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Civil War
- GenresFiction
68 pages, Stapled booklet
First published January 1, 2018
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June 23, 2020
HI! I'm Meg McCarville the author of Four Circles which was edited by Simon Morris and he was a dear friend, life coach, handler, editor and brilliant author. I give this "special edition" one star only because of the abomination of an introduction by the self important and near illiterate Gaby Losonscy.
When I first read the introduction I was truly confused. I thought I was not getting something, or at least I hoped so. It really made no sense why Amphetamine Sulphate, after claiming that their entire catalogue for the next year would be to honor the late brilliant Simon Morris, would release a "special edition' of the last book Simon wrote that included such a repulsive introduction. I really do not know what Amphetamine Sulphate was thinking with this intro. Not to mention Ms. Losonscy. After reading the intro I chucked the book at the wall and started sobbing uncontrollably. I literally buried what I had read deep inside. Wanting very hard to completely deny that the publisher of my work was responsible for this sick, sociopathic sendoff to an amazing man.
First off the intro is RIDDLED with typos and Gaby could not write if her life depended on it. Her writing reeks of arrogant entitlement, blind narcissism, a sociopathic lack of empathy and a desperate need to show off by using flashy words of which she has no idea the meaning. Gaby writes like a community college student who is trying very hard to impress her CREATIVE WRITING 101 teacher by scouring the dictionary for the most complex words and splattering the pages with them. That is honestly the Nicest critique I can give! To have that vile, damning, cold, sick, and horribly written crap as the forward to the last book of a brilliant writer who committed suicide is absolutely repulsive!
In the intro Gaby first points out that Simon is basically a fake that finds stimulating people and circumstances to write about to make himself seem interesting. She also points out that Simon liked to use his mental illness to manipulate people! I could not believe what I was reading. The man jumped in a river. The ULTIMATE manipulation eh Gaby? A REAL CLASS ACT! Where in the world is this going?
Then there is the aside about Simon intentionally killing himself on her 29th birthday. "He probably figured he'd get the biggest bang for his suicide attempt buck if he coordinated it with my birthday." There is no further explanation. Why would she say that? Why would she make it about herself? WTFFFFF????? This is supposed to be about Simon but it just gets worse from there when she goes on to say that Simon "was a man so pickled in his own bullshit that real self-knowledge was probably impossible (a good reason to kill yourself)". I honestly do not even know how to react to such a statement were I to read it ANYWHERE! But the fact that this basically the ending of the forward of a "special editon" of Simon's last book is nothing short of SICK! That is really the only word I can use. And the fact that this was published by one of Simon's closest friends is downright bizarre. Please tell me I'm missing something here! but sadly, I know that I am not!
“ So pickled in his own bullshit that real self knowledge was probably impossible (a good reason to kill yourself)”......
PLEASE TELL ME HOW THIS IS A PROPER SENDOFF TO A MAN WHO THIS LITTLE CUNT COULD NOT HOLD A CANDLE TO ON HER BEST FUCKING DAY????????
All of this splattered with sentences that make ZERO SENSE like “I will interact with others who are different from me, but I no longer will do so because I intuit there is some kind of connection that can be had.” Please explain what this phony intellectual babble even means! Gaby literally sat down and took the time to compose this verbal SEWAGE! And I would think she probably reread it and thought it was great! And furthermore there were others who looked over this downright LOATHSOME and OFFENSIVE SELF IMPORTANT TERRIBLY WRITTTEN CRAP and “edit” it and OK IT! For Simon’s last book! A RE RELEASE WITH A VERY SPECIAL FORWARD I WOULD NOT WRITE ABOUT MY WORST ENEMY POST MORTEM! Except ms. Gaby. She would TRULY deserve a sendoff like this. After she is found washed up in a river. Honestly! I can't imagine how one could write such a thing!
The forward truly ends by Gaby setting a trap for the reader by saying "if you reject this as narcissism on my part, you know nothing about Simon or his work." WOW! So let me get this straight Gaby, if I as the reader percieve you to be the narcissistic sociopathic cunt that you are, I know nothing of Simon or his work. That's a pretty gruesome hateful statement to be throwing out there to the reader.
