Zine: How I Spent Six Years of My Life in the Underground and Finally...Found Myself...I Think [Paperback]

Pagan Kennedy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1995

A young woman named Pagan, just graduated from a writing program at a very prestigious university, is left with one burning question--Now what? She then takes an unusual step by deciding to invent her new self--the one the public will know--by creating her own magazine, written, created by, and starring none other than herself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Between the ages of 25 and 31, fictioneer Kennedy (Stripping & Other Stories) published her own personal fanzine, Pagan's Head. Why? "[T]o procrastinate, to trick people into liking me, to get dates, to turn myself into a star, and to transform my boring life into an epic story. And the scary thing was, it worked." It even got her this book, which reproduces parts of the not-so-immortal Pagan's Head with the author's interpolative commentary. Pagan's Head suggests a puckish, post-college creativity: the author mixes personal essays, cartoons, photos and advertisements, covering such topics as roommates, books, dating and pop culture. In "The 12 Stations of the Cross My Career," Kennedy amusingly annotates the friezes of the incidents in Christ's Passion. Her report on a noted historian is headlined "Henry Adams: hot, single and dead." But much of the 'zine, however well written, is truly ephemera?unless you're a '70s fanatic who obsesses about The Partridge Family. As a whole, the book serves as a growing-up story; the author reflects that her fanzine voice was "a camped-up version of myself." Later, the 'zine became a refuge from the real-life trauma of her father's illness; and finally, she notes, a more mature, grounded voice has emerged. While this book won't convert those outside the author's demographic, it might go down well, say, during a long lounge at a coffee bar.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

If you enjoyed Platforms , Kennedy's read of the 1970s, you'll want to peruse her report on life as publisher of a 'zine (i.e., a magazine on nonslick paper with, often, an underground orientation) devoted to a topic she knew well--herself. Kennedy emerged from a graduate writing program with more creativity than employability. As she explains with the insight and humor that distinguished Platforms, she solved the problem that situation posed via her 'zine. She inserts plenty of delightful comic strips, fumati, and prose from the 'zine into the narrative, and she offers a look at the slacker generation sans the usual belittling and reproof. Her stated affinity for the work of cartoonist Aline Kominski-Crumb is strongly evident; 'Zine is reminiscent of Kominski-Crumb and her husband R. Crumb's autobiographical comics--for many, that constitutes a strong recommendation all by itself. Mike Tribby

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312136285
• ISBN-13: 978-0312136284
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #857,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important artifact from the underground past, December 27, 2001

By 

Jeffrey Ellis "bored recluse" (Richardson, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Zine: How I Spent Six Years of My Life in the Underground and Finally...Found Myself...I Think (Paperback)

Zine is a term that gets tossed around a lot nowadays and, like all overused terms, the original concept has become obscure. A zine is an independently produced publication that is usually somewhat underground in orientation. Over the years, zines have surfaced as everything from hand-written pamphlets to xeroxed broadsheets to even a few glossy periodicals. However, in the beginning of the so-called "Zine Revolution" at least, what they all had in common was a desire to give exposure to unique voices that, probably, would have been ignored by more mainstream, commercial publications. That's not to say that it always worked out that way -- from the beginning, there was always a handful of zines that weren't quite worth the effort. However, when a zine did live up to its ideals, the results were often amazing. Over the next couple of years, an underground community of sorts was formed on the basis of these zines circulating across the country until soon, it seemed that everyone you met had their own zine (myself included, though hopefully all copies have been burned). Which of course, pretty much led to the whole thing collapsing underneath its own weight.
Before that collapse however, one of the best of the so-called "personal zines" was written and created by one of the zine world's most talented writers, Pagan Kennedy. Her zine was one of the founding publications of the "zine revolution," and many other lesser zines later tried to copy her unique style. However, as this memoir of her life in zines shows, Kennedy was a truly a unique and individual talent.

