Books

Rob has authored his own books and taken part in several compilations.

Titles by Rob St. Mary:

“The Orbit Magazine Anthology” (2015) from Painted Turtle/Wayne State University Press

With a mischievous globe-headed mascot that appeared in every issue and even on Quentin Tarantino’s T-shirt in Pulp Fiction, Orbit was an instantly recognizable arbiter of 1990s Detroit culture. But its irreverent tone and unique editorial features could be traced to two earlier local publications from creator Jerry Peterson, a.k.a. Jerry Vile—White Noise (1978–1980) andFun: The Magazine for Swinging Intelectuals [sic] (1986–1990). In The Orbit Magazine Anthology: Re-Entry, author Rob St. Mary details the full run of White Noise, Fun, and Orbit, collecting two decades’ worth of Detroit’s alternative publishing history into an oversized, heavily illustrated volume that situates the publications in the city’s pop culture and media history.

St. Mary shows that while other alternative papers followed a tried-and-true focus on lefty politics and the arts, Vile’s publications found their niche in biting satire and sharp design that fed on popular culture. From the 70s punk scene in White Noise to audacious articles and irreverent “news” in Fun and a blend of reporting, satire, and culture in Orbit, St. Mary shows that Vile’s publications were distinctive in their content and uniquely Detroit in their tone. In sections devoted to each magazine, St. Mary details their recurring features (including dining, movie, and music reviews) and interviews former staffers. Numerous images and page spreads reveal the notable Detroit musicians—like Destroy All Monsters, the Gories, ICP, Jack White, Kid Rock, and Derrick May—and artists—including Niagara, Glenn Barr and Tristan Eaton—that graced their pages.

A foreword by Jerry Vile and an afterword by Ben Blackwell round out this one-of-a-kind volume. Anyone interested in Detroit arts and culture or the history of alternative publishing will be grateful for The Orbit Magazine Anthology.

Michigan Notable Book Award Winner (2016)

  Indiefab “Pop Culture” Book of the Year Finalist from Forward Magazine (2016)

Advance Praise & Reviews for “The Orbit Magazine Anthology”:

“In Detroit in the nineties, you either read the alternative weekly or you read the alternative alternative weekly, which was Orbit. What George Clinton was to Motown, what the Stooges were to the Rolling Stones, Orbit was to that Other Magazine. I love this anthology! Which also doubles as a fascinating secret history of Motor City punk.” – Mark Binelli, author of Detroit City Is the Place To Be

“Through a unique partnership model with forty-five community organizations, the Detroit Institute of Arts 2012 community photography project Reveal Your Detroit offered Detroit residents the chance to respond to the Museum’s contemporary photography exhibition Detroit Revealed: Photographs 2000-2010. Using disposable cameras, each participant captured people, places, and things that make their lives in Detroit distinctive, inspired by the questions “what does your Detroit look like?” and “how do you want others to see it?”. In the final display, over 2,300 images rotated across 60 digital photo frames, from a selection of over 10,000 submitted. For this volume, author Bradford Frost selected 192 images from the exhibit to showcase the perspectives of hundreds of residents and the places they presented, from the gritty to the sublime.