The Long Hard Road Out of Hell

I’ve been a fan of Manson since I was young. I saw him live in Houston when I was 14. I actually read this book in middle school (which I had absolutely no business doing) but obviously can’t remember anything as I couldn’t comprehend it at such a young age. I’m 23 now and finished this book in a day. I knew going in that it would be, as his entire life and career has been, controversial. There were definitely a few moments that left me repulsed and kind of shifted my thoughts towards him. However, it has been proven that this book is HIGHLY exaggerated and most of the outrageous stories and statements are not true. Manson is incredibly intelligent and articulate and most of this read was very interesting, philosophical, and informative. It showcases not only the highs, but the very lows of his personal life and the beginning of his career. It was occasionally humorous, almost always dark, and featured many different types of art, poems, and even interviews. It was one of his short stories that actually bothered me the most. I would love for him to write another book, as no doubt this was published through the lens of his drug addicted youth where a lot of mistakes were made, but again, a lot has been fabricated. Not to say he didn’t screw up his life later down the line either, but it seems currently, in 2024, he has sobered up and is doing much better. I actually adore his most recent single. I’d love to read more from him. The one thing I didn’t enjoy was how abruptly this book ended. I definitely preferred the first half discussing his childhood into college and meeting the spooky kids versus the vile recollections of his time spent on two tours, with Trent Reznor, and finishing with the procrastinated release of Antichrist superstar. Overall, a fantastic read with just a few very questionable scenes that were no doubt exaggerated or falsified. His touring with Reznor was fueled by heavy drug use, accompanying his already immoral character but that was just simply my least favorite section. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it.

Marilyn Manson will always remind me of that deep well of imaginative, fantastical nonsense that is the collective mind of christian fundamentalists. As someone born in the early 90's, he was the guy the older kids were warned about by the well-meaning-if-zealously-nonsensical spokespeople of my various local congregations. Warnings that filtered down to us. He sacrifices animals onstage Made a pact with the devil Worst of all; he is a homosexual Presumably all stuff they said about Black Sabbath in the 70's and Motley Crue in the 80's. Gun's and Roses in the early 90's. Sinatra in the 50's. And it will probably never end Anyways, now for the review: Brian Werner (birth name) was born and raised in a small town in Ohio. It seems like from an early age his life was filled with the disgusting and obscene. Central to this book are themes of unbleonging, anti-social anger, social disgust, filth, and the character of Werner's grandfather; an off-putting, strange old man with perverse, obscene habits indulged in from his filthy basement. The story arch is not really a personal one, despite the tital, because Manson barely changes his personality beyond the 3rd chapter, but really it is the story of his rising from a hated freak on a local level, to a hated freak on the international stage. The book is vulgar, as you'd expect, but if i'm reading a rock star's biography its just what i would expect. What did put me off was how gross everything was. Piss, blood and vomit make an appearance every few pages. A girl smokes old ground up bones from a bong. Manson picks up a broken beer bottle and cuts his chest open. Werner's grandfather jacks off unknowingly in front of his 13 year old grandkid. Manson himself is not a pretty sight to see. This man is obsessed with filth. Manson is profoundly arrogant, like most people who enter being hated and self-hating are, and this book is filled with his various judgments and insights. Christians do not come off well; neither do Americans. Moralizers come off immoral. Manson is hyper sensitive to such hypocrisy. The most prominant celeb featured in Trent Reznor, who signed Manson and was there for his mainstream breakout. Traci Lords and Jemma Jameson both make appearences, as well as Courtney Love, and Connan O'Brian. But most of the chacters are personal friends, acquaintances, enemies. And as you'll notice from the heading, Neil Strauss was "involved" with the writing, making the prose superb. Overall, an excellent rock bio, excellent peice of writing, and fascinating story. His unique story makes this a worthwhile read even to those who would never listen to his industrial garbage-pop.

