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Title details for Hella Nation by Evan Wright - Available

Hella Nation

Looking for Happy Meals in Kandahar, Rocking the Side Pipe, Wingnut's War Against the GAP, and Other Adventures with the Totally Lost Tribes of America

by Evan Wright
Paul Boehmer
Audiobook
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From his work as a reporter at Hustler magazine to his National Magazine Award—winning writing for Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair, Evan Wright has always had an affinity for outsiders—what he calls "the lost tribes of America." The previously published pieces in this collection chart a deeply personal journey, beginning with his stark but sympathetic portrayals of sex workers in Porn Valley, through his raw portrait of a Hollywood überagent—turned—war documentarian and hero of America's far right. Along the way, Wright encounters runaway teens earning corporate dollars as skateboard pitchmen; radical anarchists plotting the overthrow of corporate America; and young American troops on the hunt for terrorists in the combat zones of the Middle East. His subjects are people for whom the American dream is either just out of grasp or something they've chosen to reject altogether. Sometimes frightening, usually profane, and often darkly comic, Hella Nation is Evan Wright's meticulously observed tour of the jagged edges of all those other Americas hiding in plain sight amid the nation's malls and gated communities. This collection also includes an all-new, autobiographical introductory essay by the author.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 28, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781400192304
      • File size: 408627 KB
      • Duration: 14:11:18

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 2, 2009
      Rolling Stone writer Wright (Generation Kill
      ), offers 12 tales of outsiders, people more or less living off the grid in mainstream America. He profiles, for example, a member of Delta Company in Kandahar in southeastern Afghanistan dueling with the Taliban; a fun-loving regular at a dance hall; a committed local anarchist engaging in street theater at a global trade conference; a pastor of the Aryan Nation preaching against the evils of blacks and Jews and other nonwhite “mud people”; and two HIV-infected former porn stars. As a former editor of Hustler
      magazine, Wright recognizes the magic in Seth Warshavsky, a con man with a mind full of schemes in the porn world of bartered desire. There is some top-drawer writing among weaker essays, but the total effect reflects a literary rebel who wants to break convention.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Just as Evan Wright attempts to deliver a level-handed representation of his subjects, so too must Paul Boehmer provide fair vocal representation of the many rogues in this production. Wright's collection of essays reveals a great range of America's lesser-known but still intriguing citizenry, including former porn stars with HIV, hardcore skateboarders, and white supremacist preachers. Boehmer must balance the straightforward prose with the more colorful characters and quotes herein. His narrative delivery is solid and consistent, with enough inflection to keep listeners engaged. Boehmer juggles Wright's subjects impressively without evoking clichés and stereotypes. L.E. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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