I do happen know a great deal about Simon as well as his work. As we collaborated on two different projects and I had known him for years. I also know about narcissists, and only a narcissist would make a revolting and self important statement such as that.
Like I said when I first read this forward I was going through a lot and it confused me. My brain could not possibly process why someone would write something like that about Simon and Furthermore WHY IN GOD'S NAME IT WAS PUBLISHED IN A NEW EDITION TO SIMON'S FINAL BOOK! The existance of this "special eidtion" was buried inside me. For reasons I will not say, I revisited the introduction today and I had to take the time to write this for my own sanity or lack thereov. There are some real detestable people in this world and Simon knew this all too well.
I highly reccomend you do not buy this edition of Civil War. Weather or not you knew Simon. Weather or not you knew anyone who suffers from mental illness not to mention someone who took their own life. This is truly a tragedy that this book is out there with this intro. I just pray to the angels in hell that this boo
k never reaches the hands of any more people who loved Simon. And GOD FORBID HIS PARENTS! Gaby should be ashamed as should Amphetamine Sulphate.
Whoops! SPOILER ALERT! Did I forget to say that in the beginning?
XOXO.
MEG.
When I first read the introduction I was truly confused. I thought I was not getting something, or at least I hoped so. It really made no sense why Amphetamine Sulphate, after claiming that their entire catalogue for the next year would be to honor the late brilliant Simon Morris, would release a "special edition' of the last book Simon wrote that included such a repulsive introduction. I really do not know what Amphetamine Sulphate was thinking with this intro. Not to mention Ms. Losonscy. After reading the intro I chucked the book at the wall and started sobbing uncontrollably. I literally buried what I had read deep inside. Wanting very hard to completely deny that the publisher of my work was responsible for this sick, sociopathic sendoff to an amazing man.
First off the intro is RIDDLED with typos and Gaby could not write if her life depended on it. Her writing reeks of arrogant entitlement, blind narcissism, a sociopathic lack of empathy and a desperate need to show off by using flashy words of which she has no idea the meaning. Gaby writes like a community college student who is trying very hard to impress her CREATIVE WRITING 101 teacher by scouring the dictionary for the most complex words and splattering the pages with them. That is honestly the Nicest critique I can give! To have that vile, damning, cold, sick, and horribly written crap as the forward to the last book of a brilliant writer who committed suicide is absolutely repulsive!
In the intro Gaby first points out that Simon is basically a fake that finds stimulating people and circumstances to write about to make himself seem interesting. She also points out that Simon liked to use his mental illness to manipulate people! I could not believe what I was reading. The man jumped in a river. The ULTIMATE manipulation eh Gaby? A REAL CLASS ACT! Where in the world is this going?
Then there is the aside about Simon intentionally killing himself on her 29th birthday. "He probably figured he'd get the biggest bang for his suicide attempt buck if he coordinated it with my birthday." There is no further explanation. Why would she say that? Why would she make it about herself? WTFFFFF????? This is supposed to be about Simon but it just gets worse from there when she goes on to say that Simon "was a man so pickled in his own bullshit that real self-knowledge was probably impossible (a good reason to kill yourself)". I honestly do not even know how to react to such a statement were I to read it ANYWHERE! But the fact that this basically the ending of the forward of a "special editon" of Simon's last book is nothing short of SICK! That is really the only word I can use. And the fact that this was published by one of Simon's closest friends is downright bizarre. Please tell me I'm missing something here! but sadly, I know that I am not!
“ So pickled in his own bullshit that real self knowledge was probably impossible (a good reason to kill yourself)”......
PLEASE TELL ME HOW THIS IS A PROPER SENDOFF TO A MAN WHO THIS LITTLE CUNT COULD NOT HOLD A CANDLE TO ON HER BEST FUCKING DAY????????
