I long for 'zines like Church of Subgenius. Do any exist now?
December 25, 2003 1:04 PM Subscribe
Some times I think I was born too late because I find myself drooling over things like the Mondo2000 guide to the future, Semiotext[e], Loompanics, or the Church of Subgenius books. Are there any books or zines that would appeal to a fan of these works?
First couple of Dwyer's "Rapid Eye", the RE/Search books... disinfo.com...
posted by bobo123 at 5:53 PM on December 25, 2003
posted by bobo123 at 5:53 PM on December 25, 2003
RE/Search books can be great reads. My favorite is Industrial Culture Handbook that explores the late 70s Industrial Scene, but the Burroughs/Throbbing Gristle one is excellent also. Modern Primitives was the book that kicked the door off the hinges for body piercing 15(!) years ago. Bob Flanagan: Supermasochist will be that book your friends pour over the pictures while making sounds of pain.
You would probably have some fun around the Feral House catalog also. They have some excellent titles. I highly recommend Apocalypse Culture.
There is always Answer Me! If you look you can find the first three issues in one issue on eBay for $25 and the fourth issue (the infamous rape issue) for under $10. So Goad was a misogynistic blowhard; his proofreading skills are impeccable. And the sheer bile floating off the page is hard to fathom. Love it or hate it, it will definitely cause a guttural reaction among anyone who reads it.
These recommendations come from the fact that these titles share a bookshelf with my Loompanics and Church of the Subgenius stuff.
posted by spartacusroosevelt at 10:38 PM on December 25, 2003
You would probably have some fun around the Feral House catalog also. They have some excellent titles. I highly recommend Apocalypse Culture.
There is always Answer Me! If you look you can find the first three issues in one issue on eBay for $25 and the fourth issue (the infamous rape issue) for under $10. So Goad was a misogynistic blowhard; his proofreading skills are impeccable. And the sheer bile floating off the page is hard to fathom. Love it or hate it, it will definitely cause a guttural reaction among anyone who reads it.
These recommendations come from the fact that these titles share a bookshelf with my Loompanics and Church of the Subgenius stuff.
posted by spartacusroosevelt at 10:38 PM on December 25, 2003
On a bit of a quirkier note, the Happy Mutant Handbook from the Boing Boing crew (probably out of print).
Maybe Dan Clowes' comic, Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron (very trippy & surreal, sorta Lynch-esque)
Also maybe some of PK Dick's more wacked out stuff. I haven't read it myself, but "The Man in the High Castle" has a pretty good rep.
Pretty much anything by Robert Anton Wilson would fit this niche, actually. Besides the "Illuminati" books, he also wrote an A-Z encyclopedia of conspiracy theories, "Everything is Under Control". Handy to have around the next time you need an informed-sounding opinion on the Bilderbergs, Rosicrucian symbolism or the grittier details of the Zapruder film.
Charles Fort's books, maybe? (Never read 'em, but know 'em by reputation.) Also, Fortean Times magazine.
posted by arto at 10:44 PM on December 25, 2003
Maybe Dan Clowes' comic, Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron (very trippy & surreal, sorta Lynch-esque)
Also maybe some of PK Dick's more wacked out stuff. I haven't read it myself, but "The Man in the High Castle" has a pretty good rep.
Pretty much anything by Robert Anton Wilson would fit this niche, actually. Besides the "Illuminati" books, he also wrote an A-Z encyclopedia of conspiracy theories, "Everything is Under Control". Handy to have around the next time you need an informed-sounding opinion on the Bilderbergs, Rosicrucian symbolism or the grittier details of the Zapruder film.
Charles Fort's books, maybe? (Never read 'em, but know 'em by reputation.) Also, Fortean Times magazine.
posted by arto at 10:44 PM on December 25, 2003
Barbelith.com might be of interest. And P.K. Dick's Valis. All very counter-culture.
posted by malpractice at 4:10 AM on December 26, 2003
posted by malpractice at 4:10 AM on December 26, 2003
There is always Answer Me!
Goad has his own 'blog now, and he's put up issue #4 of Answer Me in PDF format. Not for the weak of stomach or mind.
I heartily recommend RE/Search books also, particularly the Pranks! and Incredibly Strange Films issues.
Now if you'd like to get contrarian on the counterculture itself without joining Focus on the Family, I'd suggest picking up a copy of Gary Lachman's book Turn Off Your Mind, an excellent connect-the-dots book that examines the links between various occult movements of the early 20th century and 60's drug culture.
posted by MrBaliHai at 6:56 AM on December 26, 2003
Goad has his own 'blog now, and he's put up issue #4 of Answer Me in PDF format. Not for the weak of stomach or mind.
I heartily recommend RE/Search books also, particularly the Pranks! and Incredibly Strange Films issues.
Now if you'd like to get contrarian on the counterculture itself without joining Focus on the Family, I'd suggest picking up a copy of Gary Lachman's book Turn Off Your Mind, an excellent connect-the-dots book that examines the links between various occult movements of the early 20th century and 60's drug culture.
posted by MrBaliHai at 6:56 AM on December 26, 2003
I've always enjoyed the stuff that Russ Kick puts out. He has the website The Memory Hole but has also compiled a few books: Psychotropedia: Publications From the Periphery, Outposts: A Catalog of Rare and Disturbing Alternative Information as well as more recent stuff in the disinfo: Everything You Know is Wrong and You Are Being Lied To. I also think the RE/Search books are great. The good word to use when you want to do searches for this type of information is generally schizo culture
posted by jessamyn at 8:38 AM on December 26, 2003
posted by jessamyn at 8:38 AM on December 26, 2003
If you can track down old copies of the zines, I always enjoyed .tiff and the Fringeware Review. You might also enjoy TechTV's Catalog of Tomorrow.
posted by thirteen at 8:49 AM on December 26, 2003
posted by thirteen at 8:49 AM on December 26, 2003
Response by poster: This all seems like incredibly good advice, especially since some of the titles mentioned were ones I own and enjoy. Thanks- I definitely will look into the others!
posted by drezdn at 5:08 PM on December 26, 2003
posted by drezdn at 5:08 PM on December 26, 2003
drezdn, in case you're Googling, crunchland is off - it's not ILLUMINATI but ILLUMINATUS!
posted by soyjoy at 10:16 PM on December 26, 2003
posted by soyjoy at 10:16 PM on December 26, 2003
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by crunchland at 5:38 PM on December 25, 2003