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Gary Lachman

Aleister Crowley: Magick, Rock and Roll, and the Wickedest Man in the World Paperback – May 15, 2014

by Gary Lachman (Author)

4.4 237 ratings

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This definitive work on the occult’s “great beast” traces the arc of his controversial life and influence on rock-and-roll giants, from the Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin to Black Sabbath.

When Aleister Crowley died in 1947, he was not an obvious contender for the most enduring pop-culture figure of the next century. But twenty years later, Crowley’s name and image were everywhere. The Beatles put him on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Rolling Stones were briefly serious devotees. Today, his visage hangs in goth clubs, occult temples, and college dorm rooms, and his methods of ceremonial magick animate the passions of myriad occultists and spiritual seekers.

Aleister Crowley is more than just a biography of this compelling, controversial, and divisive figure—it’s also a portrait of his unparalleled influence on modern pop culture.

Print length

400 pages
Language

English
Publisher

TarcherPerigee
Publication date

May 15, 2014
Dimensions

5.51 x 1.09 x 8.26 inches
ISBN-10

0399161902
ISBN-13

978-0399161902
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Clocking in at 394 pages jam-packed with in-depth information, factoids, anecdotes and insights from the first sentence to the last. A historical biography through and through, Lachman’s book is meticulously researched and it is quite easy to believe that the author, like a professor well-versed in their subject, could analyze and extrapolate at much greater lengths. The oft touted declaration of Crowley as the Wickedest Man in the World, may well have been overblown in it’s own time, but he’s certainly not an individual with whom it is easy to empathize. As detestable as he is, there is an undeniable fascination in his exploits, and Lachman seems the perfect man to deliver them.”
—The Examiner

“Gary Lachman has become an increasingly prolific engine of literate, well-written, and clear-headed books about esoteric history and ‘occulture.’ ”
—Erik Davis, author of TechGnosis

“Thinking outside the box, Lachman challenges many contemporary theories by reinserting a sense of the spiritual back into the discussion.”
—Leonard Shlain, author of Art & Physics and Alphabet versus the Goddess

About the Author

Gary Lachman is one of today’s most respected writers on esoteric and occult themes. His books—including Swedenborg, Jung the Mystic, and Rudolf Steiner—have received international acclaim. A founding member of Blondie, Lachman has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He lives in London.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ TarcherPerigee (May 15, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0399161902
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0399161902
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.51 x 1.09 x 8.26 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #389,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #552 in New Age Mysticism (Books)
- #712 in Occultism
- #1,563 in Religious Leader Biographies

Customer Reviews:
4.4 237 ratings

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Gary Lachman

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Gary Lachman (1955- ) was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, but has lived in London, England since 1996. A founding member of the rock group Blondie, he is now a full time writer with more than twenty books to his name, on topics ranging from the evolution of consciousness and the western esoteric tradition, to literature and suicide, and the history of popular culture. Lachman writes frequently for many journals in the US and UK, and lectures on his work in the US, UK, and Europe.His work has been translated into several languages. His website is https://www.gary-lachman.com/

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

237 global ratings

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Johnny Bluerose

Mostly enjoyable with a few slow spots

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2021

Verified Purchase

Interesting book on an interesting person but in a few spots I found it very slow and very hard to read but overall I found this book to be enjoyable just had a few slow hard spots

One person found this helpful

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All The High Heels

Not for occult newbies

Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2019

Verified Purchase

I would enjoy this book a lot more if I was fluent in the occult and had some base knowledge going in but being a newbie to the scene, I'm a pretty lost. I'm forcing myself to finish it and just taking in whatever sticks. Also, not much "rock and roll" but I still have 100 pages left. I might reread this book in a few years after I become more familiar with all the players and vast terminology.

4 people found this helpful

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Joshua Randall

Longwinded blah blah, from a wood be O.T.O. memeber.

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2019

Verified Purchase

Gary spews more of his insight into the occult by talking familiar about a guy he never met, and what research he has done, has scared him. Crowley may or may have not been a nice man, but that aside, he was ahead of his time in conscience expansion, a well read man who could puzzle his readers with his own great style, most of his books are written above the heads of most of his readers, at a time when you could be imprisoned for the things you wrote, he disguised the esoteric in a way that didn't seem to be riddled with mumbo jumbo. The man himself, we do not know, as if most know there own selves. Be it his bi-sexuality, or being among mountain climbers who died when he may have been able to help but didn't does little to sway me from recognizing him as a poet, and a iconoclast. The sort of sensationalism that is offered here has been offered elsewhere, a quick cash grab from a follower not a leader of his own spiritual path.

11 people found this helpful

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Not the usual Crowley bio!

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2014

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Gary Lachman has done it again, with another outstanding occultists biography!

It is always most interesting when a Writer and Biographer outside of the "bubble" of Thelemic Philosophy and Art writes on Crowley. Not drinking the Kool-Aid of Crowley hero-worship allows Mr. Lachman to even-handedly review the uncovered facts and new theories of other recent Crowley biographers, and his position in Rock Music as Blondie's "Gary Valentine" gives him unique insight into Crowley's influence on Popular Music and Modern Culture. Not as detailed as Richard Kazynsky's "Perdurabo", Mr. Lachman's biography will be a good alternative for the level-headed reader.

41 people found this helpful

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Carolyne Gomez

So greatful I found this book and received it so fast

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2022

Love this product

He came from money only to end just about poor and homeless

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2018

Verified Purchase

Lachman explain the man and myth. He explain Crowley history and what he was about. He was selfish man and closet bi sexual man. He came from money only to end just about poor and homeless.

3 people found this helpful

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Don Webb

A Glass of Clear Water

Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2017

Verified Purchase

Crowley books are either pro or con. There are some excellent pro books like _Perdaubo_ or _Overthrowing the Old Gods_. But until now there has never been a con book that got its facts right, had an objective (yet not unsympathetic) viewpoint until now. If you have three books about Crowley on you shelf, this MUST be number 3.

17 people found this helpful

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Karen Canon

It explains Crowley's place in the rebellion against pathologically strict ...

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2014

Verified Purchase

It explains Crowley's place in the rebellion against pathologically strict religious doctrine but misses the weird rumor that Barbara Bush the 1st was Crowley's illegitimate daughter, which is one of the strangest rumors I've ever heard but probably says more about the anti-Bush camp than about Crowley.

7 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Mr. R. A. Gregory

Indispensible for those who genuinely seek to understand.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

Having read a couple of biographies of Aleister Crowley in the past, I wasn't sure if buying Lachman's book would be money well spent. However, his objective analysis, from a previously neglected angle, makes for compelling reading. Few other books look at the impact Crowley had beyond fellow Occultists, and most of them really focus mainly on Satanists. Lachman takes a more panoramic view, dissecting the Great Beast's considerable impact on wider culture - the repercussions of which can still be seen today, if you know what you are looking for. Unlike most Crowley biographies, Beast isn't presented here as a virtual caricature, and Lachman doesn't fall into the trap of simplistic demonising or defending the indefensible. There were far more influences on, and aspects of, Crowley's spiritual journey than is generally perceived. Lachman's esoteric knowledge is both wide and profound, the insights of which he brings to bear on the life and legacy of Aleister Crowley - but he does not dispense with the reality check where necessary, and remembers the importance of context and belief, not to mention the more difficult, but very relevant, issue of evidence, not only in relation to what exactly constitutes Magickal theory and practice, but also the enormity of the task of separating fact from fiction about Crowley himself, the parameters of which the Great Beast worked hard to blur.

13 people found this helpful