Deliciously wicked satires about local and international celebrities; the poems in Portable Altamont evince an irrepressible grasp of the zeitgeist; its machinations and manipulations; its possibilities and puerility. Who other than artist and raconteur Brian Joseph Davis could have imagined Margaret Atwood as a human beatbox; Jessica Simpson applying for arts grants or the Swedish Chef reciting T. S. Eliot? Davis uses every literary form available to revel in and rearrange pop culture. Even the index turns into a short story about Luke Perryrsquo;s descent into a shadowy underworld of Parisian intellectuals and terrorists.A word of warning: this book is a complete and utter fiction. Philip Roth is not David Lee Rothrsquo;s brother. Reese Witherspoon is not a Communist cell leader; and Don Knotts has never been a New Age guru. The stuff about Nicole Richie; however; is absolutely true.Portable Altamont is that rare book that is both incendiary and compulsively readable. Get to it before the lawyers do!
#1534706 in eBooks 2012-02-15 2012-02-15File Name: B0079M51YC
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The United States and its horrorBy Mr. Richard K. WeemsA quick read. especially if you are familiar with the genre. I first feared that Maddrey would be a little too broad in scope. but his views of the growth and revisions of US culture through its horror movies is quite insightful and sensical. Combine this with his final chapters that focus on auteurs like Hitchcock. Carpenter. Lynch and a magnificent crater on Wes Craven. and you have a book that should be reading material for citizenship.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. New insights into old and new moviesBy Deborah M. OkeyI teach a college course in horror literature. and a major theme of my course is that horror encodes cultural fears into tangible enemies that are defeated to restore order to our world. This documentary discusses that concept. as well as others I cover in class superbly with clips from classics dating bak to Nodferatu all the way up to post-9/11 films. Commentary is provided by the greats in horror cinema-- John Carpenter. George Romero. and Roger Corman as well as younger horror directors of note. such as Darrin Lynn Bousman. who brought insights into Jigsaw in Saw II. It gives horror fans an historical overview as well as a look at the cultural value of this marginalized genre. Fascinating. entertaining. and streamed flawlessly by .0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A great readBy Matthew B. HamiltonThis. and the the documentary based on the book. are great to read and watch. If youre a horror fan especially. Otherwise. its just a great look at how Americans play their fears on the big screen as sort of a theraputic way of dealing with them. I thought that the book and the film just sort of blew by some films and eras. however. The movie I could see dealing with time constraints and what not but the book has no excuse. It should have delved into a few more movies and not ended with the directors section. That being said. though. it is a great book taking a literary view on the American horror genre dating back to the silent era.
