Sandbox

It isn’t the LSD. Or the terrible writing. It isn’t even that this book is essentially a collection of soft-core porn occurring under the influence of a mythical “ram spirit.” It is, however, the sick and twisted blend of these features that make Wild Animus one of the absolute worst and most horrific books I’ve ever come across.

I acquired this interesting piece of work one night after a club swimming practice. Hiking to the bus stop from Wilson Gym, two people (students? random men? ram-lovers?) forced a paperback copy of this literary gem in to my hands. And, it being past eight, and, being a freshmen, I got to enjoy 15 minutes of the C-2 all the way back to East Campus: 15 minutes more than I ever needed to spend with Wild Animus.

Fact one: the front cover may or may not depict the shadow of a man riding a ram. Fact two: the back of the book is titled “A Bliss Beyond Fear.” Fact three: the book is about Sam, who becomes “Ramson” after realizing his “deepening identification with the mountain ram” while tripping on acid and having all-too-descriptive sexcapades with his girlfriend in the Alaskan wilderness. Oh, and did I mention Ramson believes his girlfriend is a pack of wild wolves trying to kill him? Yup.

So after being completely weirded out, I decided to google “Wild Animus” and figure out who was crazy enough to publish such an absolute insult to the literary world. (And also, why was it being handed out on campus?!)

Apparently, author Rich Shapero wanted his book published so badly that he founded his own publishing house and proceeded to spend half a million dollars on printing 50,000 copies, funding a national book tour and—wait for it—creating a dance ensemble for promotional purposes. Sorry, I forgot to mention that, as delineated by the back cover, Wild Animus is “part of a larger storytelling experiment that includes three music CDs.”

The most horrifiying thing about this entire experience is that Rich Shapero has a degree in English Literature from UC-Berkley. What is the world coming to?