A prank is a trick, a mischievous act, and a ludicrous act. Although not regarded as poetic or artistic acts, pranks constitute an art form and genre. Here, pranksters such as Mark Pauline, Monte Cazazza, Jello Biafra, Joe Coleman, Karen Finley, Henry Rollins, John Waters and Henry Rollins challenge the sovereign authority of words, images and behavioral convention. Some tales are bizarre, as when Boyd Rice presented the First Lady with a skinned sheep's head on a platter. This iconoclastic compendium will dazzle and delight all lovers of humor, satire and irony. A great quotations section is also included.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
V.Vale has been publishing cultural subversion since 1977, with his publications "Search & Destroy," "RE/Search," and "V/Search."
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
A life-changing, perception-altering wonder! "Pranks!" is unlike anything I know. I discovered it by accident when I was working in a used bookstore, about 8 or 9 years ago. I was a teeneager just becoming aware of how repressed and stultifying suburbia was--and of the people over the decades who have tried to blast open our minds. Even so, I didn't quite know what to make of people like Joe Coleman, who geeked mice & blew himself up at performances (check out the photos, as well as the video "Mondo New York.") or Mal Sharpe & Jim Coyle, who tape-recorded some of the most absurd pranks ever. They walk into a pharmacy & ask the pharmacist for advice on home surgery! The pharmacist just freaks out after talking to them seriously for awhile--the whole transcript is here. Then there's Mark Pauline, with his Survival Research Laboratories (robots/machines he programs to destroy one another, often decorated with animal corpses) and the infamous Karen Finley. Of course there are the usual suspects--Tim Leary, Abbie Hoffman, Jello Biafra, plus a whole host of misfits, misanthropes, iconclasts, outcasts, and outlaws to round out this wildly in-depth work. Tons of pictures, millions of words. It really blew me wide open. I love this definition of pranks. They're exposing reality for the social construct it is, showing how easily people go along with it, how they adapt to even the most bizarre "set up" and often revealing the power structures that control our lives, and subvert them with not (only) political action, but humor, razor-sharp wit, sparkling, spiky intelligence--and a whole lot of balls. Absolutely worth every penny!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Like all Re/Search stuff it can get a tad fawning and smug, but in this case it's deserved. The distinction between these kinds of pranks and the hand in warm water pranks is that a GOOD prank should make the person it was played on as excited as the person who played it.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
A great volume, presented in the same engaging interview style as the 'incredibly strange music' volumes. Some sections are almost unbearably funny; some are grotesque and sick. All in all the book is unmissable - it makes a pretty good case for certain types of subversive behavior.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun...naughty, prankish, anarchistic fun
I cannot recommend this book enough. The Boyd Rice interview alone is worth the price of the book. The conversation with the pharmacist is also, truly knee-slapping funny. Read more
Published 22 months ago by nennycakes
4.0 out of 5 stars
The fun that could once be had
Among the lighter and more overlooked sorrows of living in a post-terroristic era of conflict is all of the fun that could once be had, but no more, like - arguably - everything... Read more
Published on September 20, 2006 by David Alston
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Prankster's Bible
This is the ultimate prankster handbook, an inspirational guide to mischief and mayhem. It is one of those books you can read bit by bit as there is a lot of material to absorb... Read more
Published on February 8, 2006 by Ziggy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic, Wacky Subversion
I lost my first copy of this in Nags Head in 1993. That's OK, it should be shared with as many people as possible because the pages are filled with shocking, playful, silly pranks... Read more
Published on April 14, 2005 by Matthew Ames
5.0 out of 5 stars
What Fun!
What fun! This book is packed with great interviews with people who like to make trouble. All are amusing and all are inspiring. Read more
Published on January 16, 2003 by Toby Levin
5.0 out of 5 stars
great interivews of people who chalenge our cultural norms
This book interviews some of the late 20th century's greatest pranksters and conceptual artists. From Abby Hoffman to Henry rollins, the interviewees are sometimes funny,... Read more
Published on August 15, 1997 by jwqm@juno.com
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