Babylon on the Spree
Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin (Expanded Edition)
This seductive sourcebook of rare visual delights from pre-Nazi, Cabaret-period “Babylon on the Spree" has the distinction of being praised both by scholars and avatars of contemporary culture, inspiring hip club-goers, filmmakers, gay historians, graphic designers, and musicians like the Dresden Dolls and Marilyn Manson.
This expanded edition includes “Sex Magic and the Occult," documenting German pagan cults and their often-bizarre erotic rituals, including instructions for entering into the “Sexual Fourth Dimension."
Review
This *is* the most comprehensive book about [[Weimar Berlin]] on the market. Full of never before seen pictures, illustrations, and information, this book is what any Deco era enthusiast needs. Mel Gordon's text is anything but dry, stuffy, or overly scholarly as these books can tend to be. No, instead, his enthusiasm and interests spill onto each page, with his tell-tale approach and overwhelming details about Pre-War Weimar Berlin's enigmatic history. If Neo-Weimar studies are your cup of tea, then this book is the "on the rocks", "straight up", cold hard shot of gin! I recommend the 5th Edition (2006 Version) hardback that includes the original 2 sections that are omitted in the first few before it. The replaced sections are wonderful and if you've seen the book before, you will be quick to notice that Gordon has added *more* pictures and has corrected the color on the illustrations and paintings. In short, Mr. Gordon's work is quite simply the *ONLY* work out there worth reading about this subject. Most shy away from the real debauchery of the era and underplay it's hedonistic proclivities, but Gordon lays it all out in this book with great panache. Gordon is a UC Berkeley professor, accomplished writer of several books, and former New York Actor's Studio alumni who can bring to life any lecture or essay with great ease. Gordon's writings and lectures are the most dead on and most effective out there on the subject. See him lecture, read his work, and keep tabs on this history agent provocateur; he is the future of our unique artistic and often risqué past. A treasure in researching circles and a great preservationist of a rich bygone era. - The Art Deco Society Of California
- Product Details
- Paperback: 300 pages
- Publisher: Feral House; Expanded edition (August 1, 2008)
- Language: English
- isbn-10: 0922915962
About the Author
Mel Gordon is Professor of Theater Arts at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of twelve books, including "The Grand Guignol," "Dada Performance," "The Stanislavsky Technique," and the Feral House titles, "Erik Jan Hanussen: Hitler's Jewish Clairvoyant" and "The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber."
External links
- Appreciating the Need for Discipline (F/F) on Tumblr
- Another photo from the same session (F/F) on Tumblr.
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