Arthur Nersesian's most famous book would have to be
The Fuck-up, a book he self-published in 1991 that follows the life of a guy who has a run of back luck in
New York City, again and again. In 1997 the book was published by
Akashic, then later in 1999 by
Pocket/
MTV publications. Arthur himself is the former managing editor of the literary magazine,
The Portable Lower East Side. He taught English at Eugenio de Maria
Hostos Community College in South
Bronx. Having been born and raised in New York City, Nersesian lists the city itself as his greatest influence, and many of his novels, plays and poems depict life in the city.
His second book,
The East Village Tetraology, received little recognition, while his third book,
Manhattan Loverboy, was published in May of 2000 and is very different from The Fuck-up in many ways. This latest book has been compared to the style of
Kafka. In Arthur Nersesian's own words, the story is about how the city used to be verses what the city is becoming and how
the city changes people and is changed by people.
A novel by the name of
Dogrun is said to be coming out in print by MTV books in the fall. Other publications by Arthur Nersesian include the
East Village Remains, his first collection of poetry, as well as other self-published plays.
His own words: "If anyone buys my books, I'll come over and wash their dishes out of appreciation."
Arthur remains living in New York City and will probably continue to, and is said to spend lots of time at the
Starbucks on East 9th and Second Avenue.