The Long Hard Road Out of Hell
by Marilyn Manson, Neil Strauss
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Book Reviews of The Long Hard Road Out of Hell
Book Review: Give the devil his due
Summary: 4 Stars
Look, I'm not a fan of hard rock. I'm 29 and I always hated the likes of Iron Maiden/Judas Priest/Ozzy. Before reading this book, one of the few things of Manson's I was familiar with was the (hilarious) promo he did with Ben Stiller for an MTV awards show. That and his (very disturbing and captivating) performance of "The Beautiful People" during the show. And his videos, I guess, which I always would think, "This is just shock rock shit, Jesus, this is disgusting and so totally marketed to acne-ridden morons who drink tall-boys"...but, you know something? for some reason, I'd never change the channel. So I knew he was smart, and he would ineviatably have some of the best "sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll" stories to tell. So I figured it would be a fun state-of-the-art "rock" book. Manson delivers exactly that, but not at all in the contexts I anticipated. The book begins with Manson detailing his adolescence: his pervert grandfather, his experiences in Catholic School, his first, awkward sexual encounters. Guess what? There's a good chance you'll be surprised by how familiar a lot of these situations seem, and how much you recognize them from your own youth. (sorry, grandpa) The book then goes on to discuss his transformation from wormish Brian Warner to big, bad Marilyn Manson. But here's the twist: he doesn't come off as some idiotic, megalomaniacal schmuck: he pulls off the neat trick of telling the tale with a sense of humility and humanity. There are moments here of genuine surpirse and compassion. And humor. I could go on and on, but the point is: read it. Whoever you are.Book Review: A very insightful & interesting read...
Summary: 4 Stars
I've always been fascinated with reading "Rock Star" biographies. For the most part, they've mainly been written by other people - which in some ways puts a damper on thing, as I would like to "get inside" the artist's head, and possibly look at how they "tick". Unlike, the last biography I've read - which was Ozzy Osbourne's - I found Marilyn Manson's to be quite engrossing to say the least. Personally I think that the majority of people are afraid of things which look different to them, because they are scared of uncovering the facts which will bring it into focus, and therefore make it seem normal. Mr Manson is no different. He starts out as a regular kid - and bing curious and inquisitive as children are, sets out to uncover the secrets lying in his grandfather's basement. What he discovers down there - changes his view on society's norms, and paves the way for what he will become today. I've never felt "freaked out" by Manson, nor can I say I'm his biggest fan. But I do have respect for the guy, and I think that before people start shooting their mouths of on a topic they probably don't know ANYthing about - they should at least have the decencey to sit down and read this book. Who knows. Maybe they'll start to educate their close-minded friends on a man who isn't that different after all.
PS: I didn't realize till after reading it that it was written in the late 90's. It would have been good to see Manson describe & reflect on his relationships with Rose McGowan, Dita von Teese & lately Evan Rachel Wood. As I'm interested to know about how him & Rachel came about, other than reading about it in Rolling Stone.
Book Review: The only problem is... I hope he is telling the truth
Summary: 5 Stars
It sure feels like its true and that I really know manson, but it is clearly not that simple. I would have aggressively forked over the cash for this book just for the pictures, alone, and because of the fact that he wrote it. Not even counting the wonderous poems and quotes from those that influenced him, or happened to fit nicely into the book and the fact that this insightful man (against all odds, some people don't usually view rock god/glam-trash idols such as MM as insightful) has written a book that is actually an intelligent look at growing up. This autobiography brings out the creepiest aspects of childhood, conveying the terror and fascination that young Brian felt when looking through his grandfather's pornography, getting his first French kiss, and being taunted by the girls he wanted to "date." Manson has the benefit of having grown up as an outcast and loser and then having become a star without forgetting what he went through, which is rare. This gives him an incredibly broad perspective, which he brings to bear on his ordinary life in order to convey the more potent and frightening moments that shaped him into the pale-skinned weirdo that the Christians love to hate. Best of all, Manson is full of honesty, and portrays himself as occasionally stupid, self-centered, overly-sensitive, ignoble, and, most importantly, highly fallible and human. It's a long way from the auto-hagiographies that other stars have written, and it's easily one of the best reads in celebrity bio. This book is a really good example that popular culture is everywhere including the silly-people filled suburbs and smaller bedroom communities.Book Review: Rage Against Mechanical People
Summary: 4 Stars
For anyone who's ever thought Marilyn Manson was nothing more than an attention-grabbing Satanic reverend (title bestowed by the now-dead Anton LaVey who was founder of the First Church of Satan) dipsh*t whose favourite pastime is self-administratd fellatio and badly in need of an exorcism, well this book isn't going to change a thing 'cos the same people just going to carefully copy out the damning extracts into the Black Book. Then again just as you can't trust the devil to damn himself, you can't trust Marilyn Manson to do much else than explain and defend himself and his art. Being a former journalist, you know Marilyn Manson can't go that wrong, though he elisted the help of a certain not-so-ghost writer Neil Strauss (I imagine he did the transcript of rambling). What comes across as being somewhat surprising to a former non-fan to me is that this shock-rocker does stand for something. Behind the questionable stage antics (caging people, that rumour about killing chickens) he actually does have an idea of what concept or what narrative strand of statement about herd mentality, pretence, repression or prejudice he wants to unleash upon the public. Provocative yes, but that's the way to poke people in the ribs (and remove a rib haha). Music is apparantly just a vehicle to sound the alarm. Coming from that, you can hardly believe that the guy does make pretty good music, which he does. I got repetitive neck sprain from reading this two nights in a row, which should give Christians (just the prejudiced ones) another thing to jot down in the Black Book of MM's sins.Book Review: If you're looking for a good time...
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently gave in to my inner Marilyn Manson fascination less than two weeks ago. Before then, I would pick up his CDs and just stare at the covers mesmerized either in fear or curiousity or a mixture of both. When his autobiography came out, I did the same. I would pick it up and read snippets until my parents or sister came by, then I would put it down and runaway from it. Two weeks ago my father and I were at a bookstore and while he was elsewhere in the store, I picked it up and began reading it.
The next week I had him take me back to the bookstore and I bought it- at that point I didn't care who saw me! I am usually a slow reader but I finished this book in two days. I couldn't put it down! Manson's chapter about the teen dabbler was funny and relatable. Even though I am a girl, I was able to identify with what he thought, felt, and experienced at that time in his life. Marilyn Manson portrays himself as the loser that he was- and that is something that makes him so popular among teenagers. They are able to relate to him. He's a real person with many flaws, especially in his teenage years.
The only thing I didn't like is that sometimes he wasn't clear at what point in his life a certain event was occuring. That's the only reason why I gave this book 4 instead of 5 stars!! I recommend this book to everyone!! It gives an insight into the wonderful, wacky world of Marilyn Manson and in a way our own worlds. This is a fun, easy, and entertaining read. If I were you I would stop reading this review get it immediately!!!!!!!!