Joseph Moncure March is best known for The Wild Party and The Set-Up. In 1999, Art Spiegelman brought back The Wild Party from obscurity with the accompaniment with Spiegelman’s unique art to the narrative poem. It is quite surprising that March’s better-known work, The Set-Up, has been out of print for over 50 years. The Set-Up was made into an award-winning movie with Robert Ryan playing the lead. Unlike the book, Ryan’s portrayal of an older white boxer down on his luck changed the dynamics of the movie. Illustrator Erik Kriek was commissioned by Korero Press to revamp the underworld boxing story. I am truly excited about the new incarnation of the out-print story. It remains true to the core of the story with the new illustrations. You can follow Erik Kriek‘s progress on his Facebook account. This is one book I am keeping an eye for, It already has a place reserved next to Art Spiegelman’s The Wild Party. I will keep you posted when the book comes out.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
One of the projects that Korero Press is currently working on is The Set-Up, a long narrative poem about the boxing underworld – a hard-boiled tragedy told in syncopated rhyming couplets. It’s a lost classic by the author of The Wild Party, Joseph Moncure March. When the work was first published in 1928, it made The Times bestseller list, and in 1949 it was turned into an award-winning film featuring Robert Ryan.
It’s been out of print for over 50 years, which we consider being a total tragedy — so we decided to reprint it, and to that end we have specially commissioned the award-winning artist Eric Kriek to illustrated it.
If you would like to follow Eric’s progress, we have set up a dedicated Facebook page where we will be posting, videos, sketches, finished drawing, and additional info as the project develops. Watch this space!
Korero Press is a London-based publisher. At the heart of everything we do is a love of lowbrow and kustom kulture. Our list is mainly made up of pop culture, street art, erotica and horror titles. We’ve published books by such renowned contemporary artists as Ron English, Patrick J. Jones and Derek Yaniger. You can buy our books in traditional bricks and mortar bookshops, or directly from our website and elsewhere online. Some of our favourite bookshops are Wacko Soap Plant (Los Angeles), Quimby’s (Chicago), Gosh!Comics (London) and Freaks (Barcelona).