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16th out of 47 books
—
68 voters
Paradoxia: A Predator's Diary
by
Lydia Lunch
“Paradoxia reveals that Lunch is at her best when she’s at her worst . . . [and] gives voice to her sometimes scary, frequently funny, always canny, never sentimental siren song."—Barbara Kruger, Artforum
Lydia Lunch relays in graphic detail the true psychic repercussions of sexual misadventure. From New York to London to New Orleans, Paradoxia is an uncensored, novelized a...more
Lydia Lunch relays in graphic detail the true psychic repercussions of sexual misadventure. From New York to London to New Orleans, Paradoxia is an uncensored, novelized a...more
Paperback, 162 pages
Published
October 1st 2007
by Akashic Books
(first published 1997)
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I saw Lydia Lunch do a reading at Quimby's. She employed the obnoxious reading style that is standard fare at coffee shop open-mics everywhere, the kind that drags out end-words like saxophones in slow jazz songs. I think the Beats are responsible for convincing people that this is an okay thing to do when reading aloud.
Her supporters were numerous and rude, talking about how great she is while the far more interesting Joe Meno read an excerpt from his first novel. From the bits of conversation...more
Her supporters were numerous and rude, talking about how great she is while the far more interesting Joe Meno read an excerpt from his first novel. From the bits of conversation...more
I like to shine a light on the shadows myself but I remember finding no redeeming literary qualities in this "raw and gritty" work. It has in fact made me absolutely hate Lydia Lunch, cos she writes/ talks/ walks/ dresses/ eats/ breathes/ pisses/ poses like someone who thinks she's soooooooooo bad-ass. And bad-asses don't have to try that hard.
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Read the STOP SMILING review of Paradoxia, along with Autumn deWilde's Elliott Smith, The Official Punk Rock Book of Lists by Amy Wallace and Handsome Dick Manitoba, and Dead Children Playing by Stanley Donwood and Dr. Tchock:
Lydia Lunch’s 1999 memoir now re-issued by Akashic Books, reads like Penthouse Forum written from the Toxic Avenger’s perspective. Her gory details of sexual encounters of every kind seriously make a vow of celibacy appealing. Turning people on with first-person accounts of...more
Lydia Lunch’s 1999 memoir now re-issued by Akashic Books, reads like Penthouse Forum written from the Toxic Avenger’s perspective. Her gory details of sexual encounters of every kind seriously make a vow of celibacy appealing. Turning people on with first-person accounts of...more
A tough review to write, after an unexpectedly tough read.
I've been a fan of Lydia's since buying the ROIR cassette of 8-Eyed Spy in 82...
Too bad I was bored/grossed out by 'Paradoxia'.
Lydia excorcising some of the demons of her past... or reliving and celebrating the past? So many questions...
The prose itself borrows from DeSade and Bataille, with the sleaze of Richard Kern and Nick Zedd thrown in... sex is not a spectator sport here, but a weapon for Lydia to rub your face, your psyche, your c...more
I've been a fan of Lydia's since buying the ROIR cassette of 8-Eyed Spy in 82...
Too bad I was bored/grossed out by 'Paradoxia'.
Lydia excorcising some of the demons of her past... or reliving and celebrating the past? So many questions...
The prose itself borrows from DeSade and Bataille, with the sleaze of Richard Kern and Nick Zedd thrown in... sex is not a spectator sport here, but a weapon for Lydia to rub your face, your psyche, your c...more
An hilarious romp through the seedy sexual underworld of 1970s New York and beyond, no doubt based on the author’s “experiences” but probably embellished for added shock value. The narrator is a predator who uses and abuses men as she was used and abused by her own father. In sharp, staccato sentences the book explores a life defined by child abuse: one woman’s attempt to degrade and humiliate men through spirals of disgraceful sex and emotional manipulation. This lasts about two decades.
Lunch’...more
Lunch’...more
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Be warned this read is not for the squemish. It details a damaged, savage souless, wreckless sex fiend on a death trip. She is not a victim, she thrives on both ends of degradation and its hard to tell if there is ever any real redemption. Intro by Jerry Stahl and afterword by Thurston Moore. You will probably read it very fast, then not be able to exorcize it from your mind. What I learned from this book: I am scared of and intrigued by Lydia Lunch.
This is one of my favorite books, if not my favorite book. The first time I read it, I had Last Exit To Brooklyn by Hubert Selby, Jr. under my belt, so I was used to that kind of writing style. This is just such a unique type of read that touches on sexuality in a way that no one else (that I know of) has ever done before. The protagonist is a pure predator, but she has no illusion behind her perversions. She admits to everything.
It carries no undertones of feminist motives; the men who are prey...more
It carries no undertones of feminist motives; the men who are prey...more
Brutal but fascinating, impossibly harsh but intoxicating. Short, staccato sentences stab outward and cut into your conscience, leaving marks. Paradoxia details Lydia's exploits -- mostly sexual, some toxocological -- in more detail than most would want. I couldn't put it down.
