Who's to Say What's Obscene?

These are times of authoritarianism, war, and recession, and the more bad news there is, the more need there is for humor and irreverence to be directed toward the authorities calling the shots. In the spirit of Lenny Bruce and George Carlin, Paul Krassner presents satirical critiques of contemporary issues. The title, Who’s to Say What’s Obscene?, grabs the interest of a potential reader, and the subtitle, Politics, Culture and Comedy in America Today, explains what to expect. While the book’s focus is our current moment, cultural references from the 1960s to the present broaden the market appeal from 18-year-olds to folks in their 60s. Krassner’s public profile continues to grow. He has had standing-room only appearances at bookstore readings in New York, Chicago and Seattle, and at book festivals where he has been invited as a speaker and a panelist, from Los Angeles, to Sydney, Australia. He’s also appeared in recent documentaries such as The United States vs. John Lennon” and The Aristocrats, as well as a four-part series about the sexual revolution on VH1 and a six-part series about humor and comedy scheduled to be telecast on PBS in January 2009. Krassner’s articles have been published in Rolling Stone, Spin, Playboy, Penthouse, Mother Jones, Nation, National Lampoon, Utne Reader, and Village Voice. He’s also a stand-up comic. A feature about him is forthcoming in GQ, and an Associated Press profile about him will be syndicated in July 2008.