Rants and Incendiary Tracts

The book was edited by the anarchist Bob Black and the counterculture publisher Adam Parfrey. Parfrey was then the co-founder of Amok Press, a publisher known for its publication of strange and taboo books. Parfrey was the editor of a similar volume, Apocalypse Culture, published by Amok in 1987, while Black had previously authored the 1985 book The Abolition of Work. In compiling the book Parfrey asked for quotes from the neo-Nazis Joseph Tommasi and George Lincoln Rockwell from James Mason for their inclusion in the book. For unclear reasons these quotes were ultimately not included. The original co-editor was Hakim Bey, another anarchist. Its first edition was 219 pages long; the cover features an unidentified man screaming. It was the final Amok Press book before the publisher split. By 1994, Black had denounced his co-editor Parfrey as "a pissant hustler, a liar, and a thief". == Contents ==

Rants is an anthology book of "rants", with chapters sourced from numerous sources by different authors. At no point does the book attempt to explain what a rant is. Parfrey gives a prelude on the importance of rants, arguing that "to hold an opinion and dare to express it is the final prerogative of the free man", and that in contemporary times no one spoke their mind. The book includes 56 rants in total; The final rant is Hakim Bey's rant against the book itself as "Intellectual S & M Is the Fascism of the 80s" in 1988. Inclusions range from the well-known to the obscure. the Marquis de Sade, and the murderer Carl Panzram. == Reception ==

The book received largely positive reviews, particularly for its perceived entertainment value. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling listed it in their 1990 book ''The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Third Annual Collection, describing it as "great stuff from the people who brought you Apocalypse Culture". The Utne Readers Ray Mungo praised the book, saying the editors had "dug up some of the most alarming, delightful, distinguished, amusing, and offensive writings in history". Journalist Harry Allen, writing for The Village Voice, praised the book, calling it a "winner" for its collection of both content with "literary value" and "claptrap", a "collection of half baked and burnt ideas". Paul Oldfield for Melody Maker called the book alluring, coming at a time "when nobody has convictions", with much content that was offensive and absurd. The periodical Factsheet Five'' was more mixed, calling it "more of a freak show than anything else". They further called it "an anthology [...] of texts that would perhaps be better forgotten", at least by those with morals; they called it "some of the most amoral (not to mention spiteful) invective ever produced". Bill Blank from Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed described it as "a wild graveyard party with laughs and severed heads for everyone", and praised its collection of a variety of ideologies. Factsheet Five found its overriding theme to be that of an opposition to mainstream society. Steve Beaumont for the magazine Maximum Rocknroll praised the book for having shocking and interesting contents "with something for everybody"; he called the entry by the serial killer Carl Panzram particularly horrifying, and praised the diversity of ideas included. Beaumont argued the book should have provided some guidance on what constitutes a "rant" or what about them was worth paying attention to, though said this was ultimately only a minor issue, as "Rants holds no pretentions of being an academic publication" so should "not have to answer to questions of content and worth". Oldfield argued Stanisław Szukalski's contribution was the most bizarre, saying it made the pseudoscience writer Erich von Däniken seem the scientific establishment. Small Press Review said "the selections are well chosen and all evidence the passion and urgency which are common to this form", and that the book evidenced that the rant was a distinct form. Some reviewers praised the more obscure inclusions. Beaumont argued that "the common theme which binds the fifty seven pieces in Rants together is the fact that each and every one is written with the kind of passion that most writers just dream about" with "a new philosophy, a new ideology, and a new form of extremism". Allen wrote that its contents ranged from entertaining to "hellish goop". Blank said the book successfully showed that "acerbic writing" was "a fascinating yet neglected form of communication". However, he criticized its lack of women ranters, and found the whole thing to be "a bit cold and detached" in intention. Factsheet Five found some of its exclusions strange, though praised its introduction. == References ==