Published as both a hardcover (limited, signed and numbered, 100 copies) and a trade paperback. Composed partially by Sampling, Splicing, Channeling and Reverse Transcription. Cover, spine, and page 497 photographs by Rotislav Kostál. Chapter photographs by Andy Watson. Book design by Brian Clark & Andy Watson. Contains an addendum by Di Filippo entitled 'Doctor Wu's Portable Decryption of Ciphers'.
"Ciphers was slated for publication by the one-man-band known as Andy Watson (who used to be Mark Zeising's partner, if that rings any bells), under his imprint of WCS Books. That deal fell thru for monetary reasons, but now ...Ciphers is back on track and will be published as a joint effort between Brian Clark of Permeable Press [e-mail: bcclark@igc.apc.org] and Andy's new imprint, Cambrian Publications [e-mail: andywatson@earthlink.net]." --Di Filippo (in a personal e-mail, Tuesday, 18 February 1997).
"I was only Ziesing's partner for the relatively short-lived (though well-received) bookazine, Journal Wired . After the third volume we went our separate ways. Otherwise, I typset and occasionally designed a little over a dozen of Mark Z's books, and was paid for my efforts on his behalf.
"Ciphers was delayed initially for lack of funds, but then when I did have the funding in place I found I didn't have the time to assemble the book and usher it through publication... My resolve to publish Ciphers never faltered, but it is a huge , sprawling novel that deserves better than a rushed botch. I'm glad to say it's going to appear in June 1997 at long last. Paul has many endearing, superhuman qualities, but surely one of them is his patience with my seemingly endless delays!
"By teaming with Brian Clark's Permeable Press, Cambrian Publications (meaning me , with a lot of help on occasion from my wife Linda, and Steve Brown at Eyeball Books) can see this project through. It's shaping up nicely, bang on schedule, and I think it's fair to say that both Brian and I are delighted with it from a publishing perspective. The novel itself is a rich source of inspiration for embellishments in the production. I don't think there's been anything quite like it since, perhaps, Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow ." --Andy Watson (in a personal e-mail, 3 March 1997).
"Although Ciphers was first completed in 1991, it was completely rewritten (retaining most of the first version; expanding it for the most part). So a better date would be 1993, except that there continue to be minor tweaks right up to publication in 1997. So maybe you should just say '1997' if not 1993?" --Andy Watson (in a personal e-mail, 4 September 1997).
"I know you're out there listening to me. And you'd better bee-leave I'm in here listening to you! .
"Your name is Godley Creme, and you're a transplanted Brit in NYC, working for one of the Murdoch rags, pumpin' out that social distortion for all the fine young cannibals. At age thirty-three, you're already well acquainted with the Infinite Melon Collie, and you know tomorrow is just an excuse away. Your girlfriend's name is Darcy Citrouille, a half-French/half-Sengalese piece of dollparts lovecake, and she's a translator at the UN. Right now she's offline, busy setting up the annual Francophone gathering in Benin, so you're on your own this fine weekend afternoon.
"Which explains why you're sitting on a bench in Washington Square (site of a colonial-era paupers' graveyard and hanging-tree; could it actually be th-th-this very one you're sittin' under?), watching the freaks and ponces and prams perambulate. You're bonin' up on your latest assignment by reading a faint nth-generation xerox of a paramilitary manifesto, Operation American Viper , and eating a tongue sandwich seasoned with red hot chili peppers (but then you always did like your pleasure spiked with pain, and of course the more it hurts the more we know you care ), when from outa the bush behind your bench comes a voice: 'Everything's zen? I don't think so!'
"Out from behind that innocent shrubbery now pops a character whose general weirdness makes him stand out even in this mix of ten thousand maniacs. At six-five, his bald pate is tattooed with the gridwork of a Pentium chip. Gotta mean face makes Henry Rollins look like Boy George, angry eyes throwing off sparks like mazzy stars. His bare chest sports two nipple-rings in the shape of the Worm Ouroboros. He's wearing baggy shorts and hi-tops. And before you can move or scream for the cops, he thrusts his menacing mush right down into yours and hoarsely inquires, 'Do you know the way to San Jose? LA was too much for the boy!'
"Before you can answer, he reaches behind his back, and you know he's going for a knife or gun! But wait -- life and death don't mean a thing till those angels sing! Cuz what he brings forth is -- a liddle ol' buh-buh-book!
"The title burns itself down your danger-boosted neurons: Ciphers, A Post-Shannon, Rock-n-Roll Mystery .
"'Wanna buy it?' says the madman.
