Truth, Reality and the Punks of South Street

July 21, 2009 at 1:10 am (By Ennui)

Almost 20 years have passed since R.F. Laird (aka instapunk, man of controversy) published The Boomer Bible – a book best summarized by Glen Reynolds with characteristic brevity – “Ten thousand years from now, scholars will still be confused.”

But, heck, a lot of confusing books were published in the twentieth century, right? The difference is, or would appear to be, that Laird believes what he’s saying.

That is to say, the Boomer Bible is less an exercise in literary pyrotechnics (or literary marketing) than it is an attempt at a “total book,” a book self-consciously written (whether by the empirical R.F. Laird or by the punks of South Street) to diagnose the sickness of the twentieth century by penetrating the mystery of the whole.   And he got it right.  As he will tell you.  Personally.  With extreme prejudice.

Okay. So… (foot tapping) …. What’s the sickness of the twentieth century? 

That brings me to the occasion of this post. Laird has, for whatever reason [edit: here’s the reason – as a service to his web community], suddenly seen fit to post several parts of the back story of The Boomer Bible that may or may not shed light on the meaning of The Boomer Bible. Here’s one, touching on the distinction between truth and reality, that stands pretty nicely on its own.  Still, if you’re new to Laird’s punk mythos the first few paragraphs will seem obscure. But trust me, it’s worth a read.