Book Description
Trash proudly assembles more than 150 masterpieces of twisted brilliance: lowbrow graphic poster art from the sickest, sleaziest, sexiest, and weirdest films from the 1950s through the 1980s. A feast for the eyes and other visceral zones, Trash rolls in the mud with graphic art of such questionable aesthetic quality and social worth that it practically redefines the poster as advertising medium. Chapters each define a key Trash topic (Sex Trash, Action Trash, Sick Trash, Race Trash, Groovy Trash, Docu Trash), collecting the most zombified, oversexed, lethal pest-infested, and tasteless posters from each genre. With plagues of frogs, meteors headed straight for earth, sex-starved zombies, and explosion after glorious explosion, Trash gleefully crawls across the underbelly of both the cinematic and poster arts.
Customer Reviews:
Good, but not great........2005-04-02
All fans of exploitation cinema will find this a mandatory purchase, but with only 150 images I was a little disappointed. Another drawback is the absence of such exploitation classics as MARK OF THE DEVIL, PINK FLAMINGOS, FREAKS, REEFER MADNESS, MOM AND DAD, MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN, MS. 45, EVEN HITLER HAD A GIRLFRIEND, MANIAC, STREET TRASH and any and all nunsploitation and nazi films, but yet the inclusion of mainstream movies like MAD MAX, THE HOWLING and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.
Still despite all my complaints it's worth buying. Here are some of my favorites: KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS, SIX PACK ANNE, TRIP WITH THE TEACHER, SCUM OF THE EARTH, DEATH IN SMALL DOSES and THE PUSHER.
A good poster book.......2004-09-18
A good poster book for those who like exploitation cinema. The posters (and some lobby cards) are presented as they have them, flaws and all. (I have met the authors--Besides being collectors, they run a screening room in San Francisco where they show exploitation films off of prints, some quite battered, but that adds to the pleasure.)And fortunately, since this book was published, some of these films have surfaced on DVD as well(although I would love to see Skidoo appear on DVD).
Not 'Trash'.......2002-12-23
I've thumbed through many a poster book at my local bookstores but this one I just had to own! Probably because 'exploitation' movies are my favorite guilty pleasure cinema. Assembled here is some great art, when movie posters actually leapt off of the paper they were drawn on--to get in your face. New movie poster artists should get this book as a reference for their ad campaigns (and you can tell some are starting to...) In an age of such: passiveness in film, where everything is rated PG-13, it's nice to reflect on this golden age of poster art for films, that mostly, delivered what they advertised. A worthy purchase for the film fan.
It is TRASH!.......2002-11-08
part of the appeal of trashy exploitation films are their "smear" campaigns, one-sheets full of bosomy women, firing guns, cars in collision and whatnot. On this level the book is very enjoyable -- HOWEVER, I find the grouping of the posters haphazard (what is CREATION OF THE HUMANOIDS doing in "Groovy Trash?"), many of the posters are in poor condition and the brief introductions to each chapter are highly irritating. The author trips all over himself trying to sound clever and fails dismally. Still ... where else are you going to see a four-color poster for SIX-PACK ANNIE?
Trash- Pick it Up.......2002-09-10
For those of us who have wished for a book that featured nothing but beautiful color reproductions or horror, sci fi and exploitation art this is our answer.
While I love books such as "Immoral Tales" and such, sometimes I just want to look at the art of these one sheets for refrence -design ideas, painting styles, etc... and many books will have only a dozen or so nice color plates while the rest of the book is filled with the authors interpretations of the films.
Trash's focus is on the art and aside from an introduction, (where the author does explain why they chose not to airbrush out the flaws and creases of the posters in the book) there is nothing but photos.
For those who want in depth movie reviews and director profiles, there are several books and web pages out there, but for those of us who also admire the long lost poster ART, this book has fabulous images.
My one complaint is that instead of changing genres each chapter (horror, exploitation, sci fi, etc..) this book should have been a series of books, each catagory being a seperate volume! I hope they print a volume 2.
If you liked this book, check out "Blood and Black Lace" (might be out of print) which has is the definitive book on Italian Giallos, and has many color reproductions of the rare onesheets.
Customer Reviews:
My Favorite Movie Guide, By Far..........2006-01-09
Videohound's Cult Flicks and Trash Pics is a book that I consult often. Not only is it informative, but it's very entertaining reading as well. This is a book that any cult movie lover should own. If the names Roger Corman, Lloyd Kaufman, Ray Dennis Steckler, David Lynch, Frank Henenlotter, Jack Hill, Herschel Gordon Lewis, Dario Argento, Paul Bartel, Russ Meyer, Terry Gilliam, Alex Cox, Edward D. Wood, Ken Russell, George Romero and John Waters mean anything to you then you need this book. In addition to reviews of hundreds and hundreds of cult films, the book has lengthy bios of many of the above filmmakers as well as actors and other important cult figures. Plus there are tons of photos, there's a big specific category index to help you find exactly what you're looking for and indexes for actors, directors and writers. One of my favorite features is that nearly every page features a quote from one of the movies featured in the book. This is a great book though it's far from complete. Lots of movie geeks will be able to look through the book and point out any number of movies that were left out. However, for every movie you know of that's not in the book there are probably five that you've never heard of. I recommend Cult Flicks and Trash Pics very highly.
I Can Show You The World!.......2003-07-18
This is an essential for any movie geek or individual with an insatiable love for B,cult, and independant pictures.
Along with these reviews, the hound also contains a tribute on each new letter of the alphabet to certain movie heroes and icons such Bela Lugosi, Quinten Tarantino, and many many more. The book also has an introduction by the King Of The B's, BRUCE CAMPELL!