Like most people back in the 90's, the first time I had heard of Manson was when the cover of "Sweet Dreams" had come out. I remember thinking "Oh, that's a cool take on it", but not much else. Then I had seen the Michael Moore doc. "Bowling for Columbine" where Manson (who was, at the time, being blamed as an influence on the boys who had committed the massacre) was asked what he would had said to the killers. His response was "I would had said nothing. I would had listened." Right there, I knew the man was a freakin' genius! Later interviews and Politically Incorrect appearences confirmed it. Manson is deep, insightful, and completely unafraid to speak the truth. He is a voice which we need so desperately in these times in which everyone who doesn't live the "American Dream" (you know, being born into an upperclass white Protestant Republican family) feel like they have to walk on egg shells. I honestly hope that he stops doing drugs because this world would be a much more conventional and dull place without him. Musically, it's a matter of taste. I love much of his work. His cover of "Personal Jesus" floored me. Understand, I love Depeche Mode so much that if Dave needed a kidney he could give me a ring anytime. It feels like blasphemy to admit that I listen to Manson's version much more but I do (every Sunday if for nothing else but to upset the Jesus freak neighbours who put church fliers in our mailbox). His music has a deliciously demonic flair to it with a catchy rock edge that most Goth type music lacks, but the real draw is Manson himself. Like the other Marilyn (Monroe), Manson's personna has always outshone his work. In short, he is one of those few individuals who is famous for being interesting rather than for selling records or films and it is very insightful to read exactly how he developed from being Brian the outcast to becoming Manson the God of the Underworld. This is a great AutoBio and something to inspire the sardonic outcast in us all.

I'm an avid reader of rock star autobiographies. It's a little involved what I think of this book and man. I didn't know what to expect. I've greatly enjoyed books from other rock stars, but this one had me feeling somewhat disgusted and perplexed. That didn't keep me from plowing through it full blast. I read this thing in 2.5 days because I was riveted by how crazy many parts were. In particular, I was blown away by his description of doing psychedelics, drugs which I have grown to hate. He totally reminded me of why I don't touch that stuff. I have to ask, how much of this was just an exaggeration of reality to capitalize on the crazy persona that we know of as "Marilyn Manson?" I was particularly disappointed to hear stories about the pathetic way Manson and his bandmates treated their young and weak willed fans backstage. It was truly disgusting. Manson claimed to "pity" many of these kids that they treated poorly, but if that were true, and if you had integrity as a person, you wouldn't stand idly by and allow for people to be treated that way. You clearly don't respect or appreciate your fans if they are just toys for abuse to satiate your low life amusement. Manson and his bandmates were not only repugnant in their revelry, but the lack of character they show as human beings is truly despicable. All this pales in comparison to the story he told of his girlfriend getting an abortion and wanting to keep the human leftovers. As for the rock and roll excesses with drugs and whatnot, except for the wild stories on psychedelic drug trips, it wasn't that mind blowing or different than other autobiographies that I've read. So wow. Big deal, dude. You did way too many drugs on a few occasions. The real story is how you're really a vile guy that has such a dim view of people. I wonder if by this point in life he grew up and out of the creepy shenanigans he takes pride in with this book. I still find Manson intriguing, but I'm not gonna lie. I think less of this person after reading this. This book is not uplifting, nor did it have any humor like many other autobiographies that I've read. I wanted to hear more about the recording process behind AntiChrist Superstar. I think it's a great album, but instead, we were regaled with more of the excessive drug induced debauchery that resulted in next to zero creative productivity before actually recording the album. Apparently he was able to sober up for a tiny itty bit to get something amazing done. Interesting as wild times, but not quite what I wanted to hear about the creative inspirational side of the album. Boy, does he overshoot the meaning and significance of his pretending to be a cult like figure. Talk about over estimating yourself, dude. Considering all that I said, I could see all of this madness herein comporting well to a movie. Said movie could be wildly entertaining and I'd imagine Rob Zombie could be an exceptional choice for such a task. I will say that there is seemingly more legitimacy to the darkness being real darkness here. I expected more of a "we did this crazy stuff and created the image for show business" type thing, but it was something quite more. There's some real nihilism here that isn't run of the mill exploitation of dark themes for album sales. I suppose that's part of what makes it more interesting to me. Brian Warner, you're a strange fruitcake, honey bunch. I'm glad that I read this. It was vile, but I enjoyed it very much, and it was a good value for the money spent on the purchase versus the time reading it.

