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StuffLikeThat books
StuffLikeThat books is a craft publishing venture that brings together text, image and the book as handmade object. The books are made up by hand, and use inkjet printing, woodcut, linocut, stencil, embossing and type, in a design style that references early children's books, historical pamphlets, and zines. SLT's initiating principle is that a book should be a pleasurable thing to read. SLT publishes fiction - short stories - poetry, essays, and occasional publications fundraising for charity.
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Where to find us & how to buy
Valentines Mansion
Emerson Road, Ilford
London IG1 4XA
nearest tube - Gants Hill, Central LineNext full sale display will be at the Valentines Mansion Open Studio event 22 September 2024A selection of titles are now stocked by:
Morocco Bound, Morocco Street, Bermondsey
BookArtBookshop, Pitfield St, Hoxton
Phlox Books, Leyton
Books, PeckhamInterview and reading on BBC Upload Radio London, link belowPrices are shown below, books can be ordered by Paypal. Email request for larger orders, postage can be discounted.Updates and new titles announced here and on facebook - stufflikethatbooks .
And on Instagram as JulianWalkerandstufflikethatContact me on [email protected]
or using the form at the base of the page
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4 new microbooks
Four new titles based on neighbourhood chatroom conversations. All human life is there. Not always at its best.7 x 5.5cm
Buy 1 microbook, at £5 + £1 postage - email me to say which one
Buy all 4 microbooks, at £15 + £1 postage.
New Titles
Spring 2024
Four Not Tall Stories
Adopted
Holiday Camp
Soil
Pitcairn
Six Uneasy Pieces
see below
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A private room in South-west England
New titles for the Book Arts Day 1 June 24
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The SLT stall at the Book Arts Day, Kentish Town, June 2024
Flamin' June, Bloomin' July sale
3 short stories for £15
Choose three of the short stories from the list for £15 plus postage (£2 UK, £4 outside UK). Other books below are priced individually.
Because we can do something
Many thanks to all those who bought SLT Christmas cards over the Christmas season 2023 - together we raised £76 for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
For Spring 2024 we have a book of 17 haikus to raise money for the ICRC fund for Gaza, working with the Haikography For Friends facebook group. Cover design below, the drawing from an image of a child refugee, photographed in 1914. Copies are available for purchase here.
After material costs the purchase price goes to the ICRC. £222 has been raised so far (May 24).
£6 + £1.50 postage for 1
or £12 + £1.50 postage for 2
or £18 + £1.50 postage for 3
For more, please contact me using the form below.
Many thanks to all those who have supported this project.
Buy 1 copy
Buy 2 copies
Buy 3 copies
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New Titles
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Four Not Tall Stories
A man runs out of cigarettes and gets unwelcome advice from a historical astronomer, a photographer cuts himself while trying to get a close shot of the texture of metal, a woman accidentally cuts herself at the office, and a writer gets advice from a war refugee.28 pages.
£8 + postage
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She Says
From a short piece by the Roman poet Catullus (no 70), a lover doubts their girl's word; she doubts them too.
Printed in stencil and type on fine Chinese paper.
Edition of 3 numbered copies (1 left), and 3 artist's proofs.
Contact me to arrange purchase.
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The Short Stories
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£7-8 each + £1 postage
These are printed on Fabriano 120 gsm paper (heavy cartridge paper), A6 size, with a handprinted cover.
All copies handsewn.
Essentially, an initial run of ten copies is printed, then it's print on demand, usually in batches of ten. So if your requested title is out of stock I'll print it and send as soon as the print is dry.
There's a discount for three short stories - see below.
NB The stories include references to sex, death, funerals, mental health issues, family stresses, and violence. Don't expect an easy ride with a box of chocolates; but there's humour too, lots of it.
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2024 titles
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That Bed
A man's love for his mother overrides other considerations, including his own marriage. But his mother had hopes of her own, which only come to light as he clears her house. Involves greyhound-racing.26 pages
£8 + postage
Pelican
Sexual encounters, or not, from the 18th and the 21st centuries. A woman who knows more than might be expected, James Boswell arranges a meeting with a prostitute, the interpretation of fishing, and a delayed train. All linked by pelicans.26 pages.