Highly recommended
Good but padded and filled with mistakes.......2003-05-07
I love books on Cult and Trash films. So, naturally, I bought VideoHound's Cult Flicks & Trash Pics. After perusing through it for a while, I thought that the book was good but it's woefully incomplete, padded and many reviews are filled with mistakes. The package is great and the inclusion of movie quotes is a great idea but those things aren't enough to compensate for the bad aspects of this hefty book.
The first obvious mistake is that it's incomplete. For example, there are only 6 William Castle movies listed in the book, such as I SAW WHAT YOU DID or HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, but it doesn't have HOMICIDAL, Mr SARDONICUS or PROJECT X. A lot of Russ Meyer films are listed but UP! is not. Also, there's a lot of obscure but well-known B-movies that are missing from the book. Titles like TERROR IN THE JUNGLE, SILENT NIGHT BLOODY NIGHT, THE BOOGEYMAN or even VISITING HOURS aren't listed. A major point of these types of Cult movie guides is to list the extremely obscure titles, titles that would never be listed in standard movie guides, so we can track them down with the provided information. And the fact that a wide range of titles that have a cult following, from big studio oddities like XANADU to low-budget obscurities like HORROR HIGH are missing from the bunch makes the book look seriously incomplete.
Second, many of the review I've checked from my first reading contain errors. The review for BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE says that the movie starts with a murder. It doesn't start with a murder but an attempted murder. If you know the movie, this is a significant detail to the story-line. The review for another Dario Argento film, SUSPIRIA, states that Udo Kier plays the blind man when in fact Udo plays a psychiatrist in a brief role. These mistakes are so obvious that I wonder if they actually saw the movies.
In another example of errorneous information, this time about the technical aspect of the film, the book says that ILSA SHE-WOLF OF THE SS is only 45 minutes long. Huh? The book points out that ILSA is available on DVD, which it is (distributed by Anchor Bay) but the version of ILSA on the DVD is 96 minutes long, not 45 minutes.
And third mistake, the 800+ pages book is remarkably padded. 40% of the book is just filled with a series of indexes. That's something like 300+ pages just for indexes. I could have used more reviews of missing titles than having such a voluminous index.
Still, the guide is good and some reviews are well written, even if I don't agree with all of them. It makes for a great starting point for those who are new to Cult movies. But if you want remarkable guides on B-movies and trash films, buy the two Psychotronic guides by Michael Weldon, which are much better and more complete than this and don't contain as many errors.
Look Again at Some B's You Passed Up.......2003-02-26
I am a big lover of B Movies. This book provides good insight into some of those I had once looked over. The reviews are done from a Cult/B Movie fan's point of view. They gave "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" top marks if that tells you anything.
Now, not all of them are unknowns. The works of Kubrick and other legends are here, but it is riddled with good commentary on drive-in titles long forgotten. One great feature is the category index. You like movies with flatulence, there is a listing. Women in Prison? Nurseploitation? Worst Ape Costumes? They are all here.
There are a few I felt were forgotten. "H.O.T.S." and "The Swinging Cheerleaders" are great entries in their genres. Blaxploitation entries are a bit low as well. Probably some others.
Worth the purchase. Take it with you to the video store when mainstream is not an option :-)
Bride of the Midnight Cult-Movie Resource Guide Massacre.......2002-05-23
This is the highly anticipated second edition of VideoHound's wildly successful resource guide CULT FLICKS & TRASH PICS. People new to this series will probably find this volume overwhelming in its comprehensive coverage of obscure and bizarre films while fans who purchased the first guide (or thumbed through it at the book store) will be glad to know that many of the shortcomings of the problematic first edition have been vastly improved upon.
This new edition includes a brand new forward from cult actor Bruce Campbell (EVIL DEAD, MANIAC COP) that's both hilarious and irreverent. There's also a nice introduction that rightfully acknowledges DVDs as an important medium in cult film and a section of contributors whose initials can be found at the bottom of some of the movie reviews. The expansive indexes (a signature characteristic of VideoHound resource guides) contain such familiar sections as "Cult Connections," a list of books, websites, and magazines that are dedicated to anything and everything cult, an "Alternative Titles Index," because so many of those weird films exist under multiple titles, a "Cast Index," a "Director Index," and a "Category Index." New to this second edition are the "Writer Index," the "Cinematographer Index," (truly a nice touch) and the "Composer Index."
This second edition of VideoHound's CULT FLICKS & TRASH PICS contains about 250 new reviews for fans to obsess over. Not only do old classics like DEAD ALIVE, FROM BEYOND, and ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN get the recognition that they finally deserve, but newer cult films like HAPPINESS, MEMENTO, and ED GEIN also get coverage. This guide also makes the wise choice of including such obscure art-house classics like Pasolini's infamous masterpiece SALO, THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM. Perhaps the most notable additions to this second edition are the numerous Italian horror films that have recently been getting widespread DVD distribution due to the efforts of companies like Anchor Bay Entertainment, Synapse Films and Shriek Show. In addition to previous film reviews of SUSPIRIA and BLACK SUNDAY, fans can also read about great movies like LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE, THE BEYOND, and CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST.
While many of the titles that were covered in the previous edition are exactly the same in this second edition, there are a number of reviews that have been greatly expanded upon. For instance, the first edition included a brief summary of Mier Zarchi's infamous revenge film I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE that dismissed the flick as being complete garbage and giving it zero stars. This edition has a rather lengthy synopsis that ends up awarding the film two and half stars. This second edition also boasts new sidebars of some of the greatest cult personalities, my personal favorite being the one on director Frank Henenlotter. There are numerous photographs throughout the text from films like MOTEL HELL, BLACULA and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and there are countless quotes and taglines to be found in the sidebars.
On the back of this second edition of VideoHound's CULT FLICKS & TRASH PICKS, there is a great quote from `Eye Magazine' that reads, "One of the most appealing aspects of the book is the element of surprise." If there was ever one quotation to perfectly represent this reference guide, it would be that one. Highly Recommended...
