About
MORTY SHALLMAN was born on the West Coast of Illinois and studied creative writing at the University of Chicago. A singer, songwriter, and novelist, he is the creator of Literary Pop, an artistic genre characterized by unique mashups of pop music and literary fiction. Morty’s seminal works of Literary Pop include Love’s Oblivion, A Novel in Twelve Pop Songs (2002), Last of the Zachary’s, A Novel with Songs (2010), and Pop Fiction, An Indie-Noir Musical Thriller (2017).
Morty’s latest novel, The Tyranny of Desire, was the #1 New Dark Comedy Release and the #1 Best Selling Absurdist novel on Amazon. It has been praised as “A Comedic Masterpiece” by Readers’ Favorite and as a “ribald and incisive provocation” by Booklife. His forthcoming novel, War and Sex, was shortlisted for a Faulkner-Wisdom Prize. Morty is an AWAL recording artist and a member of NARAS (The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences), the Author’s Guild, and GLAWS (The Greater Los Angeles Writers Society). Morty currently lives in Los Angeles with his dog, Primo, the Maltese.
Featured Work
The Tyranny of Desire
A Novel
PUCHY MUSHKIN is a big dreamer and an even bigger loser whose spectacular failure as a human being is exceeded only by the enormity of his penis.
In the depths of his despair, Puchy has an epiphany: could the endless series of screw-ups that define his existence be the result of his overwhelming desire for the success he believes is his birthright?
To test his theory and, hopefully, change his fate, Puchy vows to banish all dreams, goals, aims, ambitions, and obsessions from his life except one: to assassinate desire itself and hang it by its feet like Mussolini.
What follows is the hilariously dark, raunchy, and irreverent tale of one man's twisted war with himself-an anti-story about an anti-hero whose only motivation is to have no motivation at all.
Praise for The Tyranny of Desire
"A ribald and incisive provocation... riotously bawdy..." — Booklife
"...Shallman seems eager to challenge readers’ senses of decency whenever possible... A lively but profane comic tale." — Kirkus Reviews
"A Comedic Masterpiece" and "5 out of 5 stars" — Readers' Favorite
"A fast-paced phantasmagoric satire of a debauched contemporary LA, brilliantly written and very funny." — Robert Grossmith, author of The Empire of Lights
Other Works
Awards and Recognition
- The Tyranny of Desire: Readers' Favorite 5-Star Review
- The Tyranny of Desire: #1 Best-Seller, Absurdist Fiction, Amazon Kindle Store
- The Tyranny of Desire: #1 New Dark Comedy, Amazon Kindle Store
