Notes From Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture (Zinester's Guide) Paperback – July 15, 2008

This book is a must-read for all art students and should also prove helpful to students of journalism and other fields. It offers an excellent insight into the whys and hows of zines while also maintaining a critical perspective. If you don't know what a zine is, you will find out. If you do know, you will get a deeper understanding of the history of zines and what they have morphed into since their heyday.Zines reflect what happens when anyone can publish. Much as we might like to believe that this is the answer to corporate news and other canned information, zines turn out to me more personal expression and less a matter of getting you better news than the big agencies. But, that said, they offer just about every perspective conceivable. And, for those self-publishers who stick with them, they can be the beginnings of projects that allow them to find a productive, creative place in society. Of course, some will keep doing zines forever and a day. Whether zines or a "real job" become one's destiny, zines still serve as a forum for dissent and dissemination. And they and the people behind them are worth knowing about.

This is a classic text on zines that I have cited many times in my own research on zines

underground culture born out of opposition to the mainstream media of the comsumer culture and the alienation caused by the whole capitalist culture is analysed in Duncombe's book in great detail.The making of it,the meaning of it and the paradoxes and drawbacks it has are all introduced.pros and cons well defined.Duncombe also draw the limits of the underground scene.I agree with his pessimisim about fanzine writers doing nothing more than just being politics by themselves.[what i mean is fanzine writers dont need to take political action as making a fanzine is keeping them busy (mind and time)]What is most successful about this book is he didnt just write about the world of fanzines but explored through the social/economic/political structure of the USA. As a political science student and a fanzine writer i share his views concerning the new world order as an everchanging,imposing and even assimilating fact.(is it new?)Well, i really liked the book even though at times i felt like he is repeating all again well i guess this happens when explaining such complex things (as economic,olitical things not fanzines) Elif Ozgen

An interesting overview of various zines, but there seemed to be something lacking from it... I'm not exactly sure what. Though I must agree with those that say that they were tempted to do a zine after reading _Notes From the Underground_, I'm sure that there are enough crappy zines with out my contribution. It is, however an excellent general resource, if you are doing research or are interested in zines from a sociological perspective. It seems suprisingly academic for its subject. However, I think that reading zines is a much better idea then reading about zines. The best part about the book was the pulled pages from other zines, but that is just my visually-stimulated, short-attention-spanned opinion...

An outdated prescriptive tale that reduces the beauty of zines and the people who make them into a homogeneous group who are slaves to the culture of alternative-cool. Don't let anyone tell you that you are not cool/underground/nerd/loser enough to make zines. Zine makers are anyone.

Cool book that inspires as well as informs.

amazing book

Me interesa mucho el mundo de los fanzines y cómo se hacen. Este es otro de esos libros cuyo autor proviene de un sector determinado (el de la música en este caso, punk para ser exactos) y por tanto tiende a hablar más de los fanzines que le interesan. De todos modos, recoge muchísimos testimonios de autores de fanzines, y es ahí donde reside el interés máximo de este ensayo. Recomendable para incondicionales de los fanzines que quiera profundizar en este mundillo.El idioma es una pequeña barrera, ya que el argot sale a borbotones, pero obviando esta dificultad, se lee bien.

The book is a very interesting view on the fanzine world. The product is in very good conditions and shipping good.