Review
The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell
by Marilyn Manson
with Neil Strauss
BUT SOMEDAY, IN A STRONGER AGE THAN
THIS DECAYING, SELF-DOUBTING PRESENT,
HE MUST COME TO US, THE REDEEMING MAN, OF GREAT LOVE AND CONTEMPT, THE CREATIVE
SPIRIT WHOSE COMPELLING STRENGTH WILL NOT LET HIM REST IN ANY ALOOFNESS OR ANY
BEYOND, WHOSE ISOLATION IS MISUNDERSTOOD BY THE PEOPLE AS IF IT WERE A FLIGHT
FROM REALITY - WHILE IT IS ONLY HIS ABSORPTION, IMMERSION, PENETRATION INTO
REALITY, SO THAT, WHEN HE ONE DAY EMERGES AGAIN INTO THE LIGHT, HE MAY BRING
HOME THE REDEPTION OF THIS REALITY; ITS REDEMPTION FROM THE CURSE THAT THE HITHERTO
REIGNING IDEAL HAS LAID UPON IT. THIS MAN OF THE FUTURE, WHO WILL REDEEM US
NOT ONLY FROM THE HITHERTO REIGNING IDEAL BUT ALSO FROM THAT WHICH WAS BOUND
TO GROW OUT OF IT, THE GREAT NAUSEA, THE WILL TO NOTHINGNESS, NIHILISM; THIS
BELL-STROKE OF NOON AND OF THE GREAT DECISION THAT LIBERATES THE WILL AGAIN
AND RESTORES ITS GOAL TO THE EARTH AND HIS HOPE TO MAN; THIS ANTICHRIST AND
ANTINIHILIST; THIS VICTOR OVER GOD AND NOTHINGNESS - HE MUST COME ONE DAY...
-Friedrich Nietzsche - On The Genealogy Of Morals - second Essay, section 24
This passage begins the experience of reading the autobiography of the most
hated man in rock & roll. I believe it also lays the foundation for
everything
he has become, and everything he will grow to be. The stories told in this book
illustrate what molded his beliefs, what made him turn inward for the answers
his school and family couldn't provide, and most importantly of all, this book
makes him human again.
Let me begin by congratulating ReganBooks/HarperCollins for having the intelligence
and the guts to put this book out. Also kudos go to P.R. Brown for the design
of the bookjacket. It's a study in beauty through ugliness, as is the subject
matter.
The book itself is well written, and i have no doubt this is as much due to
Marilyn as it is to Neil Strauss. The anecdotes and philosophical passages are
well presented, and it was a treat to see old photographs, drawings and artwork
from the old days, as well as examples of writing done by a much younger and
unpolished Brian Warner. One can spot the seeds of a good writer even in such
early works as "Stained Glass:
supplicate
congregate
the world looks better through stained glass
light a candle for the sinners
set the world on fire
-- Stained Glass, Chapter 4, p.58
Those last words appear on the 1996 release "Antichrist Superstar,"
but were actually penned in 1988 by a young, dissillusioned boy trying to sort
out the hypocrisy in his life and the world. Such glimpses into the psychological
makeup are the meat of this book. Even when things involving meat get ugly (you'll
read about the meat and a deaf groupie in New Orleans) there is always the feeling
that it's all an experiment, an attempt to understand what drives other people,
but most of all what drives Marilyn Manson.
The book is also somewhat of a tell-all: stories about everyone from Courtney
Love to what really happened to Sara Lee Lucas. Want to know exactly how Marilyn
was "ordained" as a minister in the Church of Satan? It's
in there.
Want to know what he thinks he might remember about Jenna Jameson? It's in there.
Curious as to how he really feels about the defection of Daisy Berkowitz? It's
in there in spades. One of the surprising points of the book, however, is the
humor of the "Rules." Manson provides rules for cheating,
homosexuality
and drugs, all with his tongue firmly lodged in his cheek.