The first chunk of the book jumps from story to story, her narcissistic sexual conquests the common thread. Unfortunately she loses focus in the last 20 pages. Details of the "Spanish Nazi" feel incomplete, though its obvi...more
The first chunk of the book jumps from story to story, her narcissistic sexual conquests the common thread. Unfortunately she loses focus in the last 20 pages. Details of the "Spanish Nazi" feel incomplete, though its obvi...more
i thought it was well-written and engaging but the intense nihilism bummed me out.
This book very much appealed to my masochistic side. It was both hard work, yet you couldn't stop pushing yourself forward to the next page. How Lydia Lunch survived this life is beyond my understanding.
I only gave it four stars as toward the end, I simply couldn't take anymore. It was physically painful to endure anymore, and sometimes it gets a little over wordy, to somehow make the pain and misery contained somewhat more flamboyant, and really that wasn't necessary. Maybe she was trying to em...more
I only gave it four stars as toward the end, I simply couldn't take anymore. It was physically painful to endure anymore, and sometimes it gets a little over wordy, to somehow make the pain and misery contained somewhat more flamboyant, and really that wasn't necessary. Maybe she was trying to em...more
Initially a really hot and exciting book that gets a little repetitive (more assholes in tongues! more spit on cock heads! more beating one's own penis! etc etc)...After 80 pages or so, it gets tiresome. I wish this book had been more various, including within the sex scenes at least some evocations of NYC night-life and music that Lunch was at the center of...I would compare this to Diane di Prima's Memoirs of a Beatnik, if somewhat unfavorably....still, terrific fun to read, and great to exper...more
Lydia Lunch is the prototypical secondary character in one of Chuck Palaniuk's works. She is deliberate in her expression, so aware of the consequence of her thoughts and actions that she refuses to sugar coat them with beauty beyond the essential beauty of their perversity an her confessions.
While those around her - the protagonists of unwritten works - seek their truths, absolutions and conclusions, Lydia has all sorted. She doesn't sort neatly, though, rather in the piles, boxes and drawers o...more
While those around her - the protagonists of unwritten works - seek their truths, absolutions and conclusions, Lydia has all sorted. She doesn't sort neatly, though, rather in the piles, boxes and drawers o...more
Lydia's such a nice girl.
The darling of the No Wave scene is on a heavy De Sade trip, and like the good Marquis the result is a catalog of kink with novel perversions aplenty. Also like the Marquis, there is an interesting study of power dynamics in our society if one is willing to wade through the exceptionally fecund filth. Don't get me wrong, filth can be fun, but such a nonstop wallow becomes tedious.
Ultimately the book fails because of the lack of coherent and engaging narrative, but it suc...more
The darling of the No Wave scene is on a heavy De Sade trip, and like the good Marquis the result is a catalog of kink with novel perversions aplenty. Also like the Marquis, there is an interesting study of power dynamics in our society if one is willing to wade through the exceptionally fecund filth. Don't get me wrong, filth can be fun, but such a nonstop wallow becomes tedious.
Ultimately the book fails because of the lack of coherent and engaging narrative, but it suc...more
made me dislike lydia lunch even more
Wow, ok. Um, well, this is a book about raunchy, degrading, horrendous sex. Mom, stop reading this review. There are just so many repulsive scenes. It starts off bad and gets so much worse towards the end. Let’s just say it starts with a coke a bottle and ends with lots of scenes involving vomit and urine. A lot of it definitely felt like it was for shock value, but some of it felt cathartic. Like getting those words out there and thinking those taboo thoughts were good for the author’s psyche....more
I'll admit up front, Lydia Lunch scares the hell out of me but I'm still really drawn to her. I loved everything about Paradoxia. Parts of it disturbed, aroused, nauseated, and amused. And parts of it did all of those things simultaneously. I can see this being a regular read.
"And is death not the ultimate orgasm, a return to that otherworldly ether, whose very origins were indeed a Big Bang, the ultimate explosion, the supreme chaos, whose resonance is the vibration we constantly seek to reprod...more
"And is death not the ultimate orgasm, a return to that otherworldly ether, whose very origins were indeed a Big Bang, the ultimate explosion, the supreme chaos, whose resonance is the vibration we constantly seek to reprod...more
After reading this book, I wouldn't want to be in the general radius of Lydia Lunch's overused and self-abused crotch.
Lydia Lunch is an entertaining writer with a very basic grasp of the English language. Although she is no H.L. Mencken(in more ways than one), she makes up for her lack of grasping the English language by her oftentimes unbelievable stories.
On a final note, Thurston Moore's "afterword" is about as forgettable and pretentious as most of his "music."
Lydia Lunch is an entertaining writer with a very basic grasp of the English language. Although she is no H.L. Mencken(in more ways than one), she makes up for her lack of grasping the English language by her oftentimes unbelievable stories.
