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Books
(both fiction and nonfiction)
The
Boomer Bible
Okay quick - if you REALLY UNDERSTAND this book, let
me tell you four words and wait for you to get in touch with
me so that we can figure out what to do to combat the Way of Harry
using the Internet as our primary mode of attack!!!
Radio
Free Albemuth
Philip K. Dick was the victim of an unfortunate reality shift
- he thought he was being controlled by God. I can relate. This
book was the clue I needed to realize that I am not alone in my
struggle, and that I am guided by some VERY powerful forces myself.
I am building Aramchek; that's what this website is all about.
Let's see if you can make the connection.
The Book Of The SubGenius
THIS BOOK IS A DRUG!!! It is dangerous and should be outlawed. It
changed my life and made me realize that no matter how manic I got,
I would never out-manic the TRULY INSANE. God bless the SubGenii!
The Best Of Abbie Hoffman
Whenever I feel alone, whenever I forget what revolutionary prose
MEANS, I pop this one open. Abbie's writing is SO FUCKING ALIVE.
The man burns, his heart still beats on through these words.
Pranks!
Perhaps the most detailed study EVER MADE about revolutionary kicks.
An absolute classic that you'll be quoting for years!
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
An anarchist revolution occurs on the moon, aided by a computer
that's come alive (can we say, "internet"?). It's amazingly detailed
and realistic, and Heinlein's weirdo libertarian philosophy makes
for some fantastic brain candy.
The Dispossessed
Another anarchist sci-fi classic! Ursula K. LeGuin is a true artist
- she paints planetscapes with her controlled pen, sucking us into
the dream with her. The story of an anarchist utopia that somehow
spawns a genius whose work is destined to transform a galaxy; it
vividly depicts the archetypical struggles of those of us who choose
true anarchism as our moral and ideological stance.
Guerrilla Marketing
This entire SERIES is filled with wisdom. This series is SO USEFUL
and SO EXTRAORDINARY - a vision of enterprise uncluttered by advertising,
a realistic look at what it really takes to bring a product to market.
It's the closest thing to a step-by-step guide to escaping the prison
planet of wageslavery.
A Scanner Darkly
Philip K Dick drew a harrowing portrait of dope fiends and narcs.
I have never been so saddened and paranoid as I was after this record.
PKD paints hallucinogenic portraits of losers and hustlers in a
dystopian setting. It's gorgeous stuff.
Tarot: Mirror Of The Soul
Tarot is an AWESOME way to get perspective on your life! It's like,
add a dose of utter RANDOMNESS to your decisionmaking. The Crowley-Thoth
deck is absolutely BEAUTIFUL, and - the real treasure - this book
is GENIUS GENIUS GENIUS. A book you will skip around and around
until you are one with it!
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -
series
The first four books of this classic by Douglas Adams are so genius,
so deliciously funny. This is the Typhoid Mary of in-jokes - as
if Monty Python were given license to play with every sacred cow
in science fiction and THEN some. It's a laugh a minute, for sure.
The Trouser Press Guide To Independent
Music
An earlier version of this book ABSOLUTELY CHANGED MY LIFE! It's
basically reviews of all KINDS of obscure records by punk-inflected
artists since the Velvet Underground. I mean, it lists OPERATION
IVY fer chrissakes! This book is so detailed, thorough, and unimpeachable.
It stands as evidence that tons of wonderful bands existed, and
you will end up buying a lot of the records in this book (nice coincidence,
because we'll be selling 'em!)
The World According To Garp
This book is LONG, but it is deep, involved, and ultimately, profoundly
affecting. It's a portrait of a writer BY a writer, and strewn throughout
are truths that run the gamut from mundane to otherwordly.
Hardcore California
A vibrant, enthralling portrait of the world of California punk
rock, both SF and LA, circa 1982! Some of the raddest photography
this side of Diane Arbus, and words that just TELEPORT YOU THERE!
There's a photo of Mike Ness (social distortion) in this book that
is just EVERYTHING I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE.
The Pursuit Of Wow!
Ah, Tom Peters. This guy is probably the MOST CONSISTENT BOOSTER
OF PUNK INNOVATION IN THE UNIVERSE - and check it out - he's a MANAGEMENT
CONSULTANT and his books are read by SQUARE BUSINESSMEN! Proof positive
that the spirit of fucking shit up has permeated even to the top
levels of SQUARE society - and Tom Peters can inspire the fuck out
of me ANY day!
