The Compleat Motherfucker: A History of the Mother of All Dirty Words (Feral House) [Paperback]

Jim Dawson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Feral House | Publication Date: May 1, 2009

"I've had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!" shouted Samuel Jackson in the movie Snakes on a Plane. It was the use of the famous expletive that brought on huge promotional buzz. The best-selling book On Bullshit won its audience from its shockingly unapologetic treatment of its title rather than its fairly pedestrian academic inquiry.

The Compleat Motherfucker is an entertaining and informative investigation into the offensive slang, touching on African American culture and other curious seeds of American subcultural and pop cultural movements.

Author Jim Dawson also wrote the brisk-selling previous study of fartology, Who Cut The Cheese.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jim Dawson grew up in the hills of West Virginia, served as a Marine, attended West Virginia University, and dropped out of law school a few years later to pursue the lonely craft of writing. He is a former editor of Hustler and several music and men's magazines.

Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: Feral House (May 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932595414
• ISBN-13: 978-1932595413
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,003,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jim Dawson is a Hollywood, California-based writer who has specialized in American pop culture (especially early rock 'n' roll) and the history of flatulence (three books so far, including his 1999 top-seller, "Who Cut the Cheese? A Cultural History of the Fart"). Mojo magazine called his "What Was the First Rock 'n' Roll Record?" (1992), co-written with Steve Propes, "one of the most impressive musical reads of the year"; though currently out of print, it continues to be a primary source for rock critics and historians. A native of Parkersburg, West Virginia, Dawson dropped out of West Virginia University Law School in the mid-1970s and moved to Los Angeles, where he landed his first major writing job as an editor at Larry Flynt's notorious Hustler magazine. He also wrote a series of articles on early rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll pioneers for the Los Angeles Times, including a front-page story in the Calendar entertainment section on the forgotten tragic figure Ritchie Valens. The piece led directly to Rhino Records reissuing Valens' entire catalog (with Dawson's liner notes) and eventually to the 1987 biopic "LaBamba," which used some of Dawson's research. Since 1983 Dawson has also written liner notes for roughly 150 albums and CDs, including Rhino's prestigious "Central Avenue Sounds" box set celebrating the history of jazz and early R&B in Los Angeles. He is presently working on several books, including a history of 1948 and a horror novel.