Himmelstrutz Elektro Art & Sture Dahlström

Background

In 1971, Sture Dahlström (1922–2001) had his first English-language novel, “Cuckoo’s Progress,” published by Olympia Press in the USA; a British edition followed the next year. Written in the 1960s, it was composed in English rather than his native Swedish. The story of its original publication is almost as spectacular as a Dahlström novel; the details are described elsewhere for those interested in the surrounding turmoil.

Soon after publication, Olympia Press went out of business, and distribution ceased. The author reworked the story in Swedish as “Gökmannen” (“The Cuckoo Man”), widely regarded as his best-known novel, published in Sweden in 1975. The original English version was never published again.

Sture, The musician, in Spain, circa 1961

ONE

Carl – first a Himmelstrutz Elektro Art customer, later a friend – had been hunting for this hard-to-find novel for years. One day he told me he’d finally found a copy of “Cuckoo’s Progress,” but he hesitated – the seller wanted SEK 3,600 (about $360). “You damn fool,” I said. “You’ll happily order a pair of custom-wound guitar pickups from some guy in Jönköping for thousands of kronor, but when the holy grail of novels appears, you hesitate?” He said he’d think about it over lunch.

I bought the novel immediately to make sure it wouldn’t slip away – purely to keep it safe for him before someone else with splendid taste bought it. About an hour later, Carl called, disappointed – the listing had vanished when he tried to order. I kept quiet and let him worry for a while. A couple of weeks later I admitted the practical joke. He laughed and said, “OK, then let’s publish it – so it’s properly archived at the National Library of Sweden (Kungliga biblioteket) and others can finally access this unique work.” And that’s how this adventure began.

Sture smoking and playing ROCK N' ROLL in Marbella, 1971

ONEHUNDREDYEARS

A foolish idea, an impossible project – but would that have stopped Bergman Wasa, Pickelhaupt, Himmelstrutz, or any of Dahlström’s other characters? Of course not; the impossible was precisely what spurred them on. Inspired by our literary heroes, we contacted the author’s family, who own the rights to all of Dahlström’s work, and asked whether we might produce and publish a single, limited edition of “Cuckoo’s Progress” in time for his 100th birthday.

They liked the idea and gave us the green light. My role, at Himmelstrutz, covered text extraction from the 1970s edition, retypesetting with contemporary typography – plus a full layout redesign to replace the dated 1970s look. Carl handled proofreading, distribution, printing, and the business side.

RESTART

When most of the work was done, a relative of the author found a previously unknown manuscript in which Dahlström had corrected everything he disliked in the Olympia Press edition of “Cuckoo’s Progress.” A script which had never been published before.

Despite a year’s work on the book, all earlier material was set aside, and the project was restarted from scratch on the basis of the newly discovered, author-corrected manuscript. On the 1st of November 2022 – less than two months before Dahlström’s 100th birthday – the corrected edition was issued in a limited run by Carl’s new publishing company, Pickelhaupt Media, founded specifically for this project.

TWO

In January 2023, shortly after the release, the author, Mats Keyet, contacted Carl. He said he had seen parts of a manuscript in the Dahlström archives while working on one of his biographies and suggested that we ask the family whether a complete version existed.

In May 2023, after a few days of searching, they found a complete manuscript titled “The Dustdiver.” Written for publication in the USA, it was ultimately abandoned when the American publisher demanded changes Dahlström couldn’t accept. He moved back to Sweden and rewrote it as “Den galopperande svensken” (“The Galloping Swede”), now widely regarded as one of his most distinctive and finest novels, while the original English version lay forgotten in the archives for decades.

Because the Dahlström family appreciated our edition of “Cuckoo’s Progress,” they offered us the chance to publish “The Dustdiver.” As it would be the last previously unpublished Dahlström novel, we wanted it to be special. Like our edition of “Cuckoo’s Progress,” it is a hardback. The cover art is based on a painting by Anna-Stina Ehrenfeldt – Sture’s wife – whose work adorns many of his books.

The lettering of Sture’s name was created by the designer Bernt Danielsson, who also designed several of his covers. Mats Keyet, known for his Dahlström biographies, contributed a new essay on Sture’s English-language writing, and the photographer Anders Torgander supplied two fine photographs of Sture.

Everyone involved in this project – and in the earlier “Cuckoo’s Progress” – contributed without compensation. We simply wanted to help preserve Dahlström’s lost work – the only two novels he ever wrote in English.

AVAILABILITY

“Cuckoo’s Progress” is sold out, but there may still be copies of “The Dustdiver” available. Please email us below and we will check availability and get back to you.

The Dustdiver, Released 2024