Adam Parfrey

Adam Parfrey
Born	April 12, 1957 New York, U.S.
Known for	Feral House
Parent(s)	Woodrow Parfrey, Rosa Ellovich

Adam Parfrey is an American journalist, editor, and the publisher of Feral House books,^[1] whose work in all three capacities frequently centers on unusual, extreme, or "forbidden" areas of knowledge.

Early History, EXIT Magazine, Amok Press and Apocalypse Culture

Parfrey left the University of California-Santa Cruz in 1979. He moved to San Francisco and began a short-lived experimental magazine, IDEA; which published two issues. He also wrote and a performed in a play about Gilles de Rais called “The Wickedest Man in the World" (1983). Later in 1983, Parfrey began work at New York City's Strand Bookstore. In 1984, with co-worker George Petros, he began EXIT Magazine.^[2] Parfrey worked with Petros for three of the six published issues.

Back in Los Angeles, Parfrey co-founded Amok Press with Kenneth Swezey in 1986. Amok's first release was an English translation of Joseph Goebbels's novel Michael.^[3](Translation by Joachim Neugroschel.) 1987 saw the release of the cult classic, Apocalypse Culture.^[4][5] Apocalypse Culture is a collection of articles, interviews, and documents that explore the various marginal aspects of culture. It has been reprinted twice; once in 1990, and again in 2001 by Parfrey's Feral House. In 2000 the sequel Apocalypse Culture II was released. The book has been widely campaigned against and has been banned in many countries.^[6] The partnership of Parfrey and Swezey as Amok published 9 books, including: You Can't Win by Jack Black,^[7] The Grand Guignol: Theatre of Fear and Terror by Mel Gordon,^[8] and Boxcar Bertha (with an Intro by Kathy Acker).^[9]

Process Media

• Adam Parfrey co-founded the independent publishing company Process Media with Jodi Wille of Dilettante Press in 2005.^[10]

Works

• Apocalypse Culture edited by Adam Parfrey (Amok Press, 1988, ISBN 0-941693-02-3)
• Rants and Incendiary Tracts edited by Bob Black and Adam Parfrey (Amok Press, 1988, ISBN 0-941693-03-1)
• The Manson File compiled by Parfrey, credited to Nikolas Schreck (Amok Press, 1988, ISBN 0-941693-04-X)
• Apocalypse Culture: Revised and Expanded edited by Adam Parfrey (Amok Press, 1990, ISBN 0-922915-05-9)
• Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. by Rudolph Grey, edited by Parfrey (Feral House, 1994, ISBN 0-922915-24-5)
• Cult Rapture: Revelations of the Apocalyptic Mind by Adam Parfrey (Feral House, 1995, ISBN 0-922915-22-9)
• End Is Near!: Visions of Apocalypse, Millennium and Utopia by Stephen Jay Gould, Roger Manley, Adam Parfrey, Dalai Lama, foreword by Rebecca Hoffberger (Dilettante Press, 1998, paperback ISBN 0-9664272-7-0, 1999, hardcover ISBN 0-9664272-6-2)
• Muerte!: Death in Mexican Popular Culture by Harvey Stafford, edited by Adam Parfrey, illustrated by J. G. Posada, photographs by the ¡Alarma! Staff (Feral House, 2000, ISBN 0-922915-59-8)
• Apocalypse Culture II edited by Adam Parfrey (Feral House, 2000, ISBN 0-922915-57-1)
• Extreme Islam: Anti-American Propaganda of Muslim Fundamentalism edited by Adam Parfrey, introduction by Tamim Ansary (Feral House, 2002, ISBN 0-922915-78-4)
• Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs by Brendan Mullen, Adam Parfrey, and Don Bolles (Feral House, 2002, ISBN 0-922915-70-9)
• It's a Man's World: Men's Adventure Magazines - the Postwar Pulps edited by Adam Parfrey, material by Josh Alan Friedman, Mort Künstler, David Saunders, Bill Devine (Feral House, 2003, ISBN 0-922915-81-4)
• War Is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General by Smedley D. Butler, with introduction by Adam Parfrey (reprinted in 2003 by Feral House, ISBN 0-922915-86-5)
• Two Thousand Formulas, Recipes, and Trade Secrets: The Classic Do-It-Yourself Book of Practical Everyday Chemistry by Harry Bennett, Adam Parfrey (Feral House, 2003, ISBN 0-922915-95-4)
• SIN-A-RAMA: Sleaze Sex Paperbacks of the Sixties by Britany A. Daley, Adam Parfrey and Lydia Lunch (Feral House, 2004, ISBN 1-932595-05-8)
• Ritual America: Secret Brotherhoods and Their Influence on American Society, A Visual Guide by Adam Parfrey, Craig Heinbichner (Feral House, 2012)
• Secret Source by Maja D'Aoust, Adam Parfrey, Jodi Wille (Feral House, 2007, ISBN 978-1-934170-07-6)
• Propaganda and Holy Writ of the Process Church of the Final Judgement (Feral House, 2011)

