Playboy's Book of Forbidden Words

by Robert Anton Wilson

A liberated dictionary of improper and uninhibited definitions

302 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Robert Anton Wilson was an American author, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson helped publicize Discordianism through his writings and interviews. In 1999 he described his work as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations, to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models or maps, and no one model elevated to the truth". Wilson's goal was "to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything."
In addition to writing several science-fiction novels, Wilson also wrote non-fiction books on extrasensory perception, mental telepathy, metaphysics, paranormal experiences, conspiracy theory, sex, drugs, and what Wilson called "quantum psychology".
Following a career in journalism and as an editor, notably for Playboy, Wilson emerged as a major countercultural figure in the mid-1970s, comparable to one of his coauthors, Timothy Leary, as well as Terence McKenna.

Reviews

[Arsalan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the best endorsement for this book is George Carlin using it to compile a good portion of his "incomplete list of impolite words."

Who can forget gems like 'yodeling in the valley,' 'boy in the boat,' 'man in the canoe,' 'riding the cotton pony,' and 'having the painters in'?

A really fun and funny read, in addition, of course, to being educational.

[Tom Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bawdy and provocative collection of naughty slang circa 1970. I love Robert Anton Wilson and as a completionist I felt compelled to read this, his first published work, written while he (associate) helmed the editor's desk at Playboy, but I hate to say this one is uninspired. Guess ol' RAW knew it for himself, saying in a 1999 interview that it was "My first and worst book; worst, after the editors at Playboy Press did to my manuscript what the Roman Army did to the Sabine women. And I didn't fight back enough because of my ignorance and inexperience."

Bathroom reading, good to thumb through for a few laffs but aside from the introduction it lacks the substance his later works showed.

[Light Bringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I know.