Amazon.com
"How bad could it be?" With this simple question, Joe Queenan embarks on a nightmare journey through the depths of American pop culture, subjecting himself to Broadway musicals, Red Lobster Captains' Feasts, and John Tesh concerts: "With his shopworn, lounge-lizard stage gestures, eviscerated salsa compositions, and studied reveries, Tesh was a human Cuisinart of every hack musical stunt, effecting a strange synthesis of various mongrel styles where half the songs sounded like generic background music for promotional videos ... and the other half sounded like retreads of Mason Williams's sixties hit Classical Gas."
Queenan sets out to find music, movies, books, and TV that transcend awful, and the most remarkable thing about this book is that one never doubts for a moment that he actually subjected himself to all of the horrors he describes (including the literary efforts of Joan Collins). In an era where references to Burt Reynolds movies are used as hipster currency by people who have never endured Cannonball Run II, Queenan mocks nothing without experiencing it first. His odyssey throws up a few surprises--including the discovery that Barry Manilow is actually pretty good, and that most of the junk that clogs the arteries of popular culture never reaches the stratospheric level of badness achieved by someone like Michael Bolton. This leads Queenan to coin the term scheissenbedauern ("shit regret") to describe "the disappointment one feels when exposed to something that is not nearly as bad as one hoped it would be."
But generally, the answer to the question posed at the beginning of the book is "Really, really bad." Making fun of bad middlebrow entertainment may seem like a no-brainer, but when a writer as sharp as Queenan gets his claws into something like the collected works of Billy Joel, the results are hilarious. Like Jonathan Swift with a remote control, he gleefully shoots every fish in the pop-culture barrel. --Simon Leake
Book Description
"How bad could it be?" With this simple question, Joe Queenan embarks on a nightmare journey through the depths of American pop culture, subjecting himself to Broadway musicals, Red Lobster Captains' Feasts, and John Tesh concerts: "With his shopworn, lounge-lizard stage gestures, eviscerated salsa compositions, and studied reveries, Tesh was a human Cuisinart of every hack musical stunt, effecting a strange synthesis of various mongrel styles where half the songs sounded like generic background music for promotional videos ... and the other half sounded like retreads of Mason Williams's sixties hit Classical Gas."Queenan sets out to find music, movies, books, and TV that transcend awful, and the most remarkable thing about this book is that one never doubts for a moment that he actually subjected himself to all of the horrors he describes (including the literary efforts of Joan Collins). In an era where references to Burt Reynolds movies are used as hipster currency by people who have never endured Cannonball Run II, Queenan mocks nothing without experiencing it first. His odyssey throws up a few surprises--including the discovery that Barry Manilow is actually pretty good, and that most of the junk that clogs the arteries of popular culture never reaches the stratospheric level of badness achieved by someone like Michael Bolton. This leads Queenan to coin the term scheissenbedauern ("shit regret") to describe "the disappointment one feels when exposed to something that is not nearly as bad as one hoped it would be." But generally, the answer to the question posed at the beginning of the book is "Really, really bad." Making fun of bad middlebrow entertainment may seem like a no-brainer, but when a writer as sharp as Queenan gets his claws into something like the collected works of Billy Joel, the results are hilarious. Like Jonathan Swift with a remote control, he gleefully shoots every fish in the pop-culture barrel. --Simon Leake
Customer Reviews:
A Critic Spoofing Himself Spoofing What He Spoofs.......2007-06-29
Joe Queenan is a professional critic, and has similar tastes of many other professional critics; highbrow. This book chronicles is climbing down from his pedestal and trying to find out what makes people like such "lowbrow" items such as Red Lobster, John Tesh, Yanni, Cats and a host of other things.
While down with us peons, Mr. Queenan discovers there is a lot to like about modern culture and that he has never taken the time to look. Throughout the book he discovers various places, Las Vegas included, that attract him to want more. He only snaps out of his downward spiral when he goes to Branson, Missouri.
This book is laugh out load funny and full of fantastic insults. I only wish I could write and compose quips of half the level of Mr. Queenan. In addition, many readers have missed the finer points of the book, in which he not only lampoons himself, but also the items he is discovering. For instance, when discussing books written by Joan Collins, he turns his writing into the style used by Joan Collins.
This is an absolutely brilliant book that can be read on many levels. It is sure to insult some, but if you have a sense of humor you will find it funny. Lighten up, read it and enjoy!
If you like the word "Suck".......2007-01-18
Then this book is for you. A professional writer, Queenan can't find a stronger word than "suck" for everything he dislikes? That sucks.
Although Queenan occasionally puts together a real humdinger of a doozy of a quip, for the most part, his course in suckiness consists of holding himself superior to the lowbrow population that determines so much of American culture. Throughout the book there seems to run an undertone of bitterness that Queenan himself hasn't become the household name that Billy Joel, the Eagles, Cats, or even James Michener has. And because he holds these in such contempt, Queenan reveals himself to be worse than those people who visit Branson, eat at Red Lobster, and read Jackie Collins novels. While those people enjoy their lives and probably don't mind if Queenan enjoys his effete, psuedo-intellectual existence, there is one main difference. The former group is willing to let Queenan join in their experiences, welcoming him to enjoy their pleasures. But my guess is that if the tables were turned and some of the great unwashed were to try to take part in Queenan's haughty society, there would be nothing but rejection and scorn. I pity a man who cannot enjoy a variety of levels of entertainment. His world is far poorer than mine. I can relax to "Peaceful, Easy Feeling" or "Piano Man" one evening, and still watch or read "King Lear" the following evening with equal pleasure. Not so the superior Queenan. Sad.
