Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs
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Book Summary Information
Editor: Brendan MullenCollaborator: Don Bolles
Collaborator: Adam Parfrey
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-04-15
ISBN: 0922915709
Number of pages: 312
Publisher: Feral House
Book Reviews of Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs
Book Review: Sex, Power and Love
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw The Germs in Decline of the Western Civilization like most other fans who either did not live in LA at the time or are too young to have been there. I was probably about 13 or 14. People say their performance was terrible. I completely disagree. I thought the music was great and Darby was beautiful. Though I am a fan of other bands in that documentary everything else is forgettable to me.
"Somebody gimme a bee-ah" has run through my head a thousand times since then. His innocence, his wanting to be taken care of, his vulnerability, his complete absence of "adult" survival skills were so evident to me that I was transfixed. He was me.
I had no idea that he was gay at the time. I was not quite certain if I was either, frankly. But I always thought that he might have been, long before I knew a single thing about his personal life. Maybe it was gaydar, as they say, but I think it was the way you know someone by their eyes. I just knew that he possessed that noble, brave warrior desire for men that is the hardest form of love one can experience on this planet. Darby had the eyes of an angel. One minute he could have been a model and then he'd turn around and look ugly. Someone once told me that everyone has a good side and an evil side to their face. Darby is a perfect example except his whole face changed at once, sometimes rapidly. Either way, Darby did for me what perhaps James Dean did to his fans. I wanted to take care of him and have him take care of me. Mind you, this is all from watching just that movie.
I, of course, went out and bought their music and all those feelings intensified. I would stare at pictures of him like a teeny-bopper girl. I instantly loved the music too needless to say. I don't care who could or couldn't play what. It all sounded powerful to me and that is all that matters in art. It has to reach your soul. How it does is irrelevant.
So here I am many years later, kicking and fighting against time, with a million experiences under my belt and a totally different life than what I had anticipated. I saw this book and bought it. Mostly because I had never seen the angelic picture of Darby on the cover, to be honest. So, in this case, I did judge a book by its cover and it worked out well. This is a riveting, sad, and innocently beautiful tale of real people who exist(ed), just like you and I do sitting in front of these stupid computers, brought to life on these pages so eloquently by the many sources used by and the skills of the author. It is a great book about punk rock that ultimately has very little to do with punk rock. It is about the pain that can overtake so many people as they wander through this world and a story of one who couldn't handle it. Darby Crash never experienced the love that he really needed and that is what killed him.
On a more direct, down-to-Earth note I hope that all of the stupid punk rock poseurs who have no problem insulting homosexuals read this and wake up from their pathetic little fantasy world. No matter how tough you think you are there will always be a gay guy somewhere that can beat the @#$% out of you. Careful out there, boys cuz only we know who we are. You don't.
P.S. I find it very interesting that the nude male photos have been edited out of this edition while bare-breasted women abound. Is that very punk rock? If Darby were around now what would he think of that? When will people grow up?
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