Salt for Slugs Independent Magazine, Contemporary Literature for the Random Indie Reader

Book Reviews We Thought Were Clever


	Inside The Mouse, Work And Play At Disney World, The Project On Disney, 1995 Duke University Press by MacLaren

This is a good book, but... But what? Good question, I suppose. I¹ll get to the book here in a minute, but first some words about the folks who put this thing together, ok?
First of all, what the hell is "The Project On Disney?" Right there on the title page, instead of an authors name. What¹s up with that? The book, surprisingly enough, has VERY little to say on that. On the back cover you get all there is to get when it comes to finding out just exactly what "The Project On Disney" might be. One lonely paragraph at the bottom of the cover which simply identifies "The Project" as three English Professors from Duke University, and a photographer who also teaches, at something or other called the "Creative Arts Workshop" in Connecticut. Pardon me while I¹m suddenly underwhelmed at the scope and magnitude of this "Project."
And it gets better. "The Project" is actually, I think, (the book remains steadfastly unclear on this kind of stuff) part of a larger deal that calls itself "Post-Contemporary Interventions" and is edited (whatever that might really mean) by a certain Stanley Fish, and Fredric Jameson, neither of whom are identified to the least little degree other than giving their names and affiliation with the aforesaid Interventions.
Post-Contemporary Interventions? What the hell is THAT? Stop for a minute and take a look at that, ok? Does it make any sense at ALL? Since when did a book become an "Intervention?" How, exactly, does a book "Intervene?" And what the hells going on with "Post-Contemporary?" Go get the damned dictionary and look up contemporary and then come back and tell me what YOU think this crap means. The more I look at it, the less sense it makes.
Little red flags are waving all over the place here, and its not for no reason. Especially the RED part. Turns out we¹ve got some by-golly commies writing for us and they¹re not the least little bit shy about using all the overblown phraseology and opaque lingo that only commies can come up with. Oh brother. Commies. Won¹t these wankers EVER get the message? It¹s OVER, dorks. DEAL with it. It was one of the all time worst crackpot ideas ever hatched and it collapsed under the weight of its own encrusted bullshit, and there¹s nothing any of you lingering pinko bastards can do about it. Give it a rest, already!
A couple of quick examples of just how SILLY commie lingo can be, and then on to the book, ok? Page 45, Co-author, or whatever, Susan Willis, actually USES "pre-postmodern." No shit. Look at it again. Pre-postmodern! Whee! Ain¹t this fun? Page 50-51, Same co-author uses (in the space of ONE page, which happens to span the pair referenced) "collective" once, "collectivities" twice, "collectivity" SEVEN times, and throws in a "concretizes" just for good measure.
PhooWEE! Have you ever met ANYBODY in your life who ever used a goof-ass word like "collectivity" in an actual conversation even ONCE? Can you say, "full of hot gas?" I knew you could. Enough already. Now, where were we? Oh yeah, the book. Almost forgot the sucker.
Despite the dogma and cant, this book takes a sharp knife to the Disney psyche and just DISSECTS it. Rip zip whip flip, and there it is, on the lab table, reeking to high heaven and looking perfectly evil. Along with exposing the stupefying extent of BULLSHIT that Disney entails, the throng that goes there like an endless swarm of lemmings comes in for some good whacks too. Gobs of interesting insights and revealing truths.Great stuff. Too fucking bad the idiot commies had to write it, though. I¹m SURE somebody else could have done a much better job in about half the words.
Read this thing anyhow. Its well worth your time.


	Culture Jam:The Uncooling of America Kalle Lasn review by teril smitz

In this age of intellectual flailing against the system and the man, most authors often hack out rather inane tripe to sound cutting-edge and/or underground. Though they view themselves as the vanguard of revolutionary hipsters carrying the burden for the generation of thinkers, they are usually no more than flash in the pan drones produced by large publishing companies to make sure that truly great ideas do not slip through the gates and to the people on the streets. C¹mon now, you know who you are.
Fortunately for the masses, by the masses, trickles of water do pass the by the dam of corporate Amerikkka. One such droplet is Kalle Lasn, the editor of the deconstruction of media magazine, Adbusters( www.adbuster.org). Long the flag waver for the uncooling of mass media in everyday life, he has brought us other such great movements as ³Buy Nothing Day² and ³Turn Off the Television Week.² Along with fighting in courts for granting the right to any individual to advertise on national television, he has done considerable research into why and how we¹ve found ourselves currently under control of the thumb of an enthroned corporate state.
This book should be required reading for anyone who is a free-thinker, or fancies him or herself as one. He does not hide his thoughts and theories behind a cloud of big words and obscure references; instead he simply lays out the facts with real life examples and lets the reader decide.
The book is laid out into the four seasons of the earth, which after you read this book you know is in serious political and environmental trouble. The best part is the things he does not have facts to back up, but are based on assumptions, he comes right out and tells you instead of trying to hide it behind a curtain of academia. The highlights are how he traces our problems back historically to the Santa Clara County Vs. Southern Pacific Railroad court decision, where corporations were giving the same rights as you and I. He also offers up movements in the past who rose up against the Corporate-media State such as Dadaist, the surrealists, and most recently the Situationist International. I think, besides the uncooling of the media and advertising, my favorite part was his GPD (Gross National Product) versus the new ISEW (Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare). This one argument can single-handedly change a person's worldview. With the other culture jamming arguments within this book, you will be through the looking glass.
But above all, he offers up a game plan against media-hyped corporate state. Unlike most people who just bitch and complain and have no Plan B, Kalle Lasn not only offers hope, but viable ways you can act out, both as an individual and as a group. As Atari Teenage Riot keeps trying to tell us, ³Do you realize time is running out?² Let the cultural jamming begin, if not for your sake, then for your children¹s and your children¹s children.


