Democracy Versus Socialism: A Critical Examination of Socialism as a Remedy for Social Injustice and an Exposition of the Single Tax Doctrine

Customer Reviews:

Hirsch vs von Mises.......2003-06-06

Hirsch's "Democracy vs Socialism" is very different from von Mises' "Socialism." The person who is recommending von Mises *instead of* Hirsch's work is part of the anti-georgist, propertarian right wing of libertarianism. Who misses Hirsch's work misses a unique synthesis of late 19th century classical liberalism and early Austrian economics sans the Social Darwinism that ultimately cut the heart out of Classical Liberalism and split the movement into its modern day left and right wing fragments.

Hirsch's work integrates a modern model of Capital & Interest with classical liberalisms principle of labor earned property rights and equal freedom to use/access what is not created by individual labor, eg, natural resource opportunity and civil opportunity.

Hirsch's exposition of the formation of genuine "technical" Interest is beautiful in its simplicity and clarity and is alone worth its purchase. It clears away all the jargonistic obfuscations and needless complexity. His strength in clear exposition might be best demonstrated by one of his startling analogies: "Just as Labor's Wages are extended across Space as Land's Rental value, so are Labor's Wages extended across Time as Capital's Interest." Hirsh's derivation may not explain all of new capital formation but it does cut through to the heart of the most difficult aspect of technical "Interest." This is especially useful to most of us who need to find a coherent path through technical jargon, especially for us who are economic beginners through talented novices.

Hirsch also provides abundant thorough replies and anticipations of anti-land reformers of both Left and Right. It's too bad that latter day Austrian Economists like von Mises clung to his anti-Georgist prejudices instead of considering Hirsch's arguments. If you insist on covering your ears and eyes in favor of anti-Georgist name-calling, then by all means go instead to von Mises "Socialism." If you want to learn about a very important alternative proposal for constructive solutions to the ills of neo-feudalist, landlordist Capitalism, an alternative that is steadfastly ignored and "ad-hominemed" by both Left and Right, then invest your time more *constructively* in Max Hirsch's "Democracy vs Socialism." Practically all anti-georgist arguments of right wing libertarianism are based on ad hominems, diversion, evasion and "package dealings."

Hirsch's ethical demolition of pro-statist Socialism (modern oxymoron so-called) is also a huge bonus. Hirsch points out that when statist Socialisms deny all individual rights except for arbitrary state dictates, there are no real rights save arbitrary state privileges. Without some sort of rights prior to and independent of State formation, there is no reliable concept of "Good" or "ought" save the arbitrary dictates of state politicians and bureaux men. Hence, the very foundation of pro-statist Socialism is to deny any reliable objective standard of reckoning what the "good" is, what the state "ought" to do, how it could protect and extend the "happiness" of the people. So, Hirsch anticipated vonMises', Hayek's and Popper's calculation deficiency objections to statist ruled economics by about 2 or 3 decades. The additional latter day objections concerning lack of valid market price data are trivially derivative of the fundamental epistemologic fallacy of pro-statist Socialism, it's own self-contradiction; that some kinds of social policies "ought to be" without some reliable code, system, concept of rights vs wrongs besides predatory forced political power and privilege at the command of arbitrary statist government.. Hirsch boils down pro-statist Socialism's conceptual system to "these social policies ought to be because we in power say they ought to be, no matter who they hurt or lay waste to, no matter the alternative facts, reasonings, rights claims of others without the power to forcibly dissent and disagree."

Max Hirsch: the Australian Henry George.......2001-02-14

In the United States there was Henry George; in Australia there was Max Hirsch.

Hirsch, who was born in Cologne, Prussia in 1853, settled in Victoria, Australia in 1890. It was here that he became a respected and outspoken leader of Henry George's Single Tax movement. 'Democracy Versus Socialism' was Hirsch's master work. Published in 1901, it was the first book to deal comprehensively with Karl Marx's 'Das Kapital' and the literature which had, up to the end of the nineteenth century, been published by Socialists.