£8 + postage
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Six Uneasy Pieces
Six overlapping incidents connecting spelling, sleep, fairground rides, buses, dreams and whether the telling of them is dull beyond measure, dream holidays, punctuation, and being late for meetings.28 pages
£8 + postage
Holiday Camp
Mary's wartime trauma is re-experienced on holiday when her husband falls out with a young German woman during a dance. The marriage is stressed to breaking point, with sexual violence and family collapse.32 pages.
£8 + postage
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Adopted
A young woman's parents hide from her the fact that she is adopted. The reveal prompts family breakdown and has sexual fallout for more than one person.31 pages
£8 + postage
Soil
Malcolm's allotment is hard work, and offers little relief from his unequal marriage. A new friend offers a new way of looking at things.28 pages.
£8 + postage
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Pitcairn
Desire, restraint, perfection, disappointment, geography, history and literature in a student kitchen, after a first time, and a possible first time. Involves oxbow lakes, 19th century urban poverty, and Tennyson.18 pages
£8 + postage
Interior Designs
Sheila and Jack's new flat needs something to bring it to life. Sheila brings in some plants and a picture which are more alive than Jack can cope with.18 pages.
£8 + postage
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Rush Hour
Marcus pays for a day out to celebrate Maisie's birthday, but struggles to reconcile the costs of the lunch and a problematic taxi ride with the experience of childhood poverty sitting deep within him.18 pages
£8 + postage
The woman who was herself
Miriam's independent life began at the age of 23. How does she reconcile her new-built self with the friendships that overlapped from the time before? Is friendship collateral damage, both ways?20 pages.
£8 + postage
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Never go back
Gina is convinced that you should not return to scenes of your early life. She may be open to persuasion, but only if her basic memories can be preserved. But what are the memories really, and do photographs degrade them? Family life, sex; abject misery? No, maybe sadness at the inevitability of loss.19 pages
£8 + postage
Marcia and the Dogs
Marcia has difficult relationships with her parents and their dog. A later relationship with a dog doesn't turn out well either. Care, dementia, literature, abusive relationships, vacuum-cleaners, and what is it with dogs?15 pages.
£8 + postage
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Not Speaking
Tina does not speak, Stevie struggles to make herself heard, and Marcus is busy. Her parents are worried about Tina, and events in Stevie's childhood are still there. Sex, a dog (again), family life, and a very troubled neighbour.18 pages
£8 + postage
Four More Pairs of Shorts
Eight short stories, each under 1000 words. Don't do that; be nice; be nicer; sex; are you alright?; the cliché triumphs; more sex; don't do that either. A limited signed edition of 50 copies.8 separate sheets.
£10 + 1.50 postage
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2023 titles
On Holiday
A young woman's period starts on the first day of her holiday with a new boyfriend. And another couple are not what they seem. The boyfriend gets it very wrong.15 pages
£8 + postageUK postage here
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A Small Bestiary
Three stories about people's dealings with animals. Not exactly 'nice doggy'. A fly, a dog, and a fish all come off badly, but shove our moral compasses in our faces.18 pages
£8 + postage
Care
Social care of the elderly set in the late medieval world. Alison and her husband would have liked to grow old together, but there are always compromises. Very poignant, not an easy read.18 pages
£8 + postageUK postage here
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Prepositions
Dialectal differences within a family echo the stress of prescription drug dependency. Aren't families fun.12 pages
£7 + postage
Another Part of the Forest
Three experiences of woodland: a place to escape from school, a site of historical comparison, and a place to not have sex.16 pages
£7 + postage
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So
A woman suffers dental injury, rejects her excitable and strong-minded mother, and considers how two writers of the Arthurian legend use an introductory term.11 pages
£7 + postage
Bigness
A young person looks at one of Gulliver’s adventures in light of her own feelings of isolation, which she is ok with.15 pages
£7 + postage
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Uncertainty
A mathematical sequence probably does not work when applied to romance, though it might be useful for arranging books on a shelf, or even reacting to the climate crisis.15 pages
£7 + postage
Half Past Two
The tense relationship between two sisters revolves around relative incomes, differing world-views, and a pair of walking boots.11 pages
£7 + postage
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The Ceiling
Well, the ceiling is going to fall down, and the lawn won't mow itself, and his daughter's choice of boyfriend is upsetting, and then there's his wife's new hobby. What could go wrong? We need a hero.18 pages
