For Your GRAMMY® Consideration
MORTY SHALLMAN
Best Audio Book, Narration And Storytelling Recording
Performing his Novel
The Tyranny of Desire
Novelist and Singer-Songwriter Morty Shallman narrates and performs every character in the audio book version of his “riotously bawdy” (BookLife) comic novel, The Tyranny of Desire. He also wrote and performed the Pop Rock Theme Song that is featured in the recording.
The Tyranny of Desire is the fictional memoir of Puchy Mushkin, a big dreamer—and an even bigger loser—whose spectacular failure as a human being is exceeded only by the enormity of his desire for success.
In a desperate bid to change his fate, Puchy vows to banish all dreams, aims, goals, and ambitions from his life except one: to assassinate desire itself and hang it by its feet like Mussolini.
What follows is the darkly satirical, 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 Novel
“A comedic masterpiece.”
— Reader’s Favorite
“A ribald and incisive provocation.”
— BookLife by Publishers Weekly
“A lively comic tale.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Brilliantly written—and very funny.”
—Robert Grossmith,
Author of The Empire of Lights
Check Out This Sample
On YouTube
About Morty Shallman
Morty Shallman is a novelist, singer-songwriter, and founder of his own genre, Literary Pop, which seamlessly combines his two creative passions—making pop music and writing literary fiction.
Morty’s excursions into the nexus of music and literature began with his first solo album, “Love’s Oblivion, A Novel in Twelve Pop Songs,” (2002) in which each song functions as a chapter in the larger narrative. Morty followed up in 2010 with Last of the Zacharys, A Novel with Songs, a full-length literary novel with 44 original songs that are featured in the story.
In his latest novels, The Tyranny of Desire (2023) and War and Sex (2024) Morty continues his Literary Pop experiments by writing, producing, and performing original theme songs for the books, distilling the concepts at their core into three-minute pop tunes to expand their reach to a wider audience.
When creating the audio book version of his novel, The Tyranny of Desire, Morty drew on his decades of experience as a singer, songwriter, and novelist to perform every word and every voice of the diverse cast of characters.
Morty Shallman was born on the West Coast of Illinois and studied creative writing at the University of Chicago. Morty is a voting member of The Recording Academy, The Author’s Guild, and The Greater Los Angeles Writers Society. He currently lives in Valley Village, California, where he continues his work as a novelist, singer, songwriter, publisher, producer, and screenwriter.
Audio Book Credits
Written and Performed by: Morty Shallman
Producers: Morty Shallman & Deyan Audio Services
Director: Paul Cirzan
Recording Engineer: Paul Cirzan
Editor: Jordan De Guzman
Quality Control: Ana Teodora Popa
Mastering Engineer: Saafa Kaderi
Recording Dates: November 2023 – June 2024
Recording Location: Deyan Audio, Tarzana, California
Cover Design: Xavier Comas / Coverkitchen
Publisher: Flying Bed Books