Hirsch's analysis is arguably the most thorough refutation of the basic ideas of Marx ever written. Although Ludwig von Mises is often praised for being the first economist to offer such a refutation, it is important to note that, with respect to the evils of Socialism, von Mises reached no conclusion in any of his works that Hirsch had not already reached decades earlier.

While Hirsch's views on capital and interest were heavily influenced by Eugen von Bohm-Bawerk, his views on land were heavily influenced by Henry George. In short, Hirsch believed that the moral basis of private property is derived solely from the right of the individual to the fruits of his or her labor. But since land is not the fruit of anyone's labor, Hirsch, like George, held that all individuals have an equal right to land, and hence to the rental value thereof. He advocated George's Single Tax remedy -- the abolishment of all taxation save that upon land values -- as a means of upholding the true right of property, while at the same time eliminating poverty by freeing laborers and capitalists from the clutches of State-granted privileges and monopolies, particularly as they relate to the concentrated ownership of land.

After an exhaustive analysis, Hirsch determined that "The ultimate social and political outcome of Socialism...must be an all-pervading despotism on the part of the rulers, and a degree of slavery on the part of the ruled masses." Nevertheless, Hirsch also believed that Capitalism would continually fail humanity as a whole so long as it is based on State-sanctioned land monopoly. If the earth becomes the exclusive property of a relative few, Hirsch argued, then "all non-landowners, under this condition, would have no right to the use of any part of the earth," and would thus "have no right to live upon it." In Hirsch's view, only when both the exclusive right of the individual to the fruits of his or her labor *and* the equal right of all to the use of land are upheld will Capitalism truly become what Hirsch envisioned it to be--'the most marvellous system of co-operation which the human mind can conceive.' To that end, Hirsch recommended the Single Tax, and devoted the last part of his book to providing persuasive answers to both right-wing and left-wing objections to this remedy.

I highly recommend 'Democracy Versus Socialism' to anyone looking to gain a deeper understanding of both Capitalism and Socialism (as they are currently defined), and who suspects that there is a fundamental flaw in each, but is unsure as to what that flaw is. I also recommend it to economists who have an overall high regard for Henry George's 'Progress and Poverty,' but who are dissatisfied with George's theory on the nature and cause of "interest." Hirsch provided a more analytically sound treatment of that subject, and, in doing so, corrected what up to that point had been the sole logical blemish in George's economic paradigm. (It's worth noting, however, that before eliminating that blemish, Hirsch insisted that it in no way lessened the overall soundness of George's Single Tax remedy).

Book Description

Sex and violence have never looked so...old. Meet Brit, the government's last line of defense when it comes to the really messy parts of keeping the world safe. When super-powered menaces threaten our home soil, send in this one-man killing machine: He's indestructible, unstoppable, and eligible for a senior citizen's discount. Brit and Jessica are having a good time raising their new son, Brittany Jr. With Brit back at his job with the government, they're well off and living large. That is, until a race of vicious aliens decides the time is right to strike Earth, and their first target is the United States of America. Brit's not likely to let something like that go down in his backyard.

Customer Reviews:

A cool read for Invincible fans.......2006-11-02

When I bought this I had no idea that it was set in the Invincible Universe, which is really cool. If you have read and continue to read Invincible (which you really should, either it or Fables are the best things being written) it will enhance your experience. My only caution is this volume is in Black and White and believe a colorized edition with the other Brit stories are coming out.

As for Brit, he is sort of a super Hill Billy. Politically incorrect in almost everyway. That sounds like it should be funny, but it is much more adventure than laugh out loud.