All of this splattered with sentences that make ZERO SENSE like “I will interact with others who are different from me, but I no longer will do so because I intuit there is some kind of connection that can be had.” Please explain what this phony intellectual babble even means! Gaby literally sat down and took the time to compose this verbal SEWAGE! And I would think she probably reread it and thought it was great! And furthermore there were others who looked over this downright LOATHSOME and OFFENSIVE SELF IMPORTANT TERRIBLY WRITTTEN CRAP and “edit” it and OK IT! For Simon’s last book! A RE RELEASE WITH A VERY SPECIAL FORWARD I WOULD NOT WRITE ABOUT MY WORST ENEMY POST MORTEM! Except ms. Gaby. She would TRULY deserve a sendoff like this. After she is found washed up in a river. Honestly! I can't imagine how one could write such a thing!
The forward truly ends by Gaby setting a trap for the reader by saying "if you reject this as narcissism on my part, you know nothing about Simon or his work." WOW! So let me get this straight Gaby, if I as the reader percieve you to be the narcissistic sociopathic cunt that you are, I know nothing of Simon or his work. That's a pretty gruesome hateful statement to be throwing out there to the reader.
I do happen know a great deal about Simon as well as his work. As we collaborated on two different projects and I had known him for years. I also know about narcissists, and only a narcissist would make a revolting and self important statement such as that.
Like I said when I first read this forward I was going through a lot and it confused me. My brain could not possibly process why someone would write something like that about Simon and Furthermore WHY IN GOD'S NAME IT WAS PUBLISHED IN A NEW EDITION TO SIMON'S FINAL BOOK! The existance of this "special eidtion" was buried inside me. For reasons I will not say, I revisited the introduction today and I had to take the time to write this for my own sanity or lack thereov. There are some real detestable people in this world and Simon knew this all too well.
I highly reccomend you do not buy this edition of Civil War. Weather or not you knew Simon. Weather or not you knew anyone who suffers from mental illness not to mention someone who took their own life. This is truly a tragedy that this book is out there with this intro. I just pray to the angels in hell that this boo
k never reaches the hands of any more people who loved Simon. And GOD FORBID HIS PARENTS! Gaby should be ashamed as should Amphetamine Sulphate.
Whoops! SPOILER ALERT! Did I forget to say that in the beginning?
XOXO.
MEG.
December 20, 2019
“People have told me that heroin is the very best cure for anxiety, and when anxiety is so constant that it really is clearly mental illness, you have to decide whether being a mental patient or being an addict is more socially excluding. I’ve known some good people who take heroin and good people who are mental patients, and even a few decent people who are neither.” (p. 15)
And:
“See I can’t judge you wanting to die or talking about it or making so many hints. I’ve been suicidal since I was nineteen and come close so many times. Age 21 and over-medicated and knowing I had the old school antidepressants that would do it, and just the reassurance of that thought as I lay there friendless and lost. Age 27 and writing a note but not having the method worked out. Age 31 walking by the bus station almost every day forcing my legs not to climb the stairs to the top. Age 37 and swallowing handfuls of paracetamols impulsively before thinking better of it and throwing up. Time after time walking out impulsively in domestics with death clearly in my mind. What a fucking timewaster I’ve been. We’re all gonna be released anyway. You get fatter, get crankier, get less and less cute, who cares. Like with the subs. None of this matters. I imagine any human being who has never considered suicide seriously as a kind of inhuman monster.” (p. 45)
And:
“See I can’t judge you wanting to die or talking about it or making so many hints. I’ve been suicidal since I was nineteen and come close so many times. Age 21 and over-medicated and knowing I had the old school antidepressants that would do it, and just the reassurance of that thought as I lay there friendless and lost. Age 27 and writing a note but not having the method worked out. Age 31 walking by the bus station almost every day forcing my legs not to climb the stairs to the top. Age 37 and swallowing handfuls of paracetamols impulsively before thinking better of it and throwing up. Time after time walking out impulsively in domestics with death clearly in my mind. What a fucking timewaster I’ve been. We’re all gonna be released anyway. You get fatter, get crankier, get less and less cute, who cares. Like with the subs. None of this matters. I imagine any human being who has never considered suicide seriously as a kind of inhuman monster.” (p. 45)
July 9, 2020
Be it known I am biased and forever gobsmacked at the fascination with G. Losoncy, the violin sawing, camel toed, carrot eating pseudo-intellectual garbage human sociopath who hails from the bowels of her snotrocket kingdom of Philly. For quite some time, I’ve considered her chronic herpes sore that will not go away no matter what the treatment. That being said here goes my review.