Designing With Javascript: Creating Dynamic Web Pages
OOH! I've been dog-earing this book for the last two weeks as I
rebuilt this site. Nick Heinle is 17 fucking years old, and he's
a LEGEND - the guy has a way with instructional prose that is simply
put, a GIFT. I am NOT a programmer by any means, and STILL he taught
me how to do rad shit. I'm in his debt!
Catch-22
Probably my favorite "novel" ever. It's hard to get into, but it
is funny as hell - a veritable cartoon, filled with archetypes who're
always blowing each other's fantasies up. One of the few books I
read in high school that I just adored.
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut has this way of being bleak AND charming in the same penstroke.
This is a really tidy, quick read about a possible end of the world.
Like Catch-22, it's all about ARCHETYPES (do you know what this
word means? it means, in this case, a character whose traits are
so exaggerated that the character is really a case study in that
trait).
A Clockwork Orange
One of the best PUNK novels of all time. It's about bad kids fucking
shit up in an evil, coldwar Britannia. Think of it as Trainspotting,
thirty years earlier. (Trainspotting wasn't a bad book, but this
is just better - more fucking crazyviolent and painted in more vivid
tones - plus it's hella shorter!)
The Foundation Trilogy
This is one of the most important science fiction works of all time.
It's about the fall of a Galactic Empire and one man's plot to let
it go so that the building can begin anew. Sort of like the way
Unamerican feels about THIS empire - it's going to fall, there's
no stopping it, but we CAN plant the seed for what's NEXT ***way***
in advance!
Worlds
Joe Haldeman is a scifi GOD to me, and this is his tightest and
best novel. It's another end-of-the-world thriller, one where humanity
has figured out how to live in space just before World War III.
This novel totally kicks ass.
The Princess Bride
You like the movie? The book is TEN TIMES BETTER. This baby just
reads itself - it's like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, except
it's FANTASY! You'll be quoting this one for YEARS.
Valis
Dick's most important - and hardest - work chronicling his delusions
of communication with God through drugs. If you haven't read Radio
Free Albemuth, you're probably not ready for this. It took me
a long time and a lot of determination to get through this schizophrenic
outburst, but I am (obviously) still very affected by it. Actually,
being schizophrenic sucks. I want to stop.
Catcher in the Rye
This is a classic of disaffected youth. It isn't, like, my favorite
book in the WORLD or anything, but it's a quick and entertaining
read that really analyzes how the square world sucks and is worthless.
I dig Holden Caulfield's friendship with his sister - it's sort
of like me and my sister, Aparna.
The Bhagvad-Gita
Unlike most ancient religious tracts, this one makes sense! Basically,
this guy Arjuna is a bad-ass archer, and he's about to do battle
with relatives - relatives that he doesn't want to kill. Krishna
is, like, God, see, and he's also Arjuna's charioteer. Krishna teaches
Arjuna about destiny, duty, fate, faith - it's all in there - and
basically convinces Arjuna to fulfil his destiny despite his misgivings.
A classic!!!
Selling The Invisible
I like marketing. I don't know why, but I just do. It's fun. It's
not intrusive and obnoxious like sales is (not that there's anything
wrong with sales, it just isn't for me). Anyway, this is the best
marketing book I've ever read. Marketing is ANECDOTAL, and this
book lists several dozen rad anecdotes. It also works well with
my short attention span!!! :)
Screaming Life
This book is a collection of pictures of the "grunge" scene that
burst out of Seattle in the early Nineties. Kurt Cobain is an angel.
You will see.
T.A.Z.
This book is sort of an amphetamine. I have problems with it, but
it sure does get me ready to go fuck shit up. Unreadable in doses
larger than a chapter, but very inspiring - a series of rants from
a man who seriously is doing a lot of acid while he's writing, i'm
sure.
Life In Hell
Before the Simpsons, there was Life in Hell, and you owe it to yourself
to check out these strips. Groening is as revolutionary as a media
star can be - and back in the day (we're talking the Reagan era
here), his cartoons seemed like they posed a REAL THREAT. Never
has such an accurate analysis of what sucks about cubicle jobs been
created - step back, scott adams! :) (actually, dilbert's OK too.)
Search And Destroy - The Reprint
Search and Destroy is one of the original punk 'zines, out of san
francisco, and this is a complete reprint. It's SO AWESOME!!!! I
mean, interviews with BLONDIE when they were still PUNK!!! This
is from the mid-seventies, and what a time it must have been to
be alive! Now isn't so bad, though, must admit! (Remember what it
was like to feel like music could cause a real revolution? You will.)