4. If Michel Stipe is in the room with you and you're having sex with a woman,
you're bisexual.
5. If you're at a gay bar, you're not gay. But if you're at a straight bar and
you talk to another guy longer than you talk to a girl, you're gay.
-- The Rules on Homosexuality, Chapter 9, p.134
One of the most telling parts of the book, however, is the discussion about
Jack Warner, the elderly disabled grandfather of young Brian, who was a crossdresser
and a consumer of fringe-element pornography. The influence Jack has over the
actions of Marilyn Manson today become obvious once the book is read. One can
learn a lot about the man by reading this book.
One might even discover the real reason why Marilyn Manson has two different
colored eyes.
Overall, I would say this book, while not revolutionary or a literary work
of genius, is a damn fine read, for both fans and enemies of Marilyn Manson.
Both groups can only benefit from better understanding a man this driven and
complex. And before the complaining starts, people should remember: this is
an autobiography about Marilyn Manson the man, not the band. Don't complain
about the focus...that's why they call it an autobiography
<p>"Traditionally on the last night of the tour the opening act
expects to
get fucked with by the main act. . . . Nine Inch Nails ambushed us and covered
us with every disgusting substance they could find backstage--flour, salsa,
Vaseline, guacamole, ketchup, baby powder. So we had to go on stage covered
in all this shit, and as we were performing five male strippers ran on stage
and started dancing. I felt like maybe this had gone too far because now they
were messing with our performance, and I didn't want the crowd to think that
I would be responsible for something so stupid.
We walked offstage ready to kick the shit out of Trent and his band to
pay them back for a joke that had gone too far, but it wasn't over. I was wearing
just a pair of leather shorts and wet socks, and we were all covered with beer,
sweat, lipstick and every backstage condiment imaginable. Before we could even
reach the safety of our dressing room, we were ambushed again and smothered
in whipped cream. A bunch of security guards grabbed us and handcuffed our hands
behind our backs, led us out the backstage door and threw us into a pickup truck.
They closed the doors and drove off, and at this
point it had gone beyond
a joke. In retrospect I'm impressed by the planning that went into it. But at
the time I was scared shitless because they drove us for half an hour. We ended
up in downtown Philly, where they pulled us off the truck and threw the keys
to the handcuffs into a trash can. They crumpled up a dollar bill, threw it
on the ground and laughed, 'That's to help you get back to the concert.
THE LONG HARD ROAD OUT OF HELL
by Marilyn Manson with Neil Strauss
AMERICA'S MOST FEARED AND REVERED CELEBRITY
REVEALS HIS LIFE STORY, PHILOSOPHY,
AND WHY PEOPLE HATE HIM FOR THE WRONG REASONS
;The only way to get out of hell is to go through all the way, to the
very bottom."
-- Marilyn Manson, from The Long hard Road Out of Hell
Marilyn Manson is America's most infamous rock star, with triple-platinum record
sales and legions of diehard fans. Controversy follows him everywhere: from
banned concerts and community protests to police arrests and Senate sub-committee
hearings -not to mention rumors of animal sacrifice, rape and devil worship.
But what is his real story? Now in The Long Hard Road Out of Hell (ReganBooks/HarperCollins;
March 1, 1998- $24.00), Marilyn Manson reveals for the first time his twisted
evolution from frightened Christian schoolboy to the self-proclaimed "All-American
Antichrist.
Even for those who have never listened to Marilyn Manson's music, his story
is as gripping as any novel, a three-part tale about an innocent boy who is
corrupted by his school experiences, friends, and the hypocritical world around
him; he becomes a rock star to exact his revenge on the world, and instead finds
himself on a downward slide of decadence and dehumanization. At the end of his
journey, he discovers himself and his humanity but there is a price to pay.
Not only has he gotten everything he wanted only to find himself still miserable,
but he has become the exact kind of monster he was once afraid of as a child.
Like Dante's Inferno, his is a tale of descent into the abyss, of corruption,
redemption, and ultimately, enlightenment.
