sotos

[kittymagic]

i really like the track "predicate" on the Proxy CD, the last section where it has the repeated sound of the girl giggling and going "that will never change"...

[RyanWreck]

You should buy the book by the same title then. It is one of Sotos' more boring books, in my opinion, but it is still good none-the-less. If you like that looped sound collage stuff you need to check out his "Waitress" CD, which can be downloaded everywhere.

[kittymagic]

You should buy the book by the same title then. It is one of Sotos' more boring books, in my opinion, but it is still good none-the-less. If you like that looped sound collage stuff you need to check out his "Waitress" CD, which can be downloaded everywhere.

i do own predicate, have read it.... am checking out waitress..

[Kristian]

I enjoyed Predictate however I found Lordotics to be rather dull.....................has anyone got any idea when the Book On Gillis will surface as Peter has contributed heavily to it , or so I have been led to believe?

[RyanWreck]

Does anyone own Kept? If so, what do you think about it?

the comparison with Comfort & Critique is quite obvious; massive use of collage-style, displaying dead/lost/kidnapped boys & girls' pictures in the very long first section of the book, a selection carefully planned and assembled of true crime articles (magazines, newspapers) directly from Sotos' collection,  then two sections of written rants about masturbation (where, how much, how long, how, why) mostly based about the personal chicagocentric Sotos' life. With the usual flashback focusing on the arrest...
In a sort of way, being the whole stuff a part of "Peter Sotos' pornography", knowing more (but i dont think the book gives a real insight about how relevant is masturbation for Sotos, we already knew a lot about this specific side of Sotos' ouvre with  Selfish Little and Comfort, and the style is the same) about the man's true obsession about (actual and metaphorical) handjobs could be relevant - but i think it's a nice idea for a fanzine (which was in a first place the real idea...a little magazine called SARAH, mostly featuring photos of dead girls), less interesting for a whole book

Just received Kept in the mail a few days ago. Did you read trough every news article in "Filming Children" before moving on to the text or just browse the photos at your leisure? Everyone I have spoken with says they just scanned over it. I want to find someone who went through the entire sections bit by bit to see if it helps the short amount of text. C&C and Selfish, Little are my favorites of his so I really look forward to digging into this one.

I find that the style of art/collage in C&C and Kept is quite different, in my opinion. I personally wouldn't really compare them now that I own both.

I enjoyed Predictate however I found Lordotics to be rather dull.....................has anyone got any idea when the Book On Gillis will surface as Peter has contributed heavily to it , or so I have been led to believe?

I actually enjoyed Lordotics the second time around a lot more than I did when I first read it. I think because in between both readings of it I read C&C, The Perfect Jason Swift, re-read Selfish, Little and also Predicate and then when back to it. I feel like all three of those books are like "skeleton keys" (I believe someone mentioned this in an interview with Sotos) which are a bit more unambiguous and lucid in comparison to most of his other material (namely newer stuff), so then Lordotics opened itself up more after that.

[RyanWreck]

Opinions on Show Adult? I know that like 90% of the people who read Sotos disliked this book. I finally got a copy, read the first 5 pages and am already a bit lost. I'm hoping it is more lucid than Lordotic because I felt like I had to re-read that with a microscope, all of his other books and a dictionary on hand. I've already mentioned how much I liked the text material in Kept, he seems to have reverted back to the same style as C&C in Indulging Children while Missing Children just needs to be broken down a bit and the paragraphs need to be separated better so you understand who is talking and what they are answering to. If Sotos comes out with a new book I hope its something like Selfish, Little, Predicate or Comfort & Critique (those 3 books make up his best writing "period" in my opinion). I'm not as obsessed with certain things as he is so some of this new material drags on to places we've already been and adds absolutely nothing new except more confusion. Is his introduction in Best's American Campground like this too?

Did this thread die or something...

[humanpulp]

i liked SHOW ADULT actually. from what i heard or read, most people dont like PREDICATE, but i did as well, so maybe im fucked up. i understand that there is a lot of context to be had when it comes to sotos writing. i find it easier to experience the book blindly, for what happens on the page.

personally speaking, i think knowing the source of his words kind of defeats the immediacy of it all. but thats just me.

i would also like to know how his intro to American Campgrounds was, considering its fucking impossible to find as of late

[FreakAnimalFinland]

I was walking in the central of lahti, and saw the sign on the street:
SOTOS
psychotherapy & massage
(of course in finnish). I guess it would be worth taking photo..

