Confessions of a Failed Egoist: and Other Essays

Explication, rumination and fulmination from Portland author Trevor Blake. Sixteen selections range from a critique of Objectivism to the career of filmmaker Nabil Shaban (focusing on The Skin Horse, a documentary on the sex lives of cripples). In addition there is a history and usage of Multiple Names (popular from obscure art movements like Neoism to common folk mythologies), a biographical sketch of Baltimore native and mutant tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE, among other topics. Putting the “I” in “history”, the author touches on a cultural history of Egoism, a personal “trajectory” through Anarchism, and his personal shift on 9/11 are also detailed herein.

“Confessions of a Failed Egoist is somewhere at the crossroads between The Satanic Bible and Prometheus Rising. Everything you know is wrong, but don’t worry: It’s just the punchline to the great epistemic joke. Blake’s book is a throwback to the days of H.L. Mencken mercilessly skewering sacred cows on the left and right, while firmly rooted in our present day victimology industry conundrums. Blake’s book provides inspiration for thought. Bring it up at your next boring work party and scare your colleagues.” -Nick Pell