SCUM Manifesto (Paperback)

~ (Author) "entirely visceral, not cerebral; his intelligence is a mere tool in the service of his drives and needs; he is incapable of mental passion, mental..." (more)
Key Phrases: money system, Valerie Solanas, Great Art, Andy Warhol (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A stylish new hardcover edition from Verso....recent world events suggest the book's time has come. -- A.S. Hamrah, Boston Globe, 30 May 2004

Her anger is a raw, seductive call to arms for any woman scorned. -- Rachel Kramer Bussel, The Village Voice, 21 June 2004

Verso has published a top-of-the-line, sexy new edition....Verso's SCUM Manifesto is a chic little object. -- Claire Dederer, The Nation, 14 June 2004 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

"Life in this society being, at best, an utter bore and no aspect of society being at all relevant to women, there remains to civic-minded, responsible, thrill-seeking females only to overthrow the government, eliminate the money system, institute complete automation and destroy the male sex."-Valerie Solanas

The definitive edition of probably the finest polemic in the world. It contains a new afterword detailing the life and death of Valerie Solanas.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 60 pages
• Publisher: AK Press; 2 edition (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1873176449
• ISBN-13: 978-1873176443
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #630,788 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Scummy Dross of the Movement, November 5, 2002

By	"stenerin1" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

Enjoyment of Valerie Solanas' infamous SCUM MANIFESTO is completely dependent upon how you approach it. When I first read it, I had no idea of Solanas' other, more lethal activities, and took it to be a modern day social critique in the mode of Swift's brilliant A MODEST PROPOSAL. Taken this way - with a few shovels full of salt - Solanas' work shines as a hilarious work of satire. Unfortunately, when one becomes acquainted with the TRUE Solanas, it becomes sadly obvious that she means every single hateful, spiteful word she fills this tiny little pamphlet with. That knowledge doesn't make the humor any less entertaining, but it does add a harder edge to the proceedings than otherwise.

Reading through the SCUM MANIFESTO, it's fairly evident that Solanas was determined to hate Man, at a cost of all common sense. Her ideas are stupefyingly ridiculous - the sort you'd expect from a mind literally curdling in rage - and though I won't ruin any surprises for those who've yet to read, believe me when I say you simply can't help but laugh at her many of her anti-man assertions. Even so, throughout it all, her keen-edged fury is almost palpable and literally wafts off the pages in a pungent rush of angry words and ideas, distinct evidence of her talent as a writer. And yet, the innate foolishness of it all is inescapable. Try as you might to see this as work of high satire, Solanas meant this as God's Own Truth, a call to arms for her fellow feminists. That one fact makes completion of the SCUM MANIFESTO a bittersweet thing indeed, leaving the reader with a distinctly bad taste in his or her mouth, and pity for the poor, furious woman who wrote this angry little pamphlet.

How sad.

69 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hmmm, August 9, 2000

By	Ruth (Melbourne) - See all my reviews

I have to speak carefully here because my reviews so far on this book have been censored away somewhere (I'm not sure why). There's no question that this short, intense pamphlet is very interesting (harmless review so far, right?) Valerie Solanos is famous for having shot Andy Warhol, and on the whole I don't believe in reading books by criminals. Why encourage them? On the other hand, VS has long since passed away. The facts of her life (shooting people, being a prostitute, living on the streets, studying psychology at college) are important to consider because otherwise it might be easy to toss this thing off as a joke (it's actually very very funny in my opinion) when of course, it's serious and potentially (I suppose) harmful.

An interesting thing to consider is: how would it be if the genders were reversed and we had instead (and this is, I think, where I have to choose my words carefully) and man who proposed to eliminate women from the earth, and then gave reasons why. I console myself by thinking that this manifesto would still be funny and absurd and disturbing and thought provoking.

I have never got much into the whole anarchy thing before, but I think that it's interesting and intelligent to consider it, and especially to clarify why you might be against such a path of action.

This pamphlet describes what Valerie Solanos believes in. I do not question her sincerity, given her history. I must say, when I consider the world that she must have perceived from her position and her experiences; then it is possible to see why an intelligent and brave woman could reach such conclusions (although I heartily disagree with them of course). I strongly recommend this book, because it's very much outside the normal way of writing and thinking. It pushes the boundaries (of thinking, I mean, not of acting), and that's good, right?

Also, it's very short.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An insult to feminism?, June 12, 2002

By	Sarah Jane (Glasgow, U.K.) - See all my reviews

Before you see the 4 stars and discard my review as another naive "Go Girl!" piece, understand that (although I liked the book) I strongly disagree with the author's theories.
When I think of feminism (and I know many will disagree) I think of strong women fighting for equality. EQUALITY, as in equal rights and no better gender. Solanas called herself a "superfeminist" (and is hailed by many as some sort of heroine) but her sexist attitudes and intolerant nature make her an insult to the cause.

This book is witty, bitter and an enjoyable read, but I view it in the same way as I'd view a racist, homophobic or xenophobic text - I realise that it's the product of a disturbed mind. Her life of prostitution and being abused by men explains her bitterness towards them, but it's no excuse for her violent hatred towards the entire male gender. As many reviewers have pointed out, if the roles had been reversed (a man writing about killing all women) it would never have been published, and would be considered extremely sexist: why should it be any different for a female author?

For the said supporters who seem to understand nothing of her politics: Sure, it's full of good quotes to use when your boyfriend's being an [jerk], but you can't seriously support her idea of a perfect world (devoid of all men) Not only are her theories blatantly discriminative, violent, intolerant and (what I consider to be) antifeministic; he idea of a perfect world just isn't practical.