Sunday, June 15, 2008

Weird Books Guaranteed to Make You Happy

Okay I'll admit it. Some of the books I link to on this site aren't all that weird; sometimes they're just a little quirky and sometimes they're just books I found interesting enough to want to draw your attention to. So yes it's all kind of a mixed bag here at Publishing Oddities.

However there is available a wonderful magazine about collecting truly weird books with reviews and articles. It's called Book Happy, and there are seven issues in all.

Here's a partial list of contents: Confessions of a Cheap Book Fiend; Collecting Contactees; Satanic Panic books; Nonfiction paperback sleaze; Youth Studies Alcohol; The Ultimate Weird Book Caper; Jack Chick; Orfeo Angelucci; Bad Drug Books; White Slavery books; The Worst Science Fiction Novel Ever Written: Galaxy 666; Harry Stephen Keeler; Theodore L. Shaw; Crucified Gods Galore; Handbook on Hanging; How to Electroplate Baby Shoes; Rebellious Wives & Slacker Husbands; Novel of Chiropractic; Bad Poetry; Health Books for Hillbillies; Weirdest Book Ever Published; Obscure Genres; Hypnotism books; David Icke & co.; Kenneth Goff, L. Ron Hubbard, Brainwashing & Psychopolitics; Book Hell; Wickedest City in the World; much more. Contributors include: Donna Kossy, Ken DeVries, Dan Howland, Lyell Henry, Rob Tucker, Greg Bishop, John Marr, Chris Mikul, Seth Deitch, Dan Kelly, Ray X, & others.

Find out more at http://www.book-happy.com by clicking the "Book Happy" link.

True Norwegian Black Metal

Description: "When we’re on the road, all we watch is VBS, and our favorite series is Norwegian Black Metal." (Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters) Documentary photographer Peter Beste has spent the last five years working in the milieu of the Norwegian black metal scene. This scene, with its notorious events of murder, church arson, and self-mythology, is absolutely sealed to outsiders. The international black metal fan base is one of the most devoted, fanatical, and proprietary in the world. Beste’s access and insight into this world is unprecedented and has yielded an amazing photographic journey, along with a very popular documentary series on VBS.tv, also available on YouTube. Beste, together with Johan Kugelberg, noted writer, editor, and collector of documentary photography, has brought the images into a hermeneutic narrative that makes for a compelling experience along the lines of Anders Petersen’s CafĂ© Lehmitz, Ed Van Der Elsken’s Love on the Left Bank, or William Klein’s Life Is Good and Good for You in New York. (more...)

Happy Kitty Bunny Pony: A Saccharine Mouthful of Super Cute

Description: From turn-of-the-century novelties and Depression-era distraction, through wartime comfort, to Hello Kitty and Jeff Koons, cuteness has thrived in the fertile soil of American modern-age media and pop culture. What is it about fluffy bunnies with bows, baby ducks splashing in puddles, kittens snuggled in baskets, and little lambs on their way to school? Happy Kitty Bunny Pony celebrates America's "cult of the cute" in all its campy, kitschy, ironic glory. (more...)

Greetings From the Gayborhood: A Nostalgic Look at Gay Neighborhoods

Description: From the Castro to Chelsea, Greetings From the Gayborhood celebrates twelve traditionally gay neighborhoods in America, past and present. Featuring archival images along with nostalgic and sometimes kitschy ephemera (bar ads, event programs, matchbooks, flyers, and more) this scrapbook-style collection is the perfect souvenir for where the boys are and were. Donald F. Reuter has chronicled the evolution of gay neighborhoods in twelve cities--Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC--and studied how gentrification has affected them and their role in the greater community. Greetings From the Gayborhood is a spirited and sexy time capsule that celebrates the history, creativity, and longevity of gay America. (more...)