I Have Fun Everywhere I Go

[#1]

Mike Edison?s aptly named memoir I Have Fun Everywhere I Go bears one of the longest subtitles in recent memory: "Savage Tales of Pot, Porn, Punk Rock, Pro Wrestling, Talking Apes, Evil Bosses, Dirty Blues, American Heroes, and the Most Notorious Magazines in the World." And that?s pretty much that -- a perfectly accurate and concise description of the contents contained therein. After dropping out of NYU (where his student film, a postapocalyptic skinhead zombie punk rock musical, goes relatively unappreciated), Edison put his writing skills to use at a mom-and-pop pornographic publishing house (where Mom and Pop were two gay men), churning out novels at the rate of one or two per week. He then went on to write for the aforementioned Notorious Magazines, a list that includes Screw, Penthouse, Hustler (there?s the porn) and High Times (there?s the pot). Strangely enough, his Ivy League father seemed to regard his son?s stint at Wrestling?s Main Event -- where Edison railed against Hulk Hogan and challenged his boss to a throwdown for the title of managing editor -- as the most humiliating gig of all. The punk rockers include the Ramones, Reagan Youth, the John Spencer Blues Explosion, and GG Allin (the guy best known for bringing his fixations with blood, vomit, and defecation to unsuspecting audiences around the world). The serious side to creating general mayhem is here as well: First Amendment rights, (mostly) progressive counterculture politics, and the ways to channel fury into satire. One couldn?t hope for a funnier guide to the doped-up, rollicking good cheer of 20 years in outlaw culture.