£8 + postage
The Voice of God
A home security device is mistaken for a celestial message. But then, it might actually be a celestial message. You can never be entirely sure.15 pages
£8 + postage
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Zoom
Located in the post-Covid life of online meetings, loss of attention leads a participant down an imagined path, involving a woman looking for something, a harbour that is falling into the sea, and the male gaze.24 pages
£8 + postage
School Blown Away
A person misses out on experience twice, once while at school, and later while trying to find their old school. And how the wind makes children go bonkers.13 pages
£7 + postage
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As The Crow Flies
Accidentally finding yourself appearing to be the thing you most dislike can cause problems. Especially if you are a crow.11 pages
£7 + postage
By working within the boundaries of the book as object, Stuff Like That abandons the breadth of access provided by the internet in favour of intimacy of engagement. So these texts will not be available online.Readers write:Re Julian Walker's stories:
"A South Woodford J G Ballard"
"These are gems, both the stories and the little books - the sewn editions are lovely objects"
"Observing the human condition and reporting back"Re 17 Haikus for Gaza
"Lovely idea and beautifully put together for its cause"
"I think this little book is a wonder!"NB the stories include references to sex, death, funerals, mental health issues, family stresses, and violence. Don't expect an easy ride with a box of chocolates; but you may be let down surprisingly gently.Stuff Like That books is happy to discuss further publication opportunities, please get in touch.
Plein Air
Three people heavily involved in what they look at, over a period of 200 years, get frustrated by the space they want to occupy and see.15 pages
£8 + postageUK postage here
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How To Peel An Egg
There may be different ways of approaching essential life skills, whether it be peeling an egg or knowing what to say at a funeral.15 pages
£8 + postage
Two Down at Half-time
A mother is vaguely involved with football, rather against her will. There are other things going on, family stuff. But what is it with football?17 pages
£8 + postageUK postage here
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Paradise Lost
A young graphic artist feels uncomfortable visiting a squat. Should she take a risk which might lead to her first breakthrough? Does she make the right choices over who to argue with?17 pages
£8 + postage
Thirst
Observations of a funeral party in a pub, and the conversation between two crabs at the end of the world in H G Wells’ Time Machine. Includes talking animals.18 pages
£8 + postageUK postage here
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Heaven
Young Niamh and her boyfriend meet in an abandoned place, presided over by two entities, a sentient brick and a religious festival, that seem to be fading away.12 pages
£7 + postage
Ant Monster
Marjory's questions about whether animals have souls develop into fears for how her family treats insects, and she gets into an unholy argument.20 pages
£8 + postageUK postage here
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The Waves
Marjory struggles with the names she acquires over her life, and the blows that fate, and the writer, deal her. Ultimately she takes the matter into her own hands.18 pages
£8 + postage
Shit Day
Things go from bad to worse - much, much worse - during the course of a single day. The prognosis for the future isn't too good either.14 pages
£8 + postageUK postage here
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Gable End
Arthur's attempts to educate through architecture provoke encouragement from two admirers, a century apart, though his boss gets a bit hard on him. We wish him well, and hope he gets to enjoy his lunch.16 pages
£8 + postage
Oxbow Lake
Some things we just get wrong, from early on. And we just keep getting them wrong, again and again. Is there a Wikipedia entry for 'how to be me'? Please?16 pages
£8 + postageUK postage here
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Man on a Pole
Social occasions can be fun, especially when anybody can be arsed to show any interest in you. It appears that this does occasionally happen. Not at all autobiographical, dear me no. With diversions on escaped livestock, crossing rivers, and Thomas Bewick.16 pages
£8 + postage
These People
Anita and Michael feel out of place at a university reunion party, where, away from campus, class and heritage differences are thrown into sharp relief. Resentment, sadness and outrage are served, in luxurious surroundings, with excellent wine, clichés and cutting comments.32 pages
£8 + postageUK postage here
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Quality Control
James struggles, despite some fine malt whisky, to manage his interest in furniture design, his job, and his concern for the safety aspect of what he is responsible for. Things fall apart.16 pages
£8 + postage
Bossa Nova & Sing, Sing, Sing
Two short stories in which jazz acts as a metaphor for how well and how badly we manage our relationships, mother daughter, boyfriend girlfriend, drummer clarinetist.
