Blue Ear Books is a vehicle for publishing and disseminating selected new and reprinted nonfiction books of particular global topical or cultural interest.It is the culmination of the decision its founder, author Ethan Casey, made to take control of the publication and promotion of his own books, rather than remain subject to the whims of a perpetually and radically changing publishing industry. Blue Ear Books now also publishes a select list of books by other authors and works with them to plan and implement effective programs of promotion and public speaking.Blue Ear Books recalls the ethos of Blue Ear (1999-2005), a pioneering online periodical co-founded by Ethan Casey and Steve Lanier and praised at the time by James Fallows as “ambitious” and “innovative.” Blue Ear’s aspiration was to explore the then-novel potential of the Internet as a publishing medium capable of reaching readers instantly worldwide with minimal distribution costs, while maintaining a high level of intelligence and taste through editorial moderation.Blue Ear’s ultimate expression as a global community of writers and readers meeting online was the book 09/11 8:48 a.m.: Documenting America’s Greatest Tragedy. On September 17, 2001, the startup printer BookSurge approached Casey to edit a collection of writings about the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with the ambitious goal of publishing it by the end of the month.Sitting at a dining table in a suburb of London, with collaboration from Jay Rosen and his colleagues and students in the Department of Journalism at New York University, Casey read hundreds of spontaneous and solicited writings submitted by email and edited an 80,000-word manuscript in ten days.Not every book can – or should – be published in such a way or under such conditions. But modern printing technology and other changes make it both possible and necessary to write, publish, and promote books in new ways. This is what Blue Ear Books is doing.

The earthquake in Haiti is forcing me to write a long-delayed book about my longstanding relationship to Haiti, the episodes in recent history that I’ve witnessed in that country since 1982, and the significance to all of us of Haitian history and experience. I visited Haiti most recently in 2004, returned in March 2010, and will be traveling there again for three weeks in August-September 2010.

Overtaken By Events: A Pakistan Road Trip is the account of Ethan Casey’s journey, entirely overland, starting in Mumbai, India — just three months after the November 2008 terrorist siege of that city — and ending six weeks later in Karachi, Pakistan. Beautifully illustrated by 32 pages of photographs by Pete Sabo, the book documents the human dimension of Pakistanis’ experience of contemporary history since 2004.

“The insights of a singular, clear-eyed, and humane traveler ... An intelligent and compelling book.” - Mohsin Hamid, author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Moth Smoke“Magnificent ... a travel book that travels through the mind.” - Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban“The author's real journey is a search for common humanity.” - Alex Spillius, The Daily Telegraph“Compulsory reading for anyone visiting Pakistan.” - Munis D. Faruqui, Harvard International Review

Blue Ear was a pioneering online periodical publishing global journalism, which James Fallows praised as “ambitious” and “innovative.”

"The content of the 320-page book ... is choral. It brings together dozens of witnesses, weaving their voices into a complex narrative. ..."This book has been subjected to stringent editing. ... It is something complete - more complete (because truer to the event) than if it arrived next Easter. 09/11 8.48am accommodates the 'shock of the new' at journalistic speed, and with journalistic fluidity, yet still has the monumental authority of 'the book'."The 'creators' (as they label themselves) were Ethan Casey, editor of the electronic journal Blue Ear, and Jay Rosen, chair of the NYU journalism department (a few hundred yards from Ground Zero). They have functioned like conductors of an orchestra, blending others' talents into unity. One is obliged to think analogically, because there has been nothing quite like this before."http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/politicsphilosophyandsociety/story/0,,625333,00.html