THE GREAT SHARK HUNT Hunter S Thompson (1979); Paperback
635 page collection of Thompson's essays from 1956 to the end of the 1970s Paperback, Used
The book is broken into four parts, not strictly chronological, starting with a collection of his more famous Gonzo-style articles, including those about the Kentucky Derby, his Chicano lawyer friend Oscar Zeta Acosta, and the 1973 Super Bowl; then a section on politics, including excerpts from his "Fear and Loathing on the campaign trail 72" and a group of articles from 1973 and 1974 documenting the last months of Nixon's presidency; a selection of Thompson's earliest writing including for National Observer and the U.S. Air Force; ending up with later cultural commentary and other items. Sections from the author's two original Fear and Loathing serials (...in Las Vegas and ...on the Campaign trail 72) are excerpted. Thompson worked for several different publications throughout his career, and The Great Shark Hunt covers articles from the National Observer, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Playboy, and others.
DECENTRALISATION 3 Jacques Villeglé (Frac Corse); Paperback
French exhibition book from Jacques Villeglé's 2001 exhibition at Frac Corse (Corsica), Used (Some cover damage)
It has been fifty years now that Jacques Villeglé has chosen his gesture, his expression: fifty years of exploration in a practice that is still alive and which nonetheless belongs to the history of 20th century art, through the group New Realists coordinated by Pierre Restany in 1960, alongside the Arman, the Hain, the Tinguely: a gesture of a collector who chooses and collects on the walls of cities the accumulated and lacerated posters, fragments of images and signs of time. This appropriation of fragments of reality touches both abstract painting and Lettrist poetry; she holds up a mirror to the way in which society constructs its own representation and how the "anonymous lacerator" comes to mark its reaction on the skin of the walls to the world around it. The artist is simply the one who takes these fragments of reality by framing significant details and transforming these rough moments into a painting, thus testifying to contemporary history. Today of international reputation and represented in the largest European and American museums, Jacques Villeglé pays the same attention to the world around him, by taking an interest in and grouping by series his samples of political, advertising posters or even those of electronic music concerts. Villeglé is always a tireless surveyor sensitive to all the significant encounters produced by the uprooting gesture. He is tirelessly enthusiastic to go in search of these riches of everyday culture: also, when he saw photographs of the display columns taken in Bastia by Anne Deleporte, an artist invited by the FRAC for another project, he was ready to come and do his work of sampling ("uncrusting" he says) and preparing a painting in Corsica, sure to find in this memory through the skin of the walls, striking signs of Corsican reality. (French Language Only 48 pages, 100's of colour photos)
JIM MORRISON AND THE DOORS Mike Jahn (1969); Paperback (Rare!)
96 pages Rock/Music/Biography/The Doors 1969; Paperback (Rare book, completely intact but rough condition)
This is among the first books written about The Doors. Morrison himself seemed very different from other rock luminaries at the time, as he came off more like a poet and intellectual. The New Haven arrest is mentioned. The incident at the Whisky is given the nod. All of the important early beats are covered. There is Morrison's time in the wilderness, so to speak. Notably, Morrison's intellectual pursuits elevate him above the status quo. The author stated that to understand The Doors, you should read THE BIRTH OF TRAGEDY, by Friedrich Nietzsche. (Rare!)
HUNTER S THOMPSON His final Hours (Final 24); DVD
2005 Documentary/Docu-drama/Re-enactment/Gonzo/Art DVD, New
A lifetime of alcohol and drug abuse was taking their toll and at 67, with a broken leg, two hip operations and in chronic pain Thompson could no longer live up to the legend he'd created. On February 20, 2005, he decided to end it all with one of his favorite possessions, a Smith and Wesson 45. We chart the life of this troubled genius and uncover why a bullet to the head was the only way out. 'Final 24' is a Canadian TV biography/psychological documentary series. This 4th episode documentary tracing the final 24 hours in the life of American journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, who committed suicide aged 67. (60 mins)
THE SEAMY SIDE OF HISTORY Honore de Balzac; Paperback
"The Seamy Side of History" (1840-1847) founded on a conception the obverse of the famous "Thirteen," in which a Brotherhood of Consolation, a secret society of men, joined together for the purpose of remedying the evils which society neglects. Madame de la Chanterie, persecuted and outraged, yet never failing in faith and fortitude, is the most sublime figure in the Comedie Humaine. Balzac is always a pleasure to read even if you do not appreciate the story.
Charles Bukowski - The Last Straw (2008); DVD
Art/Transgressive/Realism/Bukowski/Poetry DVD, New
Only a few people were able to witness Charles Bukowski's last poetry reading in 1980, but this documentary captures that fleeting moment for all his fans. THE LAST STRAW features Bukowski reading his own work in Redondo Beach, California, and there is little overlap with his reading in THERE'S GONNA BE A DAMN RIOT IN HERE!
PARADISE LOST John Milton; Paperback
512 pages (2003 reprint)
“This magnificent edition gives us everything we need to read Milton intelligently and with fresh perception.”
"Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven."
