Amok Books

[Balor/SS1535]

I recently came to own two publications put out by Amok (their translation of Bataille's The Trial of Gilles de Rais and the "Sensurround" edition of the journal).  The journal in particular seems interesting in the context of other industrial culture-adjacent books I have read, in that it collects (mostly scholarly) essays, interviews, and testimonials relating to topics ranging from autoerotic practices resulting in death, NSK art, and sonic weapons, to amputee fetishism.

Any thoughts on this publisher?  What other books are worth checking out?

https://www.amokbooks.com/

[cantle]

I recently came to own two publications put out by Amok (their translation of Bataille's The Trial of Gilles de Rais and the "Sensurround" edition of the journal).  The journal in particular seems interesting in the context of other industrial culture-adjacent books I have read, in that it collects (mostly scholarly) essays, interviews, and testimonials relating to topics ranging from autoerotic practices resulting in death, NSK art, and sonic weapons, to amputee fetishism.

Any thoughts on this publisher?  What other books are worth checking out?

https://www.amokbooks.com/

The Panzram book is worth reading

[Balor/SS1535]

I recently came to own two publications put out by Amok (their translation of Bataille's The Trial of Gilles de Rais and the "Sensurround" edition of the journal).  The journal in particular seems interesting in the context of other industrial culture-adjacent books I have read, in that it collects (mostly scholarly) essays, interviews, and testimonials relating to topics ranging from autoerotic practices resulting in death, NSK art, and sonic weapons, to amputee fetishism.

Any thoughts on this publisher?  What other books are worth checking out?

https://www.amokbooks.com/

The Panzram book is worth reading

I ran into a selection of Panzram's writings in an anthology of hobo writings a few years ago at a university library, so I have been meaning to read more at some point.  Good to know!

[theotherjohn]

It's also worth tracking down some of the earlier Amok Press titles too (back when Adam Parfrey was still involved) if you can find them for cheap or as ebooks, like 'Michael' by Joseph Goebbels, the anthology 'Rants and Incendiary Tracts: Voices of Desperate Illuminations: 1558-Present' or the original edition of 'Apocalypse Culture'.

I recently came across this website which conveniently collects all the titles featured in the 'Amok Fifth Dispatch' catalogue: https://www.amokdispatch.net. You still can't beat owning the original book though, every home should have a copy!

[Balor/SS1535]

It's also worth tracking down some of the earlier Amok Press titles too (back when Adam Parfrey was still involved) if you can find them for cheap or as ebooks, like 'Michael' by Joseph Goebbels, the anthology 'Rants and Incendiary Tracts: Voices of Desperate Illuminations: 1558-Present' or the original edition of 'Apocalypse Culture'.

I recently came across this website which conveniently collects all the titles featured in the 'Amok Fifth Dispatch' catalogue: https://www.amokdispatch.net. You still can't beat owning the original book though, every home should have a copy!

It looks like the Amok Fifth Dispatch is still available (used, at least), and it definitely looks essential!

[Strömkarlen]

It's also worth tracking down some of the earlier Amok Press titles too (back when Adam Parfrey was still involved) if you can find them for cheap or as ebooks, like 'Michael' by Joseph Goebbels, the anthology 'Rants and Incendiary Tracts: Voices of Desperate Illuminations: 1558-Present' or the original edition of 'Apocalypse Culture'.

I recently came across this website which conveniently collects all the titles featured in the 'Amok Fifth Dispatch' catalogue: https://www.amokdispatch.net. You still can't beat owning the original book though, every home should have a copy!

There is a bit of a confusion. There are two different AMOKs. One run out of New York that became Feral House and one that hails from LA that is sort of still around. At first they thought it was fun to have the same name and then didn't and Parfrey changed the name of the publishing house. The first edition of Apocalypse Culture was still AMOK but changed the name shortly after. Later Feral House moved to LA and everything got even more confused.

Stuart Swezey who ran/runs the LA AMOK has had one foot in industrial culture since Eighties when he put on shows with people like Einstürzende Neubauten, SRL and NON. He made a doc about it a couple of years ago. https://youtu.be/KDSJ-Aj43oE?si=igTjeHUcq1blsd-H

He has released a lot of books that should be of interest but perhaps mainly the first real LAIBACH book. https://www.amokbooks.com/titles/nsk-laibach-irwin He is also currently working on LAIBACH related films.

