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Summary: A journey through the American social experiment
Review: Heard takes us on an enjoyable tour through the underbelly of the slightly strange, definitely fringe and just plain wacko groups that exist in the USA. Each chapter covers a small number of religious, futurist, political and other groups which defy categorization, along with some relevant history. This isn't a mainstream treatment of the topic - the author does his best to get inside each group and provide some real background. I enjoyed his tolerant yet skeptical attitude, which lets the reader attempt to understand each group from within, rather than an automatic dismissal of their worldview.The book stands as a testament to those outside the mainstream. Alternatively very funny and very sad, it's well worth reading in order to better understand the fringes of the great social experiment in this country.
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Summary: Long-time Heard fan sez latest work is boffo!!
Review: Heard's career has reached a new zenith with this outstanding tome. His lacerating wit and devastating satire destroys the "school board member mentality" of various big city washouts and others unable to cut it in the real world. From Heard's college days at Vanderbilt, he has shown the wry wit that makes this a great read from start to finish. His ability to make us take notice of the everyday bufoons should delight readers everywhere.
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Summary: A "Must-Read" for inquiring minds w/ a sense of humor
Review: How this really informative, well written and highly entertaining book missed being a best-seller is beyond me! We've loaned our copy to several friends who then bought a copy for themselves, and we've ordered additional copies for several others. I've read it over at least three times. If you enjoy excellent writing about off-beat characters you will love this book!
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Summary: Vibrant, humorous and even scary, from a master.
Review: I agree with John Gurley that Alex Heard is one of America's great literary treasures. From his piercing essays in NEW REPUBLIC to his adventurous musings in OUTSIDE, to his hilarious rantings in The Washington Post Magazine and The New York Times, to his investigative skewering of Washington bigshots like Kent Wells, Heard has never failed to impress. Once again, in APOCALYPSE PRETTY SOON, Alex Heard is "everyman."
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Summary: Don't miss this book!
Review: I first discovered Heard through his Washington Post Magazine column, Out There, which appeared in the mid-80s. What a joy to find an entire book by this splendidly funny writer! This is the kind of book that could easily have failed in the hands of a less talented author, but Heard takes no cheap shots. He's an intrepid investigative reporter who, in one fascinating chapter, sincerely tries to have an out of body experience and contact the spirit of his late father. Some of the people he finds are charlatans, while he has a lot of respect for others he encounters during his journeys. My personal favorite part of the book was where he interviews the author of "If They Can Keep A Severed Head Alive." Buy this book and you are in for a real treat!
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Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: I found this inside travelogue of millennialist groups fascinating and entertaining. Heard's humor and personality also kept me involved in the book to its end. In some cases, I learned about groups I'd never heard of, but in all cases I was given some food for thought.
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Summary: Fun, Fascinating and Frightening: Who Could Ask For More?
Review: I picked up this book on a lark. What a treat it turned out to be. What makes it so memorable is the author's very funny (but very fair) first person encounters with the various weirdos, hardcore dreamers, eccentrics, alarmists and madmen/women who leap off the pages. I loved this book and can recommend it to anyone; from those wondering what all this Y2K fuss is about, to those stockpiling food and weapons in preparation for the upcoming end of the world.
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Summary: Well-written, amazing and highly entertaining!
Review: If this book doesn't land on the best-seller list there's no justice! My husband and I have been in a tug of war over it for the past several days (ever since I, having first discovered it, made the mistake of reading a few especially hilarious passages aloud to him). Heard's writing style is marvelous, and he relates his encounters with the book's incredible real-life cast of characters in such a way that the reader has the feeling of being right there, along for the (usually hilarious) ride. I was impressed with the author's fairness, wit, perseverance and writing ability. I loved this book so much that I hated for it to end, but I will revisit it more than once, and I am already recommending it heartily to all my friends. If I could afford to, I'd buy them all a copy!
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Summary: Can't beat it
Review: If you read one book this year, make sure it's APS (as devotees call it). It's by turns funny, scary, profound, and friendly. For people spooked by the prospect of three zeroes in the year, this is the ultimate primer. Many people already know of Heard's genius from his oeuvre in the New Republic, New York Times, Washington Post, Outside, and Mademoiselle, among other pubs. But this book puts Heard on the map for all to see. Buy cases of this thing and send it to all your friends. Make this a best seller! That must be our mission as we lurch toward the new mill!
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Summary: Don't miss this book!
Review: In good workmanlike prose, and showing a great deal of sympathy for his subjects, Heard tells us the stories of a number of people who believe odd things. Roughly eight different kinds of odd things, only very loosely held together by the theme of "Apocalypse". "Apocalypse" is an ambiguous word, and the selection of odd beliefs in "Apocalypse Pretty Soon" plays on that ambiguity. There's no obvious tie between the folks who believe that Aliens will soon descend to Earth and give us enlightenment and cool technology, the supplement-megadose folks who believe that with the right pills they can live a real long time, and the Out of Body Experience folks who believe in astral travel. Heard gives us a few insights into (or guesses about) their characters that suggest some reasons people might believe these odd things, but he draws no general lessons and comes to no general conclusion. It's an easy and enjoyable read, about some interesting people. It doesn't go beyond the anecdotes, and for that reason left me somewhat unsatisfied, but it's by no means a bad book.
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