Adam Parfrey
Author profile
born
January 01, 1957
in The United States
gender
male
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About this author
Noted for his foresight as both a writer and publisher, Adam Parfrey’s Apocalypse Culture (1987) was hailed by J.G. Ballard as “the terminal documents of the Twentieth Century.” Cult Rapture (1995), subject of a notorious art exhibition at Seattle’s Center on Contemporary Art, included among its dozen pop culture investigations, Parfrey’s Village Voice cover story, the first published article on militias and domestic terrorism.
Apocalypse Culture II (2000), Parfrey’s lauded sequel, anticipated anthrax terror with a disturbing article on Biological Warfare. Extreme Islam: Anti-American Propaganda of Muslim Fundamentalism (2001), “a frightening primer on radical Muslim thought” (New York Press), reveals the ways in which East Jerusalem has bec...more
Noted for his foresight as both a writer and publisher, Adam Parfrey’s Apocalypse Culture (1987) was hailed by J.G. Ballard as “the terminal documents of the Twentieth Century.” Cult Rapture (1995), subject of a notorious art exhibition at Seattle’s Center on Contemporary Art, included among its dozen pop culture investigations, Parfrey’s Village Voice cover story, the first published article on militias and domestic terrorism.
Apocalypse Culture II (2000), Parfrey’s lauded sequel, anticipated anthrax terror with a disturbing article on Biological Warfare. Extreme Islam: Anti-American Propaganda of Muslim Fundamentalism (2001), “a frightening primer on radical Muslim thought” (New York Press), reveals the ways in which East Jerusalem has become Ground Zero for a coming World War. His newest book Ritual America (2012) seeks to reveal the biggest secret about secret societies: that the influence of fraternal brotherhoods on this country is vast, fundamental, and hidden in plain view.
But writing is not Parfrey’s sole forte. According to the Disinfo.com website, “Adam Parfrey is probably the most influential ‘underground’ publisher in post-millennial America.” In a recent L.A. Weekly feature, writer Doug Harvey celebrates “Adam Parfrey’s notorious, perpetually ahead-of-the-curve company, Feral House, whose encyclopedic interest in taboo (and conveniently forgotten) cultural phenomena helped define independent media through the ’90s. Titles ranging from Psychic Dictatorship in the U.S.A. to Extreme Islam: Anti-American Propaganda of Muslim Fundamentalism stretched the parameters of acceptable intellectual discussion, keeping it broad and porous — often by sheer force of will — for almost two decades.”
Tim Burton’s bio-picture on the B-movie director Ed Wood was based upon the Feral House book, Nightmare of Ecstasy. Feral House’s collections of bizarre conspiracy theory, such as Secret and Suppressed: Banned Ideas and Hidden History were noted influences on Chris Carter’s X-Files. Parfrey himself appeared in and co-wrote Crispin Glover’s controversial “What Is It?“, a 2005 Sundance Film Festival selection.
Parfrey’s new publishing imprint, Process Media, a collaboration with Jodi Wille, has debuted in 2005 with publications by authors Jerry Stahl (Permanent Midnight), Humphry Knipe (The Nero Prediction), Timothy Archibald (Sex Machines), and Jolene Siana (Go Ask Ogre).
Parfrey’s writing can also be seen in The End is Near (2001, Process/Dilettante Press) and four years of weekly “HelL.A.” columns in the San Diego Reader.
Parfrey’s spoken word and novelty pop recordings have been released by Man’s Ruin (A Sordid Evening of Sonic Sorrows), Sympathy for the Record Industry and Amphetamine Reptile (SWAT: Deep Inside a Cop’s Mind).(less)
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