Adulterers Anonymous

by Lydia Lunch, Exene Cervenka

Surreal poems explore the authors' disillusion and discontent with life in America

Genres: Poetry, Punk, Music, Goth, Read For School, Contemporary

110 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1982

About the author

Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Koch) is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress.

In the mid-'80s, Lunch formed her own recording and publishing company called "Widowspeak" on which she continues to release a slew of her own material from songs to spoken word.

Later, she was identified by the Boston Phoenix as "one of the 10 most influential performers of the '90s", Lunch's solo career featured collaborations with musicians such as J. G. Thirlwell, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Nick Cave, Marc Almond, Billy Ver Plank, Steven Severin, Robert Quine, Sadie Mae, Rowland S. Howard, Michael Gira, The Birthday Party, Einstürzende Neubauten, Sonic Youth, Die Haut, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Black Sun Productions and french band Sibyl Vane who put one of her spoken words into music. She also acted in, wrote, and directed underground films, sometimes collaborating with underground filmmaker and photographer Richard Kern (including several films such as Fingered in which she performed unsimulated sex acts), and more recently has recorded and performed as a spoken word artist, again collaborating with such artists as Exene Cervenka, Henry Rollins, Don Bajema, Hubert Selby Jr., and Emilio Cubeiro, as well as authoring both traditional books and comix (with award-winning graphic novel artist Ted McKeever).

In 1997 she released Paradoxia, a loosely-based autobiography, in which she candidly documented her bisexual dalliances, substance abuse and flirtation with insanity.

Reviews

[Gavin Splatterbang · Rating 4 out of 5]

"MY HEART'S IN THE WRONG PLACE AND IT WANTS TO GO
HOME."

- Lydia Lunch

A collaborative effort set in two typefaces--helvetica to indicate the writing of Exene Cervenka; TIMES ROMAN, that of Lydia Lunch--this early 80s pastiche of punk seems spare upon cursory glance. Oftentimes more of a page's space isn't used than the amount that is. (Note: The Internet Archive now has a digitized copy available to view.)

Nevertheless, despite page lay-out and meager word count, over a decade later and still: so many lines from this book resound.

"i took too big a drink out of the devil's punchbowl."

- Exene Cervenka

"I BIT OFF ALL I COULD CHEW AND NEARLY
CHOKED TO DEATH. EMOTIONAL INDIGESTION. mortification.
WE ARE OUR OWN WORST ENEMIES AND WE LIKE IT LIKE
THAT."

- Lydia Lunch

Readers mired in traditional poetic forms need not bother: this experimental work is for those interested in villains rather than villanelles; for adventurous types interested in excavating the sublime from within contemporary squalor. However, if viewed with an open mind--and taken within the context of what it is, rather than a stodgy academic context of all it "isn't"--there is brilliance to be found here:

The brilliance of street smarts, the brilliance of broken hearts.

"it was as if.
SO BE IT."

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

"EMOTIONAL INDIGESTION.
WE ARE OUR OWN WORST ENEMIES AND WE LIKE IT LIKE THAT."
Lydia Lunch

[Stay Fetters · Rating 5 out of 5]

"here is your reward
to hell you go, to hell you go
middle class bitch you were wrong all along"

Lydia and Exene are two of my favorite punk bitches. They say what they want and speak from the heart.
Everything is so deep and meaningful, with a lot of hate thrown in.

"You cut throat slut"

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This poetry collection has absolutely nothing to do with adultery, so if you're a filthy cheater then this won't be for you. If you're into dark and foreboding stream of consciousness writing then you may enjoy this. I've been a big fan of Lydia and Exene's music for a long time, so this intrigued me enough to give it a go. At 110 pages it's a nice swift read.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

One comes for proto-goth icon Lydia Lunch, but ends up staying for Exene Cervenka, whose deadpan free-verse monologues scamper across the page in giddy disillusion, like Ogden Nash after a Birthday Party concert.

"castro calls reagan hitler.
one mistake leads to another.
just like me and my mother."

... fewer lame puns would've been appreciated, though.

[Slow Reader]

"THE PAST NEVER DIES IT JUST CONTINUALLY REPEATS ITSELF.
the past never repeats itself it just continually dies."

"one man's ceiling is another man's peephole."

"YOU KEEP ALL THE PROMISES YOU FORGET TO MAKE."

missiles from the goddess of no-wave

[Fishface · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book of poetry by legendary punk lyricist Exene Cervenka, who you'll remember from X, and an accomplice, Lydia Lunch. The poems were co-written and changes typefaces to show you who wrote which line. Oh, and the poetry is great. Don't miss this one.

[TracyMN · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We are our own worst enemies, and we like it like that"

In 1984, I liked the ring of it, so I brought it along. Now it seems, every time I turn around, there it is.

[baileee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this was very enjoyable. It was quite fun to be able to pick out future lyrics and songs. I found that Exene's poetry was a bit more mature than Lydia's but I enjoyed them both. In all honesty, it was a wild ride. I can see the buds of their insanity that came later in life. I think poetry books are interesting in that way. Poetry is the fruit of people's deepest thoughts that they don't entirely expect other people to see. Although, this wasn't exactly like that. More for Exene. It was a lot of emo shit (not always bad) and a little review and introspection.

[Anya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exene Cervenka’s racist ass should have been cut from the book ! Everything she said was stupid and boring !! Love Lydia Lunch favorite quotes “Hail Mary full of nothing”, “all secrets are sacred I can see from a to b slip away familiarly breeds contempt so keep yourself to yourself and leave me alone you open up I shut off you open up I break down and go away to get away all secrets are stupid”.3 stars for Lydia and 0 for mrs racist.

[Cooper Renner · Rating 4 out of 5]

One expects the work of two 20-something punk goddesses to be over the top and histrionic. And this is—but it’s also frequently smart, thoughtful, funny and cleverly worded. Exene’s contributions are probably a bit more literary and “calmer” than Lydia’s, but both are clearly smarter than the average bear.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty much exactly what I expected. I love both of these authors as artists, but the poems are not always amazing, and sometimes even come off as a little juvenile. They are as brash and ugly as the song lyrics these two have written over time, but what works well in a song doesn't sit as well on the page for me. Also, the few times when they seem to break in on each other's work, it seems more random than meaningful. Still, it's pretty fun to read through.

[Crystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

If possible, I would give this book of poetry negative stars. I found it while meandering through my local used book store and took a chance. Sometimes things just don't work out in your favor. This book of poetry certainly didn't work out in my favor.

[Hey Sailor! · Rating 3 out of 5]

the weirdest things arrive by mail.

[Tanya · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is bad teenage poetry