The Radical

The Radical
Wyatt Allen
Outskirts Press
ISBN: 1.59800.382.8
Political Blog
Reviewed by Elizabeth Young

It is a comforting thought that as technology advances, everyone is capable of publishing everything. Gone are the days of stories limited by plot, structure, or even fact. Instead one can simply sit at a computer and let it all out. Every banal thought, every lunatic rant, every slight that has ever been felt.
In the past, this style of writing was limited to the pages of journals and diaries, only to be stumbled upon by chance and, of course, to be made fun of mercilessly at parties. Yet now, with Bloggers ending up with multi-million dollar book deals it seem that a rash of do-it-yourselfers are getting into the act and going for the most holiest of grails… Publication.
Which brings me to the book The Radical by Wyatt B. Allen. Put off at first by Allen's style of putting his entire book into list form instead of the more traditional paragraph, I began to wonder if I would be able to make it all the way through when something miraculous happened. I gave in. Yes, I simply let the ranting and raving roll over me in waves. In what Allen calls, "A Unique Look into America's Problems" we come to understand that Allen hates the government, hey, who doesn't, but what sets his particular criticism apart from all the other Socio-Political books out on the market today is the utter lack of desire to evolve his writing into some kind of point. With chapters broken down into some kind of reasoning that only Allen can understand (chapter 2 and 3 are separated by 132 pages) it is impossible not to love this man. It's like getting trapped next to a heavily medicated psychotic that doesn't attack you but instead explains in great detail how the government is creating mutant bugs that live inside his body.
His book is bathroom reading at it's finest.
Interspersed with his anger are pictures of Allen sitting in various palm trees. It is quite the transition when you make it through several pages of bile to only find a picture of Allen in quiet repose. The juxtaposition of photo and rant is only a testimony that The Radical is nothing short of insane brilliance.
The following are samples of his "work":
If you do not shit in their sewer they will make you move on.
Scroadburgers are cooked with artificial cooking lubricant.
One is lucky to find a free public toilet.
Foods are only on sale when they are rancid.
Denatured foods allow plastic pill companies to get rich.
With gems like these you are literally witnessing madness in it's most pure form.
While Allen may never become a household name in the political criticism arena it is nice to know that he is out there nonetheless spreading his ideological beliefs through the two or three people who buy his book.
Of course, that being said, he still isn't as crazy as Ann Coulter.