Threat By Example
This book is a really cool project - interviews with all these rad
punkish people (like Jello and Ian and Larry) talking about what
makes them "punk" and what makes them revolutionary. A really cool
portrait of what punk was like pre-Nirvana/GreenDay/Offspring -
a close-knit community of dissenters who liked to rock!
'ZINES AND COMIX:
Punk
Planet
I wish I was this cool. I don't know how to tout this 'zine enough
- it is SO MUCH MORE than a "punk" 'zine!!! It's got so much really
fantastic content that it's just revolutionary. I love it!
Cometbus
Aaron Cometbus has totally fucked me up. All I want to do is travel,
drink coffee, and hold hands with Robynn under abandoned railroad
bridges in Kentucky 'n shit. This is the QUINTESSENTIAL personal
'zine, and if you haven't read it yet, you don't know shit about
'zines!
Colors
Founded by Tibor Kalman, Colors has broken EVERY SINGLE BARRIER
as far as the definition of "magazine". It's SUPER political. It's
SUPER colorful. It's BILINGUAL and SMART, and it hooks you up with
ways of taking action. Colors simply rules.
MONK
Two middleaged guys travel the country and write very funny case
studies of different cities. These guys have made their dreams REAL,
and holy doo-doo, I admire the fuck out of 'em.
The Idler
What fun it must be to publish this magazine! It's from Britain,
it's really, really well made, and it's all about SLACKING! In a
political context, no less! Cool as shit!
PopSmear
They're going to take over the world, but whatcha gonna do? They're
funny and they interview David Lee Roth and porn stars! I dig PopSmear
- and I admire their balls as they seek to dethrone the other culture
mags that are wasting shelf space (spin, details).
Love And Rockets
This is a comic that is basically the only soap opera I follow.
It's about bisexual punk chicanas and the men who love them. Jaime
and Gilbert have been cranking this thing out since '85, and they've
definitely got a vision!
The Acme Novelty Library
I am VERY afraid of this stuff!!! It's insane. Chris Ware is fucking
insane. It's totally detailed, tinyfonted comix that are so beautiful
in their PURE AND UTTER NIHILISTIC CYNICISM. Not for the happy,
that's for sure (and DEFINITELY not for the suicidal either!!!)
Eight-Ball
Clowes can fucking draw, that's for sure. What differentiates Eightball
is that he can tell a mean story to boot. Gritty, urban, noir-punk
tales of Diane Arbusesque chicagoans. Are you drawn to Chicago?
Check this out first - you might want to stay where you are!
Zippy The Pinhead
Intelligent fury that blew us all away in '95, when punk SORELY
needed something to counter the feeding frenzy led off by Green
Day and Rancid. This record was number ONE in the Maximum Rock &
Roll scene for a good year. Your eardrums will feel CLEANED OUT
from this one!
Static
I am so in love with Robynn. This was her 'zine. It ruled. Work
sabotage, hysterical little bits by James (yes, my business partner!
they were friends long before I met 'em!) I think James still has
a couple of copies in his garage - you should email
him and ask!!!
Scam
After Cometbus 27 (the travel issue), Scam #2 is the best 'zine
I've ever read! It's HUGE and HYSTERICAL, the adventures of a smurflike
gutterpunk in Miami FL who lives in abandoned buildings and drinks
the most intense coffee in the world (cafe cubano)!!!! How can you
go wrong?
Maximum Rock & Roll
MRR introduced me to punk as community and SCENE! after reading
MRR, i realized that I WAS NOT ALONE! someone anthologize this 'zine,
QUICK, before it dies with tim yohannon (its publisher for nearly
20 years). Timyo also founded the Gilman Street project, which spawned
Green Day and Operation Ivy. His death leaves a void in the scene,
for sure.
Duplex Planet
David Greenberger interviews the residents of the Duplex nursing
home - and he asks ridiculous questions like "what is gravity" and
gets some of the funniest answers imaginable.
Dishwasher
This guy is a dishwasher. He wants to be the most bad-ass dishwasher
in the world, washing dishes in 50 states. He was once invited to
be on Letterman and sent an imposter in his stead. His simple, heartfelt
tales of people and life are a gift to all of us. And he's punk!
Hell yeah!
The Onion
It's the Onion. You've heard of it. It's hysterical and always will
be. They're going national soon, and they will take over the universe.
I went to Madison to meet 'em. Nice folks! |
These
books changed my life. I
have zero doubt that every single one of you out there reading
this would become a more enlightened person if you'd each take
the time to read several of these books. I
want more than anything to write a book as cool as these
ones. (I am trying.