There Is No Cure for the Common Scold.......2006-09-02
Queenan set an extremely peculiar task for himself in writing this book: he would spend a year reading books, watching movies, and listening to music that he desperately wanted NOT to read, watch, or hear. Masochism on this scale is rare even in the back rooms of adult bookstores.
Although Queenan is a good writer and actualy made me laugh out loud a couple of times, there are two fatal flaws that doom the project.
He's certainly not the first to tackle the subject mattter. Early in the 20th century H. L. Menken made the statement that "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American middle class," and used the term "booboise" to describe this group. Then in 1964 Susan Sontag's "Notes on Camp" came on the scene.
Worse yet, he confuses fact and opinion. He uses the terms "good" and "bad" in describing popular culture, terms that are more properly used in the realm of morality.
Billy Joel and Phil Collins are singers. That is a fact. Billy Joel and Phil Collins are bad singers. That is an opinion. Queenan's, not mine.
His targets are so easy. Michael Bolton, THE CELESTINE PROPHECY, the musical CATS, Kenny G., Joan Collins, Joe Pesci, Renaissance Fairs, Molly Ringwald, CANNONBALL RUN 2.
Along the way he finds some things that he enjoys more than he expected to. Sizzler Restaurants, CHILD'S PLAY, and Barry Manilow are unexpected sources of pleasure to him.
Although I'm often in agreement with Queenan's opinions, there's no real need for him to express them. What is admired in the arts is very much a product of the time in which the art is produced. Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who opened his novel PAUL CLIFFORD with the immortal phrase, "It was a dark and stormy night," was highly admired in the 19th century; today his name is on a prize given by San Jose State University for authors who deliberately produce the worst writing they can for the competition.
Queenan sets himself as the authority, oops, make that The Authority, the supreme arbiter of taste. This could be fun in a magazine article; at 194 pages he wears out his welcome.
As I read, I finally remembered where I had heard this particular cricket perched on my shoulder. The 1960's. A Houston station would broadcast a double feature of 1950's horror movies. My mother would sit up and offer a running commentary on the acting, writing and directing of these movies (she taught Drama at the college level so they may have really grated on her). I ignored her and kept on watching. Finally, around midnight she'd weary of this and go to bed. I could get another bottle of Coke and more Doritos and watch the second feature in peace.
If the publishers really wanted to have fun, they should go to a NASCAR Race or Untimate Fighting Championship and find a good old boy with his gimme cap on backward. Pay him to watch Bergman films (Ingmar, not Ingrid), listen to string quartets and read Umberto Eco for a year. That could be fun.
One of the funniest books I have ever read.......2006-03-26
This book actually had me laughing out loud, many, many times. Queenan defines his talent as worthy of national attention with this book.
Many of the reviews comment that he "hates American culture". If you truly believe that, you are a simpleton. To riducule someone for pointing our cultural detritus in an age of constant commercialism in both music and film is actually kind of scary. Is this what angers the average person? Making fun of Billy Joel or Red Lobster?
Do you know what bothers me about this sentiment? That people would get this worked up about someone's opinion of fast food. Not the fact that Americans read on a sixth grade level, or that more people vote for American Idol than the mid-term elections. Thats ok, just don't mess with Billy Joel and his weird goombah suits or greasy, lukewarm seafood.
I wonder how many of the readers saw themselves at the Captain's Table with the Captain's hat on? Its not so funny when the family truckster's favorite Caribbean dock is Red Lobster. Let me get rid of these sea legs and saddle up to the table, and engorge myself with 8,000 calories of flour and grease labeled "shrimp". Argh.
Maybe I should just keep quiet, I mean, this isn't some stupid Wendy's.
Ahoy idiots, your time has come.
Joe, keep writing.
Just terrible.......2005-08-04
I bought this book thinking that it would be a witty critique of low brow American culture. Well, it wasn't witty and it wasn't a critique. It was a worthless tirade from a bitter, effete, ineffectual snob. Perhaps if Queenan was capable of producing something meaningful, he wouldn't feel compelled to be so cruel.
Book Description
During the latter half of the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, television talk shows, infotainment news, and screaming supermarket headlines became ubiquitous in America as the “tabloidization” of the nation’s media took hold. In Tabloid Culture Kevin Glynn draws on diverse theoretical sources and an unprecedented range of electronic and print media in order to analyze important aspects and key debates that have emerged around this phenomenon.
Glynn begins by situating these media shifts within the context of Reaganism, which gave rise to distinctive ideological currents in society and led the socially and economically disenfranchised to access new forms of information via the exploding television industry. He then tackles specific daytime talk shows and tabloid newscasts such as Jerry Springer and A Current Affair, reality-TV programs such as Cops and America’s Most Wanted, and two different supermarket tabloids’ coverage of the O.J. Simpson case. Tabloid Culture is the first book to treat these diverse yet related media forms and events in tandem. Rejecting the elitist dismissal of sensationalist media, Glynn instead traces the cultural currents and countercurrents running through their forms and products. Locating both reactionary and oppositional meanings in these texts, he demonstrates how these particular media genres draw on and contribute to important cultural struggles over the meanings of race, sexuality, gender, class, “normality,” “truth,” and “reality.” The study ends by discussing how the growing use of the Internet provides an entirely new realm in which such material can circulate, distort, inform, and flourish.
This innovative and provocative study of contemporary mainstream media culture in the United States will be valuable to those interested in both print and television media, the cultural-political influence of the Reagan era, and American culture in general.
Customer Reviews:
A Very Illuminating Examination of What Others Fear To Touch.......2005-12-03
Please do not listen to the other review of this book: it is clearly written by someone who hasn't read Glynn's carefully argued, very interesting examination of "trash" television. "John Q. Public," as he calls himself in the review, seems to make it sound so simple -- networks play things because they get ratings. But what Glynn answers in a way that all of John Q's love for PBS can't is WHY they get ratings. The answer to this question has so often been astoundingly shortsighted and downright insulting: "People watch trash TV because they're stupid, don't know any better, and never will" or something as asinine and simplistic as that.