"Pay close attention to me now: You do want to buy this book ." [jacket blurb, US hbk, 1997]
"If you're into Di Filippo, rejoice, because they just don't come any more Di Filippoian than this baby." --Bruce Sterling.
"With Ciphers , Paul Di Filippo has deconstructed three riotous decades with momentous self-referentiality and wit. He's a remarkable writer." --Barry Malzberg.
"Tilt-a-whirl, splice 'n' dice briomanic...in the twisting mirror we see our own true gaze. Take a look, but hang on." --Kathe Koja.
"Ciphers is a writhing rock-and-roll formation that has been shaped by the gush and swirl of many genre fictions now foundering in cliché, but it rears above the tide with unforgettable energy...
"The delight of the book lies in Di Filippo's kooky kinetic style. He springs into radical departures from the narrative to offer, for example, the listings in Cy's TV Guide , a 'two-track' history of the 1960s, and a rewrite of the Monthy Python Dead Parrot Sketch. Nor does Di Filippo neglect to forge an excerpt from Charles Babbage's autobiography and to provide the script from a figmental film version of the Popol Vuh. The text carries its own soundtrack, for nearly every sentence assimilates rock-and-roll lyrics, titles, or band names." --Fiona Kelleghan (in Nova Express , Volume 4, Number 4, Winter/Spring 1998).
"I started reading this book while suffering from a seriously bad flu...which was not a good idea. My feverish state had combined with the text of the book to produce weird hallucinations. Now, when I'm nearly over my malady, reading the book still produces weird hallucinations.
"Paul Di Filippo has produced a novel that twists and twines around our neural pathways, a synaptic hot-wiring...triggering thoughts that shoot off in all directions creating parallel possibilities. This is definitely not an easy read...it requires some serious grey cell cooperation. Fragments of song lyrics punctuate a storyline like samples in a dense technotrance track. Conspiracies and cults permeate what seems a 'normal' existence. Social history collapses in on itself. Recognizable facts are peppered by pure fabrications fired from a mental shotgun at point blank range.
"Health Warning: Paranoids should avoid this book. This is the creation of a mind quite possibly deranged by sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll. If I wasn't actually holding a copy of Ciphers , I would seriously doubt its existence. Unlike anything you've ever read... The only book to achieve cult status without anyone knowing about it (except, of course, you dear, priviledged readers!).
"Do send off for a copy now (you certainly won't find it in your local bookstore). You'll be glad you did!
"Factoid addenda (or additional 'not-too-scholarly' notes):
*"Brown Sugar" was actually written about Claudia Linnear, back-up singer to Leon Russel and Joe Cocker...and solo artist with an album recorded half in New Orleans (produced by Alain Touissant) and half in California. (Her daughter and the daughter of my then girlfriend, Kymry Simonds, used to play together). So, it wasn't Ruby, really... but it might have been.
*Re: Coaxihuital...It is interesting to note that the 2 types of morning glory seeds to contain LSD analogues are called 'Heavenly Blue' and 'Pearly Gates'.
*The original 'Black Madonna' of Poland is not Luiza Viorica Cziczzone the singer, but a religious icon, namely a painting of the Virgin Mary (portrayed as being black) damaged by a bayonette (Polish historians could illuminate us with a more complete story).
*Lady Jane was also a euphemism for Marijuana ('Mary Jane').
*Norman Greenbaum bought a farm with royalties received from 'Spirit In The Sky', began growing organic vegetables and raising goats, and established a delivery of 'products-derived' once-a-week to a limited clientelle (his wife's goat-milk cheese cake was absolutely delicious).
*Paper currency is printed on hemp paper (hence everyone with paper money on them is literally 'holding').
*There was a period of time when every CIA operative was obliged to take LSD (to familiarize them with the possibility of mind manipulation facilitated by the use of psychedelics).
*Page 320 in the book contains a hidden reference to Lewis Shiner's book, Glimpses ." --Henry W.Targowski (in Mark/Space , December 1997).
"Utilizing puns, rebuses, riddles, ciphers, enigmas, puzzles, distractions, red-herrings, sleight-of-hand, anagrams, acrostics, skewed orthography (phunny spellink), KRaZy KApITAlIZAtioN, unorthodox punc(tu....a)tion?!, veiled hints, parody, cryptic allusions, said-bookisms (he ejaculated), authorial interjections (see what I mean?), repetitious catch-phrases, the mixture of different modes such as poetry and prose, and the conflation of reality and fantasy." --Paul Di Filippo (quoted from the novel, page 201).
