Shit Magnet: One Man's Miraculous Ability to Absorb the World's Guilt

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 328 pages
• Published by: Feral House May 1, 2002
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0922915776
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0922915774
• Book Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 13.6 ounces

Reader Reviews
James Thaddeus Goad is not, in any sense, innocent. He (in reality) singlehandedly produced the "zine" that effectively put paid to the self-referential, pompous,and usually inept zine culture, basically by being so offensive to the status quo that it simply gave up in frustration. He's been a poster boy for dubious judgment, pleading guilty to an offense that anyone else would have went to trial for and won, and served nearly three years. And, yes, he did the deed: he beat the snot out of a female, a mistress who had hit, tormented, and threatened him so badly that he had had a protection order taken out against her (he did, however, continue to have wild sex with her on a daily basis). Goad says-and it's absolutely true-that had he not been a notorious, politically offensive writer, he would probably have received counseling and a small fine for the offense which could have put him away until he was old enough for Social Security. All through the convoluted and often ugly story which this book tells-and quite competently-Goad realizes he's doing the wrong thing, for the wrong reasons, at the wrong time, and in the wrong place. Yet Goad-who is obviously intelligent, driven, physically fit, and obsessively introspective-seems doomed by his own compulsion to follow a path he realizes is going to cause him serious trouble. And, it does. Goad winds up in the Oregon correctional system, one of the few in the country where whites are not a minority, and serves his time without any life-threatening incidents: boredom, frustration, and petty annoyances are the order of the day, not shankings and rape. But Goad clearly does not belong in prison, and it's clear-not just to Goad, but to any rational observer-that Goad is far more victim than perpetrator here. This book, apparently written during Goad's incarceration, is a readable narrative and, for most of us, a reminder that free speech is never really free: alienate the wrong (or right) people enough and if they get the chance to nail you, they will. Comment | | (Report this)