Answer Me! (The First Three) [Paperback]

Jim Goad (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: AK Press; 2nd edition (November 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1873176031
• ISBN-13: 978-1873176030
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,365,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Original, powerful, hilarious, essential., July 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Answer Me! (The First Three) (Paperback)

Goad has a way with words. Regarding suicide: "the rest is oily-smooth blackness as you skid through space on an icicle sled". On self-help groups: "grab a knife and stab the child within!" Writing about a teenager who shot his face off and lived "he even fathered a child with a woman who undoubtedly had a strong stomach and a roaring sex drive". It's rare that a writer this good mixes such twisted humor with serious subjects.

No other form of written word makes me laugh harder than this collection. Self-published in the early '90s, this is great stuff (and the fourth issue is also highly recommended).

Regarding the previous reviewer, yes, he's had problems with violence. Disturbing as that might be, it's childish to write him off as pure scum. We all have our own issues to deal with. Hopefully he will learn to control his temper. To call him a sociopath is quite an exaggeration.

I look forward to his future writings.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scathing potpourri of hatred and logic for the antisocial., December 26, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Answer Me! (The First Three) (Paperback)

Answer Me! became, after 2 issues, one of the most controversial 'zines ever published. After 4 issues, most 'zine distributors wished it would go away.

The Goads are writers, fed up with the cutting and censoring that goes with freelance article writing. Instead of turning to another line of work, they turned to self-publishing, and created Answer Me!

The Goads don't follow journalistic objectivity- they defy it. If they're interested enough to write about something, they're interested enough to have an opinion about it- and they want to cram it down the throat of everyone on the planet.

From hardcore rappers to suicide to serial and mass murderers, the Goads get into the topics that make most of us squeamish. What makes most people squeamish, though, becomes morbidly fascinating under the Goads' hands.

When it comes time for pure vitriol and hatred, they attack with a sharpened wit and pen. They will make you ashamed to be a man or woman- their hatred covers everything. Misanthropy with guns. They state the facts, state their opinions, and ask no apologies.

This book collects only the first three of the four published issues of Answer Me!, and for most people, just the first issue was offensive. If you've ever been wondered what goes through the minds of the shy, quiet people you see daily, this may answer your questions. And if you're one of those shy, quiet people, this collection may answer your dreams.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My goodness I think I wet my pants!, December 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Answer Me! (The First Three) (Paperback)

I was in a comic store in San Francisco a few years ago when I picked up the first issue of Answer Me! It was hilarious. Now we've got all three issues under one cover! People have gone to jail over this stuff. Who else but Mr. Goad could pull off a magazine in which each issue addresses such hard-hitting topics as rape, mass and serial murder, and suicide, in such a wry, goofy, "let's not forget to laugh at ourselves, folks" manner? Nobody, I tell you!

Read it. Think about it. Then you will understand why you have no choice but to ... Answer Me!