Pussy, King of the Pirates

by Kathy Acker

Book Overview

A retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, Pussy, King of the Pirates is a dizzyingly imaginative foray through world history, literature, and language itself.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080213484X
• ISBN13: 9780802134844
• Release Date: December 1996
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 3.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

the best Acker

Kathy Acker is, in my opinion, the best avant-garde author who ever existed, and "Pussy King of Pirates" is her greatest work--topping even "Empire of the Senseless"--which is too bad that it was her last. following the exploits of girls seeking treasure, Pirate girls, and surreal avatars of writers like Antonin Artaud, "Pussy King of Pirates" goes farther than Acker has ever gone with the conventions of literature. ...the book is like a jazz riff, replayed and improvised at numerous times. i cannot rave enough. furthermore, "Pussy King of Pirates" has a soundtrack, that Acker recorded with the Mekons, which is also phenomenal.

Brilliant!

Kathy Acker is probably one of the most talented authors of the latter half of the 20th century. This album is an excellent expose for her book of the same title. Acker and the Mekons do an excellent job of finding different styles of music to fit with the different moods of the book. Acker's literature is reknowned for its avant-garde method of "plagiarism" (she blatantly steals from other authors and restructures their ideas to fit her own); this album is no different. Many songs sound like other songs--of various genres--that you might have heard before.Songs on this album range from industrial to trance-esque electronica to disco to reggae-ish folk to post-modern sea shanty. Interspersed between every song is Acker's spoken word.A must have for anyone who loves Acker's works.

Right ho!

Huh? I don't get it. Pirate girls are cool though. Maybe if I were a woman I could swallow this book whole then spit it back out, transform myself, die, turn into a rat and all kinds of groovy stuff. I guess liked it anyway.

Journey of a Pirate Girl

In order to truly understand any construct or idea , one must commit a type of murder.To claim the title of Woman or American , it becomes necessary to deconstruct exactly what these words mean. What does love or sex or female break down into ? By using her own singular language , Acker swallows her Self whole , then spits it back out , thus embarking on a journey towards some kind of understanding or possibility.This work is amazingly constructed and challenges us to question all those things we can't see , to bring what lies hidden outside and to see for ourselves. Kathy Acker has asked us to delve into the meaning of myth, an idea that may be key in our understanding the way we view the world. This is a truly brilliant book , written by an amazingly gifted woman.