TSOG: The Thing That Ate the Constitution

Rating:
Summary: RAW Redundancy
Review: In TSOG: The Thing That Ate the Constitution, an array of dimensionally challenged simians eating away at what remains of our freedom are aptly exposed. Robert Anton Wilson takes on radically illogical feminists, Faith Based Organizations, The Piss Police, CSICOPS, Bushware 2.0 and other elements of the Tsarist Occupation Government at large using his scientifically grounded wit and cannabis inspired candor to do so. Yet, sad to say, there is evidence of the author's non-Aristotelian amnesia throughout much of this tome. He makes us endure a slightly modified rehash of the Banco Ambrosiano scandal, his perpetual Korzybskian inspired inculcations, boasts of being BS (belief system)free (which is a belief system in itself), the use of different calendar systems simultaneously and many other shop worn intrigues readily found in his Cosmic Trigger trilogy and elsewhere. The same Modernist cast of characters in the form of James Joyce, Ezra Pound, et. al. are brought into the Wilsonian center ring, once again for our Cubist perusal. In spite of these familiar rondos, I do recommend, highly, that first timers check TSOG out in hopes that it will serve to inspire further delving into RAW books such as Coincidence, The New Inquisition and Prometheus Rising. For those already in and/or approximating the know however, TSOG may serve as a reminder that the author may be, pardon the pun, past his E-Prime in some but not all ways. Such an observation is sure to offend some Wilson fans who tend to regard him as infallibly sacrosanct because of his supposed ability to neurologically dodge definition (resulting in a kind of implicate and petrified skepticism). However, I'm sure the author has more quantum surprises up his non-local sleeve to fulfill his contractual obligations and this reviewer will continue to read him in hopes that something refreshing and transformative, in a relatively consistent way, comes forth from his pen.

Jaye Beldo: [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Required Reading for all those who wish to be Sane
Review: This I must say is the perfect book if you don't know Robert Anton Wilson. This was my first reading of RAW and I'm already adding everything the man ever wrote to my wish list. From citing great minds and not so great minds through the ages to his own neologisms involving Bush as Gush and Gore as Bore this book oozes humor and truth. SAVE THE EARTH, IT'S THE ONLY PLANET WITH CHOCOLATE!

Buy it. It's an instant top-10 for me and I have read a LOT of books.

Rating:
Summary: Covers usual range of fascinating, slightly off-beat topics
Review: TSOG, which stands for Tsarist Occupational Government, is Wilson's term for the take-over Bush Co. has assumed over the United States of America with a Tsarist-style dictatorship, however he does note the basically interchangeable nature of 'Bore and Gush'.

Wilson opens with a touching and maddening description of the state of his body thanks to post-polio syndrome and the current TSOG in America, though his mind remains as sharp as ever. He comments on the inhumane intervention of the federal government regarding the only thing that relives his otherwise constant pain: marijuana; the state of California having already declared it legal for medicinal use, and the direct effects on the condition of his health as a result of their illegal ruling.

Wilson covers his usual range of fascinating, slightly off-beat topics, ranging from conspiracy theories, the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, religion, marijuana and the war on some drugs, and furthers his philosophy of 'Maybe Logic' (a brilliant DVD of the same name was [finally] released in the summer of 2003).

Interspersed are also clever line drawings by the author, poignant, satirical, and yet another reminder that Wilson is talented in so many respects. The bits of visual art that pepper his work are rarely mentioned, but in my opinion they should to be: he's pretty damn good.

However, TSOG doesn't seem to contain the usual amount of personal stories and accounts usually found in many of the previous RAW books that made them so cleverly inspiring and entertaining. Or perhaps it is that TSOG is mostly comprised of quotations, news articles, statistics and other bits gathered from websites and outside sources rather than purely written (or typed as the case may be) in his own hand.

Yet, as always, Wilson continues to provide the reader with intelligent thought and inspire delineations off toward the beaten path. Though TSOG doesn't compare as favourably with his previous works, his fans will likely enjoy it anyway.