One Hand Jerking: Reports From an Investigative Journalist

by Paul Krassner, Harry Shearer (Foreword), Lewis Black (Afterword)

Counterculture legend Paul Krassner gazes on the fires of pop culture, politics and celebrity and returns unscathed to help us make sense of our senseless world, with an introduction by Lewis Black (The Daily Show) and a foreword by Harry Shearer (The Simpsons, Le Show).
From cults to pornography, from Charles Manson to Homer Simpson, from the war on drugs to the invasion of Iraq, from Dolly Parton to Lenny Bruce, from circumcision to propaganda, this collection epitomizes Krassner's credo, "Irreverence is our only sacred cow."

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Politics

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Paul Krassner was an American author, journalist, comedian, and the founder, editor and a frequent contributor to the magazine The Realist.

Reviews

[Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious look at celebrity and journalism itself.

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paul Krassner's collection of essays and columns--most of which have previously appeared in counterculture magazines or blogs--is at various times hilarious, maddening, shocking, nonsensical, inspiring and idiotic. Krassner is a 1960s counterculture icon who the FBI describes as "a raving, unconfined nut." He was one of the founders of the Yippies, a 1960s counterculture group, and his tales of friendship include Allen Ginsberg, Ken Kesey, Lenny Bruce, Hunter Thompson and Abbie Hoffman. He has interesting things to say about events of the 1960s, his satirical writing of the time, and events current as of the 2005 publication of the book. His description of a satirical piece he wrote about LBJ and the JFK assassination reveals just how hard it is for some people to realize satire when they see it, and his description of a work he commissioned after the death of Walt Disney is as funny as it is just plain wrong. Speaking of wrong, this book is riddled with typographical errors. I wonder if anyone proofread the thing. I'm not exaggerating when I say that there were probably at least 100 typos in the book. That doesn't take away from the messages he's sending, but factual inaccuracies do. Still, it's an entertaining, shocking book, and although I didn't read it in the bathroom, it would be the perfect book for that since it's broken up into 2 or 3 page segments! 318 pages

[Zack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains more recent references to US pop culture--like Janet Jackson's tits at the Super Bowl--plus intelligent consideration of Bush II's deliberate erosion of citizens' civil liberties, human rights, etc. via 9/11, also an interview with Robert Anton Wilson. The voice of former sixties "radical" and lifelong dissenter in the name of absurdity Paul Krassner gives me hope that the bad guys never fully triumph as long as you keep contending with them, I mean as long as you're doing your part to blow their cover a little, as long as you're not entirely submissive. Someone sent me an article today detailing how the Obama administration is quietly expanding the government's impunity in wiretapping. I posted links to it on my facebook and MySpace pages. I'd still like to believe Barack's a good guy, but I'll spread the word just in case. I'm gonna interview Krassner again soon, so we'll talk about that. I'm forging a freelance career for myself right now and a combination of Paul Krassner 's investigative satire and Robert Anton Wilson's guerrilla ontology is about the style I'm after.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfectly what I would expect from Paul. He is still insightful, dangerous, and hilarious. He is also now 72, which is kind of scary, since I never realized he was *that* much older than me.

This was a really quick read (started on the bus this morning; finished on the bus on the way home), and a really great one, although it was a touch weird to be holding this on a bus through several fairly religious neighborhoods, given the title, and the cover pic of Paul dressed as the Devil. Still, if I read a work of his, and did not feel at least a touch uncomfortable, I suspect he would not have done his job.

[Robert Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of Paul Krassner before, but now feel as though I were deliberately avoiding him, or else sorely in the dark. His irreverent humor and gift of satire mark him as one of those voices you wish could be spewed over the air waves with the same intensity and saturation as Rush Limbaugh, who is a big, fat idiot (Al Franken says so!).