Ecstasy Club

by Douglas Rushkoff

"A darkly comic contemporary a brave, very funny, very knowing trip through the neo-psychedelic substrate of the wired world." -- William Gibson , bestselling author of Neuromancer and Idoru Douglas Rushkoff--the foremost authority on cyberculture and author of Cyberia, Media Virus and Playing the Future --has penned the ultimate novel for our fast and furious times. A wired-in thrill ride into the here and now of tripping, raving, net-surfing...and beyond. "An eerie tale of 20-somethings caught up in an increasingly trippy world of homegrown religion. Set in an abandoned piano factory in Oakland, CA., Rushkoff's novel drops several characters--hackster, hipster, hustler, hippie--into a pop-culture Cuisinart along with a nice Jewish boy, and then spins them off into an intricate plot that leads to a showdown with the leader of a rival cultlike group." -- New York Times

Genres: Fiction, Drugs, Science Fiction, Music, Cultural, Science Fiction Fantasy

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Douglas Rushkoff is a New York-based writer, columnist and lecturer on technology, media and popular culture.

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unpopular confession time: I don't do drugs.
I mean, yeah I like me my wine ----- but it's never appealed to me to snort a chemical & completely mind-bend. I don't judge, and it's not that it scares me (objectively, I find the idea pretty fascinating), but that I just...prefer my mind-bending sustainable, shall we say. I like my brain as is -- and I'm genuinely out of sync enough without the help of substances.

But you read Ecstasy Club, stone sober -------- and you will be tripping balls.

And because it's such a convoluted trip, I barely know where to begin.

Ecstasy Club is the story of a cult that never quite admits it's a cult. Centered around and permeated by 60s psychedelia, it's set in the 90s rave scene. A bunch of unbelievably pretentious, constantly stoned, overeducated 20/30-somethings squat in an abandoned, gutted piano factory. Create (somehow) an overhang of rooms where they live, with a multi-room club below. They throw parties every night, and whine about standard culture using big words and unfollowable logic all day. They are the counter-culture, they and no one else. They are the next step in human evolution -- and through hard drugs & partying, they're gonna create a space for all us plebes to ascend with them.

Yeah.
We all know a that guy...but these guys are even worse.

And it gets better: because, on some level, this entire book is an allegory for a bad trip, the conspiracy theorizing sets in!! It's fun at first -- but by the end of the book, certainly intentionally, there's so much outright insanity that it's impossible to keep it all straight. Everyone in the fucking club is narcissistic and nuts, especially the cult leader figure Duncan. I turned the last page exasperated with every character, even Zach (who I suspect is supposed to be a somewhat sympathetic narrator).

And that, I hope, is precisely the point.

See, Ecstasy Club is written by a cultural studies professor trying his hand at fiction. In some ways, that's oh so evident -- easily-avoidable deus ex machina and predictability; flat characters; academic jargon masquerading as breakfast conversation. Similar to Radiant Cool: A Novel Theory of Consciousness, it almost seems that Ecstasy Club is a fictional account of a very real theory. What's the theory?

Fuck if I know. But I've got ten tabs open on my computer right now -- and each of them is about one of the real-life figures Rushkoff transparently references. "E. T. Harman" founded "Cosmotology" and "Samuel Clearwater" was an LSD pioneer. So hey, L. Ron Hubbard & Scientology & Timothy Leary; haven't checked out your Wikipedia pages in awhile!

And this book is profoundly engaging. Like, so engaging it's gotta be illegal. It's addictive, it's a barrage of information and imaginative assault, it's overwhelming and irrational and confusing and completely vibrant. As I said, I've never done drugs -- but I wonder how close this book comes.

And that's the point.

Duncan's argument -- and that of most conspiracy theorists -- is that culture happens intentionally. People have their hands in the pot, producing propaganda and programming the masses. But that's not it at all. Sure, we are influenced by our culture, by the media ---- but we are far more influenced by those to whom we're close. That's why cults are so horrifying -- sure they play on & with existing social issues, but you get in and everyone close to you is thinking the same thing, buying the same shit, and that's when you turn. Not because you see something on TV.

Culture may not happen unintentionally -- I'm looking up 60s psychedelia right now thanks to this book, after all -- but the power lies in one-on-one contact. Duncan is only as good as his followers, listening to him in the overhang rooms -- but the kids partying downstairs, supposedly fulfilling his agenda, have no idea what he's saying. He has no true power over them. And that -- not the drugs, not the conspiracies, not the sex or police brutality or homemaking -- is the message here.

And if you can't follow my argument, well, maybe that's the point, too.

Rushkoff's far better than he may appear at first blush.

[Fuzzy Gerdes · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking for a pastiche of the mid-90s San Francisco rave scene ("Plugged" magazine or Cosmotology, anyone?) with a stilted metaphysical plot, then this is your ticket. And what kind of freak are you, anyway, that that's what you're looking for? Weirdo.