[RyanWreck]

Hah. Both professions that he would probably excel in.

[Mr.Payne]

Opinions on Show Adult? I know that like 90% of the people who read Sotos disliked this book. I finally got a copy, read the first 5 pages and am already a bit lost. I'm hoping it is more lucid than Lordotic because I felt like I had to re-read that with a microscope, all of his other books and a dictionary on hand. I've already mentioned how much I liked the text material in Kept, he seems to have reverted back to the same style as C&C in Indulging Children while Missing Children just needs to be broken down a bit and the paragraphs need to be separated better so you understand who is talking and what they are answering to. If Sotos comes out with a new book I hope its something like Selfish, Little, Predicate or Comfort & Critique (those 3 books make up his best writing "period" in my opinion). I'm not as obsessed with certain things as he is so some of this new material drags on to places we've already been and adds absolutely nothing new except more confusion. Is his introduction in Best's American Campground like this too?

Did this thread die or something...

I don't think it will die.
The Sotos introduction takes apart the Best material as only a former bandmate could ;)
I agree with you: more like Comfort and Critique.

[HongKongGoolagong]

I remember being unsatisfied with Show Adult on first reading, yet it's the book I've returned to most of all. Some haunting and memorable prose in there, a ghostly kind of hidden structure and very little repetition or found material - in terms of word count it's probably his longest and most ambitious work to date - too bad the planned paperback's cancellation due to the panic the book caused has stopped it from being read by the larger audience it deserved. Some very human stuff in there - 'Like you think I've never missed a fucking bus. Been to more funerals than you, het' etc

Since then there really hasn't been a full Sotos book - Lordotics has such a huge amount of repetitions of previous texts that it almost amounts to a 'remix'. Kept is a bizarre novelty item, I'm glad to have it and Indulging Children is a great piece of writing, but all too short and the book as a whole is just another Waitress.

Bodyguard is a decent piece of work - the bitching at PB is camp and funny, there are also more confusing question/answer sessions with lots of found material - American Campgrounds is certainly worth owning if you can find it for the superb quality of Best's collages. He is a very different kind of artist to Sotos though. 

[HongKongGoolagong]

American Campgrounds will be reavailable again shortly - http://bloodlust.blogspot.com/2011/04/coming-soon-american-campgrounds.html - I picked my paperback copy up from a UK eBay shop late last year - so it's probably not a great idea to share the intro text.

I'd love to know the reason for the temporary withdrawal by Creation - letter from the Groenes' lawyer? Letter from National Geographic's lawyer? The cheapskates figured out how expensive the glossy plates were to print?

A seond Philip Best book is coming soon from Timeless I believe. He's been doing some great trippy, allusive and typically abject stuff with his latest squeeze recently at http://anything-that-moves.tumblr.com/

[RyanWreck]

SEX-RELATED HOMICIDE AND DEATH INVESTIGATION is the book. Has a good chapter ont he guy in New Mexico who kidnapped women to perform brutal S&M on them including forced dog fucking. There is text from an audio tape he made his victims listen to.

This is a good book, great stories and pictures. I would love to go through the authors files. I would also suggest (if you don't have it) "Sex Crimes and Paraphilia" by Eric Hickey. It is well worth the $40.00 people are asking for it on Amazon. Large and thorough book that covers a huge amount of material.

[HongKongGoolagong]

Maybe sharing Pure lowered his royalty checks?

That stuff is so far removed from the writer he became, I can actually imagine checking that juvenilia out and deciding never to read this pseudo-macho adolescent clown again ;) - so maybe it really did stop some sales. At least theotherjohn got a mention in one of the recent books for his efforts.

Can anyone here describe the 'Waitress' editions that came with the limited Creation 'collected Sotos'? Or the contents of Crows & Repertoire?

[humanpulp]

American Campgrounds is definitely available from BLOODLUST, and mark is quick with the shipping too. a superb collection of Best's work. related, BLOODLUST also has the 4 Collected Sotos books from creation. still a lot of cash though.