Red White Black & Blue: Dual Memoir Of Race & Class In Appalachia (Ethnicity & Gender In Appalach)

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a stark and thought provoking comparison
Entering a relationship
A pretty good book, but it strays from its subject

Red White Black & Blue: Dual Memoir Of Race & Class In Appalachia (Ethnicity & Gender In Appalach)
William M. Drennen Jr.
Manufacturer: Ohio University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0821415360

Customer Reviews:

a stark and thought provoking comparison.......2004-07-02

As I began reading William Drennen's and Kojo Jones' book, I anticipated an enjoyable experience. I was intrigued and impressed that a black man and a white man could come together for such an undertaking. I too grew up in West Virginia and felt great pride that they were products of my State and would perhaps give readers an example of how they were able to lessen the racial gap. However, what I experienced was a stressful and somewhat sad journey.

William Drennen's recollection of "growing up white" seemed to be a happy-go-lucky account of a privileged life. He had no reason to take things seriously. There were no barriers to his success as long as he followed the rules of his race and class and didn't make waves. However, in one account of his life's experiences, his conscience was pricked and perhaps he did long to make a few waves. Drennen tells the story of his black friend Albert coming to a party at his home after Thomas Jefferson Junior High School's first football game of the season. When it was discovered that a black youth was present, his parents asked him to leave and offered to drive him home. Drennen's father ended up dropping him off at the downtown post office, at Albert's request.

As I continued to read Drennen's words, I felt that something may have begun to smolder within him, much like the nagging feeling one gets when he wants to speak out or rebel against something he feels is wrong. Perhaps it increased a spark that was actually lit two years prior when he invited Kojo Jones to his home and was asked not to do so again. That time he did question. He obviously hadn't learned all the rules yet. In Albert's case however, nowhere did I read that Drennen went to his father and asked for an explanation. If he did talk to his parents, nowhere did I read that he told them he didn't feel the same way. And nowhere did I read that he went to Albert to say, " I don't feel the same way my parents do". Looking back now, Drennen acknowledges he had an opportunity to make a difference and didn't.

Reading about that incident brought back a memory of similar circumstances with just the opposite outcome. I was at Horace Mann Junior High School and my friend Kathy invited me to a slumber party at her house. My first thought was, "Didn't she tell her parents I'm black?" It turns out she did and after much communication between my parents and hers, I was allowed to go. It was a little awkward for me and I'm sure for them, but we all had a good time. In this case, the rules were different.

Reading further, I found myself questioning the explicit account Drennen gives of his sexual encounter with a black woman while he was in the military. Did it mean that since he was an adult and no longer under the direction of his parents, he was now making waves? Did he have a desire to make this a permanent relationship or was it a fling? If it was a fling, then, was he merely satisfying a curiosity about what it would be like to be with a black woman? How did their relationship help to bridge the gap between the races? What did it confirm or refute in terms of his beliefs about African Americans in general or African American women in particular? Finally, why was it important to retell this encounter? Personally, I found it disgusting and insulting not only because of the content, but also because of his seeming delight in telling it. He left me with many questions and no answers about the significance of relating the affair at all and in such detail.

By way of contrast, Kojo Jones' recollection of "growing up black" reveals one who took life far more seriously, no doubt as a result of early and unfortunate racial encounters. I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness reading his account, because I was reminded that he and many other gifted young black men found it difficult to focus on their potential because of constantly having to overcome racial barriers. Reading Jones' account of not being allowed to drink a cherry smash at the counter in Shumate's Pharmacy was sadly, typical. What wasn't typical and what I thought deserved more attention was the fact that the five white boys who were with him refused to pay and left as well. While no information is given about those five, I wondered if they might have been from a less privileged class and were therefore, more willing to make waves and question authority. Jones' experience of being tied and whipped at ten years old by four children as a reminder to "stay in his place" was very disturbing and an incident I'm sure made an indelible impact on his life. I would venture to surmise that it had much to do with his decision to get involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

Reading Jones' memoirs brought back many of my own and one in particular. My sister and I were the only black students at Clifftop Elementary School in 1954. During recess I remember trying to play with the other kids and being told that they couldn't play with me because somebody's grandfather said, "Black men have tails." Perhaps even more absurd is the fact that I couldn't wait to get home to ask my mother if it was true.

