I really dig Thompson’s no bullshit style of writing. He told exactly what he felt and wasn’t afraid to include detail and perspective down to minutiae. That said, he really tired this approach. Ho, ho. I will say some of his phrases are money. Getting to his books: Fear and Loathing was interesting as fuck to start, but had me losing interest toward the end of the tale. Better Than Sex was witty, but had a lot of fluff that maybe only political junkies appreciate? Hey Rube has a lot of interesting columns and some flat-out uninteresting ones. His rant on eliminating the pitcher position was gold whereas his schpeel on the XFL was merely average. He’s good in small doses. A nice read on occasion. I give him a B.
Category Archives: Books
Subversive Book Club Review: Psych…
Author: Carl Jung (published as C.G. Young)
Full Title: Psychology and Religion
Year: 1938
Comments:
Well, here’s a rather unique addition for our little Subversive Book Joint. The broad topics of Psychology and Religion have barey (if at all) entered the sphere of Book Club reviews and what other better way to kick off this occasion than with Psych’s Spock, Carl Jung! Jung, unlike his mentor, Sigmund Freud, focused less on the role of sex in our psyche and more on shadows, archetypes, and all that jazz. As you can probably guess my knowledge of Psychology is very limited to a couple of general psych courses, so much of this work was a bit too “heady” for me, but I appreciated delving into deep thought with Jung’s musings. Specifically, I dig his theory that it is our thoughts that are actually the most dangerous elements in life and not things like torandos and nuclear bombs. Sit on that for a while…. Overall, I like the way Jung isn’t dogmatic with his approaches, like most others are.
I’m not going to grade this because I do not feel like I am in any position to judge it as a “good” or “bad” book, but I enjoyed doing a little exploring.
Chris
Nobunny’s Perfect!
Amazon placed this children’s book as well as the Lost Sounds’ debut under items I should consider! I already purchased the latter lol.
Chris
Hopes and Prospects
Check out Noam Chomsky’s latest book, Hopes and Prospects. He has another one coming out this month: New World of Indigenous Resistance: Voices from the Americas . I don’t know how he does it!
Chris
Subversive Book Club Review: We Are Everywhere
Author: Jerry Rubin
Full Title: We Are Everywhere
Year: 1971
Grade: A-
Why Subversive?/Comments:
The Yippie Master takes us on another visceral journey into the everyday life of a 1960s, Amerikan Revolutionary. Written, while serving a setence in Cook County Jail, WAE reveals the highs and lows of said lifestyle: Riots, conspiracy trials, police brutality, being spied/wiretapped, stoned, LSD, Molotov Cocktails. In fact, the book is dedicated to the Weather Undeground and Rubin discusses them quite a bit, amongst other Revolutionary heroes and heroines, including the Black Panthers, Dave Dellinger, the Women’s Liberation Movement, John Sinclair, Timothy Leary and more. Though this work of incendiary material is quite subversive and colorful (figuratively and literally; filled with pictures and most pages are green, purple, etc) it lacks the zaniness and “shit in the middle of a bank” attitude of it’s predescessor, Do iT!, to an extent. Sure, compared to most books, it’s far more out there, but placed side by side with other Yippie works, it’s far more serious and not as humorous or wacky. I speculate this is for two reasons. For one, Rubin, by his own words, matured… a little bit. He abandoned his machoism and homophobia. In Do iT!, he made cracks about gays and ignored women’s role in the movement/revolution. In WAE, this is not the case, hence there are no photos of naked Revolutionary hunnies, he even condemns the phrase, “getting a piece of ass.” Secondly, the times got worse, with more governmental repression, that called for more militance. People were going to jail for longer sentences (Bobby Seale, John Sinclair, etc) good folks were being assasinated (Fred Hampton), and many were forced underground or into exile (Timothy Leary, Eldridge Cleaver, The Weathermen, etc). The FBI was cracking down on dissidents, like no other time before, they even had many spies, whom posed as activists for years, thus causing distrust amongst eveyone. The government attempted to use psychological warfare to destroy the movement from within. They failed, but it still left many devastated and often fucked up their lives. Therefore, Rubin’s book is not as happy as one would expect. Though, don’t misconstrue me, it’s still quite amusing and inspirational, if incredily outdated (it’s actually outta print!) At one point, Jerry and folk singer, Phil Ochs visit Charlie Manson in prison and “rap”- Revolutionary chat- with him for hours. Go figure. All in all, this serves as a fantastic statement against corrupt and boring Amerika and instead for the creation of a better, more humane society.
Chris
Subversive Book Club Review: Hell’s Angels
Author: Hunter S. Thompson
Full Title: Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
Year: 1966
Grade: A/A-
Comments/ Why Subversive?: Thank God for Hunter S. Thompson. Being a major Thompson fan, I am of course massively biased in my opinion; in other words, whenever reading his works, I can never find anything bad to say about them, even if I know they exist, I feel like his writing is so superb and entertaining (the most entertaining perhaps) it eliminates any flaws. This was Thompson’s breakthrough hit and introduced the world to the off the walls, up and close, brazen and savagely honest, Gonzo “journalist.” Though, Gonzo guys and girls should know, that said style is not utilized in this work, but the sarcasm and brutality are all there. Clearly, Thompson is unique in that few other media players would sacrifice their souls by riding with the Hell’s Angels for over a year to attain a personal look at the Outlaw, Criminal Gang. And he does just that, we are taken on an unsettling trip into the seedy, scummy underbelly of the Angels’: Gang Rapes, Murder, Theft, Riots, and the whole nine. The violent gang in many ways are just as American as the Cunningham’s, just “more honest,” as Thompson would say. They are individualists (though Thompson disagrees with this), do as they feel and stand up for what they think is right; basically the flipside of the Lone Ranger, Old Western Cowboy type, who stands for justice. Without a doubt, the Angels are a fascinating crew, the Ugly, Low Life of America.
