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A compilation of the first three issues of the underground zine Answer Me! put out by Jim Goad and his now deceased wife Debbie. Interviews with subjects as diverse as Iceberg Slim, David Duke, Anton Lavey and Timothy Leary. Articles like the 100 most spectacular suicides, (which is at times quite hilariously written) going undercover at AA and NA meetings, serial killer profiles, (also made me laugh out loud) among lots of other interesting and diverse topics. The highlight for me though was th...
You want to hate Jim Goad as much as he hates you, but it's hard to put this "Hate zine" compilation down. (Full disclosure: my original four issues, seperately, were used against my cousin in a court battle for his kids. He was borrowing them, and the cops came, and they looked at em, and...) I like Debbie's stories as much as Jims, if not more.
More utterly worthless "transgressive" garbage that should have been thrown in the nearest landfill site at the draft stage. Who cares how "edgy" and "daring" mister Goad is? A "book" full of blundering idiocy, entirely tiresome and predictable "challenging views" pieces, and a worldview that seems to consist of "we're much better than you" (how old are these authors? Five?). You'd probably get more coherence and sense out of a packet of Doritos, all being told.And oh yeah, by the way, what are
The most uncomfortable reading experience in my life, but it's still fascinating.
I can't tell you, for sure, when I first got my hands on this.I can remember getting one of the first three 'issues', mailing away for it to some unknown P.O. Box after a buddy sent me info about it. He said, "Hey, you like fucked up shit, check out this (forgive me...) 'zine!" It was perfect - full of dirt, grime, and grainy pictures.Jim & Debbie Goad were a pissed off couple who hated everything, except each-other, and I was obsessed. I got a letter some time later. Something personal was happ...
Imagine a violent drunk in a bar. He's wandering around, ranting about something, and brandishing a broken bottle at various customers.Imagine that he's actually fascinating. His high volume hate filled threats sound like the best of Hunter Thompson, or Burroughs, or Bukowski with all the tired hippie niceness burnt away. Really not for everyone. Goad will find a way to get under your skin and offend you, no matter how open minded you think you are.
Raw, witty, with a shock value that wears thin. Yet overall, a good zine filled to the brim with disturbed artwork and writing. Recommended for those of us whose minds have a taste for nihilism and acts of human detritus. Best Parts:Death in Bakersfield (article)Shoot First, Live Free (article)Swallowed by Jersey (short story)Essays by Debbie GoadTop 100 Suicides24 Hours on the Sunset Strip
It was interesting, but a bit of a burden to read. One can only wallow in the mire for so long before it becomes oppressive.
This book isn't really True Crime (though it has a lot in it), but I'm too lazy to create a new category for Jim and Debbie Goad. I always liked this totally mean spirited, nihilistic book. I know after I got it, I immediately read it straight through in one sitting. To me, that warrants at least 3 stars. Jim Goad goes on about himself too much, bragging that he's creating the ultimate zine. It reminds me of Howard Stern talking too much about his ratings-- BORING! But Debbie Goad (I think they
Due for a re-read. I suspect much of this has aged terribly but I care not. Read first at a point when my patience and compassion for other human beings was beginning to wane and hasten it's decline as a result. Repulsive yet compelling writing. Occasionally contrived, occasionally quite brilliant. Recommended.
Goad is a talented and incisive writer, and I respect talent and incisiveness. I also tend to like writing that pushes the boundaries of what most are comfortable with exploring. But some of the boundary-pushing here seems juvenile, like it was done merely for attention and not as unbounded intellectual exploration.
This book holds the contents of the infinitely interesting suicide issue and serial killer issue of the magazine. One of the harshest things to ever be published. But yeah, it's pretty funny at times as well. Not for the PC-minded. Is PC even a relevant term anymore?
This was the first Jim Goad thing I ever read. It was back in 97 and I almost forgot about this issue. It's maybe my least favorite Answer Me! but it's still interesting, and simultaneously very very depressing.
This is something that would be really unsettling to quite a few people I'd imagine. I think I'm a happy enough person that my worldview is pretty different to that of Jim and Debbie Goad. For the most part this was a comedy read for me with lots of interesting things about serial killers etc. on the side...
read the orginial issues--again harsh topics dealt with harshly. in the light of day. the writer has quite the following. a friend had me read them--took me out of my cloistered life forever into reality of the big bad world.
Jim Goad really shows how vulgar and putrid this world can be. I love it. In particular, I like the interviews with Al Goldstein (creator of Screw magazine) and Hank Williams III. Plus, the 100 serial killers and 100 suicides are truly inspirational.
ben had the original separate zines. i think this is the 3 i read... did i?
sure I read this.and I think Tesco Vee writes great lyrics, too!
This stuff is wrong and bad. This stuff is also passionate and witty. Not for the feint of heart.
The most misanthropic, chilling, scary book you may ever read. It's actually a collection of zines authored by Jim Goad, and the content is not for the faint of heart. One of my favorites.
misanthropy is soooo 90's.
My bible! Nothing more to say!
RAPE! MURDER! So good.
I was too chicken to take this book with me on my flight to D.C. cos I pictured myself getting interrogated by the authorities due to certain pages...
Juvenile, jaundiced, cynical, focused, forceful, well-executed. Pretty much spoke for every young male I knew in the early 1990s.
Life is intense; death, sex, murder, suicide, and human beings are endlessly fascinating as well as disgusting.
some of it is just absolutely sickening, but this shit can't be put down.
This is my favorite Answer Me! The suicide index(with photos) is a real treasure.
While biting and cutting edge when it came out, the prose of the in-your-face, angry young man of the 1980s simply hasn't aged well.
Just a salty cynical purely hateful book. great stuff.