To summarize, Jones focuses his account more on the issue of race. It shaped his entire existence. Drennen, on the other hand, led a life shaped by class and in fact seems to refer to race as a byproduct of his existence. In other words, blacks worked for his family, but had no bearing on the decisions or choices he made in life.

Drennen and Jones give readers a lot to think about. They give what their title implies, "A Dual Memoir of Race and Class in Appalachia." They give readers a glimpse into how individuals of different races and socio-economic backgrounds view the world and how such views shape their interactions in it. Finally, they reveal how two men, one black and one white, can come together to write a book revealing such opposite life experiences.

Entering a relationship.......2004-05-06

Some years ago in the course of a study of school desegregation in Little Rock, I interviewed an African-American man who'd been of high-school age at the time. He recounted story after story of losses and wounds to himself, his children, and his community as a result of desegregating the schools. At last he commented sadly, "My frustration centers around how much effort and how many people we've put through that process, only to sit in a room rather than really to enter into a relationship."

Kojo Jones, a black man, and Bill Drennan, a white man, were ninth-grade classmates in the first year of desegregation, in their case in Charleston, W. Virginia. Red, White, Black & Blue is their attempt to "enter into a relationship" many years later through the medium of a shared memoir. What I found most striking about their book, beyond the courage and respectful engagement of the authors, is an eloquence of form that emerges from the pages. The story of class and race is told far more vividly through contrasts in the way the two men write than through what they write. The stark honesty of their differing versions offers to American readers a rare and valuable window into enduring and largely ignored dynamics of privilege and protest, of ease and struggle, of unawareness and urgent perception.

Mr. Drennan, for instance, writes that his earliest contacts with black people were with servants in his home, people who cared for him with warmth and humanity. He writes nostalgically, noting little awareness of the privilege expressed by so cushioned an experience of race. Mr. Jones, however, tells of a series of encounters, ranging from unpleasant to violent, winding through his life from childhood on. His earliest contact with white people happened in public spaces, in stores and playgrounds, away from the safety of home. This contrast between places where people discover race - at home through warm dealings with employees or in public through hostile confrontations with (usually older) strangers - is one I've found typical in my own work on racial dynamics. Also typically, Mr. Drennan tells his tale and moves on to other life experiences, while Mr. Jones organizes his entire narrative around defining racial encounters. To the white man, race is as incidental in his memoir as he experiences it in his life; to the black man, it is central in both.

The memoirs are accompanied by an analysis written by Dolores Johnson, a scholar of communication styles. She gives us an erudite essay that illuminates many of the dynamics I've mentioned. Unfortunately, Ms. Johnson's tool is discourse analysis, an academic approach rich in yield and interest but limited in scope. When the eye is drawn to communication between individuals, there is a tendency to miss the surrounding context. And in the case of racial inequities in America, context is key. Mr. Jones' and Mr. Drennan's accounts beg for linkages with those systems of domination that underlie relations of class and race in our society. It is certainly interesting to note contrasts in the lengths of each man's contribution and to connect wordiness with privilege. But I regretted the missed opportunity to go deeper, to echo the memoir authors' honesty and earnestness by speaking that unjustly discredited word, racism, in the analysis.

Despite its shortcomings (neither primary author is a writer by trade, so their stories lack elegance and polish), Red, White, Black & Blue is an enormously useful contribution to an understanding of racial inequities fifty years ago, and still today.

A pretty good book, but it strays from its subject.......2004-03-23

This book contains the accounts of two southern men, one white and one African American, whose lives have coincided with the tumult toward racial equality in America. Mr. Jones and Mr. Drennen deserve much praise for starting a dialogue. It contains honest feelings and raw memories.