On a final note, Thurston Moore's "afterword" is about as forgettable and pretentious as most of his "music."
I had never heard of Lydia Lunch, but a quick google filled me in. I could not figure out whether this book was autobiography, memoir, or fiction. It seems to be a blend of all three. I love her writing style -- disjointed sentences that quickly match her thought patterns. HOWEVER. This book is incredibly triggering. For practically everything including animal torture, sexual abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, and one incredibly graphic description of an abortion.
.......... και παρόλο που τους καταφρονούσα σαν είδος έπιανα τον εαυτό μου από την μια να τάσσεται με το μέρος του φύλου τους και από την άλλη να ξεσπά ανήλεα πάνω τους.
Η μπαταρία των συναισθημάτων που τροφοδοτούσε την ζωτική ορμή μου λειτουργούσε ως αγωγός προς μια ανώτερη κατάσταση.
επ αυτού πρόκειται..
κυνισμός, χυδαίο γλωσσάριο, ωμότητα, παροξυσμός
αυτό - και καταστροφικό παθός.
Η μπαταρία των συναισθημάτων που τροφοδοτούσε την ζωτική ορμή μου λειτουργούσε ως αγωγός προς μια ανώτερη κατάσταση.
επ αυτού πρόκειται..
κυνισμός, χυδαίο γλωσσάριο, ωμότητα, παροξυσμός
αυτό - και καταστροφικό παθός.
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Reading this, your stomach will churn as you turn the pages, following the mind and sickness that seeps into the character. You feel the dirt and sweat, as described on the pages.
Lunch's body of work always has a surge of creative filth. Poetic pretense? Maybe to those not familiar with her mannerism.
Definitely not for the faint of heart, or those with an overly-sensitive stomach.
Lunch's body of work always has a surge of creative filth. Poetic pretense? Maybe to those not familiar with her mannerism.
Definitely not for the faint of heart, or those with an overly-sensitive stomach.
I understand she's a cultural icon, and I didn't expect the book to be pretty, but holy sh*t this is some depraved stuff. The last chapter was brilliant, and the beginning was entertaining, but the middle of the book just left me feeling dirty and nauseated.
This is certainly not for the faint of heart. I picked this book up after reading a chapter taken directly from the Outlaw Bible of American Literature. I would call this book spell-binding, gut-wrenching, and more than a little disturbing. This is a 1st person heroine that you admire for her brutal honesty, dangerous intelligence, and very extracted perspective. Then despise for her nonchalance towards truly outlawed behaviors. At once a self-account of lustful predatory excursions and a slight...more
Oct 07, 2007
Jeanne
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who are interested in the fucked up inner workings of the mind
There is always someone more fucked up than you, and Lydia Lunch was one of them.
From my 1999 review: "Gritty...raw...very in-your-face stuff. Lydia Lunch has written a mindblowing chronicle of her life as a victimizer. Contrary to what others say, though, I do not believe that this book was written to encourage male abuse but rather to force others into realizing that male or female, being the victimizer is wrong. Lunch does a wonderful job of shocking the reader as her escapades become more an...more
From my 1999 review: "Gritty...raw...very in-your-face stuff. Lydia Lunch has written a mindblowing chronicle of her life as a victimizer. Contrary to what others say, though, I do not believe that this book was written to encourage male abuse but rather to force others into realizing that male or female, being the victimizer is wrong. Lunch does a wonderful job of shocking the reader as her escapades become more an...more
Squalid, tedious, and just a chore to read. Probably shocking to someone, but I mostly found it charmlessly egotistical and devoid of insight. Not my thing.
the most sick twisted mind f*ck I've ever read.... It was crazy and messed up and gross and I couldnt put it down...
One of the most graphic and amusing accounts of what one woman did during the 70s and 80s that you will ever find.
This books was kind of vile and sad, though not for the reasons the author probably imagines.
I would have loved this book if I was sixteen and had never read Hubert Selby Jr. or Kathy Acker.
I read this years ago. Gritty and graphic. Not for the faint of heart.
Just not what I expected... or perhaps I am easily satisfied and bored.
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Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Koch) is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress.
In the mid-'80s, Lunch formed her own recording and publishing company called "Widowspeak" on which she continues to release a slew of her own material from songs to spoken word.
Later, she was identified by the Boston Phoenix as "one of the 10 most influential performers of the '90s", Lunch's solo career featured collab...more
More about Lydia Lunch...
In the mid-'80s, Lunch formed her own recording and publishing company called "Widowspeak" on which she continues to release a slew of her own material from songs to spoken word.
Later, she was identified by the Boston Phoenix as "one of the 10 most influential performers of the '90s", Lunch's solo career featured collab...more
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“And is death not the ultimate orgasm, a return to that otherworldly ether, whose very origins were indeed a Big Bang, the ultimate explosion, the supreme chaos, whose resonance is the vibration we constantly seek to reproduce in everything we do.”
—
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