Customer Reviews

Apocalypse Pretty Soon: Travels in End-Time America

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

What's more frightening than the idea of an apocalypse? How 'bout all the people out there with so many freaky ideas of how and when it will come... From a psychological standpoint, this book is absolutely fascinating, darkly humorous, and yet undeniably frightening in its portrayal of people who might be neighbors or cousins of yours and mine who await an alien takeover or the return of Christ or what have you and the extent to which these hopes or fears have affected their lives and the lives of those they know and love. Obviously, the author has focused on one particular quirk of the various lives his subjects lead, and yet what is magnified for the reader are some of the most thought-provoking and bizarre ideas and behaviors I have ever encountered in print outside of an issue of Psychology Today. A book that can be aborbed and pondered by anyone with common sense and the ability to seperate reality from fantasy, I would avoid letting this fall into the hands of impressionable or highly imaginative young readers who might become fixated on some particular section and grow fearful because of it. Disturbing in both an entertaining and harrowing way, I couldn't put it down and hope for some sort of a sequel. Amazing.

An entertaining, funny and often sad look at some of the various personalities that make up the cultish world of millenial apocalyptic groups. The common thread here is the belief in imminent apocalyptic change by the groups through different means (alien visitation, return of Jesus, cataclysmic Earth changes, etc.).
Heard, it seems, tries to be objective and open-minded about each group at first. But when faced with the absurdity of their belief systems and after getting to know the people that form the leadership of these groups, he can't help but present a slightly more skeptical opinion. By the end of each chapter, after Heard has presented his study of the group, it's leadership, tactics, and beliefs, it's hard to not think these people are out of their minds.
The book is also a fine study in the unusual aspects of the human psyche. From the egomaniacal and seemingly deranged leaders to their willing and needy followers, Heard gives us a hard look at some of the personalities that make up these fringe groups.

Alex Heard's adventures in the borderlands of culture remind me of the joys of listening to radical idealists of any stripe. I could feel the presence of each of his subjects, whether dreamer of a new Atlantis or channeler of benevolent, alien intelligence, or cross-bearing transcontinental walker. Each individual is a revelation in the spectrum of humanity, and most of them are endearing in distinct and peculiar ways. Heard is not unkind to either his subjects or his readers. He is a translator between "here" and "there," whose writing is so fluid and flawless that these strange world views slide into one another leaving the reader wondering how preferrable his own reality is in comparison. Read this book and be, by turns, amazed, entertained, touched, and more eager to engage the world and try out other lenses on reality.

Superb work. Heard has captured the essence of millennialism. Using his own storied career as a backdrop, the author reveals his travels and his perceptions of those who endeavor to overcome the inevitable in the apocalypse. The story also reflects his genuine concern for humanity and his respect for phenomena not explained by the usual scientific method. Heard's pervading sense of humor amiably enlightens the reader.

In good workmanlike prose, and showing a great deal of sympathy for his subjects, Heard tells us the stories of a number of people who believe odd things. Roughly eight different kinds of odd things, only very loosely held together by the theme of "Apocalypse".

"Apocalypse" is an ambiguous word, and the selection of odd beliefs in "Apocalypse Pretty Soon" plays on that ambiguity. There's no obvious tie between the folks who believe that Aliens will soon descend to Earth and give us enlightenment and cool technology, the supplement-megadose folks who believe that with the right pills they can live a real long time, and the Out of Body Experience folks who believe in astral travel. Heard gives us a few insights into (or guesses about) their characters that suggest some reasons people might believe these odd things, but he draws no general lessons and comes to no general conclusion.

It's an easy and enjoyable read, about some interesting people. It doesn't go beyond the anecdotes, and for that reason left me somewhat unsatisfied, but it's by no means a bad book.

Heard's career has reached a new zenith with this outstanding tome. His lacerating wit and devastating satire destroys the "school board member mentality" of various big city washouts and others unable to cut it in the real world. From Heard's college days at Vanderbilt, he has shown the wry wit that makes this a great read from start to finish. His ability to make us take notice of the everyday bufoons should delight readers everywhere.

Alex Heard is from Kansas by way of Mississippi. This background makes him an expert in primitive people and their mores. His book captures the spirit of the weirdness which pervades modern America. However, I am somewhat suprised that Heard did not write about the cult in Garden City, Kansas which believes that Jimmy Hoffa was buried under Garden City's infamous cement slab and that his spirit will arise in the Year 2000 and "take out" capitalists like the CEOs of Microsoft, Exxon and Morgan-Quitno Press.

Heard takes us on an enjoyable tour through the underbelly of the slightly strange, definitely fringe and just plain wacko groups that exist in the USA. Each chapter covers a small number of religious, futurist, political and other groups which defy categorization, along with some relevant history. This isn't a mainstream treatment of the topic - the author does his best to get inside each group and provide some real background. I enjoyed his tolerant yet skeptical attitude, which lets the reader attempt to understand each group from within, rather than an automatic dismissal of their worldview.

The book stands as a testament to those outside the mainstream. Alternatively very funny and very sad, it's well worth reading in order to better understand the fringes of the great social experiment in this country.

If this book doesn't land on the best-seller list there's no justice! My husband and I have been in a tug of war over it for the past several days (ever since I, having first discovered it, made the mistake of reading a few especially hilarious passages aloud to him). Heard's writing style is marvelous, and he relates his encounters with the book's incredible real-life cast of characters in such a way that the reader has the feeling of being right there, along for the (usually hilarious) ride. I was impressed with the author's fairness, wit, perseverance and writing ability. I loved this book so much that I hated for it to end, but I will revisit it more than once, and I am already recommending it heartily to all my friends. If I could afford to, I'd buy them all a copy!

I first discovered Heard through his Washington Post Magazine column, Out There, which appeared in the mid-80s. What a joy to find an entire book by this splendidly funny writer! This is the kind of book that could easily have failed in the hands of a less talented author, but Heard takes no cheap shots. He's an intrepid investigative reporter who, in one fascinating chapter, sincerely tries to have an out of body experience and contact the spirit of his late father. Some of the people he finds are charlatans, while he has a lot of respect for others he encounters during his journeys. My personal favorite part of the book was where he interviews the author of "If They Can Keep A Severed Head Alive." Buy this book and you are in for a real treat!