The Supreme Court's 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision ruled that segregated schools were inherently unequal and thus violated the 14th Amendment's tenet of equal protection under the laws. The ensuing desegregation of (mostly) southern school systems had a deep impact on millions of students, teachers and administrators, and formalized a broader movement toward racial equality in our society. It was a disturbance to all, though, as have been the succeeding steps toward racial equality. I was hoping the book would provide much more about the early years of desegregation, based on its billing as "a memoir of growing up through the turmoil and anguish of desegregation." But the book actually offers relatively little about that aspect of the 1950s. The authors bare a lot of feelings and anecdotes, but they don't always seem to be part of any particular message to learn from.

Jones stays more on point with racial issues in his narrative, establishing that desegregation - also called "integration" at the time - did not integrate the races to any significant degree. It simply put them in coexistence, but not as America's melting pot. He is less clear in justifying his final point that reparations are the kick start needed to provide African Americans a stimulus to economic success. There is no evidence or precedent anywhere that gives weight to this argument. Jones also leaves the impression that he would just as soon the schools had not been desegregated, which is forthright but also suggests resignation on the prospect of racial harmony.

Drennen points out that West Virginia promptly and unequivocally complied with the Supreme Court ruling. Otherwise his reminiscences, while interesting, aren't very relevant to race and class in Appalachia. It addresses the racial chasm only obliquely, in what he isn't able to say. African Americans are bit players in his narrative, which essentially is about himself. His life has not been that of the typical white man he suggests he is. He experienced the first year of desegregation, and then departed to a life he describes of exclusiveness, license and privilege. It would have been more interesting to hear about his parents' discussions of why he should leave public schools than some of his other material in the book. Far more typical of whites - and blacks - were those who remained in public schools and lived the changes desegregation brought.

The editor, Delores Johnson provides a concluding "socio-linguistic rhetorical analysis" that may be of interest and use to scholars but was of limited use in evaluating the authors' messages. Language obscures racial differences and likenesses rather than illuminating them. You can analyze it for a thousand years and you'll never get to the bottom of it. The chasm and the answer exist at a level below language. That level is experience. Rent American History X for an evening, and you'll learn more about racial chasms, experience, despair and hope than syntax will ever reveal.

I attended the same junior high and high schools as Jones, two years behind him. I remember Mrs. Gregory, my African American 10th grade English teacher, who was tough as nails and left an indelible mark on every student she had; I recall more about her course than any other. I remember sitting in a luncheonette on Hale Street on a school day in 1958 and seeing a black man refused service; and the look on his face and feeling the blank in mine. I, like Jones, remember the First Baptist basketball teams; and the level they played was so far beyond my First Presby team that it wasn't even the same game. I, like Jones, remember Moses Newsome and Coach Jarrett, agents of change with entirely different styles. Wealthier white students who addressed the mothers and grandmothers of their black peers by their first names; these women were maids and cooks in the homes of white students who by day sat beside their black children in school. I remember black girls fighting in junior high school and reinforcing every prejudice the whites had to just stay in a different world. And a hundred others. It may or may not be of solace to Jones to know that whites' attitudes towards blacks in general were even worse then than he portrays them, and today are much more enlightened than he seems willing to grant.

For different reasons, each author of RWB&B has essentially led a life with his own race. Based on their narratives, it appears that neither has experienced the trials and successes of working closely with the other race, and learning through experience that they're not different at the core. What Jones and Drennen say is true and honest, yet there is much more that can lead us out of the woods. Many others have, through fate or determination, hung in there with the other race and gotten beyond the words. And it has taken decades.

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The Little Red, Yellow & Black (And Green and Blue and White) Book
Marcia Langton and AIATSIS staff Bill Jones
Manufacturer: AIATSIS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0642212082

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Red Blue Black & White: Election Year Thoughts of Real American Voters (and a nonvoter or two)
Patricia Bermon
Manufacturer: Lulu
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

History | Subjects | Books | Africa | Americas | Ancient | Arctic & Antarctica | Asia | Australia & Oceania | Books on CD | Books on Cassette | Europe | Gay & Lesbian | Historical Study | Large Print | Middle East | Military | Military Science | Russia | United States | World
ASIN: 1411612744

Product Description

This book contains election year thoughts of real American voters (and a nonvoter or two) from all political persuasions and walks of life. All sides are presented together by topic, to make the content easy to read and the diverse arguments and suggestions easy to compare and contrast. It's a refreshing change from the phony slogans and ugly accusations we're seeing on TV and in our newspapers and magazines today.

