Pure Filth ... Pure Style ... Pure Sadism

What drives a woman to let a man choke her, defecate on her, write horribly nasty things on her body and generally treat her worse than he would treat a dog?  For some it's a simple as needing to pay the bills.  Others like it.  Perhaps no two people know this better than Jamie Gillis and Peter Sotos.  Neither should need an introduction, but allow me to do so anyway.

Gillis was a porn star.  I say "was" because he's dead.  He's considered the inventor of gonzo porn, and if you saw Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights, well that was supposed to be Gillis. 

Sotos is a writer who dabbles in some very dark stuff.  He writes of sadistic, violent crimes ... often involving children ... often written in the first person ... often based in reality.  He was once arrested for obscenity and possession of child pornography based on what was on the cover of the second issue of his Pure 'zine.  The obscenity charged was dropped.  He pled guilty to possession.

Pure Filth is made up of transcripts courtesy of Sotos, of some of Gillis darker porn stuff (and an out-of-control commissioned video).  Sotos and Gillis each wrote an introduction, and Gillis wrote a little commentary before each transcript.  The book took about a decade to come out because Gillis was shopping around a memoir and didn't want Feral House (the publisher of the Gillis/Sotos collaboration) putting out something that could scare the major publishers.  (The proposed memoir apparently freaked out the publishers anyway for scenes Gillis recounted, including one where a girl just shy of 13 years of age offered Gillis some oral favors and he accepted.)  Pure Filth isn't horrific, but it is an examination of degradation of some of the worst sorts as well as being a study in what gets the juices flowing in some people.  Some would say the women in these films were nothing but common whores, but reading the transcripts proves otherwise.  Some are broken.  Some are abused.  Some want to be broken and abused.  Most people don't want to know this stuff exists.  Fewer still want to read about it.  If you want some insight into human nature, however, you can't ignore this.  It's disrespectful.

The book is expensive enough to keep it out of the hands of those who are mere dabblers.  Those who do decide to take the plunge won't regret it.  Some of it may bother you.  Some of it may intrigue you.  Some of it may have you questioning humanity.  By the end of it you may not have a better understanding of human nature, but you will have some new insights into yourself and what you are able to tolerate.  And if you aren't careful, you may just find yourself a bit turned on by what has transpired.  Either way, you'll probably never look at a toilet the same way again.


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The Coming Apocalypse

Apocalypse Culture and Apocalypse Culture II are two highly prized books in my library. With a variety of writers (who are of varying skill levels), these two volumes cover secret societies, conspiracies, cannibalism, sex crimes, necrophilia, child pornography in the media, cloning Jesus through his foreskin, and so on. Outrageous theories are presented and defended. Mores investigated and dissected. Ideas postulated. And it is all very fascinating.

Like a lot of books I enjoy, these two books have a limited audience. The easily offended and distracted will do themselves a favor by staying away from them. Even the most open minded reader will probably find some of the pieces challenging on a moralistic level. That's what makes the books so intriguing. They are unlike almost anything you've ever read before.

Adam Parfrey, the editor of these books, is no stranger to devotees of obscure subject matter. . Nor is publisher Feral House an unknown entity in the realms of the unusual. It's a good combination, and anyone who gets that has probably already read these books. If you haven't, well, you know the drill.

If, on the other hand, the idea of having your ideals and beliefs taken into question fills you with a sense of unease, you need to stick with reading something more your speed. Perhaps Bill O'Reilly's book, or those teen vampire novels.