The Primal Screamer [Paperback]

Nick Blinko (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002

The nameless evil that haunts a legendary punk rock outfit...a Gothic Horror novel about severe mental distress and punk rock. Semi-autobiographical novel from the Rudimentary Peni leading light plunging into the worlds of madness, suicide and anarchist punk. And it's a good read.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Dense, haunted, shot through with black humour.” —Raw Vision

 “An intensely written and authentically Gothic look at the life of a man suffering extreme mental distress.” —Detour

“The insights it offers into the punk scene and into the unsettling landscapes of its author’s mind are fascinating. The whole book has a distinct sense of coming from a mind unlike most we are used to.”  —Big Issue

“Fascinating and compelling.”  —Kerrang

“Nick Blinko is a madman. That’s not intended as pejorative opinion but rather a statement of plain fact.”  —Maximum Rock N Roll

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Nick Blinko is an artist and the lead singer and guitarist for the punk band, Rudimentary Peni, whose records include, Death Church, Cacophony, and Pope Adrian 37th.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 126 pages
• Publisher: Spare Change; 3rd edition edition (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0952574403
• ISBN-13: 978-0952574408
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,695,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ignorant Reviewers, May 11, 2001

By 

Andrew Staats (Naperville, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Primal Screamer (Paperback)

I am pleased to see that word is spreading (if slowly) on Nick Blinko's amazing artistic/writing/lyrical abilities, but it seems that all of the reviewers seemed to miss the most crucial detail of the book...Although the book was written in the form of the pyschiatrist's journal, it is an autobiography about Nick's own life. He is writing a NON-fiction piece about his life, from the view of his doctor. Although the entire novel may not be non-fiction, the majority of it is entirely true. I do not want anyone to reply and ask me how I can be so sure of this, but I have personally met with Nick, and I have asked friends of his in the UK about the history of Rudimentary Peni. I also own EVERYthing released by them, 2nd pressing or better. His artwork is quite hard to come by, but with some drudging through the internet doldrums, I'm positive that one may stumble upon some peices. If you haven't read this book, or heard of anything that I have mentioned above, find this book at any cost. It is incredible to say the least. Oh, and for those of you that HAVE read the novel, reread it, and see if what I tried to explain makes any sense...

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling--until the very end, June 21, 2003

By 

Oliver Sheppard (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Primal Screamer (Paperback)

WARNING: Spoilers in this review!

I was pleasantly surprised with this, Nick Blinko's thinly-veiled autobiography-cum-horror novel. Turns out he's a pretty great writer when he wants to be!

This book is told from the point of view of a therapist treating a recent suicide attempt (Nat Snoxell, who is really Blinko's representation of himself). The novel is told in the form of therapist's notes, in fact, which is an effective narrative choice on Blinko's part. To cure the troubled young man, the therapist convinces him to undergo primal scream therapy. It's like hypnosis, but the patient regresses to a primal, almost fetal state, and begins screaming out all his/her pent-up anger, rage, and despair.

The therapy doesn't seem to work. Blinko--er, I mean Snoxell--begins hanging out with vegan anarchists (the Crass Records group in real life), forms a band (aka Rudimentary Peni), and continues with his death fixation. The suicidal thoughts continue. The therapist has a very droll sense of humor; Blinko's writing here excels. In fact, it can be quite humorous, and one wonders if Blinko isn't really simply taking the piss out of his whole experience with the world of therapy in writing this book. One wonders how Blinko's real life therapist felt about how Blinko portrayed him. "Must record this in my sex diary tonight," the therapist scribbles to himself when thinking of some of the young man's problems. Little touches like this reveal Blinko's cynical wit.

My complaint: About 1/3 of the way through the book Blinko has set the tone for a good psychological horror novel. Just what is this disturbed young man up to? What is he really involved in that he isn't revealing to his therapits, his confidant? Is he manipulating the psychiatrist somehow? What is the story behind the secret compartments in his family's ancient house that he keeps his morbid playthings in?

After 120 pages, one gets the sense Blinko simply wanted to end the book, however, without playing up any of these potential directions for the book. A fan of HP Lovecraft, Blinko forcesa lot of Lovecraftianisms into the ending, and after some verbal pyrotechnics the novel abruptly ends, leaving many questions frustratingly unanswered. Instead of a purely psychological tale, therefore, we are left with the idea that there had been supernatural influences at play in the Snoxell character all along. But even these are not explained -- instead there's passing mention of cosmic evils, black magic, etc. To me, that's less frightening than the psychological stuff hinted at before, and much less tangible. It's also less interesting than what Blinko actually went through as a real mental patient and vegan anarcho-squatter who hung out with Crass and others.

Like most of Lovecraft's narrators, the therapist simply "goes mad" at the novel's conclusion. I found this to be a bit disappointing--although, to be honest, Blinko pulls it off better than Lovecraft ever did in the majority of his stories! If you're as big a fan of Rudimentary Peni as I am, this novel is a must. If you like Crass, Britpunk, etc, you should get this, too. And if you like psychological horror, or are an HP Lovecraft nerd, again, this is a must. Blinko's writing talent is impressive. If he put his mind to it, he could probably write even better stuff than this.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The anguished life of Nick Blinko in fictionalized form., July 14, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Hollywood, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Primal Screamer (Paperback)

This book details the fictionalized life of a punk rock singer who has been institutionalized throughout his early adulthood after his many suicide attempts. After starting a punk rock band and honing his creativity into bizarre art, even his therapist threatens to go insane. Absolutely brilliantly original. Written by the lead singer/guitarist and sometimes lyricist of legendary punk rock band Rudimentary Peni. Check out the artwork for more mind-blowing excitement!