Red, White, Black, and Blue: A Th(Ink) Anthology

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Whammo!

Red, White, Black, and Blue: A Th(Ink) Anthology
Keith Knight
Manufacturer: Manic D Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Comic Strips | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0916397882

Book Description

A cross between Gary Larson's The Far Side and Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks, (th)ink is the latest comic by award-winning cartoonist Keith Knight (The K Chronicles). These thought-provoking humorous single panel cartoons tackle political and social issues, often lampooning newsworthy current events which concern communities of color. Edgy, topical, and funny, Red, White, Black, and Blue contains some of the most colorful black and white comic strips ever.

Customer Reviews:

Whammo!.......2004-02-13

If you're familiar with the K Chronicles, you probably already appreciate Keith Knight's wacky and pointed sense of humor and charming loopy drawing style. The (th)ink strips are different since they're only one panel each: they get an idea across immediately... whammo! like getting hit upside the head... in a good way. Really different from typical mainstream political cartoons, the (th)ink strips made me smile long after I read them. Check it out!

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Soldiers' Pay
William Faulkner
Manufacturer: The First Edition Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Stories in yellow, black, white, blue, violet and red (Little blue book)

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Stories in yellow, black, white, blue, violet and red (Little blue book)
Remy de Gourmont
Manufacturer: Haldeman-Julius Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Black and Red Roses Journal/Pocket Size/Small Blue White

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Black and Red Roses Journal/Pocket Size/Small Blue White

Manufacturer: Quillmark
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Stationery

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ASIN: 0809711532

Black Light in RARE Color DustJacket of Woman & two Young Boys in White with Blue Car & Red Truck Stormy Scene on Dusty Road at Bottom (Black Light)

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Black Light in RARE Color DustJacket of Woman & two Young Boys in White with Blue Car & Red Truck Stormy Scene on Dusty Road at Bottom (Black Light)
B/W Frontispiece of Man on Telephon Monica MARSDEN
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: B000QEAR0S

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HBDJ, 1948, 1st Edition, Dates Match on Title & Copyright pg, NF/VG-, AS-IS, Interior nice ti

The Color Book 5 Volumes. Red, Yellow, Blue, Pastels, Black & White

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The Color Book 5 Volumes. Red, Yellow, Blue, Pastels, Black & White
Dale Russell
Manufacturer: North Light Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PS0CIC

Customer Reviews:

A Great Survey In Need Of An Update.......2006-09-17

What a great book - you can peruse this one and find forgotten things that you secretly love, secretly loathe, along with any number of things that simply cause you to think "what the hell?!?"

Digging into the proletarian underbelly of what could broadly be described as 'Americana,' the Sterns wallow around in a world of bikers, jello, spam, bad t-shirts, large-breasted pin-ups, disco, Nehru jackets, faux-Hawaiiana (Tiki Torches!), Winnebago warriors and assorted other things that make this country great and icky.

You just have to hold your nose and dive in - of course there's an elitism here, but even the trashiest people I know are usually aware of their own trashiness, and revel in it as often as not: I could claim with some arrogance to be a cultured person, having read Kafka and Borges and having sat through both operas and 'performance art' spectacles, but I also do recall having hanging macrame and driftwood sculptures in my childhood home, and I LOVED seeing those things in here.

Some conspicuous absences: Martin Denny (get to know Martin Denny - you'll thank me), Southern Rock, the entire state of Florida, blaxploitation films (actually, any -xploitation films), slasher movies, neo-folk music and Valley Girls. Vegas is here; we also need its' siblings - Atlantic City, Myrtle Beach and Orlando! Please, let's have an update!