[HateSermon]

I was digging through zine scans for something unrelated but found an interview with Swezey here:

https://wherefrostreignextreme.tumblr.com/post/144956422302/ovo-number-ten-july-1991-zine-released-by?is_related_post=1

You have to click the "OVO number ten / July 1991." post title to access the download, fyi

[Balor/SS1535]

It's also worth tracking down some of the earlier Amok Press titles too (back when Adam Parfrey was still involved) if you can find them for cheap or as ebooks, like 'Michael' by Joseph Goebbels, the anthology 'Rants and Incendiary Tracts: Voices of Desperate Illuminations: 1558-Present' or the original edition of 'Apocalypse Culture'.

I recently came across this website which conveniently collects all the titles featured in the 'Amok Fifth Dispatch' catalogue: https://www.amokdispatch.net. You still can't beat owning the original book though, every home should have a copy!

There is a bit of a confusion. There are two different AMOKs. One run out of New York that became Feral House and one that hails from LA that is sort of still around. At first they thought it was fun to have the same name and then didn't and Parfrey changed the name of the publishing house. The first edition of Apocalypse Culture was still AMOK but changed the name shortly after. Later Feral House moved to LA and everything got even more confused.

Stuart Swezey who ran/runs the LA AMOK has had one foot in industrial culture since Eighties when he put on shows with people like Einstürzende Neubauten, SRL and NON. He made a doc about it a couple of years ago. https://youtu.be/KDSJ-Aj43oE?si=igTjeHUcq1blsd-H

He has released a lot of books that should be of interest but perhaps mainly the first real LAIBACH book. https://www.amokbooks.com/titles/nsk-laibach-irwin He is also currently working on LAIBACH related films.

I keep forgetting about that doc---I had no idea it was done by the same guy until now.  I want to watch it, but most of the streaming links seem to be inactive now, for some reason.  I guess I'll just have to get a physical copy then (which is probably better anyway).

[theotherjohn]

It's also worth tracking down some of the earlier Amok Press titles too (back when Adam Parfrey was still involved) if you can find them for cheap or as ebooks, like 'Michael' by Joseph Goebbels, the anthology 'Rants and Incendiary Tracts: Voices of Desperate Illuminations: 1558-Present' or the original edition of 'Apocalypse Culture'.

I recently came across this website which conveniently collects all the titles featured in the 'Amok Fifth Dispatch' catalogue: https://www.amokdispatch.net. You still can't beat owning the original book though, every home should have a copy!

There is a bit of a confusion. There are two different AMOKs. One run out of New York that became Feral House and one that hails from LA that is sort of still around. At first they thought it was fun to have the same name and then didn't and Parfrey changed the name of the publishing house. The first edition of Apocalypse Culture was still AMOK but changed the name shortly after. Later Feral House moved to LA and everything got even more confused.

Stuart Swezey who ran/runs the LA AMOK has had one foot in industrial culture since Eighties when he put on shows with people like Einstürzende Neubauten, SRL and NON. He made a doc about it a couple of years ago. https://youtu.be/KDSJ-Aj43oE?si=igTjeHUcq1blsd-H

He has released a lot of books that should be of interest but perhaps mainly the first real LAIBACH book. https://www.amokbooks.com/titles/nsk-laibach-irwin He is also currently working on LAIBACH related films.

Thanks for the clarification, I didn't realise that! Well, given Feral House has been mentioned, we might as well consider them worthy of discussion in this thread too. FH has plenty of classics in their backlist which I'd welcome discussion/recommendations of, but have they published anything of worth since Parfrey's passing? Other than the Extreme Music book, I'm coming up short for good answers.

I've also just spotted that a hardback with slipcase "Deluxe Edition" of Apocalypse Culture is up for pre-orders on Target and Amazon with a release date of March 2025. Info is scant at the moment however and the price is putting me off... desperate cash-in attempt or a justifiably worthwhile purchase? Time will tell. I'd much rather see what an Apocalypse Culture III would contain in this day and age though, even if it would be a pretty futile exercise when fake news, conspiracy theories, cancel culture and wrongthink has gone mainstream...

[AdamLehrerImageMaker]

I love the Amok Journal