Printed as a back-to-back book.16 pages
£8 + postageUK postage here
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Blue Pencil & Tidy Desk
Stationery as a way of feeling our way through parent/child relationships in adulthood, inevitably uncomfortably.
Printed as a back-to-back book.16 pages
£8 + postage
Animals in Gardens
Three short stories - unwanted animals get into our gardens, an animal gets out of a garden, and animals do challenging things in a garden.16 pages
£8 + postageUK postage here
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To Alresford
A person's memories of staying with curious adult friends as a child; we can be anything we want to be, can't we. Can't we? Involving dialects and accents, local and otherwise.18 pages
£8 + postage
Tick Tock
A woman's choice of interior furnishings indicate an uneasiness about her relationship with children, both personal and professional. Tide and time do their own thing, regardless of us.16 pages
£8 + postageUK postage here
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Double Act
Remember 1950s and 60s radio comedy? For this woman it resurfaces at a funeral. Aren't families fun.13 pages
£7 + postage
The Typo
How should one approach the funeral of an ex-partner? Argue with your daughter? Shave? Maybe a good place to start.14 pages
£7 + postageUK postage here
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Guaranteed Waterproof
Interpretations of the past are mostly about the present, and the Stone Age may have been much like the Anthropocene. Food, sex, bad weather, shit happening, tiresome people, just having to get on with it.20 pages
£8 + postage
The Wink
A teacher of creative writing is forced to examine the relationship between writing and experiencing, when challenged by a student.15 pages
£7 + postageUK postage here
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The Daffodils
A woman relishes the distress of someone who had bullied her at work. In the end we win.10 pages
£7 + postage
Carelessness
The shadows of clouds, and what happens when you look up at tall buildings. Seeing where you are in space - is it a comfort or panic-inducing? Can you fall off the earth?6 pages
£7 + postage
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Unscheduled Stop
The bus does not move away from the bus-stop and the man who talks to other people on the bus keeps his thoughts to himself, up to a point. There's a lot going on in his head.10 pages
£7 + postage
John Lennon Is Not Dead
Three attempts to stop time and change the course of history have different results. Can we change the past, or even the present? It never happened.11 pages.
£7 + postage
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The Dog It Was
A road traffic accident involving a dog provides an unlikely scenario for love; far too unlikely in fact, but other things are going on, which deserve scrutiny.15 pages
£8 + postage
More short stories will appear here, as they are written and printed.
The following books are priced individually.
Christmas Wishes
What you would wish your nearest and dearest for Christmas, illustrated with postage stamps.
10 x 7cm16 pages
£18 + £1 postage
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Four Pairs of Shorts
8 short stories, in a paper bag. Some short, some longer, some shorter. Teenage memories; national lack of trust; a tall story; my kitchen; so much money; how to get people's attention; retribution; family trigonometry.
A limited signed edition of 50 copies.8 separate sheets
£10 + £1.50 postage
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Paperthin
By Anne EggebertA work on mixed papers, exploring loss of words and loss of identity.
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What Would You Do For Love?
How parental love based on plans for the perfect childhood goes wrong. So very wrong.16 pages
£10 + £1.50 postage
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Little Jumping Joan
The nursery rhyme, with a twist even more uncomfortable than it already had.8 pages
£10 + £1.50 postage
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Barely There At All Books
Typed and stencilled on sewing pattern paper, very fragile, very small. Mostly one side of a conversation. Ten pounds each plus £1.50 postage.Little Jumping Joan (no 1)Oi, Bobby Nicholls (no 2)Oi, Johnny (no 3)Oi, Jase (4)Hey babes (no 11)Oi, Ahmed (no 20)Email me to let me know which one(s) you are interested in.
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This TrainStencil print and type on Chinese tissue paper
Edition of 4
8 x 5 cm
14 to 16 pages
Marking the disappearance of one of London Underground's most curious announcements.
Contact me to discuss purchase.
