Murder at the Conspiracy Convention

This is a great collection of Paul Krassner writings, some of which have been turned into standup material on his recent CDs. While a number of the pieces in this book have been published elsewhere, this collecton is quite distinct from most of Krassner's other books, with the exception of a few stories that appear in different form in his autobiography (one of my favorite books of all time). I recently read Ronald Kessler's book on the "secret history of the FBI," and was disappointed that he missed some of the FBI dirty tricks recounted in the first section of Krassner's book, "The Federal Bureau of Intimidation." Other highlights of this book include the sections on Krassner's friends who have died (Jean Shepherd, Robert Spencer, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsburg, Anita Hoffman, Terence McKenna, and John Lilly), a section of articles on the "war on some drugs" and the section on "countercultural icons" (Lenny Bruce, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Garcia, Ram Dass, and Ken Kesey). Highly recommended. On a side note, this book recounts a prank by Jean Shepherd that may have been the first instance of a "flash mob" (pp. 78-79).

The cultural revolution we know as the Sixties happened because a unique breed of creative activist/anthropologists gotinvolved in making American culture live up to its ideals. Some of us were "trained" while others developed and applied their own exceptional intuitive anthropological self-cultural awareness.Paul Krassner, besides being a child prodigy musician, a funny stand up comic, an outrageous satirist and founder and editor of the Realist, sometimes described as "the first underground newpaper", and a great friend to many great people, is also one of the key Sixties activist anthropologists who was present and involved with just about every important juncture of the cultural revolution. To this fellow participant observer, he was/is a model culturally aware activist and unlike most anthropologists, he was and is funny. Best of all Paul is still going strong into the new--rapidly aging-- milleniumReading Paul's stories in "Murder" about his fascinating Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, and Nineties, friends--Lennie Bruce, Steve Allen, Abbie Hoffman, John Lilly, Ken Kesey, Jerry Garcia, Ram Das, and best of all, other fabulous people you haven't heard of- is like sharing a great bottle of Burgundy wine or some fine grass. Read this book...PS. (The Seinfield viagra scenario is hilarious--Classic Krassner.)

This is my first encounter with Paul Krassner's work. He is a '60s legend, and he still manages to write fresh, entertaining pieces, that really offer a different perspective. I enjoyed the pieces about Ken Kesey, Lenny Bruce, Hunter Thompson, Abbie Hoffman. I wasn't bored with any of the topics he covered, even the Monica Lewinsky affair, which is old news by now. It would have been boring if it wasn't dealt with Krassner's wit, humor, and knack for coming up with original story ideas, and ways to tackle an assignment. As a journalism student, I've learned a lot from Krassner, and I want to say, Thanks for the great book man.