But Glynn digs into the populist in a very interesting way, and what he finds is that these shows frequently validate everyday experiences and knowledge of everyday, working class viewers in ways that many instances of "high culture" on television don't. Glynn's point is not at all about aesthetics or artistic value (as John Q. Public assumes, having not read the book, that it is), as he largely leaves this question for the reader to answer: his point is about not just disregarding all these programs AND all their viewers because one has made such artistic judgements. In "trash" TV, Glynn finds many democratic tendencies.
At times, Glynn can overdo it, and at other times, his enthusiasm to defend overlooks, or rushes through, disturbing political content of the shows (such as inherent racism or sexism), but most of the time he is remarkably careful to balance such tensions.
This is an academic text, and so may not be ideal for everyone, though it is reasonably accessible. So, if you want to go beyond complaining that such television shouldn't exist, and if you're actually interested in why it does, and why so many people turn to it, I highly recommend this book. I share the reviewer "John Q Public's" regard for PBS, though I feel it has turned its back on many Americans, and on the real John Q Publics, so to speak. Glynn's book looks at what those John Qs are watching and starts to ask the reasons why. (For more on PBS and "the masses," though, I'd highly recommend Laurie Ouellette's *Viewers Like You?*)
Average customer rating:
- postmodernism, wondrous blend of high & low culture
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Trash Culture: Popular Culture and the Great Tradition
Richard Keller Simon
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ASIN: 0520222237 |
Book Description
Seinfeld as a contemporary adaptation of Etherege's Restoration comedy of manners The Man of Mode?
Friends as a reworking of Shakespeare's romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing?
Star Wars as an adaptation of Spenser's epic poem, The Faerie Queene?
The popular culture that surrounds us in our daily lives bears a striking similarity to some of the great works of literature of the past. In television, movies, magazines, and advertisements we are exposed to many of the same stories as those critics who study the great books of Western literature, but we have simply been encouraged to look at those stories differently.
In Trash Culture, Richard K. Simon examines the ways in which the great literature and cultural work of the past has been rewritten for today's consumer society, with supermarket tabloids such as The National Enquirer and celebrity gossip magazines like People serving as contemporary versions of the great dramatic tragedies of the past. Today's advertising repeats the tale of the Golden Age, but inverts the value system of a classic utopia; the shopping mall combines bits and pieces of the great garden styles of Western history, and now adds consumer goods; Playboy magazine revises Castiglione's Renaissance courtesy book, The Book of the Courtier; and Cosmopolitan magazine revises the women's coming-of-age novels of Jane Austen, Gustave Flaubert, and Edith Wharton.
Trash Culture concludes that the great books are alive and well, but simply hidden from the critics. It argues for the linking of high and low for the study and appreciation of each form of literature, and the importance of teaching popular culture alongside books of the great tradition in order to understand the critical context in which the books appear.
Customer Reviews:
postmodernism, wondrous blend of high & low culture.......2000-12-27
This book was great. Based on the postmodern premise that there is value in both high Culture and low culture, Simon bases his chapters on well-tested (in the Cal Poly classroom where he teaches) theories that many elements of recent culture are easier to interpret when compared and contrasted with High Culture. So, he compares "Star Wars" and "The Faerie Queen", the shopping mall and the formal European garden, Playboy and The Book of the Courtier, Star Trek and Gulliver's Travels. And with each comparison, your eyes grow wide as you see the similarities. It's a wonderful way to evaluate modern cultural production. So, basically, anyone at all open to postmodern ideas will love this book. If you're a strict modernist you will probably hate it, but it'd be good for you to read it ;-)
Book Description
Often, parts of the marijuana plant such as leaf or trim are discarded because they are lower in THC content and unappetizing to smoke. The second title in the Ask Ed series, Marijuana Gold: Trash to Stash shows how to rescue these unused parts of the plant by processing them to increase concentration, or by using alternate methods of consumption to rescue them from inadvertent waste. With photographs, illustrations and his usual expertise, Ed Rosenthal tells you how to get the most mileage from a personal stash.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent resource.......2007-07-17
This book will save you a lot of surfing through mediocre web sites.
The recipes are simple and easy to follow, and explained by just enough science to make it all interesting and reasonable. Every section includes a list of relevant internet resources, such as where to get supplies. Potential pitfalls and dangers are carefully noted. It's brief, but to-the-point and smartly written.
Imagine the delightful home industries that will spring up when this stuff becomes legal again! I hope I live to see it.
* * * * * Great Book for Stoners! * * * * *.......2004-07-23
Trash to stash was incredibly informative and easy to read. I enjoyed the hi-resolution images and the detailed descriptions of each process. I had fun learning about how to convert what I would normally throw away (clippings, leaf, shake, and stems) into something that will get me high. I also liked reading about vaporization; it?s cool to know there are ways to inhale/ingest that are much healthier and easier on the lungs. It was nice seeing reviews and comparisons of the different vaporizers, because it gave me the ability to know what I want before I buy. There are also extensive sections on cooking, tincture making, and tea brewing. Specifically, I really liked the detailed instructions concerning hashish (many different ways to make!) and keif, I love the smell of fresh keif in the morning (hello green bud O?s!).
Trash to Stash is a definite thumbs up; no stoner should be without it!
Definitely a need-to-have book.......2004-02-14
Look at this book and you will get so excited about everything you can do with your stash, especially the leftover trim and leaf. There's stuff in here you've never thought about and stuff you have thought about but didn't how to do- how to make pills, tinctures, butter, baked goods, everything. Looking at the pictures even got me motivated enough to actually try to do some of this, and that's definitely a feat. Read this book! Then cook for me.
