In Praise of Indecency: Paul Krassner Interviewed by Carol Queen

By Staff , Carnal Nation. Posted August 6, 2009.

Paul Krassner talks about same-sex marriage, indecency, and our culture's hypocrisy about sex.

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A lot's been said and written about Paul Krassner since he founded the legendary underground newspaper The Realist in 1958. People Weekly crowned him "the father of the underground press." (He demanded a blood test.) The FBI, writing anonymously to Life Magazine, called him "a raving, unconfined nut." Groucho Marx once predicted that in time, Krassner would be "the only live Lenny Bruce."

However you describe Krassner, the history he has made and witnessed has been extraordinary. As publisher of The Realist, he targeted every form of hypocrisy available with a trademark blend of satire and journalism. He also founded the absurdist prankster group The Yippies with Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, edited Lenny Bruce's autobiography, dropped acid with Groucho, did a brief stint as editor of Hustler, and ran an underground abortion referral service for a decade before Roe v. Wade. In 2004, the ACLU gave him the Upton Sinclair Award for his commitment to freedom of expression.

Krassner's books include his autobiography, Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut and One Hand Jerking, a collection of essays. He's just published two more: Who's to Say What's Obscene? and In Praise of Indecency. Carol Queen interviewed him at the Center for Sex and Culture this month.

See more stories tagged with: same sex, sexuality, indecency, paul krassner

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Once again, the positive and negative, good and bad [Report this comment] Posted by: talkville on Aug 6, 2009 11:11 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Everything's got it; even indecency. Especially these days when powerful forces are trying to establish what is "appropriate", "acceptable", "allowed" in every place, time and circumstance and for everybody, even for everything, it seems. Of course, no society - even a balanced and dignified and just society, could conceivably function without some degree of hypocrisy -- usually this is called 'politeness', 'tact', 'sensitivity', etc. Humans simply could not relate if they were to invariably express all of what they thought or wanted to do, or felt, or whatever. It would be utopian to think otherwise; we are human, therefore fallible, until someone can bring independently verifiable evidence of any human that is infallible at all times and places. It is in these circumstances that 'indecency' can accomplish a positive rather than negative interaction with others. In any case, it is surely a valid opinion, worth taking in serious consideration. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

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