The Torture Garden
San Francisco: Re/Search Publications, 1989. 1st Edition. Quarto, publisher’s stiff illustrated paper wraps.
"Wherever he goes, whatever he does, he will always see that word: murder–immortally inscribed upon the pediment of that vast slaughterhouse–humanity." Special issue of "amateur anthropologist" V. Vale’s iconic underground punk publication, featuring French playwright and novelist Octave Mirbeau’s underground classic in English translation. Originally published in 1899 during the Dreyfus affair, the story-within-a-story is an episodic arrangement of texts from various historical epochs exploring desire, depravity and death. The successor to Vale's seminal punk zine Search & Destroy (1977–1979), which he founded while working as a clerk at San Francisco's City Light Books, Re/Search was one of the longest-running independent publications in the US. A typical issue of the book-as-periodical is predominantly composed of in-depth interviews with prominent avant-garde figures, rare photos, collaborative artwork, essays, short fiction, San Francisco cultural coverage, and other forms of esoterica. Illustrated in black-and-white with photos by Bobby Neel Adams. Issued simultaneously in hardcover and paperback (as here). Fine. Item #6688
$60.00