Shock Treatment [Paperback]

Karen Finley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

Shock Treatment includes Karen Finley’s most provocative and acclaimed performance monologues, essays, and poems, with “The Constant State of Desire,” “We Keep Our Victims Ready,” “It's Only Art,” and “The Black Sheep.” Excoriating misogyny, homophobia, abusive families, greed, and state coercion of bodies and minds, Finley holds out hope for a world informed not by hate and fear, but by truth and unconditional love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Finley's performance art--for which she has recently become notorious--is intentionally discomfitting. The texts in Shock Treatment , some of which figure in her performances but the majority of which are recent writings, are coextensive with the reach of her live act, sharing the goal, indeed, of shocking. However, readers may find the effects here too shrill to be persuasive: "I know you want to experience the inspiration of the artist. So I take your Yuppie body and drag it down Avenue B and let your tongue roll along the street licking up the shit and piss, the sweat and blood of me, and you know what? You like it. You like it."p. 8 In the most scathing of terms, consumerism, sexism, homophobia, racism and societal violence are pilloried and personified. Finley's calculated histrionics admit no forgiveness. In the name of personal freedom, judgments are harshly rendered and executed with zeal. There is little warmth here, but cold compassion for the undefended; the crude drawings by the author serve to sharpen the book's astringency. As its title suggests, this book is not meant to offer readers a pleasant experience. Nonetheless, it is a document that boldly crosses the border between the political and the profane at a time when that region is in hot dispute. It should not go unread by those involved.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: City Lights Publishers; 1St Edition edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0872862526
• ISBN-13: 978-0872862524
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,072,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

KAREN FINLEY's raw and transgressive performances have long provoked controversy and debate. She has appeared and exhibited her visual art, performances, and plays internationally. The author of many books including A Different Kind of Intimacy , George & Martha , and Shock Treatment, and most recently The Reality Shows. She is a professor at the Tisch School of Art and Public Policy at NYU.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be shocked, August 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Shock Treatment (Paperback)

I saw Karen perform at the University of Kentucky in 1991. This book is a collection of her blistering spoken word pieces. Her monologues, ranging on topics from censorship to the pain of alienation to emotional/sexual abuse are at turns enraging, tragic, and unexpectedly humorous. Anyone who complains about her graphic use of language is missing the point. She wants to shock you, to make you angry, to make you think.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally... Tipper Gore's Worst Nightmare, March 4, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Shock Treatment (Paperback)

Karen Finley, the infamous performance artist and all-around potty mouth, shatters taboos aplenty in this powerful collection of monologues. With her inimitable ability to make obscenity, rage, and even indifference somehow empowering, she weaves a tapestry of social horrors, including but by no means limited to female oppression, incest, homophobia, physical abuse, and sexual depravity. Finley's "take no prisoners" confrontations with social ills leave little to the imagination--but leave the reader with a great deal to think about. One section of the book is entitled "Quotes from a Hysterical Female," and I think that pretty fairly represents the frustrated and maddened mentality from which Finley's sometimes laughingly absurd and sometimes despairingly tragic observations eminate. Of course, it's not a book for everyone--it's probably won't be wrapped up in Norman Rockwell paper for Aunt Martha's birthday present, and it probably won't fight for any tree space in most Currier and Ives Christmas scenes, but it is a collection of truths from the tip-toe precipice of insanity... for those who aren't afraid of what they might find. So, Tipper, you can't say you weren't warned..

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enter this treatment with caution, October 21, 2000

By 

Darren (Jersey Shore, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shock Treatment (Paperback)

Karen Finley unleashes vulgar sarcasm and contempt towards the very society that allows her to publish such profanity, but her messages become loud and clear, only after the initial shock wears off. Her essays illustrate issues of sexual abuse, misogyny and corporate greed (just to name a few) and confront the bitter realities of society that many try hard to deny or keep out of the comfort zone of awareness. This is a raw uncensored cathartic tirade of a woman "checking some major emotional baggage". If you can't handle hearing of harsh realities of life and vulgar words, this book is not for you. I personally, found the profanity somewhat excessive, (minus two stars) and this is a major part of her method here. Some parts made me angry, but other parts had me laughing hysterically. This book is bound to invoke and trigger some strong thoughts and feelings relating to your own issues (if you are willing to admit you have any).

If you can get past the shock of the sensationalized vulgarity and barrage of four letter words & slang body part names without abandoning the book, you will feel the intensity of her angst..(you may even share some). She also includes some humourously vulgar and obnoxious original artwork to add to the 'treatment'.

This book will make a great stocking stuffer to instigate any Politically Correct, Ultra Conservative, Right Wing, Anti-Free Speech advocates on your holiday shopping list.