One Hand Jerking: Reports from an Investigative Satirist

by Krassner, Paul

• ISBN13: 9781583226964
• ISBN10: 1583226966
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-01
• Publisher: Random House Inc

Summary

"The FBI was right; this man is dangerous-and funny, and necessary."-George Carlin "Thanks to Paul Krassner for continuing to be the lobster claw in the tuna casserole of modern America."-Tom Robbins "Krassner has the uncanny ability to alter your perceptions permanently."-Los Angeles Times "I told Krassner one time that his writings made me hopeful. He found this an odd compliment to offer a satirist. I explained that he made supposedly serious matters seem ridiculous, and that this inspired many of his readers to decide for themselves what was ridiculous and what was not. Knowing that there were people doing that, better late than never, made me optimistic."-Kurt Vonnegut Counterculture legend Paul Krassner gazes on the fires of pop culture, politics, and celebrity and returns unscathed to help us make sense of our senseless world, with an introduction by Lewis Black (The Daily Show) and a foreword by Harry Shearer (The Simpsons, Le Show). From cults to pornography, from Charles Manson to Homer Simpson, from the war on drugs to the invasion of Iraq, from Dolly Parton to Lenny Bruce, from circumcision to propaganda, this collection epitomizes Krassner's credo, "Irreverence is our only sacred cow." Paul Krassner is the only person in the world ever to win awards from both Playboy (for satire) and the Feminist Party Media Workshop (for journalism), to be inducted into the Counterculture Hall of Fame at the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, to receive an ACLU Uppie (Upton Sinclair) Award for dedication to freedom of expression, and to be described by the FBI as "a raving, unconfined nut."

Author Biography

PAUL KRASSNER cut his teeth as a journalist at Mad magazine, worked with Lenny Bruce, and with Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin founded the Yippies. In 1958 he founded the satirical magazine The Realist and has published it discontinuously ever since. His autobiography, Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut: Misadventures in the Counter-Culture, was published by Simon & Schuster in 1994. More recently, The Winner of the Slow Bicycle Race, a collection of his best satire, was published by Seven Stories Press in 1996. His album We Have Ways of Making You Laugh is available from Mercury Records. He lives in Venice, California with his wife Nancy.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Harry Shearer	11	(2)
Introduction by Lewis Black	13	(4)
ZEN BASTARD
Humor As a Spiritual Path	17	(5)
Irreverence Is Our Only Sacred Cow	22	(7)
In Praise of Offensive Cartoons	29	(6)
The Parts Left Out of the Reagan Movie	35	(3)
Why I'm Optimistic About the Future	38	(5)
GOT PORN?
Showing Pink	43	(2)
Pee-Wee Herman Meets Pete Townshend	45	(2)
Satirical Prophecy	47	(3)
The Marriage of Hip-Hop and Pornography	50	(2)
Porn and the Manson Murders	52	(1)
Eating Shit For Fun and Profit	53	(6)
LISTS FOR THE LISTLESS
Predictions for 2004	59	(3)
Bizarre Sexually Oriented Spam Subject Lines	62	(6)
TV Shows of the Near Future	68	(5)
UNDER THE COUNTERCULTURE
Marijuana vs. Cigarettes	73	(2)
Pregnancy and Pot	75	(2)
Bong Wars: Tommy Chong Ain't the Only One	77	(2)
The Trial of Ira Einhorn	79	(3)
Hippies With Cell Phones	82	(5)
ONE HAND JERKING
Welcome to the Masturbate-a-thon	87	(2)
Virtual Rape On the Internet	89	(2)
Mailer On Mating and Masturbation	91	(2)
The Onanist Quartet	93	(6)
MAKE ME LAUGH
Homer Simpson Suppressed	99	(2)
Harry Shearer Still Hears Voices	101	(6)
The Transformation of Dennis Miller	107	(4)
The Ballad of Lenny the Lawyer	111	(16)
GAY RIGHTS AND WRONGS
Before There Was Same-Sex Marriage	127	(2)
What Does Bill O'Reilly Really Want?	129	(6)
9/11 AND THE INVASION OF IRAQ
Threats Against the President	135	(3)
Propaganda Wars	138	(3)
Condoleezza, Linda and Monica	141	(5)
I Forget the Title of This	146	(5)
THE WAR ON INDECENCY
Arnold, Madonna, Doonesbury and An Internet Porn Scam	151	(3)
Blow Job Betty	154	(2)
When Justin Met Janet	156	(2)
The Crackdown	158	(5)
BOOK RELATED ACTIVITIES
'The Secret Life of Walter Winchell	163	(3)
Occult Jeopardy	166	(2)
Trashing the Right to Read	168	(2)
Jews in the News	170	(4)
A Mellow Howl	174	(2)
The Communal Truth	176	(11)
REBELS WITH CAUSES
Mae, We Hardly Knew Ye	187	(3)
Steve Earle: Sticking to Principles	190	(8)
The Ironic Ordeal of Dr. L	198	(4)
An Interview With Robert Anton Wilson	202	(8)
Scoop, Holly and Me	210	(5)
BODY PARTS
Boobs in the News	215	(2)
Dolly Parton's Tits	217	(2)
The Great Foreskin Conspiracy	219	(2)
The War Against Pleasure	221	(3)
Missing From the Vagina Monologues	224	(5)
BRAIN DAMAGE CONTROL
Swimming in the Dead Pool	229	(3)
Behind the Infamous Twinkie Defense	232	(3)
The Rise of Sirhan Sirhan in the Scientology Hierarchy	235	(15)
Campaign in the Ass and Other Unforgiving Minutes	250	(56)
The Rumpleforeskin Awards For 2004	306	(2)
The Devil in the Desert	308	(4)
Blowing Deadlines with Hunter Thompson	312	(3)
Geezerstock	315