Apocalypse Omnibus: The Adam Parfrey Reader

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The Apocalypse Omnibus collects the best of Adam Parfreys essays in a single volume.

Adam Parfrey was, before starting iconoclastic publisher Feral House, a writer. His foresight in revealing extreme trends and societal angst long before mainstream media had any inkling of the darkness bubbling just under the surface of American culture earned him praise and derision. Apocalypse Culture (1987) was hailed by J.G. Ballard as the terminal documents of the Twentieth Century.

Many of the included essays are eerily prescient as Parfrey warned about right-wing militias in the early nineties and documented the rise of conspiracy-dominated thinking decades before Republican government officials loudly declared political opponents were satanically inspired drinkers of baby blood. Yet Parfreys interests were wide-ranging and Apocalypse Omnibus includes profiles of outr characters, artists, and, yes, some crackpots. Parfrey loved tweaking American mythology by resurrecting lost texts highlighting outlaws and outsiders. He continually sought to expose the absurdity of American culture. His collective writings have become the ur-texts of the "Dirtbag Left."

"Parfrey was fascinated by the contrast between America portrayed as wholesome freedom-loving peacekeepers and the reality of covert military operations, mass-drug experiments, and the obscured wizards hidden behind the curtain pulling the levers of power. His work has been lauded as groundbreaking and criticized as dangerous. In a time when truth has been stretched to the breaking point, Parfreys essays remind readers that there is always more to the story.

Apocalypse Omnibus also contains material previously published in the out-of-print books, Apocalypse Culture 2 (2003) and Cult Rapture (1995), as well as new material culled from his extensive private archives. It also contains a selection of Parfreys essays and investigations, originally published in the San Diego Reader, Village Voice, Hustler Magazine, and on his own site, and inaccessible for years, are collected here in a single volume. Black and white images with full-color art by Joe Coleman.

Reviews

"Adam Parfrey of Feral House has died. The books he published blew my mind." -Marc Maron

"In form and content, Apocalypse Culture II is prime (if creepy and discomfiting) bathroom reading." -Ada Calhoun for the Austin Chronicle

"In this environment, the intellectual with the greatest freak show wins. Think of Parfrey as equal parts P. T. Barnum, Rod Serling and Hegel. The man can't be beat when it comes to collecting outright oddities." -Stephen Lemons for Salon

Author Bio

Adam Parfrey was a
writer and publisher whose work earned praise as provocative and groundbreaking
from the New York Times and fearful derision from religious scaremongers. He is
the author of numerous books and editor of many more. Parfrey's sudden death in
May of 2018 deprived readers of his thoughts on the current state of affairs,
yet the impact he made and the voices he empowered through his publishing
company, Feral House, remain.