The most useful "how -to book" I have.......2003-01-28
I don't think I have seen any book like this on the market, because I would have bought it. This fantastic book gives all the information about what to do with the parts of the marijuana plant that aren't bud. I have searched far and wide for easy hash making tips and recipes for anything that's not a brownie. This book has everything I want to know and in one place. Ed Rosenthal is the master at direct, easy-to-understand cannabis information. There's reviews for most of the big name vaporizers, great recipes, dosage guidelines, contact information for all the products and companies featured, a whole chapter about making hash and another about water hash.It tells you all about what "trash" is and how to store it.There's a color photo section and tons of photos and illustations throughout. All the information is easy find, understand and apply. A must have. Did I mention I really like this book?
Amazon.com
This collection of essays suffers somewhat from occasional appearances in its pages of the plodding and pretentious prose of academia, but despite that fault, these essays on poor white Americans are, in general, quite interesting. To be honest, when the scholars trip over their jargon while explaining why Bubba and Jolene constitute a "debased other," it can be more fun than a free Pabst beer at the monster truck pull. Some essays stand out. Writer Michael Berube's memoir of life in a 1950s trailer park in Bayonne, New Jersey, is well-written and touching; and University of Southern California film professor Constance Penley's disquisition on white trash pornography, entitled "Crackers and Whackers" is bound to raise eyebrows. And Gael Sweeney provides the fitting finale, an essay entitled "The King of White Trash Culture: Elvis Presley and the Aesthetics of Excess."
Book Description
This collection is devoted to exploring stereotypes about the social conditions of poor whites in the United States and comparing these stereotypes with the social reality.
Customer Reviews:
Academic stuffiness (yawn).......2001-08-25
Skip "White Trash : Race and Class in America". It's pretentious and obviously written by authors who've never done a hard day's manual labor, let alone been to a Monster Truck rally. Amazon offers Jim Goad's "Redneck Manifesto" - a much smarter and grittier look at America's white working class (written from someone who's been there).
Ha, ha, ha.......1998-08-29
You would think that the term "White Trash" was just invented when it's been around for years and years. This book was pretty darn good! As a former southern non-belle let me say my piece. I was accused of being WT mainly because I lived at the end of a dirt road and my grandparents lived on a "hill"(billy). (We weren't rednecks though. Rednecks were the racist types, we said). We were just plain poor and lived up from a community of blacks who lived in shacks on stilts on the river. Going to high school I could see the snarl on the faces of the city kids who quickly judged you by where you lived (dirt road) and what your father did for a living (peon job at Olin). I used to think my cousins where more WT than I. Now who has the last laugh -- my kinfolk have all that land that the Martha Stewart types covet and will pay through the teeth for it, and do now that the land value there has risen by almost 90 percent. (Go away yankees). Granted, nowadays I smirk at the WT crowd on the afternoon talk shows but I could've been there. It really is a class issue and maybe they're happy eating Spam and listening to Elvis and shopping at Wal-Mart. At least they're somewhat content and not miserable like some rich Malibu people I know.
Book Description
He leaped from his chair, ripped off his microphone, and lunged at his ex-wife. Security guards rushed to intercept him. The audience screamed, then cheered. Were producers concerned? Not at all. They were getting what they wanted: the money shot.
From "classy" shows like Oprah to "trashy" shows like Jerry Springer, the key to a talk show's success is what Laura Grindstaff calls the money shot—moments when guests lose control and express joy, sorrow, rage, or remorse on camera. In this new work, Grindstaff takes us behind the scenes of daytime television talk shows, a genre focused on "real" stories told by "ordinary" people. Drawing on extensive interviews with producers and guests, her own attendance of dozens of live tapings around the country, and more than a year's experience working on two nationally televised shows, Grindstaff shows us how producers elicit dramatic performances from guests, why guests agree to participate, and the supporting roles played by studio audiences and experts.
Grindstaff traces the career of the money shot, examining how producers make stars and experts out of ordinary people, in the process reproducing old forms of cultural hierarchy and class inequality even while seeming to challenge them. She argues that the daytime talk show does give voice to people normally excluded from the media spotlight, but it lets them speak only in certain ways and under certain rules and conditions. Working to understand the genre from the inside rather than pass judgment on it from the outside, Grindstaff asks not just what talk shows can tell us about mass media, but also what they reveal about American culture more generally.
Customer Reviews:
Read if you're curious what's real & what's fake.......2005-06-15
I found this book very informative, and it answered my many questions about the truth behind talk shows. The author presents the industry from all angles, from studio audience to home audience to guests to producers. The only drawback is that I found some parts of the book overloaded with "big words" that are not necessary, and are distracting from the substance of the book. For example: "Such practices do not guarantee fireworks and drama, but they help because they locate the potential for dramatic interaction in the strategic juxtaposition of participants rather than (or in addition to) individual performative competence." I consider myself to be fairly skilled when it comes to vocabulary, but I found myself having to reread paragraphs on many occasions. If you're genuinely interested in the topic of talk shows, as I was, it will probably be worth your while to read. It will probably answer all of your questions, if you're willing to pluck the answers out from behind the excess wording.
Going Back Stage.......2002-10-23
I am, unabashedly, a talk show junkie. At some level my interest is undeniably scatalogical. Still, as a sociologist, my real fascination is with the culture of such programming and its impact upon American culture. Grindstaff's ethnographic exploration of two American talk shows answers many of my questions about how such programs are produced (the mechanics), the people involved ('ordinary' guests, 'expert' guests, those working behind the scenes, and the hosts), and offers insight into why we are hooked on this type of spectacle. Her treatment of the subject and those involved is even handed and avoids the obvious pitfalls of stereotyping and villifying.
