Punching Nazis: And Other Good Ideas

by Keith Lowell Jensen

Keith Lowell Jensen thinks you should punch Nazis. In this collection of essays, stories, interviews, and rants, he tells us why. Jensen grew up and into the Sacramento punk music scene in the late eighties and early nineties, where weirdos, LGBTQ folk, feminists, and allies strived to carve out safe community spaces. This scene also attracted a different kind of outsider--white supremacists and Nazi skinheads—making for a politically charged and complicated landscape. In Punching Nazis , he reflects on his experiences with these racist fringe groups that infiltrated the progressive scene that gave rise to bands like Green Day. From unwittingly driving around in a lowrider with a gang called “The Suicidals,” to a night doing stand-up with a clown with an unwanted Swastika tattoo, Jensen brings his brand of subtle, sincere comedy to reflect on the complicated relationship that punk music has with racist skinheads and what we should do about it. In recent times, Americans are surprised to find groups like the Klan, and more recently the "Racial Realists" and the "Alt-Right," are still prominent, and now as they grow increasingly emboldened, it’s intriguing and valuable to hear tales of those who, through the love of punk rock music, have a history of dealing with racist fringe groups.

Genres: Nonfiction

248 pages, Hardcover

Published May 1, 2018

Reviews

[Keith Lowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not to be hyperbolic, but this is by far the best book I've ever written

[Laura S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a ridiculous book.Utter trash.

[Bethany Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent. I lived in Sacramento and moved here from LA in roughly the same time frame as the author, so it was like reading the journal I forgot to pen because I was too high or busy going to shows and drinking coffee or whatever. But the comedy is universal, and the stories will let you in a little on the punk rock scene that made me decide Sacramento was where I was going to live after high school (and apparently, forever). And it's totally relevant to our times now. Thanks for writing this Keith!

[Leigh Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nazi punks, fuck off!

This collection of short -- sometimes very short -- essays is a feel-good read for those who are already absolutely convinced that punching Nazis is the correct thing to do. Anyone else will probably just clutch their pearls trying to get through Jensen's descriptions of life in the 80s California punk scene. There's drugs, sex, and a lot of laughs. Unfortunately, there are also real Nazis to contend with, so there's also a lot of violence.

In other words, this book is designed to capture the ethos of a time rather than win friends and influence people. There are several persuasive essays, the best of which is "Fifteen Dollars," so to get a taste for Jensen's rhetorical style you can just flip to pp 159-60 to catch his drift and see whether you can hang with it. His stance is raw and refreshing in today's world of muddy middle grounds and false equivalencies, and will bring comfort to aging radicals who are starting to wonder if anybody understands that NAZIS ARE BAD, GODDAMNIT.

Ahem. Recommended for larger collections, except where there is heavy regional interest (so, California definitely and other parts of the west coast). Good for diversifying a stuffy collection, but also an acceptable ILL for those on slim budgets.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keith is definitely “preaching to the choir” with this book; it’s quite obvious that the intended audience are those who already have more radical, left-leaning beliefs, similar to that of Keith himself. However, that didn’t bug me. This was a really enjoyable collection of essays, short stories, and comedic rants that focused around Keith’s upbringing in the California punk scene in the late 80s/early 90s, and how, in some ways, punk scenes at that time set the stage for “safe spaces” as we understand them today.

Keith describes how the punk scene then began to attract skinheads, counter to the very ethos of the movement, and how that newfound attraction made for a politically charged and complicated punk landscape. He reflects on his experiences interacting with these fringe groups, who were infiltrating what was formerly known as a progressive scene, and makes connections to the current-day “Alt-Right” movement.

Because he is a comedian at heart, Keith breaks up his more serious stories with really funny comedic rantings throughout, which makes for an overall lighthearted read, even though the subject matter itself is heavy. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the history of punk/Antifa/or other progressive counter-cultures, particularly in the late 80s/early 90s. (However, the Roseanne praise on the cover didn’t age well, huh? Yikes 😬)

[Mixtape · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s one of those “preaching to the choir” situations for me to read this, but it’s much more than that too. Not only is Punching Nazis (good idea) a thrilling glimpse into California subcultures of the late 80’s/early 90’s, and Sacramento and punk rock history, it’s also such a relief to read. Jensen’s voice is the one lacking in my social media feed of “can’t we all just get along”. (No!) Also, I laughed out loud quite a bit and particularly enjoyed the childhood stories and the clever pseudonym of good-looking Santa’s.

[Bill Abney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Necessary in this age

Seriously, people: we have some problems to deal with and discuss, and Keith Lowell Jensen confronts a lot of it head on here with both humor and direct talk.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

He has some good things to say regarding race and gender. Recommended for more than just the great title!

[Tom Darrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not as uproariously funny as some of the reviews state, this is an amusing take on Nazis and punk music culture in the 80s-2000s. He does a good job at mixing humor, current events, history and philosophy. It has some nice, dare I say, "punchy" quotes.

A few minor issues. The way the book is constructed leaves a lot of empty pages. If a chapter ends on a right page, the next page is blank and the next chapter starts on the right page. So even though the book is about 230 pages, maybe only 3/4 of those pages have text. Also, as is the case with many autobiographical books of this nature, I find it hard to believe that everything he wrote about were really things that he experienced. I have no doubt that he, at very least, exaggerated some events for the purposes of story telling.

But overall an enjoyable book.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, the only reason I haven't given this a higher rating is because it's non-fiction, and I'm too emotionally constipated to have to deal with both living in and reading about this fiasco, but other than that, this was a pretty good book. Like I said, I don't typically read non-fiction, because it tends to be monotonous and doesn't hold my (terrible) attention very well. ...this one didn't really either, but it's the best non-fiction I've read yet, so. Four stars.

[Mockcurry · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

every day is a good day to punch a nazi

[Rohan Mathur · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the stories were very interesting and the perspective is super valuable. Definitely a great book