Amok Fifth Dispatch: Sourcebook for the Extremes of Information

This book is an amazing catalog of information, every page is chock full of information on every publication listed. I find myself reading the item descriptions as much as the publications themselves. You're jaw will drop as often as you'll laugh at the authors descriptions.

This book will point you in the right direction for info on just about any outre topic you can think of. Serial killers, political movements, conspiracy theories, forensic pathology, parapsychology, you name it this book has it. Impress your friends with you new-found esoteric knowledge.

I fine collection of fringe reading material. I definitely recommend this as a guide to people searching for something "different" to read.

Before the internet, there was the Amok Dispatch. Amok Books and Press is a California bookstore/publisher specializing in titles on almost everything from the extremes and at the fringes of conventional society. Back in the 1980s-90s, no self-respecting conspiracy theorist, exoticist, fetishist, or political extremist (or those who swore their allegiance to a whole host of other "isms," for that matter) would be without this catalog on their shelves. Grouped by chapters entitled Control, Exotica, Mayhem, Natas, Neuropolitics, Orgone, R&D, Parallax, Pulps and so on, the Amok Dispatch highlighted a plethora of books and topics one could only find here and there, if at all. Everything from fin-de-siecle literary decadence to cyberpunk, Wilhelm Reich and Tesla, volumes on Freemasonry, Satanism, and all things occult, pornography and alternative sexuality, titles about/for/by fascists, nazis and all sorts of anarcho-whatevers, etc. (Get the picture?) Included at the back of the Dispatch were indices for both titles and publishers (mail-order addresses included). These indices alone made the Amok Dispatch worth having. I still have my Amok Fourth Dispatch; it's a handy guide, even in this day and age.

OK right off the bat, not all of this stuff is really meaningful - much of it, in fact, is downright silly. HOWEVER, I've not seen such a collection of fringe thinking anywhere else. You want the latest in Orgone energy, improvised home protection or more about who could have shot Kennedy other than Oswald... well, look no further. The drawback is the fact that so much of this material is the product of rather childlike thinkers. Which has it's drawbacks. I've never ordered from them, but I've been a fan for about 2 decades.

The editors are not consistent with being "extreme". This is a commercial lie. I was aware that this is just a catalogue of books, but they don't even include the publishing dates for each of the books in the bibliographies, trying to make them look current, recent editions. Bad , unprofessional, dishonest selling technique. Then, for instance, they consider Rigoberta Menchu's autobiography as "extreme information"???? Why? Because she's a Guatemalan indian? Come on! In which world does the editor live? In a whitie burgeoise American suburban one? Then how can he edit a "sourcebook of extreme information"?? He just wants to sell, and his anarchy is sweetened and cheap, lazy compilation of back covers reviews. Not worth the 23 dollars I paid for it.

While I knew this book would be a good addition to my collection, I didn't see why a book of 'other books' would be so interesting. I thought I knew most extreme publications but boy was I wrong. This book is great! After sitting on my table for two days, I picked it up and didn't put it down for over an hour. I cross-referenced online to mark the things I wanted (which unfortunately include some $100+ books) and couldn't be more excited. It describes the books and for some, where you may try to order them. There are also great pictures taken from some of the books described. It's difficult to know what's out there when all you have for resources are a couple of friends that share your interest and the internet, which is vastly improved from trying to find info years prior, but you still need to know where to look...but this book has it all. It's an enormous book with an extensive amount of information and resources. Even if you don't go out and try to find/collect the books cataloged, interestingly enough, just owning this book by itself is fun enough. Buy this book!

What I find most refreshing about the Amok Catalog is that they place no moral judgement on the books they feature. Right-wing and left-wing diatribes find space along David Cassidy autobiographies and Lypsinka coloring books. This catalog features many fascinating and knowledgeable essays. Since their mail-order system is no longer, it's suggested that the reader use this book as a source for extremes in art, knowledge and arcana.