For those interested in popular culture, American ethnography, issues of authenticity, and cultural studies, Grindstaff's text should find its way to your bookshelf ASAP.
Television Talk and Blow-by-Blow Commentary.......2002-08-24
Grindstaff has produced an excellent book exposing the underbelly of daytime talk show production. Her profuse detail gathered through extensive ethnographic fieldwork pays off in an effective account explaining the production process associated with the talk show. We see how the offbeat topics are formulated, guests recruited, and production secured on numerous talk show episodes. We are taken behind the scenes and understand that it is a small miracle that the television format manages to survive on a daily basis. The writing is precise and the volume is well annotated.
A fan of these talk shows will gain greater appreciation of how the process is structured and the impact upon producers, talk show guests, and studio audience members. This is a magnificent analysis that should be read by everyone curious about the talk show phenomenon.
Customer Reviews:
Pop culture in the sewer.......2006-11-06
Steve Allen rightly criticizes the media for its tasteless excesses in violence and sexuality. However, he falls into a few logical traps along the way. He praises the bawdy humor of Benny Hill yet decries Madonna's erotic displays in concerts and videos.
He also makes a point critical of religion that made me raise my eyebrows, on page 344: "Religious believers of the world, you are free to continue to debate the simple, narrow question that divides you from atheists, but you have no right , in so doing, to treat the Humanists of the world with contempt." Most religious people I know daily question their beliefs and are capable of rational, logical thinking. Had it ever occurred to Mr. Allen that perhaps some of the filth coming over the radio, television, and out of Hollywood is the product of humanist thinking? Most, if not all, of Hollywood routinely mocks religion, as well as parental authority.
There are many humanists like Allen who have strong moral fiber. Then again, there are many humanists who couldn't find the moral high ground, much less occupy it. I agreed with most of the points Mr. Allen made, but he lost me when he abruptly attacked religious belief.
Get an inside opinion on the morality of entertainment.......2005-05-27
The late Steve Allen, a comedian, writer, show host, actor, and producer discusses "the general ugliness and immorality of much of popular culture." He offers statistics and data that support the idea of the downhill-path of society's viewing habits. The focus of this riveting book is mainly television and radio programming, and the writing is very compelling.
good synthesis of sleaze facts.......2004-02-07
Allen's book may not seem like anything new, because many have gone before him on this topic. Nevertheless, _Vulgarians_ is an excellent synthesis of current theories about the effect of media sleaze on young people.
Allen doesn't propose outright censorship, but he reminds us that that self-policing by the media congloms is never going to happen as long as sleaze remains profitable.
He also explores a point that is sometimes missed by media critics: The CEOs of the huge companies that sponsor the TV shows, as well as the CEOs of the huge media congloms, are "country club conservatives" who no doubt support Bush and conservative politics. Yet they mysteriously become amoral when it comes to propagating media garbage because they'e making so much money from it. FOX network comes to mind...
Allen observes, ironically, that few of these people would want their own six year-old daughters to be exposed to the junk they're selling, but they don't mind exposing the masses' children to it.
Worthy topic. Worthy author. Unworthy results........2004-02-02
It's very interesting reading the reviews on Amazon.com for Vulgarians At The Gate: people seem to either love it or hate it. In my opinion, Allen offers a few good insights. Unfortunately, the book ultimately fails to fully persuade, and Allen comes off as more than a little cranky & bitter.
Steve seemed to fall into an obvious trap in considering that the period in which he was involved with television as the medium's "golden age." In my opinion, television never had a "golden age"! The vast majority of television programs have been infinitely banal, slavishly imitative, and/or predictable shock-garbage.
Steve gripes about how TV now resorts to "depraved vulgarity," whereas his era's comedians were cleanly funny. The only problem is that, by in large, the comedians of that era were NOT funny. How can anyone find the obnoxious ranting & screaming of Jackie Gleeson or Danny Thomas funny? The television of that era was dominated by the sexist view that a woman is either a screwball (I Love Lucy), a naive wife-child (Leave It To Beaver), or a verbal, and possibly a literal punching bag (Honeymooners). In this light, I guess TV has actually made some progress.
Allen's arguments are also more than a little confusing. He complains about the "tastelessness" of a Grey Poupon commercial that implied flatulence, yet praises Benny Hill! He (rightly) criticizes the role religion has historically played in censorship, yet encourages religious groups to boycott dubious programs. He disdains the "fourteen-year old mentality" of TV's earlier era programming, yet seems to want to return to the banality of The Brady Bunch.
I do believe that Steve makes some very good points. The vast majority of TV shows ARE puerile garbage. Without a doubt, the television has dumbed-down America considerably; and taking into account that we have never been the most intellectual of societies, that's quite an achievement! The oafish self-promotion of Madonna, Howard Stern and Jerry Springer are rightly criticized by Allen.
There is a definite line between vulgarity and pornography; the chapter on rap lyrics really demonstrates this. I personally cannot believe that music that espouses sentiments like rape, murder and necrophilia are actually available to kids. In case you are wondering, I'm not a 60-year old conservative, but a 27-year old liberal. I most definitely do not endorse blanket censorship; I do believe, however, that the "parent advisory" stickers are worse than useless. If a buyer is required to be of a certain age before he or she can purchase cigarettes, porn, or alcohol, then buying this crap should require the same discretion and maturity. I propose that music such as this should be "behind the counter," and not available to kids at all.
Unfortunately, Allen seems to really lose it when he praises the former movie censorship code. He states that classics like Citizen Cain were made despite the code. Citizen Cain is indeed a classic; unfortunately, many classics would NOT have been made if that code were still in place. He also states that artists should have a responsibility in providing "clean" entertainment for children. The fact of the matter is that great art is never merely entertainment. For my money, the greatest artistic achievements of the Western world in the last thousand years are William Shakespeare's plays and Richard Wagner's operas. These works are rife with murder, rape, incest, and violence. They amount to MUCH more than that, of course. But what gives them their power is their emotional scope, and censorship doesn't allow that latitude.