	Identity, Privacy, And Personal Freedom; Big Brother vs. The New Resistance Sheldon Charrett, 1999, Paladin Press, POB 1307, Boulder CO 80306 review by MacLaren

I just LOVE books like this, but I hate em too. I love em because they¹re chock full of all kinds of sly arcana relating to keeping the bastards down at Bureaucrat Central from shoving their thumb even farther up you ass than it already is. I hate em 'cause Big Brother is gonna glom on to them, read them, and then attempt to circumvent whatever crafty steps and measures as dwell within. It¹s an everlasting arms race between those of us who would cast off our shackles, and those of us who would build more foolproof shackles. Neither side, in the final analysis, will win; there can only be an unending series of temporary victories and setbacks for both sides. Here¹s hoping that things fall your way, and against the bureaucrats, when its your ass that¹s on the line.
This is a large (8 1/2 x 11) paperback book with over two hundred pages. Not very many photos (b&w), which makes more room for a wealth of wise words. The copyright date gives me a semi sense of security as far as the folks down at City Hall not having been able to adopt effective countermeasures for all that is described within. All in all, it¹s just about as up to date as any of this stuff can ever hope to be. Job well done, Sheldon.
What¹s inside? Good question. You¹d almost be better off asking what¹s not inside. Lotta damn shit in here. This things verging upon being an encyclopedia. I¹ll just give you the twelve chapter titles and let you figure things out from there, ok?
1. Big Brother is Getting Bigger
2. The Battle Continues
3. How to Manufacture Professional-Quality Identity Documents
4. Obtaining Officially Issued Documents Under a New Identity
5. Mail and Address Privacy
6. Telephone Privacy
7. Internet Privacy
8. Freedom of Employment and Income
9. Social Security
10. Banking Privacy
11. Marriage Privacy (and I.D. Tricks)
12. Freedom on the Road
There, hows that? I¹m guessing that if you¹ve got even half a headfull of smarts, you can see what Sheldon¹s driving at here. The wealth of detail in each section is impressive, steadfastly refuses to sugarcoat anything, and looks like it just might be able to bail your sorry ass out of trouble some dark day.
Get this thing, read it, and then keep it around for use as the crackerjack reference book that it is.


	The Onion Presents Our Dumb Century: 100 Years of Headlines from America¹s Finest News Source Edited by Scott Dikkers review by teril smits

History will not be kind to the 90¹s, and neither was The Onion. While most authors and publications decided post-modernism meant being cynical and over-exuberant in artsy plot designs and not-so-original lofty ideals, Scott Dikkers used the most basic of mediums, the newspaper, to bless us with some of the best satirical work ever. Week after week, just like the Simpons, The Onion has delivered laughs and insights into the madness of American pop culture without losing the average Joe Blow Six Pack.
Eat your heart David Foster Wallace, you flash-in -the-pan, contrite, pseudo-intellectualist!
When I first heard The Onion was doing a book, I could not imagine the format. What they¹ve done with this is as ingenious as the material in it. They went back and satirized this last century in the style, format, and verbiage befitting the era! Jesus, these guys are Gods. This book will be studied in Universities years to come, count on it.
Let me bless you with just a few headlines, ³Listerine Invents, Cures Halitosis², ³Hitler Neutralizes Polish Menace², ³JFK's Dad Defeats Nixon², a wild series where Nixon becomes a run-a-way criminal, OSecret Pac-Man Pattern Falls Into Russian Hands², ³Mr. T Releases ³Pity List², ³Tyson Escapes from Ring², and ³O.J. Finds Killer² The most beautiful aspect about this book is there is no bad page, no bad section. It¹s 164 pages of the best toilet reading you will ever find. If you like the on-line version or are lucky enough to have access to the printed one, then this is your huckleberry. Thanks Scott Dikkers, we in the literary world owe you one.