An established fan of Manson since his Lunchbox days, I found that I knew a good part of the material he covered in this book. To anyone who has followed at least some of his journey, they will find a lot of familiar material. One of the things I've always admired in Manson, and something that tends to perplex people who don't take the time to listen to him, is how beautifully articulate he is, his eclectic vocabulary, and his dark sense of humour,- all of which shine brilliantly. As always, it's particularly entertaining to read the author's own words. This book permits the reader glimpses into his childhood experiences, (some of which are downright frightful), and many events which helped shape him into the performer he has become. He has evolved considerably while staying true to his intent. The strongest theme perceived as a message in this book is not only freedom of speech, but also the encouragement to think for one's self, to not be dumbed down, pushed into moulds which simply make everyone "else" feel comfortable but are at the expense of self-expression. Like Socrates, Manson is a gadfly and in that function, whether through his writings, paintings, music or performances, he consistently pushes the public to question the numbing effects of complacency within social standards. More than recommending this book to Manson fans, I'd encourage those who dislike him to pick it up and educate yourself about that which you fear. We fear what we do not know. Take a dive into this complex being that is Marilyn Manson.

Was interested in learning about Marilyn and his life. I understood he was trying to be his own person but the horrible way he treated humans was stuff that nightmares are made of.

I loved the book. It is well written and addictive - I could not sleep peacefully until I read till the end. I particularly enjoyed the sense of humor which made me laugh a lot - like identification of a drug addict, homosexuality and cheating or passages from the diary about the taken ribs. Some ideas were memorizable and well put, other parts were disgusting and disturbing, ruthless and unjustifiably mean, but it made me remember the childhood and careless attitude to everything a child has. You do not appreciate anything. You just grow and deal with all of the mess around without stopping and thinking about anybody or anything except yourself, your great drama and upheavals of emotions swarming and depressing your mind. In a way, the book is a perfect description of growing up - from childhood to adolescence and turbulent youth. At some points of drug induced dreams and fantasies it reads much like Naked Lunch, drugs and drugs and drugs, delirium and surrealistic reality inside an unhealthy and dazed mind which sometimes has nothing to do with real life. However, there is much more personal and understandable stuff in this book (and aimed not solely on fans, drug addicts or any other restricted audience). It is a detailed diary of expendable youth - talented and desolate, making you feel the pain of loneliness and solitude, remember all the suffering and haunting bad memories everybody has. To sum up, the book is a great read. I enjoyed every page. I would recommend it to anyone who is not prejudiced from the start or stupid and fan enough to repeat anything written down there.

i rather enjoyed & could relate to MM in this book as he spoke of growing up around certain oddities that are not of the norm~When i hear people hate on him & call him names. Im a fan of his music~I simply tell people~Try reading his book the crap he went thru,Even when he made his own WILD choices it made him a beautiful person.Its a wonder he isnt what people think they know of him.As he had to step in S**T more times than he wanted~But hes a kool dude. His talent i belive is from the diversity of what hes seen in life.That really when you go thru crap like his/mine & many others out in this world.While some people can only point fingers and call names~The rest of us "GET IT" Becuz we had NO CHOICE!But this can be a good thing as it leads to a gift of an open mind set. As an artist this makes him one hell of a musician other wise seen as a shock rocker.Each generation has one that stands out. I dont think he set out to be intimidating OR weird as most say about him,Hes as regular as any one else~Probably more so becuase he is a survivor of filth & when you grow up hard you learn from it. It shows in his music loud & clear as he sees beyond what average unnormal people can see.I saw this as i grew up worse than he did. I like he had my wild years and now that im older i can see like him.Beyond what others can see.As most people that had the good fortune of a loving home & had a childhood of structure & love.These are the narrow minds that cant see outside the box. This is why i tell people if you want to know about him READ HIS BOOK!!!Before you spit a forked tongue at him! This was my 1st read of his & its a keeper. Its a shame in the region of america i live in.He is banned from playing because he is stereo typed by such small minds.Cheating the unsung fans of his music & art.The book gave me a look into what others dont know. MM is brilliant & talented his life story is beyond fascinating as he was lead to dirty waters...BUT DID NOT DROWN in divesified BS he had to walk around or reinvent CLARITY which lends to his intelligence of what others do not grasp.