Books from Crooked SmilePress

Crooked Smile Press publishes funny, strange, thoughtful, and satirical books by Bill Schmalfeldt— Fiction with wit, absurdity, and the occasional crooked point of view.

Current titles from Crooked Smile Press include The Cats Have Notes, Tiptoe Through the Zeitgeist, The Eternal Trump, The Republic of Eastern Iowa, The Astonishing Adventures of Johnny Nutcracker, and 101 Immutable Laws of Cat Logic, all written by Bill Schmalfeldt.

Cover of The Cats Have Notes by Bill Schmalfeldt, a humorous book about people discovering their cats can talk.

The Cats Have Notes

A funny, strange, and unexpectedly thoughtful story about what happens when the animals start talking – and the humans have to listen.

Cover of Tiptoe Through the Zeitgeist by Bill Schmalfeldt, a collection of 20 darkly comic stories about politics, culture, and modern life.

Tiptoe Through the Zeitgeist

20 diverse short stories pointing to our weird, funny, and occasionally bewildering journey through politics, culture, media, and the peculiar times we somehow managed to live through.

Cover of The Eternal Trump by Bill Schmalfeldt, a political satire featuring Donald Trump seated on a throne.

A provocative and darkly humorous satirical examination of Donald Trump, the potential future of American politics, and the forces that transformed one man into an enduring political phenomenon.

The Eternal Trump

Cover of The Republic of Eastern Iowa by Bill Schmalfeldt, a darkly comic story of survival and accidental independence in Clinton, Iowa.

The Republic of Eastern Iowa

After EMP attacks cut off Clinton, Iowa, from the country, Mayor Frank Ramey, navigates armed checkpoints, accidental coups, and absurd regulations as a National Guard commander declares the Republic of Eastern Iowa.

Cover of The Astonishing Adventures of Johnny Nutcracker by Bill Schmalfeldt, and absurd, comic adventure, and affectionate spoof of film noir.

The Astonishing Adventures of Johnny Nutcracker

In an affectionate, absurd, graphic novel love letter to the film noir detective genre, an outrageous comic adventure filled with an unlikely hero, improbable situations, and the sort of inspired lunacy that makes perfect sense – until you stop to think about it.

Cover of 101 Immutable Laws of Cat Logic by Bill Schmalfeldt, a humorous guide to the mysterious rules cats expect humans to obey.

101 Immutable Laws of Cat Logic

A funny and affectionate guide to the mysterious rules Cats live by – where closed doors must be opened, empty boxes must be occupied, and human beings exist, primarily to provide food and inadequate service.