Review
The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell
by Marilyn Manson
with Neil Strauss
"BUT SOMEDAY, IN A STRONGER AGE THAN THIS DECAYING, SELF-DOUBTING PRESENT, HE MUST COME TO US, THE REDEEMING MAN, OF GREAT LOVE AND CONTEMPT, THE CREATIVE SPIRIT WHOSE COMPELLING STRENGTH WILL NOT LET HIM REST IN ANY ALOOFNESS OR ANY BEYOND, WHOSE ISOLATION IS MISUNDERSTOOD BY THE PEOPLE AS IF IT WERE A FLIGHT FROM REALITY - WHILE IT IS ONLY HIS ABSORPTION, IMMERSION, PENETRATION INTO REALITY, SO THAT, WHEN HE ONE DAY EMERGES AGAIN INTO THE LIGHT, HE MAY BRING HOME THE REDEPTION OF THIS REALITY; ITS REDEMPTION FROM THE CURSE THAT THE HITHERTO REIGNING IDEAL HAS LAID UPON IT. THIS MAN OF THE FUTURE, WHO WILL REDEEM US NOT ONLY FROM THE HITHERTO REIGNING IDEAL BUT ALSO FROM THAT WHICH WAS BOUND TO GROW OUT OF IT, THE GREAT NAUSEA, THE WILL TO NOTHINGNESS, NIHILISM; THIS BELL-STROKE OF NOON AND OF THE GREAT DECISION THAT LIBERATES THE WILL AGAIN AND RESTORES ITS GOAL TO THE EARTH AND HIS HOPE TO MAN; THIS ANTICHRIST AND ANTINIHILIST; THIS VICTOR OVER GOD AND NOTHINGNESS - HE MUST COME ONE DAY..."This passage begins the experience of reading the autobiography of the most hated man in rock & roll. I believe it also lays the foundation for everything he has become, and everything he will grow to be. The stories told in this book illustrate what molded his beliefs, what made him turn inward for the answers his school and family couldn't provide, and most importantly of all, this book makes him human again.-Friedrich Nietzsche - On The Genealogy Of Morals - second Essay, section 24
Let me begin by congratulating ReganBooks/HarperCollins for having the intelligence and the guts to put this book out. Also kudos go to P.R. Brown for the design of the bookjacket. It's a study in beauty through ugliness, as is the subject matter.
The book itself is well written, and i have no doubt this is as much due to Marilyn as it is to Neil Strauss. The anecdotes and philosophical passages are well presented, and it was a treat to see old photographs, drawings and artwork from the old days, as well as examples of writing done by a much younger and unpolished Brian Warner. One can spot the seeds of a good writer even in such early works as "Stained Glass:"
Those last words appear on the 1996 release "Antichrist Superstar," but were actually penned in 1988 by a young, dissillusioned boy trying to sort out the hypocrisy in his life and the world. Such glimpses into the psychological makeup are the meat of this book. Even when things involving meat get ugly (you'll read about the meat and a deaf groupie in New Orleans) there is always the feeling that it's all an experiment, an attempt to understand what drives other people, but most of all what drives Marilyn Manson.supplicate
congregate
the world looks better through stained glasslight a candle for the sinners
set the world on fire-- Stained Glass, Chapter 4, p.58
The book is also somewhat of a tell-all: stories about everyone from Courtney Love to what really happened to Sara Lee Lucas. Want to know exactly how Marilyn was "ordained" as a minister in the Church of Satan? It's in there. Want to know what he thinks he might remember about Jenna Jameson? It's in there. Curious as to how he really feels about the defection of Daisy Berkowitz? It's in there in spades. One of the surprising points of the book, however, is the humor of the "Rules." Manson provides rules for cheating, homosexuality and drugs, all with his tongue firmly lodged in his cheek.
One of the most telling parts of the book, however, is the discussion about Jack Warner, the elderly disabled grandfather of young Brian, who was a crossdresser and a consumer of fringe-element pornography. The influence Jack has over the actions of Marilyn Manson today become obvious once the book is read. One can learn a lot about the man by reading this book.4. If Michel Stipe is in the room with you and you're having sex with a woman, you're bisexual."
5. If you're at a gay bar, you're not gay. But if you're at a straight bar and you talk to another guy longer than you talk to a girl, you're gay.-- The Rules on Homosexuality, Chapter 9, p.134
One might even discover the real reason why Marilyn Manson has two different colored eyes.
Overall, I would say this book, while not revolutionary or a literary work of genius, is a damn fine read, for both fans and enemies of Marilyn Manson. Both groups can only benefit from better understanding a man this driven and complex. And before the complaining starts, people should remember: this is an autobiography about Marilyn Manson the man, not the band. Don't complain about the focus...that's why they call it an autobiography.
