DIRTY BOOKS FOR SMART GUYS CONTEMPORARY PRESS AIN'T PRINTIN' MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

The men and women of the newly formed Contemporary Press like their books quick and dirty. "Who wants to spend years kissing ass and trying to squeeze out the next Cold Mountain?" asks Jess Dukes, author of Down Girl, one of the New York-based indie publisher's first titles. Contemporary Press makes books for people who like to drink while they read and don't look to Oprah for lit guidance. It's books are smart, funny, whiz-bang reads; the company's slogan is "Fuck Literature." "We're inspired by pulp fiction," says CP publisher Jay Brida. "But a lot of [old pulp] is incredibly racist and sexist. Our books still have lots of sex and violence and drugs and crime, but with a modern political sensibility." Brida's own debut, Wet Work, follows the slime trail of Mary, and aggressive spy with a voracious appetite for booze and sex. He's also at work on GOP DOA, a murder tale set at a political convention. Says Brida, "We're writing for smart people who are sick of memoirs and overly clever footnoted crap." —LAURIE WOOLEVER

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