Finally, Allen rightly criticizes the state of Kansas for banning the theory of evolution from its school textbooks. Thankfully, that is no longer the case. The problem is that Steve seems to want to court the support of those social conservatives who made an atrocity like that possible. It seems that liberals are fighting a two-front war; on one side is puerile, lowbrow shock-garbage, the other is religious fanaticism.
Getting America out of the gutter and back up on sidewalk.......2004-01-29
Mr. Allen doesn't say that certain expletive words are bad, in and of themselves, but that used for simply shock value they lose their appeal and meaning. His book reminded me of a PBS special I saw a few years back with Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner and Larry Gelbart from the old Show of Shows program when I was a toddler. It was Mel Brooks who made the astute observation as Steve Allen does so well in this book, that as television became more available to the masses, often an uneducated masses, television dumbed down. That when television first came out, only those with money and alas the education to have a great job could afford a television. And it was this same population that being well educated, didn't need things spelled out for them. They could hear an innuendo in a joke and "get it". But as more and more people could afford a television the more crude shows became.
Steve Allen was one of the biggest supporters of the late comic genius Lenny Bruce who in December 2003 month, was granted a posthumous pardon by the Governor of New York, George Pataki, for his (Lenny Bruces) 1964 conviction for using obscene language in a Greenwich Village nightclub act. Lenny Bruce appeared in nightclubs where his act included routines on controversial themes (religious, political and social) often done in very strong blunt language.
He isn't advocating censorship, but some way of getting dumbed down America out of the gutter and back up on the damn sidewalk. And he fully supports Lenny Bruce style "mature" humor which Bill Maher (whom I like) does. Mr. Allen wants to prick the readers consciousness and get them to think for a change and raise the level of intellect so that the Howard Sterns of the world are seen for the sophomoric people they are and the Lenny Bruces and Mort Sahl's are respected for being the social, religious and political genius provocateurs that they are, by using language often harsh or profane, for intellectual discourse and positive change.
Average customer rating:
- ART (?)
- Let the painful truth about contemporary art be told.
|
Culture or Trash?: A Provocative View of Contemporary Painting, Sculpture, and Other Costly Commodities
James Gardner
Manufacturer: Carol Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1559722088 |
Customer Reviews:
ART (?).......2000-10-22
In 1993, when CULTURE OR TRASH was published, James Gardner was the art critic for "The National Review." Early in the book, he describes a three week art extravaganza which was being held in a very upscale (read expensive) San Francisco Art Gallery. When each guest arrived, he or she was met by a uniformed waiter and offered a cup of coffee to drink while browsing in the gallery. The coffee was served in a simple white cup and cream was poured from a similarly simple white cream pitcher. What most of the guests didn't know, and never were to know, was that they were a part of the art, a performance piece entitled "Garcon." That was it, three weeks of the "artist" pouring about three hundred cups of coffee. Because the cream pitcher had been used in an "artistic performance," and because it had been touched by a "famous" avante-garde artist, it became a "relic." It was labeled, encased in glass, and was last seen on the secondary market bearing a price tag of $24,000. It's rather frightening to realize that we live in an age in which people will pay that much money for a dime store cream pitcher as long as it comes with assurances that it has been touched by a name artist.
That's the premise. Are we dealing with culture or art? Along the path to his conclusions, Gardner gives several good, succinct definitions of various 20th century art and architectural trends such as "Modernism" and "Postmodernism."
Modernism: Most Modernists never set out to be something called a Modernist. They just wanted to make art in their own way, and then, one bright shiny day, someone told them they were Modernists.
Postmodernism: In contrast, it is critically important to a Postmodernist that he be so identified. He defines himself by what he is not. First and foremost, he is not a Modernist. He is in fact an Anti-modernist. As long as a work of art rejects Modernism, it is Postmodernism. A sculpture of plastic vomit: They weren't doing that 15 years ago, so it's Postmodernism. Three basketballs floating in a water filled aquarium: They weren't doing that 15 years ago, either, so it also qualifies.
Although Postmodernism is at the core of his discussion, he includes discussions of most of the other 20th century schools such as Minimalism, Contemporary Art, etc.
What is revealing, according to Gardner, is that there are so many artists producing this stuff, so many agents representing them, so many galleries and museums showing this "art," and, most surprisingly of all, so many people willing to shell out very large sums of money to own and display it.
As part of his answer to the question that is contained in the title, Gardner states: "Postmodernism is . . . . the reduction to absurdity of this artistic rebelliousness . . . . rebelliousness pursued for its own sake."
He concludes by stating his belief that there will be a cultural regeneration, and that he hopes that it will come sooner, rather than later. I, for one, share that hope.
Let the painful truth about contemporary art be told........1999-09-22
James Gardner's "Culture or Trash?" is a well-written, intelligent, and well-placed criticism of the twisted, ill-conceived, and philosophically indefensible practices of the Western "art world." Just as relevant today as when it was published six years ago, any dyed-in-the-wool bohemian who can muster the guts to read this one all the way through will doubtlessly suffer much cognitive dissonance, as page by page, cherished art world illusions are stripped bare. Gardner's reading of the human motives hiding behind the ridiculous pretensions of "Postmodernism" are deadly accurate, and his book should be required reading in the art schools of America. There are, however, a few small problems with this book; first, Gardner's praise for artists Agnes Martin and Pat Steir, I think, is misplaced, and second, Gardner gives us a lengthy and accurate description of today's art world, but unfortunately, only whispers about how it got that way. A similar (and shorter) book that I also enjoyed was Tom Wolfes "The Painted Word."
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