I read the first edition of this and it was good. This edition however with G.L whom I will now call “SnailTrailMixMedusa” (because of her stupid obsession with her own vagina,mixed bags of nuts and her own garish reflection in bathroom mirrors) involved the creepily uncaring portrayal of Mr. Simon Morris, the author is tasteless at best, vomit-inducing claptrap at worse. I daresay, slander. As it is well known or perhaps not to some who come upon this, Simon suffered his entire life with mental illness, spent time in and out of mental hospitals, attempted suicide and finally in December of 2019 was found dead after gone missing for some days to the fright of his true friends and family mired in a river. Gone. Forever gone. Harkening to the Ghost of Christmas Future from A Christmas Carol, the part in the grim tale where after the main character’s death people come to take all his belongings away and not giving a good goddamn about him at all, so this is playing out in similar fashion.
Exploiting the mentally ill is just plain wrong. He died from mental illness and now there is profit and horror surrounding it. I urge you not to purchase this version if you must read it, find the original. Take your money instead and donate it to a cause that helps the mentally ill in England or anywhere else in the world. I am sure the late Mr. Morris would approve.
Tis a strange way to grieve one’s friend, as this publishing house was made of friends, based on trust, based on free labor, long hours, and vision. It is in my hopes that perhaps this is a momentary lapse in judgment due to the loss and hope that a recanting of some sort in this future would come into play.
As for you SnailTrailMixMedusa, here’s a message: please erase yourself somehow and continue to have your mommy and daddy support you, your ship has sailed and no one cares about an aging sycophant ingenue hitting 30. There’s plenty more where you cum from, truly you are a dime a dozen. Step aside and please burn your fucking violin. And sorry, you’re a fucking butterface in need of some Lotrimin so you can save up for a cheap eBay ball gag that is permanently installed. Thank you for at least removing yourself from Social Media for the sake of all that enjoy not looking at your bowel movements and shit-stained leggings. Do you know where you are? You're in the jungle baby! Get ready to---
To you who find a desperately sad man's suicidal death entertaining and somehow edgy, then enjoy the fuckery of your sad hipster life and trying to look cool reading transgressive literature, name dropping things as you pleasure yourself to sad porn. Guess what, it won't get you laid.
I read the first edition of this and it was good. This edition however with G.L whom I will now call “SnailTrailMixMedusa” (because of her stupid obsession with her own vagina,mixed bags of nuts and her own garish reflection in bathroom mirrors) involved the creepily uncaring portrayal of Mr. Simon Morris, the author is tasteless at best, vomit-inducing claptrap at worse. I daresay, slander. As it is well known or perhaps not to some who come upon this, Simon suffered his entire life with mental illness, spent time in and out of mental hospitals, attempted suicide and finally in December of 2019 was found dead after gone missing for some days to the fright of his true friends and family mired in a river. Gone. Forever gone. Harkening to the Ghost of Christmas Future from A Christmas Carol, the part in the grim tale where after the main character’s death people come to take all his belongings away and not giving a good goddamn about him at all, so this is playing out in similar fashion.
Exploiting the mentally ill is just plain wrong. He died from mental illness and now there is profit and horror surrounding it. I urge you not to purchase this version if you must read it, find the original. Take your money instead and donate it to a cause that helps the mentally ill in England or anywhere else in the world. I am sure the late Mr. Morris would approve.
Tis a strange way to grieve one’s friend, as this publishing house was made of friends, based on trust, based on free labor, long hours, and vision. It is in my hopes that perhaps this is a momentary lapse in judgment due to the loss and hope that a recanting of some sort in this future would come into play.
