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Rating: 
Summary: From Thirst for Annihilation to After the Orgy
Review: A both refreshing and intoxicating read; however, it must be read along with texts which open new landscapes of theoretical studies for Pettman's work; a possible list sprawling through Thirst for Annihilation (Nick Land), ATP (D&G), Seduction and Transparency of Evil (Baudrillard), CCRU's online texts, Maunel de Landa's works, Stelarc, cold-me.net web-archive, David Cook and even trash essays by Krokers, etc.
Rating: 
Summary: A mixed bag... fascinating juvenalia
Review: A both refreshing and intoxicating read; however, it must be read along with the texts opening new landscapes of theoretical studies for Pettman's work; a possible list sprawling through Thirst for Annihilation (Nick Land), ATP (D&G), Seduction and Transparency of Evil (Baudrillard), CCRU's online texts (ccru.net), Maunel de Landa's works, Stelarc, Cold Me (cold-me.net), David Cook and even trash Y2K pieces Krokers, etc.
Rating:
Summary: A mixed bag... fascinating juvenalia
Review: After reading several theoretical and lay books on millenarian movements, I read this book with much (though not orgiastic) anticipation. Although I appreciated the author's whirlwind tour of contemporary apocalyptic subcultures, I was frustrated by his reductionistic label/theory of "Libidinal Millenarianism." Does the author believe he can crunch his fellow human beings' private longings, religious beliefs, frustrations, and individual poltical ideologies into a facile theory? This theoretical framework reminds me of the sociologist Christopher Lasch's final book "Revolt of the Elites"- the academic tyranny of squeezing human beings into abstract theory. As this writer matures, I hope his view deepens beyond the academy. Instead of Baudrillard and Bataille, try Havel and Michnik.
After surviving a draconian communist regime in Slovakia, I am hypersensitive to sweeping intellectual grandstanding. I prefer the author's subtext as tour guide to contemporary culture. In addition, I am annoyed by the author's ad hominum attack on previous negative reviews. The first negative review was reasonably crtical, the second negative review was mean-spirited. Welcome to the democracy wall a.k.a. amazon.com reviews! Please don't try to censor your readers.
Furthermore, the author wrote about "lobbing bombs from behind bunkers."
Actually, you would lob them from inside a bunker, right? If I were the author's professor I would ask him to spend time rewriting that poorly written, paranoid, hysterical review.
Rating:
Summary: Exhaustingly Fun
Review: Dominic Pettman's book provides a well written and original insight into the social workings of our world today. It is a necessary book for anyone wanting to keep a finger on the pulse of the rapidly changing world we live in. It uncovers the true meaning behind social interaction in the post millenial world and identifies cause and effect. One of the best non fiction books I have ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: Enough Already!
Review: I must admit the first bad review had me worried for a moment, but the timing and the language made me suspect that this "review" was one of those rare disgruntled students who wish to take their teacher down in public. The genuine rush of postive reviews in response to this malicious posting were not - as this anonymous reader insists - composed by myself. I don't mind putting my own name to my opinions, and I don't need to hide behind bunkers and lob bombs to pass the time. And now this second so-called review really gives the game away, referring to my behaviour as typical for a "Pettman" etc. Clearly this is a personal vendetta.
Rating: 
Summary: orgiastic reading
Review: One of the great things about this book is that is manages to illuminate things that you see in the media everyday, think "that's strange," but can't quite put your finger on what's going on. This book deals with weird cults, millenial anxieties, apocalyptic movies, and the technophobic atmosphere of the early 21st century. As the blurb says "I listened to a fine storyteller interpret and draw attention to important practices taking place at the present."
Recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: I, Pretentious
Review: Reading Dominic Pettman's book is indeed an orgiastic experience. Its effect, however, is quite the opposite: instead of leaving its reader in a post-orgiastic void, this book propels them into a whole new world with their eyes wide open, where lots of things suddenly make sense, and where reading and decoding one's cultural environment becomes irresistibly seductive. This is not an instance of postmodernism gone mad. Pettman's approach is highly competent and coherent but nevertheless goes with the pulse of its subject. Apocalypse is not treated as a concept to be defined or delimited in this work. It is rather an angle from which the most influential discourses of the 20th century become apparent. Navigating along this thread, Pettman walks his reader through contemporary discourses, explores and gently shakes contradictory structures until they fall into place. The book constantly de-masks cultural as well as academic assumptions which have come to be accepted as a given and never ceases to amaze its reader. In terms of language, it is a pure pleasure reading this text. Few people write in such an exciting style without losing any of the quality of their argument. It is impossible to put this book away. Despite its theoretic content, it reads very fluently and is indeed an amazing experience - This man knows how to tell a story!
Rating:
Summary: It's the end of the world, as we know it.
Review: This book is unique in its ability to make the readers aware of phenomena that were so far nameless. We have all probably noticed how the western culture is saturated with a paradoxical apocalyptic discourse: we keep anticipating "the end", or "the climax" and this anticipation is both exciting and frightening. Pettman coins the term "Libidinal Millenarianism" to explain many apocalyptic cultural phenomena ranging from rave cultures, to cyberpunk and millennial prophecies of panic and hysteria. We all remember how exciting and frightening it was to think that the zero hour of the new millennium will paralyze all of our computer systems and leave our civilization in danger. We all remember how it felt when that did not happen. However, this libidinal apocalyptic discourse does not belong exclusively to the twentieth century. With a trusting hand, Pettman is taking his readers in a fascinating time travel through history and theory in order to show that libidinal Millenarianism has always been part of culture, and will probably continue to be. This is what makes this book especially relevant to our postmillennial times. The sheer theoretical background of the book makes it an excellent study book for cultural studies, but it could also be read as prose. Its sweeping style makes you consume every word and keep wanting for more. In an apocalyptic way I may say that after the climax of reading this book, I am left with a new anticipation for Pettman's next publication. Highly recommended!
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