[Kitap · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I first bought this book (in this edition), but I suspect I finally pulled it off the shelf to read (in the edition shown) because of the recently read review with Rushkoff in David Jay Brown's book. I had read at least one thing by Rushkoff at the point that I first purchased Ecstasy Club ( Cyberia , I think) and thought he would write an interesting science fiction novel. (I guess it never says anywhere on the book that it is SF, and it really isn't SF in any meaningful sense, but it has cover blurbs written by Jeff Noon and William Gibson, definitely suggesting it to readers of SF.)

Sadly, this novel fails to live up to its potential and was a challenge for me to complete, so little did I care about the characters, many of whom serve as nothing but expositive mouthpieces with annoying attitudes. I found myself racing through just to get it over with. Rushkoff has written a bloodless, meandering, non-story about a "coven" of ravers seeking to attain enlightenment, or something, through dancing to light shows while on a variety of drugs. They also have lots of sex. I hate hate HATED the annoying and transparently manipulative leader, whom the narrator/right-hand man (grow a spine, jackass) sees right through and yet follows willingly and endlessly, and the motley cast of unmemorable hackers, junkies, and groupies went nowhere. There are a few interestingly rendered drug sequences, a moment of male-administered fellatio, and a moderately funny send-up of countercultural icons Timothy Leary, John Lilly, and Terence McKenna in the middle of the story. The book also has the saving grace of looking at the challenges inherent in any attempt to live in a countercultural, intentional community (especially one connected with the underworld because of the clandestine nature of its existence) and portraying much of this "shadow." Unfortunately, it was not enough to make this a novel I would recommend to anyone.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the time being, Ecstasy Club is a bit under the radar. Fans of Rushkoff and those circles are aware, but it isn't a particularly famous novel. I believe one day that will change and this book will get the recognition it deserves.

As we drift away from the time period of the 90s, the generation of my youth, and our memories glamorize and stereotype, eventually this book is going to be remembered as one of the defining works capturing the soul of that era. The cultural identity of the 90s will not forgotten.

You see, I was there and we all thought rave was going to be our punk. That was going to be the next big thing, our contribution to the ages, and it was going to change the world. But it wasn't, it didn't, and in the end it only burnt itself out and then it died. That is the tragedy Rushkoff so brilliantly portrayed in Ecstasy Club.

I find it hard to believe that this is Rushkoff's first novel, yet that's what he says. It has all the cyberpunk-hacker-coutnerculture-mystical themes you expect from Rushkoff, but it's so terribly readable. The love drama of Zach and Kirsten and Lauren and Duncan; the conflict between our protaganist as damage control Levite and the charming cult leader guru Duncan ready to shift our dimensional reality. And the intricacies of the pseudo-Scientologist conspiracy and insanities of the drug culture perfectly bend your mind enough to question yours and Zach's realities. The novel isn't just a good intelligencia journey though, its actually a fun read. I breezed through the book, eager to see what happens to the diverse cast of characters next, laughed at the clever refferences, and was sad to see it end too soon.

Ecstasy Club is simultaneously one of the most mentally engaging and entertaining books I've read in a long time.

Rushkoff's nonfiction is always engaging, and his new comics are spot-on, but personally I hope he has a few more novels in him.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A seemingly utopian dream complete with the cracks in the foundation which grow larger and larger as time progresses. The dark side of art and communial living. Brilliant.

[Alger Smythe-Hopkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF: There is nothing here for the serious reader. I picked this up because I have read other Rushkoff pieces and thought him interesting, but this wretched and blatant ripoff of Robert Anton Wilson just doesn't carry water. I quit at the scene where our narrator hero is getting a blowie from the girlfriend of the messiah, and before he gives the messiah himself a blowie he checks him out for herpes sores. Dude, if you you let the guy's girlfriend blow you... well you are waiting just one step to late to check for sores.

Anyway, dull drug adventures and promises of enlightenment that you know will sound dated. Fight Club meets The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test meets boring.

[Devon Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the writing style & thought it was funny but I’m detracting a star for a) the character of Duncan who straight up enraged me (I know that was the point but it just made the book kinda hard to read...) & b) all the nonsense about conspiracies & cosmotology. I liked the first half about the parties & the enemy of the police etc but the et harnam/time travel stuff was just hard to read & boooring to me & ended up being pretty much the entire plot in the second half

[Leland William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wacky, hallucinogenic and plodding. There are some cool ideas and a lot of not well-written prose. That being said, I still enjoyed the ride. It was nice to read about the Bay Area even if it was done in a shallow way. He nailed the delusion and whiffed on the description.

[James Laf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been a while since I read this one bu pt I remember enjoying it. Time for a re-read.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

GoodRead. Would read again. I'm trying to recreate this experience in Siargao Island, The Philippines. Maybe one day there will be a VAR Movie about it

[Lorna Scully · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of all time. Even now I can go back and re read it and feel completely connected and in the moment.

