizdat titles. Rick contracted with a traditional small business who printed batches of books; he was not at all keen on print-on-demand or many of the other latest publishing gimmicks and trends—so when the remaining books become available, I will be sure to post news of it here.

Rick Harsch, rest in peace

Author and publisher Rick Harsch passed on. At present, I do not have details other than that he had pneumonia but seemed to be doing well, all things considered, as he continued to recover from a stroke and various complications from the initial medical event. The books I most associate with him are The Manifold Destiny of Eddie Vegas, America and the Cult of the Cactus Boots: A Diagnostic, and Robert Arlt's The Seven Madmen and The Flamethrowers, although Rick wrote or published many more than that. Rick Harsch, rest in peace.

brief note on White Mythology

I finished the longer of the two novels included in W.D. Clarke's White Mythology, and I highly recommend it. The novel I read is about 335 pages, and it is followed by a novella of about 120 pages. The longer one includes extraordinary sentences very reminiscent, at times, of the prose we see in early Pynchon, some Barth, Rushdie, and so on.

Rick Harsch's Recent Literary Acts

Find history here of Corona\Samizdat Press.

Dr. Ed

"Dr. Ed decided to walk the rest of the way to the hospital. This took 20 minutes more, but further lateness seemed a small price to pay for sanity's sake. But he did not just walk; he never 'just' walked, of 'just' did anything. No! Dr. Ed made his way along the tidy sidewalks and streets with the unrestrainable vigour of a man in the full rudeness of health. He strode along determinedly, swinging his arms purposefully, in satisfaction of having the full knowledge concerning a certain undeniable fact: the undeniable fact that it took more than a few minor nuisances or chance inconveniences to put Dr. Ed off of his stride!"

~~ from White Mythology by W.D. Clarke

White Mythology by W.D. Clarke

I've only read the first ten pages, but this is the best written indie-press, English-language novel I can recall reading. Ever. 

 

Support Rick Harsch

Help Rick Harsch overcome a serious health setback.

 

The Complete Works of Rick Harsch

Consider an introduction to the literature of Rick Harsch.

Help Corona\Samizdat fight tariff madness.

Help Corona\Samizdat Press fight tariff madness by donating or buying books.

She Sang to Them, She Sang

She Sang to Them, She Sang by W.D. Clarke

 

A Bended Circuity by Robert S. Stickley

Corona\Samizdat Press is taking preorders for a new batch of A Bended Circuity.

White Mythology as audiobook

 The audiobook edition of W.D. Clarke's White Mythology has a cover and is on its way.

America and the Cult of the Cactus Boots: A Diagnostic

America and the Cult of the Cactus Boots made quite a splash among YouTube book reviewers.

taxi time

"Take me home and I'll get the money, he said, and I wondered if I could get the meter over $100. Turns out I could not. I pulled up in front of his house at $96.50, taxi time. You know what happened, of course: he disappeared into his house and the lights went out after about five minutes."

~~ from Rick & Jack in Croatia by Rick Harsch

most of my childhood

~~ from Rick & Jack in Croatia by Rick Harsch

The Cult of the Cactus Boots

 

Corona\Samizdat's best sellers include this maximalist effort by Phillip Freedenberg.

back and front

The short memoir, Rick & Jack in Croatia, is engaging.