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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thrilling, "Mondo Cane"-esque look at cultural extremes, August 10, 2000
This review is from: Apocalypse Culture II (Paperback)
"Apocalypse Culture II" is the eagerly-awaited sequel to the 1987 underground classic "Apocalypse Culture." Like its predececcesor, "Apocalypse Culture II" is a series of articles chronicling cultural extremes. The articles take many forms. Some are essays written by the editor, Adam Parfrey, and other contributors (Jim Goad, Crispin Glover, Michael Moynihan). Others are interviews with assorted artists, writers, and mass murderers. Some are documents reprinted from other sources (i.e. an analysis of the song "American Pie" by the Aryan Nations, love letters to Jodie Foster by John Hinckley Jr.). As Parfrey states in his introduction, the book is "designed to assist the reader in finding front-row seats to its perverse pleasures and strange solutions." Much of the content is extremely disturbing, but as Parfrey advises, "Readers are urged to contemplate the strange and often contradictory information within, and make up their own minds regarding its value." Like real life itself, "Apocalypse Culture II" is simultaneously frightening, thrilling, hilarious, perverse, and disturbing. This book is NOT for the squeamish or easily offended. No matter how "progressive" and "open-minded" you think you are, there is something in here that will DEFINITELY offend you. Given the extremity of the viewpoints and artwork/ photos, it's also not a book to casually leave on your desk at work or on your coffee table. However, if you have a strong stomach and an open mind, you're in for quite a ride. Also highly recommended: the original "Apocalypse Culture," "Cult Rapture" (a series of lengthier articles by the editor Adam Parfrey), "Amok Fifth Dispatch" (a 500+ page directory of extreme texts and information), "Psychotropedia" (another 500+ directory of extreme texts, but with lengthier reviews and analyses by the editor, Russ Kick), "Rapid Eye Movement" (a compilation of articles by the late Simon Dwyer), and "Critical Vision" (a compilation of articles from the amazing British journal "Headpress").
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19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ketamine, cannibalism & kiddie porn: extreme sociology, November 12, 2000
This review is from: Apocalypse Culture II (Paperback)
_Apocalypse Culture II_ is a fount of billowing, burbling, babbling psychopaths, most of them in some way violent. Cannibal Issei Sagawa, for example, is dispassionately portrayed by prolific badboy Colin Wilson as an innocent soul whose poetic life path just happened to lead him through a brave, experimental pilgrimage involving the casual murder and mastication of a beautiful young white woman. Elsewhere in this tomelike compendium, convicted Unabomber Ted Kaczynski tells an almost convincing fable about our deaf ear-turning, environmentally insentient species denying its way to certain extinction; I say "almost convincing" only because Kaczynski's stilted tone suggests the possibility, however faint, that the author suffers from unresolved personal issues. Don't get me wrong - I don't necessarily think Kaczynski has issues. For me, however, the most powerfully conceived and obviously inspired contribution comes from celebrated murderer David Woodard, whose essay "The Ketamine Necromance" courageously discusses uses of the drug truly intended by its University of Michigan inventor - "illuminative communication," as angelic necromancer Johannes Trithemius would have had it, and practical confidence enhancement during the commission of victim-based crimes. Although this is the essay for which I purchased the book, I am delighted to say I was able to find something worthwhile (however inadvertantly - to the fifth or sixth power) in most of the varied contributions. Finally, editor Parfrey's knowledgeable, at times wryly humorous essay on masturbation, "RealDoll," emblazons on the reader's by now quivering cortical mass the idea that humanity is rattling on its last legs: when grown men gather to share masturbation fantasies about memories of sex with dolls, we are certainly witnessing the final erosion of our own evil, repugnant species. Expect the worst, and you won't be disappointed.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not for the Weak Stomached, May 22, 2001
This review is from: Apocalypse Culture II (Paperback)
On rereading my original review I realized that I wrote it too soon after finishing the book and reacted to it on a more emotional than intellectual level. I am still of the opinion that this book is not as good as the first Apocalypse Culture in that it is more disturbing than thought-provoking (the first book was both). I do believe that in order to completely understand culture and society, you have to understand its darker aspects as well as the light. Unfortunately, here, the articles (vs the first book) don't shed as much light on society as it does on particular individuals, nor does it really contribute much beyond the first book. The essays in #1 on art, for example, shed more light on culture and the purpose behind disturbing art than the artist profiles featured in this book. Once the emotional impact of some of the articles wears off, you are not left with any better understanding of the subject matter. A rare exception is the article by Peter Sotos, a descent into the mind of a pedophile (an article in which nobody should be able to find humour), which is equally disturbing and thought-provoking, instead of just the former. Overall, the articles present a disturbing, nihilistic view of society. For example, included is the real-life story (including graphic photos) of a one-time cannibal who has become a beloved celebrity in Japan with many TV appearances, thus it says as much about how sick society can be as it does about the man. (He does appear to be fully remorseful over his act which appears to have been the result of a now absent mental disturbance (thus the reason why he is walking free), but I still find the fact that he can and does cash in on the fame he received from his crime disgusting). There is a bit of levity, however, in such articles as the one about Mr. Awesome, the ultimate egomaniac, who, e.g., has his own costume and specially decorated automobile, has offered a certain bodily fluid to Madonna, and tries to convince everyone that they can make a fortune by investing in publishing his comic book about his life. In fact, having had more time now to reflect on the book, there is more humour in it than I originally remembered, but the more depressing articles are the ones that stick more strongly in the mind. I still recommend this book, but not as strongly as number 1, which gets 5 stars.
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