The unguarded moments of famous people,
where normally it is always guarded. Sex tapes are fascinating, in
that the participants used them for future reference or is it the
thought of being recorded while doing something nasty is the appeal?
Or losing control and being totally exposed beyond one's control?
Jarrett Kobek, in sort of 'just the facts man' style captures the
undocumented 'recorded' moments of conversation or more like it -
snippets of dialogue between individuals.
The first book I thought of while
reading this was Burrough's "The Last Words of Dutch Schultz,"
which was inspired by the actual recording of Schultz as he was dying
from a gunshot wound. His statement to the police is both lucid as
well as fancy -free as his mind wondered. Probably the closest
relationship between a crime figure and hardcore Surrealism.
Kobek's book reads the same way. Its a fascinating document but also
an interesting way to look at a culture as it is being recorded.
What Kobek did was put it in a context, that says a lot about
celebrities and the role they play in our culture.
The range here is quite large, from
Paris Hilton to Tom Sizemore to Muammar Gaddafi. The issue of
privacy seems to be an antiquity thought these days. A wonderful
book with a beautiful production by its press, Penny-Ante Editions.
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