Customer Reviews

Pussy, King of the Pirates (Acker, Kathy)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Not much to say here, I bought this book for my girlfriend. The person selling the book was very friendly, shipping was prompt via Amazon, excepttttttttttt Amazon screwed up shipping. I paid an extra ten bucks or something for two day shipping and it still took a week. Le sigh...

Sometimes when I can't sleep, I'll let this CD -- which is the companion music/audio re-telling of Kathy Acker's book -- wash over me like a great episode of a favorite TV show. If you like stories that are brash and tonal and that turn your world upside-down, this is a terrific way to get there.

This CD has a lot going for it, and is a roiling stew of Anne Bonney, Pirates of the Caribbean, Off Our Backs, modern women's spirituality and old-timey magical thinking.

Normally I am a huge fan of Kathy Acker, not this. Her style is there but it's jumbled and incoherent.

I realize that it is the 90's; however, I'm quite disappointed at the constant use of offensive language, sex and dream-state illusions which depict drug use. Credit has to be given to Kathy because she accomplished to involve her audience and upset some of us.

In order to truly understand any construct or idea , one must commit a type of murder.To claim the title of Woman or American , it becomes necessary to deconstruct exactly what these words mean. What does love or sex or female break down into ? By using her own singular language , Acker swallows her Self whole , then spits it back out , thus embarking on a journey towards some kind of understanding or possibility.This work is amazingly constructed and challenges us to question all those things we can't see , to bring what lies hidden outside and to see for ourselves. Kathy Acker has asked us to delve into the meaning of myth, an idea that may be key in our understanding the way we view the world. This is a truly brilliant book , written by an amazingly gifted woman.

Huh? I don't get it. Pirate girls are cool though. Maybe if I were a woman I could swallow this book whole then spit it back out, transform myself, die, turn into a rat and all kinds of groovy stuff. I guess liked it anyway.

Kathy Acker has struck a new low for novels. This was singuatly the worst example of slaughtering trees needlessly. The plot is not worth discussing(I couldn't really follow it anyway), the book is mainly a screed against men and its readers. Inane dialogue and no feeling of setting. Calling this anything but a waste of paper would be a travesty

By the way, the neo-Dadaist reference is to an art movement in the '20s to "destroy" art by flouting conventions, and that is an apt analogy for this book.