 The Death of Aubrey Darger The Death of Aubrey Darger is a lightly edited and revised version of the first chapter of the Darger and Surplus novel, Chasing the Phoenix. The result? A joyous romp and a complete, stand-alone story in its own right. This, and the novel, are the only records of what is probably the first time that Postutopian confidence artist extraordinaire Aubrey Darger ever died. Shipped Domestically, The Death of Aubrey Darger, $12  Shipped Internationally, The Death of Aubrey Darger, $14  Northern Lights Northern Lights was written to mark the 2018 solstice season. A collection of darkly amusing takes on Icelandic myth, it consists of four interrelated short short fictions based on the Yule Lads, the troublemaking imps of the dark northern Christmas. It was issued in an edition of 120, all signed by the author and numbered, of which
Shipped Domestically, Northern Lights, $6 Shipped Internationally, Northern Lights, $7   Cigar Box Faust
Have you ever wanted to have your own theater? Well, now you can.
Check out Michael Swanwick's Cigar Box Faust: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_hEJz3dfR8
Isn't that wonderful? Now you can produce your own performance of Cigar Box Faust. Dragonstairs Press is offering everything you need to mount your own production! The theater (a cigar box), the cast (a cigar in the title role and a cigar cutter as Mephistopheles, the sun, moon, and stars– well, cutouts and glitter), an mp3 file of Swanwick reading the text, and a chapbook of the script (a limited edition, signed by Michael Swanwick and numbered)!
OK, Full Disclosure: you will not get a box of matches. Do you know what you have to do to mail matches? You will receive a box of stage dressed matches that won't actually catch fire. Real matches, you're on your own.
Signed, limited edition theater set,
limited to 40 theaters,
Domestic mailing $40 International mailing $45
 The Third Frankenstein Everyone knows there are two Frankensteins-- the one Mary Shelley wrote 200 years ago and the green fellow with the bolt in his neck created by hundreds of subsequent movie makers, comic book artists, and other collaborators. But if one reads the original text carefully, there is a third Frankenstein completely unlike anything the public knows. Michael Swanwick's new essay presents a theory so radical as to have critics everywhere snatching up torches and pitchforks for an attack on his lair. And the critics praise Swanwick's "essential looniness"! "There is only one problem with Michael Swanwick's theory: It describes a better Frankenstein than the teenager ever dreamed she wrote." --- John Clute "Not too much unlike Victor Frankenstein himself, Swanwick has cobbled
together various bits of the corpses of old literary theories in the
service of a lurching and ungainly argument: unreliable narrators meet
the unreliable analyst. The fact that it occasionally makes sense should
not divert us from recognizing its essential looniness." --- Gary Wolfe Shipped Domestically, The Third Frankenstein. Eleven dollars. Shipped Internationally, The Third Frankenstein. Twelve Dollars.  In Memorium by Michael Swanwick and Sean Swanwick In Memorium was created to mark the installation of a plaque in honor of Gardner Dozois in the Salem Massachusetts Public Library. Gardner was born in Salem and lived there until he was 18, when he left to join the Army. The text was written shortly after Gardner's death in 2018, and first appeared in the program book of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Convention. Michael Swanwick was a long-time friends and professional colleague of Gardner, and Sean Swanwick a life-long friend and for several years Gardner's office assistant.  The Devil's Bestiary The
Devil's Bestiary is Michael Swanwick's cynical,whimsical take on twenty
nine creatures of myth and fables. It is 5 ½ inch square format, with
an outer wrapper of hand-dyed kozo paper, hand-stitched, numbered, and
signed by the author.  Valentine Moon Dragonstairs
celebrates Valentine's Day! Ten romantic, moony vignettes. 5 ½ by 5 ½
inches. Double wrapper, the outer made of Desert Rose handmade paper
from Alexandra Soteriou at worldpaperusa.com, with an eccentrically
placed replica of a 19th century Queen of Hearts. Brochure stitch with a
red ribbon. Issued in an edition of 40, of which  Is There Something About You Irish? 2019's
Irish Worldcon was the occasion of Michael Swanwick's third visit to
Ireland. To note the occasion, he wrote six brief essays about the
experience of being Irish American. Is There Something About You
Irish? is a signed, numbered, hand-stitched chapbook, printed in
an edition of 60, of which   Dragonskin Michael Swanwick writes four flash essays about writers perhaps best known for their dragon works: Shepard, Le Guin, McCaffrey, and Swanwick. Additionally, with an afterword tying them all together. Numbered and signed by Swanwick. Edition of 50 conventional brochure binding, of which  Small Wonders by Michael Swanwick. (2017) Three
seasonal stories, including Midnight Journey, A Horse Named Michael, and The Mousewife's Tale.
