Title: Etiquette for Outlaws Author: Rob Cohen and David Wollock Publisher: Harper Entertainment Publish Date: 2001 Pages: 302 Genres:: Humor,Reviewer: Chris R. Morgan

Rating:

Etiquette for Outlaws seems like quite the oxymoron. But in these days of shameless displays of unbridled irony, we take what we can get. Etiquette revels in all sorts of vicious tomfoolery in order to transform an amateur into a seasoned professional of perversion, among other things. This thick guide, authored by two former DIY publishers, one of a poetry journal, the other of a hiphop rag, now working as freelancers, offers breakdowns of anything and everything that will allow one who truly wants to defy some type of norm. If you want to be a porn star on your own terms, they have the answers. If you want to commit suicide, look mo further than these two for the editing of your note. 

What this book reminds me of, which is something that only a magazine employee/junkie can really notice is one of those more explicit service magazines that offers easy, accurate breakdowns of how to live the best lifestyle possible. However, the difference here is that magazines like POV or GQ are more into instructing readers on how best to dress for work or how to prepare the most exquisite cocktails, they're not often directing a reader on how to dress for a fetish party. But linguistically, the book hardly strays from modern journalistic style with its point-by-point delivery, prose brimming with that ranges from mordant to lowbrow and concise organization. Indeed, Cohen and Wollock have put together an exhaustive anthology of all one needs to know to be, at the very least, kind of weird.

There is only one problem, by the time the book was published, Vice magazine had already been publishing guides to the subversive in its pages in a style that was in itself devilishly subversive, not to mention for free. Cohen and Wollock doubtless get points for their extensive information gathering and packaging, however, the vibe that it gives off seems only to attract those who are trying too hard to be outlandish, or those who merely find it funny as opposed to funny and enlightening. Plus committing suicide doesn't require a whole lot of thought, such has been my experience, which isn't saying much really.