As for you SnailTrailMixMedusa, here’s a message: please erase yourself somehow and continue to have your mommy and daddy support you, your ship has sailed and no one cares about an aging sycophant ingenue hitting 30. There’s plenty more where you cum from, truly you are a dime a dozen. Step aside and please burn your fucking violin. And sorry, you’re a fucking butterface in need of some Lotrimin so you can save up for a cheap eBay ball gag that is permanently installed. Thank you for at least removing yourself from Social Media for the sake of all that enjoy not looking at your bowel movements and shit-stained leggings. Do you know where you are? You're in the jungle baby! Get ready to---
To you who find a desperately sad man's suicidal death entertaining and somehow edgy, then enjoy the fuckery of your sad hipster life and trying to look cool reading transgressive literature, name dropping things as you pleasure yourself to sad porn. Guess what, it won't get you laid.
March 30, 2020
My feelings are all over the place with this. The original edition was a fun read but I don’t know if I’d say the same about this one. I felt more sadness this time and that made it all the more powerful. Still not the biggest GnR fan tho.
August 28, 2018
Pamphlets of Destiny: Simon Morris - Civil War http://gnomeship.blogspot.com/2018/08...
November 22, 2018
Interesting take on the complete Guns N' Roses discography with personal/fictional memoir intertwined. This could've been one of the more interesting 33 1/3 series if it got expanded more on one album - and not like their current snooze-fest VH1 behind the music series that they churn out (seriously who reads them?). "Civil War" begins to wear thin with its repetitive narrative trajectory, however the collapse of the band as the subject with which to view the confessions becomes the more interesting element as Morris exhumes a lot of memories of weird events, instances, etc. in their history to the narrator's own.
July 31, 2021
"The Ultimate Guide to Guns N' Roses"..but so much more. Along with the companion piece that only came with pre-orders it made a wonderful and somewhat harrowing reading experience for me.
February 8, 2019
“on both China and himself”
September 9, 2020
Well.
I have to bitterly say that like with so many other artists, I only became aware of how appreciated and special Simon Morris was only after his tragic passing. Nonetheless. I'd seen a video of him reading out of this book, and was so startled by the sheer originality of his writing that I just had to get a copy.
Much like with most of what's being put out on Amphetamine Sulphate, most people need not apply. What's presented as "The Ultimate Guide to Guns N' Roses", is actually a fragmented haze of unhyegenic sex fantasies, gleeful bitterness, and self-doubt. We're treated to sometimes shocking, Whitehouse lyric-tier paragraphs (that's in no way an insult - I cherish the lyrical aspect of Whitehouse higher than most literature) that almost read like admissions of guilt, anchored in the constant return to brief anecdotal reviews of every single GNR song. But by the time we arrive to Chinese Democracy, it stops being "fun" and starts being vulnerable. The effect is a constant nervous laughter, thrilling in a way I haven't had since I read Time's Arrow.
With that being said, this type of nihilism isn't something I like to consume every day anymore. I have a hard time remembering a lot of what I've just read. However, there's plenty of memorable lines to make up for it. "The least remembered and least celebrated 27 Club Member. Some fucking gong show contestant".
I'm also stuck wondering if I would recommend this book to people unaware of the kind of company Simon ran with. I just don't know if anyone I know would actually like this. It almost feels wrong of me to read this, because it feels like this was something he wrote only for his friends and no one else. And he probably did - he even refers to Philip and Sarah, who put this out, directly, at one point. But that's not important, is it? I have with time, become less interested in traditional notions of "talent" and more interested in honesty. Maybe that puts me in a certain category. A bitter book for bitter people. And that's fine.
That's not to say that Simon was some kind of run-of-the-mill hobby writer - absolutely not. You can't help but be taken aback by a format this original. It's almost as if it was put out as a joke, but I also know that it's not. I guess the same could be said about his musical projects.
This even extends to the much-hated foreword, which paints Simon in a pretty unsympathetic light. Many people who knew him have disputed this with all their might, but as someone who's completely on the outside, the inclusion of such a weird introduction further adds to the enigmatic quality of this book.
This is a pretty fucking shitty review, isn't it? I don't really know where I was going with this, but I can't just rate this without trying to process what it is I just read. Whatever, bottom line: I'm very glad I own a copy and I'll cherish it and return to it for years to come, and I'll be putting money aside to purchase more of his work, as well as other titles on Amphetamine Sulphate. I hope he finally found peace.