Edition of 120 copies, hand-stitched, signed and numbered, 4¼"x5½",
12 pages.  The Proceedings of the American Martini Institute Report of the American Martini Laboratory The Evolution of the Martini Nine short essays, originally published on Michael Swanwick's blog, tracing the evolution of the martini and what came after. Text by Michael Swanwick. Cover illustration by Susan McAninley. Hand-stitched, signed by the author, numbered. Publication date: May 21, 2018 "Five to one" Published in an edition of 60,  “The gamut of true love, treachery, sly jibes, and deceit in five flash seasons.” —Gregory Frost , author of Shadowbridge "Bright, brief, and pitiless—an icy shard of Swanwick to the brain." --- Greer Gilman, author of Moonwise
Five Seasons is Michael Swanwick's slightly different take on the cycle of the year. Tricksy,
complex, and definitely for grownups. Five short short stories,
independent but interrelated, bound in 100% cotton wrappers, 8.5” x
5.5”, five pages hand-stitched, signed by the author, numbered, and
issued in an edition of 100, of which  Dragonstairs Press has recently acquired several copies of Being Gardner Dozois, published by Old Earth Books. In Being Gardner Dozois, Swanwick interrogated Dozois about every piece of short fiction he had written, up until 1999, probing what worked, what didn't and why. Swanwick's insightful questions, and Dozois's extraordinary understanding of the art of short fiction will fascinate and enlighten. All copies have been sold.  Blue Moon by Michael Swanwick (2018)
Five “flash” stories, all with a lunar setting. Published in an edition of 69, released for sale on the second “blue moon” of 2018. 67 copies available for sale (publisher's and author's copies withheld) on March 31, 2018, for 24 hours only. All copies not sold by midnight, March 31, 2018 will be burned.
8½”x5½” eight pages hand-stitched, signed, and numbered, with a sodalite bead ornament. We regret we cannot offer volume discounts for this project. Sold out. Thank you for your support.  Midwinter Fables by Michael Swanwick. (2016) Four of Aesop's fables, retold.
Edition of 110 copies, hand-stitched, signed and numbered, 4¼"x5½", 16 pages Sold out. Thank you for your support.  Touchstones by Michael Swanwick (2017) Three personal stories, (one previously
published on Swanwick's blog) and an afterward. Published in an
edition of 50, to mark Swanwick's participation in the Fourth
Chengdu International Science Fiction Conference, 2017 8½”x5½” eight pages
hand-stitched, signed, and numbered Touchstones has sold out, and is no longer available. Thank you for your interest.  Solstice
Spirits by Michael Swanwick. (2015) Four brief seasonal tales.
Edition of 100 copies, hand-stitched, signed and numbered, 4 1/4" x 5
1/2", 12 pages.   Hunting the Phoenix by Michael Swanwick. 6 1/2" by 4". Bound in archival board wrappers covered with hand-dyed rice paper, with a stab binding ornamented with a single aventurine bead. The contents include a text introduction by Michael Swanwick, and seventeen color illustrations, also by Swanwick, created originally on the iPad, as part of early planning for the novel, "Chasing the Phoenix". Illustrations include many of the major characters, and several incidents from the book. Limited to 30 numbered copies, signed by the author, now sold out.   8 1/2” x 5 1/2” six pages This project consists of two essays: “Meditations on Oysters” by Christopher Morley (1917) and “Meditations on Meditations on Oysters” by Michael Swanwick. (2015) The two essays are bound in one set of covers in “tête-bêche” fashion (often [apparently mistakenly] called dos à dos). Stitching ornamented with a single grey pearl. Limited to 50 numbered copies, signed by Michael Swanwick, with Universe Boxes is a collaborative project by Michael Swanwick and Marianne Porter. The boxes were assembled over several years by Porter, and the novelette was written by Swanwick. The project has four distinct elements: The Box Each box is an actual cigar box, lined with astronomical charts and photomoechanicals of paleontological art. (Please note: the boxes have been carefully cleaned, bicarbonate of soda-ed, aired out, and Febreezed, but they originally held real tobacco.) The exterior of each box has a Dragonstairs Press return address sticker and appropriate rubber-stamp-canceled postage for the item to go through the mail. (Out of concern for the contents, the Universe Boxes will be padded and shipped in larger boxes.) When each is sold, an address sticker with its purchaser’s name and address will be added. The whole will then be tied up with string. The Contents A variety of objects have been included in each. Every box has a hand-bound signed copy of Universe Box by Michael Swanwick and a vaccine created by Marianne Porter (more on these below). Contents of one box, identified as Coma Bernices/Pleistocene include: glass beads vacuum tube red gem coral Corallium sp. sectioned geode postal reply coupon vintage German glass taxidermy eyes winged pin calling cards Plus, of course, the vaccine and book. Some of the above items are common to all boxes but most are not. The contents of each box are unique to it. Packing material consists of early drafts of the included story, run through a shredder. The Story Universe Box is a previously-unpublished 10,500 word fantasy dealing with cosmic powers, giraffe wranglers, the purpose of existence, and the most boring young man in all the universe. Physically, it is a stab-bound book with decorative paper covers, roughly six inches by four inches, issued in an edition of thirteen plus one printer’s proof. The books are all autographed by Michael Swanwick and a contents list is autographed by both the author and the publisher. The Vaccine One vaccine is included per box. These are individual works of art by Marianne Porter, consisting of a glass serum bottle (2 cm x 4.5 cm) filled with specifics “against what ails you.” The bottle is sealed with a rubber stopper and topped with a crimped aluminum cap. It can be opened, but once opened cannot be resealed. The contents of each vaccine are unique to it. The one included in Coma Bernices/Pleistocene, for example, contains human hair, an agate bead, and wire. The vaccines are part of a larger series, none of which have previously been made available for purchase. Universe Boxes is issued in an edition of 13, of which 10 ware available for purchase. All copies have been sold.  The
Fallen Leaves Project was carried out during October, 2015, in
multiple locations around Philadelphia, including Laurel Hill
Cemetery, West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Morris Arboretum, and Gorgas
Park.