ALL KNOWN METAL BANDS (2008); Hardcover
300 pages Dan Nelson, Used
This volume contains the names of over 50,000 metal bands. Presuming that each of these bands had an average of four members, and multipling that by the number of bands, one might figure that at least a quarter of a million humans have pledged allegiance to one of them at some point is his or her lifetime. Never has a genre of music relegated to the underground of a civilization had so many devotees; no radio needs to transmit the power of this music, for it is sought out fiercely and freely by the doomed and the dispossessed, whose ears are never soiled by songs of love and weakness. These names are invisible tokens to be spoken aloud, each representing a human quest for superhuman spectacle: shaking floorboards and quivering walls, split ears leaking blood, with faces painted and ornaments pointy, voices uttering eternal truths shunned by woman and man alike.
HELLS ANGELS Hunter S Thompson (1967); Paperback
1971 Penguin reprint, Classic cover. Biker/Hunter S Thompson/Cult, Used
This is a report on a marginalized American subculture, written by an expert on American subcultures. With deep roots in reality, this is the true dawn of Gonzo Journalism. This is journalism rooted in first-hand experience, slightly twisted by a fine mind and writer of the first calibre. This book is about exactly what it says on the front cover, the 'Hell's Angels" as they were, where they came from, what they believed, how they operated and how they evolved and peaked (in terms of piquing America's interest) over the two year period Hunter set out to collaborate and verify their story by 'hanging out' with them and becoming their spokesman for the blatant truth, but in the context of the often grossly exaggerated image bestowed on them by the press and public officials. It's a fantastic account of a way of life that few have ever seen or understood, and as usual, Hunter nails it with his brilliant accuracy and immaculate research. This in-depth documentary, technically and historically precise, is an absolutely brilliant piece of work.
ABSTRACT GRAFFITI (2011); Hardcover
176 pages Art/Graffiti/Street Art, New
… the book is far less coffee table book than it is art history primer. Dominated by interviews with artists, writers, activists and one London judge, Lewisohn concerns himself more with individuals who’ve had a pivotal or lasting impact on the abstract side of the movement, rather than any media-hyped superstars. In other words, Abstract Graffiti is more about the hows and whys, and less about the whos. — Planet Magazine
Since the early days of the graffiti movement in late 1970s New York, street art has transformed cities around the world. Today it is a hugely popular, yet still highly controversial art form. In Abstract Graffiti, Cedar Lewisohn provides a vibrant account of the ‘outer limits’ of street art and graffiti that are being explored by artists in cities as diverse as London, Prague, Philadelphia and São Paulo. The work of these artists is ‘abstract’ not necessarily in the sense that it is non-figurative; rather, it may embrace a fresh, abstract approach to art. Lewisohn interviews both established graffiti artists and new practitioners of avant-garde forms of art in public spaces – such as Knit Graffiti and Street Training – and traces the art-historical lineage of these abstract trends. Addressing such issues as street art as a form of protest, graffiti as a crime, the place of street art in museums, and the evolution of materials, this book offers unrivalled insight into some of the most exciting and challenging work on the contemporary art scene.
TALKING MUSIC: Conversations With John Cage, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, And 5 Generations Of American Experimental Composers; Paperback
(1999) 504 pages, Modern/Avant-garde/Contemporary/Music/Composition, Used
Talking Music is comprised of substantial original conversations with seventeen American experimental composers and musicians—including Milton Babbitt, Pauline Oliveros, Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, and John Zorn—many of whom rarely grant interviews.The author skillfully elicits candid dialogues that encompass technical explorations; questions of method, style, and influence; their personal lives and struggles to create; and their aesthetic goals and artistic declarations. Herein, John Cage recalls the turning point in his career; Ben Johnston criticizes the operas of his teacher Harry Partch; La Monte Young attributes his creative discipline to a Morman childhood; and much more. The results are revelatory conversations with some of America's most radical musical innovators.
VACANT: A Diary of the Punk Years 1976-1979; Paperback
1999 Nils Stevenson 128 pages, Punk/Music/Documentary, Used
From its beginnings at World's End, King's Road, London, where Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood turned art into fashion and fashion into life from their shop SEX, punk sent shock waves of anarchistic music, attitude, fashion, and style through Europe, the United States, and beyond with a force that is still at work at the end of the century. Nils and Ray Stevenson were there from the start. More graphically than any other writer, Nils traces the roots of the experience that lay at the heart of punk: "We had no regard for 'authenticity.' We owned it and we manipulated it with an irreverence that was previously unheard of. . . . Punk was a cage to go wild in." The raucous reality of the unfolding story is recreated month by month in Ray's riveting photographs, accompanied by his brother's startlingly frank diary entries and handwritten comments from others who were part of the scene. McLaren and Westwood, the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Clash, the Buzzcocks, the Slits, the Stranglers, and their fellow renegades from across the Atlantic--Richard Hell, the New York Dolls, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, and Debbie Harry--all come alive and kicking off the page. The first book to capture the immediacy and excitement of the original punk, this is a must-buy for all fans of punk, neo-punk, and the distinctive British music and fashion scenes. (Nils Stevenson was the Sex Pistols' tour manager, and then managed Siouxsie and the Banshees.)
