Despite Everything: A Cometbus Omnibus

Even writing a review of this book seems a little strange to me. I can't imagine what Aaron would say about someone writing a review of his book in the service of a big company, but I guess this is a venue to get the word out and let people know what a great experience reading Cometbus is. If you're a person like me who has radical beliefs and politics, but who also enjoys living a quiet, straight-laced, lifestyle; if you worry about things, and have episodes of social anxiety, and if you're a worrier in general and like to stay at home and hang out with your close group of friends and sometimes have trouble meeting new people or think people enjoy being left alone, than this book can sometimes make you feel bad about your life choices and the decisions you've made. This happens mainly b/c Aaron just went out and lived this crazy hand-to-mouth existence in the service of experiencing the world and the people in it, challenging the very existence of social norms as a concept. And that's why the book is so great. It's filled with great stories and anecdotes and is totally imbued with this sense of freedom and wonder. The world that Aaron lives in is so real and vibrant, populated by people dealing with real struggles and real issues. And Aaron is totally tapped into his own empathy and sympathy for those people. He totally loves life, and is lucky for it. And readers are lucky that he put it on paper over and over again in Cometbus. This book, like the 'zine, is, IMO, a classic piece of American writing, and hopefully, someday, it will get more recognition. It is a document of an ethos and way of living that is still totally marginalized in our society. And Aaron challenges his readers to confront how their own lives keep them from seeing that world and experiencing it.

I remember him selling little tiny issues of Cometbus in front of clubs he wasn't even old enough to get into, so I've been reading his stuff for many years. To say that Aaron has grown as a writer is an understatement. He such an awesome individual and his stories are especially meaningful to me because he and his contributors, in writing about their lives and the punk rock community in the bay area over time, have written about my life as well, and I couldn't have written it any better than them. His stories are poignant, funny, sad and wonderful. Get this and try and read everything else he's written!

I've lived in Berkeley the past ten years, so I sadlyarrived "too late" for its punk scene, instead hearingthe stories of my old landlord and well-known punk-scenephotographer, Larry Wolfley. I got the rave scene insteadand have my own stories.Anyway, I saw Despite Everything on the bookshelves inall the local bookstores, but didn't know what it was,until a friend and coworker ** who just so happened tobe Aaron Cometbus' brother ** gave me an autographedcopy as a gift. Well, shoot, gotta read it, right?I was completely hooked-- doubly because the in-crediblestories were actually true (you can imagine that myfriend added some "color"). You can practically feelthe trudge of the ten mile walks back to town, themosh pits, cops, thugs, etc. -- but you can also feelthe excitement of the time and the bands. Imaginebeing there on the road with Green Day when theywere the local band... ok, it's more pot than I canhandle but you get the idea. and it's not my politics,I'm more likely to wear a "smash capitalism" t-shirtto a board of directors meeting, where aaron's moreof a kvetch about the commercialism type, but hey,what's berkeley if not for bizarre political statements?oh, and the writing is brilliant-- might of coursesound dated, but that's only because this is theoriginal and everybody else ripped them off.

Aaron Cometbus and this book just make me happy. Reading the adventures and observations of this free spirited traveler is an inspiration not to write, but to LIVE. Thanks, Aaron. :)

aaron cometbus is a punk[s] punk. he scrounges for food in dumpsters, scams his way around the US on greyhound, slips in and out of punkhouses and seems to live off nothing more than coffee and cigarettes. he has the eye of a sociologist and the soul of a poet and the haircut of a fool. inside this book you will find sly analysis of cooperatives, cliques, anarchy, imperialism, political philosophy, and also riotous tales of drunken revelry, crazy scavenger hunts, touring with green day, history of berkeley, hobos, and above all an amazing incendiary PASSION, for exploration and observation and questioning of the status quo. if cometbus has meant anything to me over the years it has meant a curiosity about society that stems from true love of people (not "the people", but people as individuals), & the promise of a life that doesn't revolve around wage slavery or greed or a desire for consumer electronics. i don't live such a life, nor do you; but "despite everything" proves it is possible. if nothing else, the cometbus omnibus will make you want to take a detour the next time you walk past an alley.