Michael Swanwick composed “epitaphs”, and wrote them on fallen leaves. The leaves were photographed by Marianne Porter and Michael Swanwick within a few feet of where they were found and left where they were, to be discovered by passersby. Or not. The photographs were posted daily throughout October on Twitter, Facebook, and Swanwick's blog. In total, ninety-four images were created.
Fallen
Leaves is a set of albums made of hand-crafted mulberry
paper, manufactured by Karin tribe members, with a selection of leaf
photographs pasted in. Archival glue was used throughout. Each album
contains fifteen images and no two albums contain the same
set of images. Fallen Leaves is limited to an edition
of twenty albums, of which
Fallen Leaves is sold out. Thank you all for your interest.
 depicted: Front and inside of Season's Greetings.
Season's Greetings by Michael Swanwick. Three brief seasonal tales. Edition of 100 copies, hand-stitched, signed and numbered, 4 1/4" x 5 1/2", 9 pages. 2014.
Print run of 100. 5$ each.
Season's Greetings is sold out. Thank you all for your interest.
Solstice Fire by Michael Swanwick. Three brief seasonal tales. Edition of 100 copies, hand-stitched, signed and numbered, 4 1/4" x 5 1/2", 12 pages 2013 Sold out. Thank you for your interest.
 A single copy of Solstice Fire costs $5.00.
Midwinter Elves. Three Brief Midwinter Tales . Edition of 100 copies, hand-stitched, signed and numbered, 4 1/4” x 5 1/2”, 8 pages 2012 Sold out. Thanks for your interest.
A single copy of Midwinter Elves costs $5.00. Sold out.
Tumbling. Edition of 50 copies, hand-folded, signed and numbered, 3" x 3", 2013 12 pages 
Tumbling, by Michael Swanwick, is a twelve "page" short-short story of Lizzy O'Brien's astronaut training days. It is printed on a single sheet of cut and folded silver paper. I think it's a charming little story myself, and that Michael did a great job.
It Came upon a Midnight. Three Brief Midwinter Tales . Edition of 100 copies, hand-stitched, signed and numbered, 4 1/4” x 5 1/2”, 6 pages
...“ Snowflake People ” is a profound twenty-first century contemplation of the form and function of the snowflake, as lovely a glimpse of impermanence as any of Wilson Bentley’s superb photographs (and the other two stories are pretty dandy, too). --- H. Wessells
Michael Swanwick. American Cigarettes [and] Song of the Lorelei [and] The Brain-Baron [and] The Nature of Mirrors . [4], [4], [6], [6] pp. 4 vols., [Philadelphia : Dragonstairs Press, 2011]. Printed self-wrappers, sewn. Each title ... signed by the author. Originally published in different form in Live without a Net , ed. Lou Anders (2003). The four stories may be read separately, and each is complete in itself. Read in order (Lorelei, Cigarettes, Brain-Baron, Mirrors) they compose a longer (if still short) consistent work. They were produced in editions of 100, and most were given away over the summer of 2011, in conjunction with publicity for the Darger and Surplus novel, Dancing with Bears (Night Shade Press). A complete set of four costs $15.00. SOLD OUT A single copy of American Cigarettes costs $4.00. SOLD OUT A single copy of Song of the Lorelei costs $4.00. SOLD OUT A single copy of The Brain-Baron costs $4.00. SOLD OUT A single copy of The Nature of Mirrors costs $4.00. SOLD OUT
Michael Swanwick, A Midwinter's Tale[1988 ; Dragonstairs Press, 2010]. Stitched wrappers with snowflake on upper cover. SOLD OUT 9/11/2011 PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO ORDER>  A Midwinter's Tale was written and published in 1988. The Dragonstairs Press edition was produced in the fall of 2010, in an edition of 50, signed by the author. Most copies were distributed to friends that holiday season. Contact us: dragonstairs@gmail.com A list of all Dragonstairs Press works is available here. Due to the limited print run and tremendous interest, Fallen Leaves sold out very quickly. If you are interested in a related project,October Leaves is still available from Blurb books. (descriptions in part by Henry Wessells, bookman)
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