Awards

• Winner: Independent Publisher Awards Best History Book of 2012 Silver Medal: Ritual America: Secret Brotherhoods and Their Influence on America Society by Adam Parfrey, and Craig Heimbichner^[11]

Recordings

• S.W.A.T. - Deep Inside a Cop's Mind: The Soundtrack for the Next Police State (Audio CD, 1994, Label: Amphetamine Reptile Records)^[12]
• A Sordid Evening of Sonic Sorrows (Audio CD, 1997, Man's Ruin Records MR-066)^[13]
• He has also collaborated with Boyd Rice on his album Hatesville.^[14]
• Plays the voice of Lord Jehova in the reading of The Gods on War with Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (The Lord Lucifer), Lydia Lunch (The Lord Satan) and Timothy Wyllie (Transcendence).^[15]

Film

• Parfrey had a part in Crispin Glover's What Is It?.^[16]
• He published and edited Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr., which was the credited source for the Tim Burton film, Ed Wood.^[16]
• He also published American Hardcore, the credited source for the feature-length documentary of the same name.^[17]
• He published Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground, credited source for the narrative feature directed by Sion Sono. He also co-wrote the film's screenplay.^[18]

Writings

• Parfrey wrote cover stories and feature articles for the Village Voice, San Diego Reader, Penthouse and Hustler magazines.
• Between 1990 and 1994 Parfrey wrote the weekly column "HelL.A." for the San Diego Reader.
• See books written in works above

References

1. "About Us". Feral House Books. Archived from the original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
2. "EXIT Magazine". exitmagazine.net.
3. "Amazon.com: Michael: A Novel (9780941693004): Joseph Goebbels, Joachim Neugroschel: Books". amazon.com.
4. Apocalypse Culture, A. Parfrey (ed.) (Ekaterinburg: Ultra.Kultura), 2005. ISBN 0-922915-05-9
5. "amok books". amokbooks.com.
6. "Apocalypse Culture". streettech.com.
7. "You Can't Win: The Autobiography of Jack Black: Jack Black: 9780941693073: Amazon.com: Books". amazon.com.
8. "Amazon.com: Grand Guignol: Theatre of Fear and Terror (9780941693080): Mel Gordon: Books". amazon.com.
9. "Boxcar Bertha: An Autobiography, As Told to Dr. Ben L. Reitman: Box-Car Bertha, Ben L. Reitman, Kathy Acker, Roger A. Bruns: 9780941693066: Amazon.com: Books". amazon.com.
10. "Process Media – Independent Book Publisher". processmediainc.com.
11. "Independent Publisher: THE Voice of the Independent Publishing Industry". Independent Publisher - feature.
12. Rev. Keith A. Gordon. "Deep Inside a Cop's Mind". AllMusic.
13. Al Campbell. "A Sordid Evening of Sonic Sorrows". AllMusic.
14. "Boyd Rice". boydrice.com.
15. "The Gods on War". Feral House.
16. Agent10 (27 January 2005). "What Is It? (2005)". IMDb.
17. Tecun_Uman (22 September 2006). "American Hardcore (2006)". IMDb.
18. "Official site for Sion Sono’s Lords Of Chaos". IMDb.

External links

• Adam Parfrey. Interview(in Russian)
• adam parfrey at Disinformation, biographical sketch with quite a few links.
• Feral House's website
• Adam Parfrey biography
• Interview with Adam Parfrey at Plaza of the Mind
• "Is the Internet Good for Writers?"
• US publisher defends Brady book: BBC News
• Salon.com profile of Adam Parfrey
• Reason.com "Publishing's Feral Child"
• Mongrel Patriot Review "Feral House publisher, writer, and filmmaker Adam Parfrey"
• Seattle Weekly "For Adam Parfrey publishing the Unabomers book is all in a day's work"
• LA Times "The Publisher as Provocateur"
• LA Times "Turning Taboo into Titles"
• LA Times "No Holds Barred"
• Huffington Post "Is Adam Parfrey really the most dangerous publisher in America?"
• Adam Parfrey IMDB page