<p>Magnificently designed, The Long Hard Road Out of Hell features illustrations
by the author and dozens of never-before-seen photographs that are as colorful
as Marilyn Manson himself It also includes portions of Manson's tour journal,
his original writings, the false documents and propaganda that circulated in
attempts to silence the band, Manson's hilarious "Rules" of
conduct,
and more.
PART I: WHEN I WAS A WORM
"It was then that I began having nightmares -- nightmares that continue
to this day. I was thoroughly terrified by the idea of the end of the world
and the Antichrist.... What if the Antichrist was me?" (Chapter 2,
page19)
Manson begins his journey in Canton, Ohio, when he was still the young and naive
Brian Warner. His paradoxical childhood "hell" included at
one extreme
his crossdressing grandfather's basement full of perverse secrets and at the
other, weekly brainwashing seminars on Armageddon and the Antichrist at his
Christian School. Typical teenage insecurity, fueled by a smothering mother
and a volatile father suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after having
sprayed Agent Orange in Vietnam, soon turned to rebellion. Mischievous pranks,
theft and later, experiments with black magic, drugs and rock music were all
part of who Brian Warner was -- and who Marilyn Manson was to become.
PART II: DEFORMOGRAPHY
"Marilyn Manson was the perfect story protagonist for a frustrated
writer
like myself. He was a character who, because of his contempt for the world around
him and, more so, himself, does everything he can to trick people into liking
him. And then, once he wins their confidence, he uses it to destroy them."
(Chapter 6, page 79)
Marilyn Manson writes about the bizarre origins of his band and its bloody,
bizarre early stage antics, despite his crippling stage fright. He reveals who
did what, when, and where -- from the South Florida rock scene to the streets
of Hollywood to the backstage of stadiums around the world. He tells revealing
stories about Fiona Apple, Traci Lords, Howard Stem, Billy Corgan, Axl Rose,
Dave Navarro and other celebrities, as well as tales of sordid post-concert
antics, drug use, and self-mutilation. In an explosive interview, he details
several bomb-shells including: his escapades during the recording of Smells
Like Children; the band's controversial tour antics with Nine Inch Nails and
Hole; and, for the first time, one member of his band's relationship with Courtney
Love. He also writes about his philosophical growth, including meetings with
Anton LaVey (who died in 1997), founder and high priest of the Church of Satan.
But before he could rise to greater heights he had to sink to the deepest depths.
PART III: HOW I GOT MY WINGS
"When the whole world wants to destroy you, every day is your last
and
every performance is yourfinal one. The Antichrist isn'tjust me, or just one
person. It's all of us, a collective state of mind that America needs to have
awakened in them. I want to wake it in them ... to make America realize they
don't have to believe in something just because they've been told it all their
lives." (Chapter 16; page 247)
The Long Hard Road Out of Hell climaxes with the drugs, paranoia, self-loathing
and self-destruction that ran rampant during the recording of Antichrist Superstar.
Manson's brief visit home to Ohio only brought full circle the feelings of judgment
and hypocrisy Manson experienced as a child, and when he returned to New Orleans,
he found his drug abuse, conflicts with Trent Reznor, and mutiny within the
band all became too much -- the band experienced a near-breakdown. But a metamorphosis
-- from nothingness and nihilism to emotion and liberation -- was near completion.
"From that point, there was nowhere to go but to the grave -- or to
become
more human. ...My weaknesses had become my strengths, my ugliness had become
beauty, my apathy to the world had become a desire to save it .... Now, more
than any other point in my life, I began to believe in myself." (Chapter
15, page 242)
Is Marilyn Manson a demonic pied piper leading the youth of America to self
destruction, as dozens of prominent politicians and religious leaders claim?
Or is he just a man who in twenty-eight years has experienced more than most
people have -- or would want to -- in a lifetime in order to spread the message
of self-confidence and self empowerment? Read The Long Hard Road Out of Hell
and decide for yourself.