Chris
No Time: Zinn + Salinger Dead
J.D Salinger and Howard Zinn = Dead.
Funny Moment of the Day
So, I was taking a stroll through my favorite section of Barnes and Noble, Biography, and I could not help, but notice the attention grabbing, gorgeous Tera Patrick on the cover of her new autobiography, SINNER TAKES ALL: A MEMOIR OF LOVE, MARRIAGE, & PORN. So, I flipped through the pages and skimmed some sections and some… cough photos cough… whilst holding the book close to me to make sure other patrons and the workers did not notice what I was reading. Then allasuddden I dropped the motherfucker and the jacket came off! As I struggled to wrap the jacket around the book as it was originally (this can be pretty damn difficult if you’re under some serious pressure!), the young female worker asked if I was alright and if I found what I was looking for. I replied instantly, ” uhh yeah thanks uhh.” She realized what I was looking at and we shared in our awkwardness. Of course she said nothing, but it was maladroit as fuck. Perhaps, I should have stood on a table and pumped my fist in the air and shouted, “HELL YES THIS IS AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PORN STAR AND NO I’M NOT ASHAMED THAT I’M LOOKING AT IT! AND WHILE WERE ON THE TOPIC, WHY DON’T YOU ORDER SOME HUSTLERS AND PENTHOUSES. NOT THAT I’D PURCHASE THEM, BECAUSE I CAN EASILY ACCESS PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING ELSE FOR FREE ONLINE, BUT AT LEAST I COULD LOOK AT SOME MAGS JUST FOR KICKS, WHAT DO YOU SAY?! Some day… I will agitate the fine people of Barnes and Noble, but for now I’m satisfied venting in this forum. Peace.
Chris
My MAIN Influences
Of course I have encountered several diverse voices over the years that have influenced me in various ways, but there are a select few that have strongly shaped my specific perspective/philosophy. With that being said, technically my environment has been my biggest influence, but just for fun here’s some real people in no particular order.
Bill Hicks: Biting, caustic social/political satire. Love KO Fear!
Noam Chomsky: Dissent of mainstream American media and American foreign (as well as domestic) policy. Basic anarchist ideas such as the necessity of the state to justify its actions or it should be dismantled.
Rage Against the Machine: Perhaps my oldest influence; their music drew me to such topics and increased my cynicism/hatred for the American government. They also led me to discover Chomsky.
John Lennon: “Give Peace a Chance” :)
Howard Zinn: Brought new meaning to the words “history,” “patriotism,” and “resistance,” for me. Helped me understand that the people on the bottom rung of society make the fundamental changes and not those on top.
Ralph Nader: It is possible to create change within the system and run honest campaigns, even if you don’t win them! Often refer to him for current politics.
Timothy Leary: Fantastic propagandist and overall champion of social change through new ways of experimentation.
The Yippies!: Chiefly Abbie Hoffman (right) and Jerry Rubin (left). Their wacky/bizarre media tactics and dissection of Amerika has been one of my biggest influences on both my writing and philosophy. I adore the equal importance of fun and revolution. After all, how can you have liberation without some kind of joy?
Hunter S. Thompson: Sarcastic social commentary; major influence on my own writing/sense of humor and early social/political influence.
Malcolm X: Provided with the great insight into the hardships of blacks in America and how we raped them of their culture. This doesn’t mean I can relate to this personally, but it does offer me a perspective and has shaped my opinions on these matters. His speeches, writings, etc. have also stood as great examples of how to make an argument with integrity and also how what the institution teaches you is usually false with the complete opposite intent. So, for Malcolm it was White is NOT right and Black is beautiful. For me it’s the media’s purpose is to (Mis)inform the public.
Emma Goldman: The beauty and basic principles of Anarchism.
Dave Dellinger: One of the greatest models of a nonviolent revolutionary; he was the American Gandhi. Stressed the importance of love and social justice in all movements. I’m proud to say one of the most inspiring Americans shares the same hometown as me!
Jello Biafra: Culture Jam! Pranksterism. Perhaps some of my first glimpses at anarchism. Similar to Yippies! but with more serious objectives: Anti-War, end War On Drugs, and so much more. Like Chomsky, Nader, and others, Jello is one of my key political references. For many that probably sounds frightening haha!
Judge James P. Gray: I owe much of the factual basis for my arguments for bringing down this filthy machine known as the War on Human Rights, excuse me, excuse me, I mean the War on (certain!) Drugs to my boy Jim. My views on this topic were basically already there, but I can sharply back them up with the help of the judge’s wise and so obviously reasonable suggestions. Since, he falls from the center-right on the political spectrum, he and I would more than likely disagree on a host of issues. With that being said, he is spot on with his indictment of our current prohibition and I highly recommend his book, Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: His strikingly accurate views on a plethora of issues, particularly race relations and constant investigation of this corrupt and sick government. His story serves as one of the best arguments for how fucked up our criminal/prison system really is. FREE MUMIA NOW!
Steve Albini: Tearing down major labels and any other faggedy artist in sight in the most offensive way. Merciless satire at its finest!
Ian Mackaye: DIY Punk Ethic/Aesthetic. You can’t put a dollar sign on your art and if you do then you should be in a different business!
Chris
Quote of the Day
“A drug person can learn to cope with things like seeing their dead grandmother crawling up their leg with a knife in her teeth. But no one should be asked to handle this trip,” Raoul Duke/Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas
Chris
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 