The Winner of the Slow Bicycle Race (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Actually, I'm quite proud of my false humility..." (more)
Key Phrases: slow bicycle race, humor conference, county dump, Thomas Eagleton Seagull, Jerry Rubin, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Satirist Paul Krassner has collected a number of his outrageous pieces in this exuberantly in- your-face collection. The longtime editor of The Realist, Krassner may be a self-proclaimed "psychedelic relic," but Kurt Vonnegut Jr., in the introduction to this collection, asserts that Krassner's writings are "emphatically not nostalgic, but raffishly responsive to the here and now." Puncturing pomposity wherever he finds it, Krassner joyously skewers those on the left as well as those on the right, and while his prose is often indelicate, it's also often hilarious. As Vonnegut notes, Krassner can make very serious matters seem ridiculous, and then his readers can decide for themselves what is serious and what isn't.

From Publishers Weekly

Stretching back to 1958 in reverse chronological order, this book selects Krassner's satire from the Realist (which he founded in 1958 and resumed in 1985 after an 11-year hiatus) and other publications. However, unlike his well-tuned memoir, Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut, satire ages, making for an uneven collection. What was outrageously insightful in 1967-Krassner's acceleration of LBJ's boorishness into a necrophilia scene with LBJ crouching and panting over JFK's corpse-is less funny now. On the other hand, Krassner's equally infamous 1988 piece on snorting cocaine with the Pope, "Always let the Pope snort first," remains hilarious. Among the hits are a faux interview with Nancy Reagan and a parody of Nixon's memoirs, as well as turn-of-the-'60s bits on race and contraception. Sometimes Krassner is less funny than biting, as in his putative exchange between Spike Lee and Tom Wolfe, who attacks the filmmaker's Nike commercials with "Just do the right sneaker." Though Krassner's style lacks the arch elegance of the best prose parodists, his ongoing career as a stand-up satirist suggests that his words, when given voice, still hit home. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press; 1st Trade Pbk. Ed edition (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888363444
• ISBN-13: 978-1888363449
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,609,298 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Name Drops Rippling in the Acid Rain Puddles, October 30, 2006

By	My Uncle Stu (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I like Krassner, I've long had an interest in the '68 riots and the Chicago 8 trial, and the bigger picture of this unique point in time, when streams of cultural changes, political chaos, and advances in street psycopharm all pooled together, each synergistically amplifying the brew. This book, with forward from Vonnegut, is billed as the collected satirical writings of Krassner. They are presented in reverse chronological order, starting with his eulogy to yippie turned yuppie Jerry Rubin. It's all very interesting bits and pieces, but it strains to rise above that level. There is no shortage of names being dropped, Patty Hearst, Phil Ochs, Timothy Leary, Norman Mailer, Terrence McKenna, Allen Ginsberg.

Well, that's okay. There's a time for linearity. Then there's a time for humorous blathering; irreverent jags just on the periphery of being smart observations on the absurdity and hypocrisy of the human condition. Krassner is no Lenny Bruce, no Hunter Thompson, no Groucho Marx, and he seems to get that. But he's hung with those guys. That's cool. So he can talk about that in an interesting, disorganized way.. He's like an entertaining, old and semi-manic guy you meet at a bar or a show who goes on and on. And it's super-entertaining for awhile. Then it wears a little thin and you make some excuse to get out of there. And that's something at least.

There's a scattered feel to all his essays, like listening to an audiobook on your iPod without realizing it's still set on shuffle. Speaking of which, I am sad to say I wrote a great review, a positive and informative review, of the 30 G iPod and it keeps getting rejected. They say it is too much personal information and not enough about the product. I've edited and edited, I've gotten it down to less than 100 words of personal stuff, related to the product, in a single paragraph, in the middle of close to 400 words of accurate and glowing information about the iPod. But they won't take it. I think because I go into detail about the Shiva playlist I've found myself making, the morbid exercise of picking songs to be played at a memorial service for me if I die unexpectedly. The kind of party where people are really sad, the hurt is fresh (I write "I've just been harvested and cremated. No, wait- make that plastinated. No, no- make that fossilized," it was funny). Music plays, people drink and mingle, and several people independently comment to each other that "you know, Marc would have really loved this, it's too bad he can't be here to see it." That was it, enough personal information to kill my review of the iPod. Just heartbreaking.

Anyway, Krassner's a cool dude, I recommend his writings. I'd give it 3.819 stars if not constrained to integers. Worth a read, though I don't recommend sitting and reading cover to cover. A little dose here and there does the trick. Speaking of which, you've really got to love a guy with the ambition and audacity to get Groucho Marx to take LSD.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best From The Master of Satire!, May 27, 1998

By A Customer

Paul Krassner is a master of political and social satire and this collection showcases some of his best work. Buy it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Adventures in the Counter-Culture, September 20, 2005

By	Brendan Hogan (Ireland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Radical in the Sixties, radical since, radical today. Krassner is one of those rare specimens - a Sixties radical who survived with his sense of humour intact. It's easy to see why. He doesn't take himself seriously, he realises the essentially futile (but essential) nature of trying to change society, and he is instinctively anti-authority.

This book consists of a collection of short stories from various points in Krassner's life - from the nineties to the fifties and all points in between. It's irreverent, sometimes infuriating (sometimes you just want him to talk straight and seperate facts from hyperbole), and thoroughly entertaining and informative.

Krassner hung out with all the cool cats, and he's probably the only one still around to tell the tale. He'd be the first to accuse himself of escaping the wrath on account of his role as a CIA deep cover agent.

Highly recommended for people interested in 'what happened in the Sixties', mind-expanding drugs or radical American politics.