For the most part, "Zine" is a reprinting of the eight issues of Pagan's Head and for that reason alone, this is a valuable book. Each issues took a tongue-and-cheek look at her life and over those eight issues, readers followed Pagan as she broke up with boyfriends, travelled across the country, attempted to get her stories published in mainstream magazines (her reprinting of various politely shallow rejection letters is a highlight for any aspiring writer), dealt with her father's death, and -- in the final, touching issue -- the possibility that she herself might have cancer. Her writing is both insightfully witty and likeably self-mocking in its own self-absorbed way. However, for me, the best parts of the book are the sections where Pagan writes about what was really going on in her life when she was creating her zines. She writes of how, through her own personal zine, she was able to basically split herself in two -- one side being the real Pagan who had to deal with pain, insecurity, and all the other less cinematic bits of reality and the other being the zine Pagan, the one who faced life with the attitude that the real Pagan wished she could have. As such, Zine ultimately becomes a rather melancholy memoir of a fun time and, as admirable as her zine was, the reader also understands why it was something that the real Pagan eventually had to abandon and leave behind. As such, this book becomes an inspiration for any aspiring artist or anyone else who has ever felt trapped by mainstream society. Pagan Kennedy is to be commended for not only creating the eight issues of Pagan's Head but for having the courage and the insight to tell the truth behind the words.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very funny and real, probably like Ms. Kennedy herself., October 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Zine: How I Spent Six Years of My Life in the Underground and Finally...Found Myself...I Think (Paperback)

I have read this book, and read it again, and read it another time. If having a PhD gives me credibility, I have one, so LISTEN UP! Read this book. Pagan Kennedy took me through both carefree and frightening times in her life, and all was done through an authentic reprinting of her ZINE, an endeavor she undertook several years ago. The zine contained information about her life, as well as musings on her childhood and more recent periods. She ascended into flights of nostalgia (retelling of her infatuation with television personalities) as well as recreated trips she took with friends and tragedies endured by her family. This was all done by way of a cheaply yet affectionately homebuilt and jerryrigged 'zine suitable for passing out at a shopping mall, except that it's damn entertaining and revealing and you can't put it down in an earthquake. I got to know Ms. Kennedy through this book, at least somewhat, and my sporadic correspondences with her via email or postcards have verified my suspicions. What I mean is, ZINE is like talking all night with a good friend who makes you laugh and ponder and feel sorry about and happy about life all the time, and often all at once. The book lets you read the actual copies of the zine itself, plus Ms. Kennedy's explanations of what each issue meant in her life. It's lively and unlike the cookie cutter writing I see too often, and of which it's so easy to tire. ZINE is enjoyable, fun and good writing. It's one of my favorite books.

4.0 out of 5 stars Very funny and real, probably like Ms. Kennedy herself., October 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Zine: How I Spent Six Years of My Life in the Underground and Finally...Found Myself...I Think (Paperback)

I have read this book, and read it again, and read it another time. If having a PhD gives me credibility, I have one, so LISTEN UP! Read this book. Pagan Kennedy took me through both carefree and frightening times in her life, and all was done through an authentic reprinting of her ZINE, an endeavor she undertook several years ago. The zine contained information about her life, as well as musings on her childhood and more recent periods. She ascended into flights of nostalgia (retelling of her infatuation with television personalities) as well as recreated trips she took with friends and tragedies endured by her family. This was all done by way of a cheaply yet affectionately homebuilt and jerryrigged 'zine suitable for passing out at a shopping mall, except that it's damn entertaining and revealing and you can't put it down in an earthquake. I got to know Ms. Kennedy through this book, at least somewhat, and my sporadic correspondences with her via email or postcards have verified my suspicions. What I mean is, ZINE is like talking all night with a good friend who makes you laugh and ponder and feel sorry about and happy about life all the time, and often all at once. The book lets you read the actual copies of the zine itself, plus Ms. Kennedy's explanations of what each issue meant in her life. It's lively and unlike the cookie cutter writing I see too often, and of which it's so easy to tire. ZINE is enjoyable, fun and good writing. It's one of my favorite books.