Devouring Institutions: The Life Work of Kathy Acker

Advance Quotes on Hardin's volume: "It is essential--particularly in these beige days through which the narratologically bland lead the narratologically bland--to explore and celebrate the brilliantly mad fictive possibility spaces Kathy Acker left behind. The essays in Devouring Institutions accomplish just that: together, they form a rich, important, multifaceted act of reminding about one of the most significant innovative writers of the last century." Lance Olsen "Devouring Institutions: The Life Work of Kathy Acker, by Michael Hardin, is, to my knowledge, the first book-length manuscript that examines thoroughly, profoundly, and scholarly the work of Kathy Acker. It will go a long way in introducing one of the most provocative, original, intellectual, and profound American writers of the late 20th century to the American reading public and the Academy. It will shatter the simplistic representation of Kathy Acker as a writer who simply wants to use profanity and pornography to shock the reader.... I think Devouring Institutions will...make an invaluable contribution to American scholarship. Professor W. Lawrence Hogue The University of Houston Devouring Institutions: The Life Work of Kathy Acker, from Hyperbole Books, an imprint of San Diego State University Press, is a must-have for scholars, students, and fans of an American 20th Century literary original: Kathy Acker. Essays by 13 authors, including Robert Mazzola, Carol Siegel, and Svetlana Mintcheva. Sections include: Writing between Madness and Paralysis; Building the Body of Desires; Attacking Language; and Post-Plagiarism. The volume includes an critical introduction by the editor and a primary and secondary bibliography of Acker's work.