Research 11 Pranks

by V. Vale and Andrea Juno

A prank is a trick, a mischievous act, and a ludicrous act. Although not regarded as poetic or artistic acts, pranks constitute an art form and genre. Here, pranksters such as Mark Pauline, Monte... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0940642107
• ISBN13: 9780940642102
• Release Date: December 1987
• Publisher: V/Search
• Length: 239 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.3" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

The Prankster's Bible

This is the ultimate prankster handbook, an inspirational guide to mischief and mayhem. It is one of those books you can read bit by bit as there is a lot of material to absorb (not that you couldn't read it all at once, but it's like a rich cheesecake, you will want to savour each bite instead of gorging). The interviews are of varied allurement, some yielding more elation than others, but then you can't please everyone all of the time. Some of the stories told seem almost too wild to be real, until you see the accompanying photographs or news clippings and realize that some people have far better stories to tell than you or I ever will. And they aren't kidding, either. Definitely makes my top 5 must-have "non-fiction or reference" books.

The NEW New Testament

If I was stranded on a desert island I'd want to have something to keep myself busy, like a woman, a bag of pot, or perhaps even a book...like this one!PRANKS! woke me up from a deep slumber...the first twenty years of my life. It's as if a demolition crew had a party in my brain. This contemporary BIBLE is made up of a collection of interviews and essays by some of the nuttiest ontological anarchists to have ever walked the face of this daydream planet. Contributers include Boyd Rice, Abbie Hoffman, Frank Discussion, Jello Biafra, Timothy Leary, Paul Mavrides and tons more.The subject of pranks is treated in a profound philosophical way. A prank can act as a rift through the fabric of reality and literally change a person's life and/or destroy anti-chaotic systems. Keep in mind that we are not talking about frat-boy pranks here.I've never met a person who did not rant and rave after reading this book and the quotations at the back are worth the cover price alone.

"Changed my life" - cheesy but true

A great volume, presented in the same engaging interview style as the 'incredibly strange music' volumes. Some sections are almost unbearably funny; some are grotesque and sick. All in all the book is unmissable - it makes a pretty good case for certain types of subversive behavior.

A gem of irreverence, wit, subversion & anarchy!

A life-changing, perception-altering wonder! "Pranks!" is unlike anything I know. I discovered it by accident when I was working in a used bookstore, about 8 or 9 years ago. I was a teeneager just becoming aware of how repressed and stultifying suburbia was--and of the people over the decades who have tried to blast open our minds. Even so, I didn't quite know what to make of people like Joe Coleman, who geeked mice & blew himself up at performances (check out the photos, as well as the video "Mondo New York.") or Mal Sharpe & Jim Coyle, who tape-recorded some of the most absurd pranks ever. They walk into a pharmacy & ask the pharmacist for advice on home surgery! The pharmacist just freaks out after talking to them seriously for awhile--the whole transcript is here. Then there's Mark Pauline, with his Survival Research Laboratories (robots/machines he programs to destroy one another, often decorated with animal corpses) and the infamous Karen Finley. Of course there are the usual suspects--Tim Leary, Abbie Hoffman, Jello Biafra, plus a whole host of misfits, misanthropes, iconclasts, outcasts, and outlaws to round out this wildly in-depth work. Tons of pictures, millions of words. It really blew me wide open. I love this definition of pranks. They're exposing reality for the social construct it is, showing how easily people go along with it, how they adapt to even the most bizarre "set up" and often revealing the power structures that control our lives, and subvert them with not (only) political action, but humor, razor-sharp wit, sparkling, spiky intelligence--and a whole lot of balls. Absolutely worth every penny!

great interivews of people who chalenge our cultural norms

This book interviews some of the late 20th century's greatest pranksters and conceptual artists. From Abby Hoffman to Henry rollins, the interviewees are sometimes funny, sometimes challenging but never boring. It is a must for anyone from Jesse Helms to Dave Foreman because it helps one see into the psyche of the people who are challenging our cultural perceptions of reality in art and practical jokes. Despite the publisher's retraction (which is probably a prank in itself), I say BUY THIS BOOK