"Lost Illusions" by Honore De Balzac (This book scared the fucking shit out of me when I first read it shortly after my attempt at living in Vancouver when I was but a young lad trying to relate with "big" city life. Later on when I became a drunkard I realized that this book is also quite hilarious!)

"The Age of Uncertainty - A history of economic ideas and their consequences" by John Kenneth Galbraith (This guy is unique: an economist with a sense of humour! This book is a very polished historical comedy!)

And now two books for Noitall:
"The School of Genius" by Anthony Storr (I just know that she'll be interested in this one! )

"The Frenzy of Renown - Fame and It's History" by Leo Brandy (In this crazy fame and celebrity obsessed world there is surprisingly little intelligent documentation about it! Here is one small yet brightly lit light at the end of the tunnel!)

So what am I reading now? Dare I post this!?! Oh what the heck...

"Lost Victories - The war memoirs of Hitler's most brilliant General" an autobiography by none other than Field Marshal Erich Von Manstein (This guy was a military genius who was responsible for coming up with the invasion plan which was directly responsible for the fall of France during the opening days of world war 2! Manstein had a very unique perspective in regards to his views of various major important historical events during this war and how and why they happened as well as how Hitler related with things. Very thought provoking as well as scary in places! Tis a good thing Hitler's personal physician accidentally(?) got him dependant on amphetamines in his final days or he may very well have listened to Manstein and his brilliant ideas!)

:::

Since the beginning of the 1990s, nearly 100 churches have been torched or desecrated by adherents of Black Metal, the most extreme form of underground music on the planet.

In an escalating unholy war, Black Metal bands and their obsessive fans have left a grim legacy of suicide, murder, and terrorism spreading from Norway to Germany, Russia, America, and beyond.

Based on face-to-face interviews with leaders of the genre, both in prison and at large, Lords of Chaos explores a previously uncharted network of pathological musicians and their followers. The book not only uncovers the deeds perpetrated by Black Metalers, but also the spiritual beliefs that inspired them, the media mishandling of their stories, and the still-unfolding ramifications on society.

Shot through with hundreds of illustrations and photos, Lords of Chaos also features interviews with priests, occultists, theologians and police officers, as well as leaders of demonic bands who believe the greater evil spawns the greatest glory.

:::

Check out the Publisher Website:
www.feralhouse.com

Just finished "The Quest for Wilhelm Reich",
a Austrian student of Freuds who became embroiled in just about every major event and with every major personality of the time.
His ideas were outlandish but this book seeks make sense of them and place them in a less hysterical context. (search for 'orgone' energy)

Also, "The Queen's Conjuror" by Benjamin Woolley. Fantastic, this one. It's the life of John Dee, a confidant of Queen Elibeth I of England. A genius of his age really, he was typical of the scholars of his age - voracious intellectual apetite and fascination with the mystical/mathmatical/profane. It's also a great knockabout romp covering most of 16th century Europe.

There is stuff on the net about both these characters.

but, i will recommend whitley strieber's communion for an interesting read
this is nonfiction telling of his real life story of being abducted by aliens his whole freakin' life
strange
(he also wrote wolfen)

quote:

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Originally posted by Layla's Dad:
Just started "Gotterdammerung - 1945:
Germany's Last Stand in the East" by
Russ Schneider. The book covers pretty
much as the title implicates. The end of
WW2 for Germany as the Russians hammer
away at Budapest, Courland (Latvia).
Recently finished "None but the Braves"
by Tom Glavine. Yea. I'm a big Atlanta
Braves fan that gets upset every October.
Also, "Run to the Hills", the Maiden story
by Malcom Dome (I think). I've read that
one three times now.

Looking forward to getting my hands on
that "Lords of Chaos" & that Lemmy bio.
Also, Mezcal, about that Hitler bio by
Toland: Have you got both volumes of
that? My dad come up from Florida last
month & give me vol. 2 of that bio. Have
you got both volumes? The one I have
starts at Chapter 18. He also give me
Toland's account of The Battle of the
Bulge.

---

Vol. 2???? Could we be talking about a different book? What I have is just one bio. Unless you have an older edition that was split in two volumes. Which is possible since this bastard I have is huge. Hmmm...I need to investigate this. I didn't know you liked military history LD. Cool. He's an awesome writer and I'd like to read his account of the Battle of the Bulge.

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr. Phobia:
(...)you gotta read about josef mengele
he is the angel of death that slayer wrote about
all those experiments in those lyrics are real and took place in "the zoo" at auschwitz

---

He spent his last days "hidden" on a house in the beach, some 30 miles from my hometown, in a city called Bertioga. But a lot of WWII criminals lived in Argentina, which seemed to be their favourite place to hide, why I dunno.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Layla's Dad:
Mezcal: The first chapter of 'this' book
is chapter 18. It's called "Crystal Night
November 1938-March 1939". The page
before it says: Part 6 "To the Very Brink
of Boldness". Does any of that ring a
bell or look familiar? I'm leaning toward
your idea of the book also being distributed
as a big one volume. I can tell you that
dad picked mine up at a flea market on
the way up, as he knows i'm a history buff.
It's old looking but still in one piece.
The "Battle of the Bulge" still has a library
binder on it. Tell you what, give me a
couple of months to finish the one I'm
reading now and "The Battle of the Bulge"
and I'll turn you on to "...Bulge".

---

I just bought the VICE GUIDE TO SEX AND DRUGS AND ROCK AND ROLL - a compilation of some of the best articles from VICE Magazine. Sometimes VICE pisses me off because the writing is Jackass-style - they never back off from offending anyone and everyone. This book would make a great xmas prez, especially because it has the article "was Jesus a Fag?" Happy Birthday Baby Jesus.

quote:

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The arguements are compelling. Jesus was, after all, a thirty-three-year-old "confirmed bachelor" at a time when even the religious elite observed Jewish traditions of marriage and family.

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quote:

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If you tally up the pros and cons, you will see that French people are in fact better than us. Their charming joie de vivre has made them into some of the best cooks, comedians, and lovers Canada has to offer. But let's not forget that they still suck at tons of other stuff. Take their outifts for example. Or how about some of their public art?

French Canadians are stuck in the mid-'70's with right-on guitar bands and long flowing hair but they're also grasped desperately for the year 2000 with more pairs of Zany Zappers and silver rollerblades than you will find anywhere else in Canada. The most characteristic thing about Frogs, however, is that they don't give a damn. If you look closely at all of the descriptions below, you'll see they all come back to the French not giving a damn. And that is precisely why the English hate them so.

Here at VICE, we've managed to perfectly evaluate an entire culture in a matter of paragraphs. Before you buy your next poutine or bang spoons on your knees again, you should take a look at this guide and learn about the culture these activities came from.

---

On a side note, I met VICE editor Suroosh Alvi years before VICE and his heroin "problem," when his only claim to fame was being Dave Pirner's (from Soul Asylum. Remember them? Okay, do you remember that he dated Winona Ryder then? lol) neighbour. Also, Alvi is the one and only person I know who was ever mugged in Vancouver.

Alvi was recently on CBC television's ">PLAY" with fellow editor Gavin McInnes promoting their book. I forgave them for going on this piece of shit show (honestly, it makes me embarrassed to be Canadian), because McInnes mentioned a past VICE article on how fucking horrible host Jian Ghomeshi's former band MOXY FRUVOUS was.