[Carolina Herrera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool concept but half filled with nonsensical stuff about time travel and cosmology that doesn’t add anything to the purpose of the characters so it’s just exposition

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 2 out of 5]

After five non-fiction books, cyberspace consultant Douglas Rushkoff turns his hand to fiction with mixed results. There is no faulting his technical ability, but, while Ecstasy Club is ostensibly science fiction, Rushkoff stays to the path that he has tread with his non-fiction, a path nearly worn into a rut by others.

The Ecstasy Club is a loose group of individuals who come together to renovate an abandoned piano factory and turn it into the next big thing on the rave circuit. The leader, George Duncan, an ex-patriot Brit, provides the focal point that the others orbit: Zach, our narrator, idealistic yet never totally lost in the clouds, unless he is high or in love; Lauren, Duncan’s girlfriend, into Bonsai, architecture, and other forms of graphic design; Pig, the hacker, able to write HTML code using Windows’ Notepad; Kirsten, erstwhile Deadhead, into theater and the absurd; Peter, who once did drug feedback experiments until the accident that put his co-researcher into a coma; and Henry, who snorts instead of shoots heroin when he decides to sober up. Of course, things go swimmingly at first–a great kick-off party that brings in a profit and great street cred–but then things start breaking down as the inevitable personal and sexual interplay between the Club members punctures the lofty aspirations and The Real World (both the MTV show and true life) intrudes. The plot is like a drug fix (to use an analogy that the book would be comfortable with): it is a lot of fun at first, but as the initial high wears off, everything starts looking sordid.

If the novel did not try to be so hip and so on scene, its shortcomings would not be so glaring. The thinly veiled organizations and characters taken from today’s headlines serve as annoying in-jokes rather than praiseworthy satire. And, frankly, without its references to ’90s culture and counter-culture, Ecstasy Club reads like a poor man’s Illuminatus! Trilogy. Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea mixed drugs, paranoia, freemasonry, sex, and pop culture better than this twenty years ago, and their story was funny to boot.

[Cuneyt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was difficult to rate. Story around drugs was good enough to keep an old pharmacologist keep reading but certain graphic scenes do not add to the story and lack taste. It left a slight taste of "Umberto Econess" in the last one third (which I really enjoyed), although lacking Eco's intellectual depth. I read in the comments that some really liked it while others really hated it and I can see the point in both. I think three stars is fair. Story is good and could have had more stars if it was written in a later period in the authors career with some more novel writing experience under his belt instead of being a first novel.

[Allie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This cult/rave book was entertaining and interesting for someone who didn't live through that culture of the 90s. However, I felt like the plot and characters were tedious. I couldn't buy into the whole conspiracy/time travel thing and the narrator made so many horrible, irrational decisions that it was impossible to identify with him. Maybe I needed to take some of the acid that all the characters were high on in this book.

[Scott Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty great! Not the best book ever in terms of characters or plot and the ending felt rushed, but I couldn't help but love every part of it. It's so perfectly attuned which what I like (raves, psychedelia, cosmology) that I was completely drawn in and excited to see what happened throughout the book. Reminds me of "Three Days to Never". Very cool, psychedelic and out there. Always going to have a special place for me.

[Danielle West · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't enjoy this book. It wasn't a bad book, I just didn't like it. The characters were annoying in that way that people who are way too into their own bullshit are. The story was not all that gripping interesting. It was very ok.

[sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

i loved this book when i was a freshman in high school.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good times. Read this in my younger days.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I read this book in the mid to late 90's when I was going to raves in old abandoned warehouses in Oakland which is exactly what this book is about... mostly.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Totally forgot that I read this book. Might have to re-read it soon.

[Megan Rossman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book was interesting. I also thought it was a little stupid. Entertaining enough to read. It seemed kind of dated since it's based on the whole 90s rave thing. I assume.

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

You think I would like this book. Its rubbish, Douglas smears a bunch of pop culture drug refrences together and hopes it will stick. It doesnt.

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was quite a mind bender, and gives you some of the atmosphere of those times.

[Melissa Cavanaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still a good read, but funny how the cultural references place it squarely in the 1990s.

[hannaH · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was actually really enjoying it until they got into all that conspiracy theory bullshit in the last third or so of the novel. Oh well.

[Leonardo Etcheto · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting concept, lot of high flying ideals but music, sex and drugs are the daily reality. I liked the rooftop zen garden and the club/home set up.

[Joseph Heaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read. Bit of a psychedelic adventure through the US 'E' generation.

[Mitchan · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5⭐️
I was certainly interested to see what happened or was I?? Cults are weird aren’t they. I actually imagine this is what it’s like inside the head of a conspiracy theorist.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

For those who :
- are a victim
- have heavy Aquarius placements
- like fake Philosophy
- have toyed with the idea of DMT
- have a general dislike for gingers