SUSAN ATKINS--Persona Non Grata, 46000 Geddes Road #86, Canton MI, 48188. 64 pp., $4.95. This is a novella which looks like a chapbook, composed of nineteen sections and a variety of writing styles and techniques; from courtroom entries to journal entries, from scatological ravings to bizarre sexual fantasies, from play scripts to multiple choice quizzes, from nihilism to exploitation, and all of the paths and layers and levels which pile-up and cross the weird landscape of Nimmo's making. This is indeed an eclectic montage of exuberance and eccentricity. A fable built of the boldest name-saying where movie stars, murders, politicians, and princesses rub body parts and fantasies across our minds. The central icon of this fantastic delirium is Susan Atkins, Charlie Manson's Femme Fatale, murderer turned convict, and idolized sexual object. This is pop-cultural sensationalism at its finest, you couldn't have this much fun with a ten foot stack of National Enquirers. Kurt Nimmo's ability to transpose cultural images and unexpected atrocious behavior creates a fertile ground for epiphany. Once again, this is Nimmo at his best,--not for the weak-of-heart or close-minded.--R.R. Lee Etzwiler
This review originally appeared in TapRoot Reviews #2,
Contact the editor, luigi-bob drake, at Burning Press
Copyright Burning Press 1993, 1995.