PUSSY, KING OF THE PIRATES [Hardcover]

Kathy Acker (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Unknown (1996)
• ASIN: B0028Q8W9K
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best Acker, October 17, 2002

By 

joshua (London, ON Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pussy, King of the Pirates (Acker, Kathy) (Paperback)

Kathy Acker is, in my opinion, the best avant-garde author who ever existed, and "Pussy King of Pirates" is her greatest work--topping even "Empire of the Senseless"--which is too bad that it was her last.
following the exploits of girls seeking treasure, Pirate girls, and surreal avatars of writers like Antonin Artaud, "Pussy King of Pirates" goes farther than Acker has ever gone with the conventions of literature. ...the book is like a jazz riff, replayed and improvised at numerous times.
i cannot rave enough.
furthermore, "Pussy King of Pirates" has a soundtrack, that Acker recorded with the Mekons, which is also phenomenal.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!, March 5, 2001

By 

J. Paul (London, ON Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pussy King of Pirates (Audio CD)

Kathy Acker is probably one of the most talented authors of the latter half of the 20th century. This album is an excellent expose for her book of the same title.

Acker and the Mekons do an excellent job of finding different styles of music to fit with the different moods of the book. Acker's literature is reknowned for its avant-garde method of "plagiarism" (she blatantly steals from other authors and restructures their ideas to fit her own); this album is no different. Many songs sound like other songs--of various genres--that you might have heard before.

Songs on this album range from industrial to trance-esque electronica to disco to reggae-ish folk to post-modern sea shanty. Interspersed between every song is Acker's spoken word.

A must have for anyone who loves Acker's works.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I did want to like it though, June 30, 2002

By 

"blissengine" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pussy, King of the Pirates (Acker, Kathy) (Paperback)

Using a style a bit like that of William Burroughs, Acker weaves a tale of various girls struggling against (society, men, each other, etc.). There are moments of crisp clarity where Acker conveys aspects of the story she's telling with the potent voices she uses, but these are not often enough to bring the story together except for the dedicated transgressive reader. This is the type of book that relies more on voice and atmosphere than on linear storylines, and Acker does succeed in giving us fascinating characters, but I was still left bewildered and numb by the end, as well as left wondering what this book was meant to convey.