A Preferred Blur: Reflections, Inspections, and Travel in All Directions [Paperback]

Henry Rollins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 2009

2007 was a very busy year for Henry Rollins. He traveled to Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Pakistan, where he was staying when Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. While traveling, Rollins performed numerous spoken word shows and worked on films, his IFC television show, and Harmony in My Head, his popular weekly radio show. In short, a quintessentially Rollins-ian year: sleepless, nonstop, and highly productive. A Preferred Blur contains stories written in the form of journal entries from Rollins’ travels throughout the year. As in his other travel-related books and journals, Rollins — Detail magazine’s 1994 Man of the Year — writes not only about his own life and work, but of music, current affairs, and the world around him with humor, insight, and brutal honesty.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: 2.13.61; 2 Original edition (August 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880985810
• ISBN-13: 978-1880985816
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #291,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sad, uplifting, tragic, inspiring., November 3, 2009

By 

Capt. McPl0x (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Preferred Blur: Reflections, Inspections, and Travel in All Directions (Paperback)

Sad, uplifting, tragic, inspiring. That's the best way to describe the latest offering from Mr. Rollins.

The book you see does not come out until August, but I was lucky enough to get one of the 1000 autographed special editions he had on his web site. The cover on mine is black, and resembles the standard composition books we all know and love.

This book mainly covers his life from late 2006 to the end of 2007. It's very similar in style and content to 'Smile, You're Traveling'. He talked about traveling, doing shows, and generally being uncomfortable in his own skin. He talks about religion, friends, and lambastes the Bush administration non-stop.

I admire his vigor for life and his incredible drive to do nothing but work and travel. Stagnation simply is not a word in his vocabulary. At the same time however, I can't help but worry about his state of mind. He comes off as the classic tortured soul, unable to, or having no desire to, maintain any close personal relationships. He never dates, spends most of his time alone, and even tires quickly of the few relationships he does choose to have (mostly with his old friends in DC).

I hope as he ages he can eventually find some sort of inner peace, but until then I will continue to enjoy his musings, and I implore you to see him live if you ever get the chance.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must for fellow travelers, solipsists, June 24, 2011

By 

D. Cross "D_Cross" (Hollywood, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Preferred Blur: Reflections, Inspections, and Travel in All Directions (Paperback)

I can understand how some people would see Rollins' writing as self-indulgent and self-absorbed, despite his self-effacing attitude. And I have to admit, sometimes this is true. However, for those of us who also enjoy getting out there in the world to far off places, wandering strange cities at night... this will definitely strike a chord.

I see this as a kind of diary/travelogue of someone who may have issues, but keeps moving forward at any cost, trying to see as much and learn as much as he can. That's admirable. I highly recommend this to searchers, seekers and travelers of all stripes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars My least favorite of Rollins' travel trilogy..., September 6, 2011

By 

B. Bowman "Double B" (Jersey, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Preferred Blur: Reflections, Inspections, and Travel in All Directions (Paperback)

I have to preface this review by saying that I really enjoyed Rollins' previous book "A Dull Roar", which documented the 2006 reformation of the Rollins Band line-up from the 1990's and Henry's continued work on both his radio show and his I.F.C. interview show. I couldn't wait to read this follow up book to that period, and I was underwhelmed to say the least, and actually have never said that about reading one of Rollins' books before. What I found the most interesting about this book was Rollins' journal entries on his travels to Jordan and the Middle East, and his perceptions about how the locals feel about America and Americans, and what his feelings were as an outsider visiting those parts of the world. I was also very interested in Henry's thoughts about singing for the band The Ruts after they reformed for one show after their guitar player was diagnosed with cancer, as well as his ruminations about his hometown of Washington D.C., which he writes about very frequently throughout "A Preferred Blur". As Rollins has stated in many of his previous books, D.C. represents a jumping off place for him; emotions run high when he spends time there, especially when he visits in the autumn months, as he did during the writing of this book. He writes frequently in "A Preferred Blur" about the recent death of his friend Ian Mackaye's mother, which affected him very deeply. Some of Rollin's descriptions in this book of his love for his friends from D.C. and the feelings that the city evokes in him struck me as some of his most powerful and heartfelt writing. That's the plus side of this book in my opinion. Unfortunately though, much of "A Preferred Blur" was just repeated sentiments about how much Rollins detests the Bush administration, how much he hates human contact and the thought of being close to anyone, numerous statements that his work is all that matters to him, and his annoyance about his perpetually lost luggage during his travels. After pages upon pages of these same sentiments repeated over and over I actually found myself getting bored, which as I've said is a first for me while reading a book by Rollins. I still think that "A Preferred Blur" is worth reading if you are a fan and want to hear more about Henry's international travels, but I wouldn't rank this as among his best work.