-David Alston

bought it as a first edition, still read it!.......2003-03-15

A wonderful book. if you are mid 30's to mid 50's, this book's for you. I bought it in 1990- laughed out loud MANY times---I still read parts of it today, although the cover has come off! It has short articles on some of our nations funnier, and awfull-er things, from accordians to zoot suits- with stops at dino parks, liberace,diners, & fake fur, to name but a few. Reading it now, some things are definitely dated, and I would LOVE to see an updated edition ( hint hint, jane & micheal stern). All in all a fun, fast read, blast from the past for all of us to laugh at ourselves, and recognize someone we knew. and remember,"just because something is in bad taste, doesnt mean it has to taste bad."( the sterns, on cool-whip)

Outstanding look at America's more regrettable phases........2002-09-15

Witty and sharp-tongued, this book guides readers in a primer of that which was bizarre and tasteless in the 70s and 80s. Topics range from "Frederick's of Hollywood" to Jell-O [tm] to Chippendale's Dancers to those obnoxious cedar plaques you used to be able to find at truck stops across the country (and maybe still can, somewhere). Some of these topics will be totally lost on younger readers -- my 25-year-old boyfriend had never heard of the Mayflower Madame, never knew the glory of ring-pull caps, and had never seen a macrame plant hanger. For me, however, a child of the 80s, these are just part of the general background of my life.

Some topics are strangely absent (where was the section on raccoon-style eyeliner? Where were edible underwear, slogan-bearing buttons, and Love's Baby Soft perfume?), and others are explored in far more depth than might be strictly necessary (Charo is a prime example -- she just never blipped my radar like fish sticks did, I guess).

I loved it, though. It's a good source of laughs. Actually, it made me feel a bit nostalgic. I'm making Jell-O tonight.

Warning: There is some strong language in this book, including a few examples of the F-word. There are also some R-rated pictures in it. Also, it really pokes fun at people named Tiffany. I wasn't offended, but I thought I'd mention it in case someone else wanted to avoid such things.

Funny, informative, but uneven blasts at popular culture.......2002-07-10

The Sterns, best known for their books about vernacular American cusine, dug their claws into pop culture in this book full of short (1-3 page) essays about topics as diverse as Death Cars, Fish Sticks, and Florida's Fountainblu hotel.

The tone is generally mocking, sometime excessively so (some of the phenomena the Sterns spear are not so much in bad taste, but merely goofy), but the pieces are almost always informative and entertaining.

Out of print? What a shame. But come to think of it, this book could use an entirely new edition, with the Bad Taste items of the 1990s worked in and a few obscure items (Boudoir photos) expunged.

The entry on Las Vegas, which has outdone itself in recent years, could be expanded into a book.

Love it, want another.......2002-04-23

This book is hilarious. The Sterns provide history and facts about some of our culture's more notorious fads, and explain why they might now be "past their prime." The writing is hilarious, and the Sterns make sure to take a goodhearted look at these entries without offending those who might enjoy them (I used to love heavy metal, but was howling at the descriptions of my favorite bands of the late 80's/early 90's). I've had this book for years, and it still makes me laugh until I can't read any more. I'm hoping for a second volume soon!

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Astute and hilarious

Encyclopedia of Bad Taste
Jane; And Michael Stern Stern
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OA4HIC

Customer Reviews:

Astute and hilarious.......2007-07-17

Jane and Michael Stern have created a masterpiece. Although dated, their observations on Panty Hose Crafts, Treasures from Trash, Velvet Paintings and much more will leave you laughing until tears are in your eyes.
I've had this book since it was first published in the early 90's and it has never ceased to entertain.

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Encyclopedia of Bad Taste, The
Jane and Michael Stern
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KWV2HI

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The Encyclopedia of BAD TASTE
Jane & Michael Stern
Manufacturer: Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OF7J1O

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