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Excerpts from 3 stories:from 'Blue Pencil'The blue pencils were always there. When one was worn and sharpened down to a few inches a new long one would appear. Each had ‘Government issue’ written along the side, in gold.
- Da, aren’t blue pencils for the government? I once asked him. – Did you liberate them?
- I don’t know what you’re suggesting my girl, he replied. – Your grandfather bought a box of them in a sale. He thought he was buying mixed stationery.
Later I asked how many there were, and would we ever see the end of them.
- I don’t think so. 144 boxes, each of them with twelve pencils. I’d say there’s enough for three or four generations. Though you don’t use them. Or your Ma with her ballpoint pens. And yous now with your laptops and your blackcurrants.He did this deliberately, holding to himself whether it was a mistake or him selectively mocking new technology. He nervously used emails at work, because they were essential, and once asked me about buying a book on Amazon, a book the librarian claimed was not available. Eventually he decided against it.In our house shopping lists were in ballpoint, lists of jobs for the garden in blue pencil. Christmas cards were in ballpoint, notes for pending house maintenance tasks in blue pencil. Letters to school were in ballpoint, deadlines for administrative tasks – tax returns, return of library books – were in blue pencil on the calendar. The blue poems in the notebook were neither lists, tasks nor administration, though they carried echoes of all of them....
from 'Man on a Pole'It went on, the chain of introductions to people who she would probably not see again till the funeral of one of them, all eager to tell her that they were doing weights, or had bought a new mower, or were looking after cats, or were acting in Ibsen, or couldn’t chew, or had given up smoking, or gluten, or lactose, or alcohol, or being interested in other people, which was fairly clear without being said.- Ah Janice, still pursuing a career in politics?
- Absolutely Uncle Roger, hot on its heels.
- What? Ah, oh, yes, ha, good. Very good. But I think we can dispense with the ‘Uncle’ now, don’t you? After all time and tide mean that our ages are getting closer, don’t you think?
- By all means, Roger.The statement must have something to do with the occasion. Was there going to be a declaration of familial separation? Or had Ashleigh taken the veil? It was unlikely that Roger had taken this step spontaneously, so why had Ashleigh seen fit to demote herself and husband, or even was it just him? Was it now Aunt Ashleigh and Roger, to their faces, as it had been behind their backs for years? Puzzling times, the earth shifting for unfathomable reasons. Dark mud down below. Aunt Ashleigh had always been Aunt Ashleigh since she had told Janice’s mother that she didn’t want to be Auntie, a fair call, the rhythm of Auntie Ashleigh being frivolous and demeaning compared to the long vowel heralding Ashleigh’s name. Janice’s father had naturally enjoyed exaggerating it. Ahhn’t Ashleigh. Ahhhhn’t Ashleigh....
from 'On Holiday'An older couple were sitting at a table near them. She could see them directly, but he could not without turning his head. There was no mirror by which he could see what she was describing.
- They’re very much in love, still, she said.
- How do you know?
- He’s got his hand over hers, and her other hand is over his. It’s a strong relationship. They care for each other deeply.
- Or maybe they’re getting through something difficult, he said.
- Like he had an affair and then came back to her, because he realized how much she means to him.
- Or he has prostate cancer, she’s worried and he’s reassuring her.
- How horrid, she thought, but decided to go alongside him. – How long do you think he’s got? A year, six months?
- Prostate cancer doesn’t kill you. You die from something else while you’ve got it, he said.
- But cancer, she said.
- Shall we get the bill?
- There isn’t one, remember? But we can take a drink to the verandah and watch the moon.
- Not tonight. New moon.
- Does that mean we won’t get to see the moon at all? she asked.
- Not while we’re here. But we can have a drink.
She had a mocktail in case she needed to take a painkiller later, he had a tequila. He usually had tequila, or the lager of the moment if he was drinking with friends.
- I don’t think they’ll come to the bar, she said.
- Did you want to make friends with them?
Was it a criticism, was he saying something about their own relationship?
- They’ve got more important things to think about. I hope it’s reconciliation rather than cancer.
- Yes, he said, and signalled to the waiter for another tequila.
See also Julian Walker's art site
A very few stories by Julian Walker can be accessed online
See below