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Read Evan Wright's posts on the Penguin Blog.
The New York Times bestselling author of Generation Kill immerses himself in even more cultures on the edge.
Evan Wright's affinity for outsiders has inspired this deeply personal journey through what he calls "the lost tribes of America." A collection of previously published pieces, Hella Nation delivers provocative accounts of sex workers in Porn Valley, a Hollywood über-agent-turned-war documentarian and hero of America's far right, runaway teens earning corporate dollars as skateboard pitchmen, radical anarchists plotting the overthrow of corporate America, and young American troops on the hunt for terrorists in the combat zones of the Middle East
Rolling Stone writer Wright (Generation Kill), offers 12 tales of outsiders, people more or less living off the grid in mainstream America. He profiles, for example, a member of Delta Company in Kandahar in southeastern Afghanistan dueling with the Taliban; a fun-loving regular at a dance hall; a committed local anarchist engaging in street theater at a global trade conference; a pastor of the Aryan Nation preaching against the evils of blacks and Jews and other nonwhite "mud people"; and two HIV-infected former porn stars. As a former editor of Hustler magazine, Wright recognizes the magic in Seth Warshavsky, a con man with a mind full of schemes in the porn world of bartered desire. There is some top-drawer writing among weaker essays, but the total effect reflects a literary rebel who wants to break convention. (Apr.)
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Evan Wright is the author of Generation Kill, now the basis of the HBO miniseries for which he served as co-writer.
Wright earned his degree in medieval and Renaissance studies from Vassar College, an education he soon put work at Hustler magazine, where he served as "Entertainment Editor." In the late 1990's he began writing feature articles for Rolling Stone.
At Rolling Stone Wright focused on youth subcultures, from radical environmentalists to skinheads to sorority girls. His work is characterized by immersion in his subjects' worlds, detailed reporting and dark humor.
After 9/ll he pitched his editor on the idea that since the US military was "basically another youth subculture," he ought to be writing about it. He has covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He is the recipient of two National Magazine Awards, one for reporting on the war in Iraq in Rolling Stone and the other for a profile published in Vanity Fair.
Generation Kill received numerous awards, including the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, the Los Angeles Times book award, a PEN USA literary prize and the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation's award for "Best History of the Marine Corps."
He is currently at work on two books for Putnam:
Hella Nation, a collection of essays and reporting to be published in the Spring of 2009
The Seed, a reported memoir of brainwashing to be published in the Summer of 2010.
Introduction 1
Not Much War, but Plenty of Hell 17
Piss Drunk 35
Dance with a Stranger 48
Wingnut's Last Day on Earth 69
Heil Hitler, America! 106
The Bad American 119
Mad Dogs & Lawyers 160
Tough Guy 181
Portrait of a Con Artist 198
Scenes from My Life in Porn 224
Forever Fourteen 251
Pat Dollard's War on Hollywood 271
Acknowledgments 339
What's it like to be the oddball, the type of "out of the box" person or group that most people pretend to admire - from a distance in reality? What makes such folks tick? And whether or not one judges with the terms dysfunctional, weird, strange, etc., etc., shouldn't one understand these outsiders since the world is full of same? Evan Wright, who previously wrote for "The Hustler" magazine and "Rolling Stone" newspaper brings the reader into the world of men and woman who have a very definite but different outlook on the American Dream.
The author introduces the reader to his own evolution from a rebel using drugs to cope with reality into a sober, reflective person seeking to pen his explorations of what he calls a "tour of the Lost Tribes of America. Therefore, the reader is surprised that the opening account concerns American troops serving in Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold in southeastern Afghanistan. The area is a veritable dust storm waiting to happen and one gets an uncensored glimpse into the grinding, tense yet mundane atmosphere these soldiers endure daily, fantasizing and teasing newbies about the happy meals one can get in a nearby village and coping with unremitting sexual tension, fear of being killed and spurts of total inactivity.
The scene then shifts to the world of a professional skateboarder, a daredevil who performs his most dangerous stunts when totally drunk but someone who makes a fortune in this field while claiming to reject most acceptable values and occupations. We continue to meet similar yet different characters, taxi-dance hall girls occupied by would-be fantasy partners, radical protestors with the best of intentions carried out with the most destructive possible means, neo-Nazi groups seriously believing in anti-everything-but-white living, con artists, porn professionals and so much more that defies one's most imaginative moments.
Hella Nation raises more questions than it answers. It stretches the reader's definition from what is acceptable to offer a portrait of men and women who find satisfaction and purpose in unique situations that are rather dark, disturbing, frightening, sometimes funny in a skewed fashion, deceptive, laid back, sacred and profane. In a sense, Hella Nation defies description and in that goal Evan Wright has succeeded in presenting another side of America! The conclusion is yours!
Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on April 9, 2009
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Overview
Read Evan Wright's posts on the Penguin Blog.
The New York Times bestselling author of Generation Kill immerses himself in even more cultures on the edge.
Evan Wright's affinity for outsiders has inspired this deeply personal journey through what he calls "the lost tribes of America." A collection of previously published pieces, Hella Nation delivers provocative accounts of sex workers in Porn Valley, a Hollywood über-agent-turned-war ...