I have to bitterly say that like with so many other artists, I only became aware of how appreciated and special Simon Morris was only after his tragic passing. Nonetheless. I'd seen a video of him reading out of this book, and was so startled by the sheer originality of his writing that I just had to get a copy.
Much like with most of what's being put out on Amphetamine Sulphate, most people need not apply. What's presented as "The Ultimate Guide to Guns N' Roses", is actually a fragmented haze of unhyegenic sex fantasies, gleeful bitterness, and self-doubt. We're treated to sometimes shocking, Whitehouse lyric-tier paragraphs (that's in no way an insult - I cherish the lyrical aspect of Whitehouse higher than most literature) that almost read like admissions of guilt, anchored in the constant return to brief anecdotal reviews of every single GNR song. But by the time we arrive to Chinese Democracy, it stops being "fun" and starts being vulnerable. The effect is a constant nervous laughter, thrilling in a way I haven't had since I read Time's Arrow.
With that being said, this type of nihilism isn't something I like to consume every day anymore. I have a hard time remembering a lot of what I've just read. However, there's plenty of memorable lines to make up for it. "The least remembered and least celebrated 27 Club Member. Some fucking gong show contestant".
I'm also stuck wondering if I would recommend this book to people unaware of the kind of company Simon ran with. I just don't know if anyone I know would actually like this. It almost feels wrong of me to read this, because it feels like this was something he wrote only for his friends and no one else. And he probably did - he even refers to Philip and Sarah, who put this out, directly, at one point. But that's not important, is it? I have with time, become less interested in traditional notions of "talent" and more interested in honesty. Maybe that puts me in a certain category. A bitter book for bitter people. And that's fine.
That's not to say that Simon was some kind of run-of-the-mill hobby writer - absolutely not. You can't help but be taken aback by a format this original. It's almost as if it was put out as a joke, but I also know that it's not. I guess the same could be said about his musical projects.
This even extends to the much-hated foreword, which paints Simon in a pretty unsympathetic light. Many people who knew him have disputed this with all their might, but as someone who's completely on the outside, the inclusion of such a weird introduction further adds to the enigmatic quality of this book.
This is a pretty fucking shitty review, isn't it? I don't really know where I was going with this, but I can't just rate this without trying to process what it is I just read. Whatever, bottom line: I'm very glad I own a copy and I'll cherish it and return to it for years to come, and I'll be putting money aside to purchase more of his work, as well as other titles on Amphetamine Sulphate. I hope he finally found peace.
March 30, 2020
First time reading this. The intro by Gabi Losoncy is short, but I respect the decision she made by not going more into her own interpretation. If, like me, you had no idea why Gabi was picked to write the intro, it definitely puts the main text into a different light. Wish the personal ads were included.
Enjoyed Simon's writing quite a bit - the moments where the story neatly lines up with the next Guns and Roses song he's critiquing are excellent. Didn't always work for me, but it worked enough to make the strange format a success. I do wonder how I would have felt if I read this before Simon's death and with no clue who the book was about. I imagine it would've been a much lighter read.
PS - Day after reading, I did listen to some GnR, Appetite and the covers album. Enjoyed more than I expected. The Use Your Illusion albums seem so bloated, that I may actually go back to this book and actually use it as a music guide to figure out what songs to check out.
Enjoyed Simon's writing quite a bit - the moments where the story neatly lines up with the next Guns and Roses song he's critiquing are excellent. Didn't always work for me, but it worked enough to make the strange format a success. I do wonder how I would have felt if I read this before Simon's death and with no clue who the book was about. I imagine it would've been a much lighter read.
PS - Day after reading, I did listen to some GnR, Appetite and the covers album. Enjoyed more than I expected. The Use Your Illusion albums seem so bloated, that I may actually go back to this book and actually use it as a music guide to figure out what songs to check out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2019
Not much of a Guns N’ Roses fan but this is an excellent read.
August 27, 2021
At times very gripping, but too much heartbreak wallowing and self-hatred is a real turn-off for me
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews