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Author Reviews

“Part long-form punk ‘zine, part philosophical stand-up, Brian M. Clark’s Drunk Jerk is a huge collection of his essays, travelogues, artwork, and interviews he conducted throughout his youth. If you enjoy pointing and laughing (or even shaking your fist) at the comedy of errors that much of the world trips itself into, this should be a fun read.”

Adel Souto
Author of Encyclopedia Obscurum

“Irreverent, hilarious, and sometimes snarky—but always entertaining—Brian M. Clark’s Drunk Jerk pulls no punches. Pairs well with a fine wine or pint of rotgut.”

Nick Plumber
Author of Whiskeyboat

“Drunk Jerk is a cornucopia of experience. Part coming-of-age reportage, part artistic critique, part travelogue, part primal scream against the absurdities of life – each article in Brian M. Clark’s new collection blips back to us like a distant star’s light, from a time when the internet was still fun and life hadn’t been irreparably fucked by smartphones and social media. For anyone with any interest in what life was like pre-2010, this book is both valuable resource material and a rampaging celebration of art, youth, and strongly held opinion.”

Matthew Stokoe
Author of Colony of Whores

“A fascinating look into one of the brightest minds of Generation Booze. Drunk Jerk is not a confessional; it’s an anti-confession. Clark’s droll collection of essays, art, interviews, and articles not only refuses to offer apologies and regrets; it refreshingly revels in the age-old act of putting alcohol where it belongs – your bloodstream.”

Frank Kelly Rich
Author of The Modern Drunkard

“Drunk Jerk is a high-octane slalom into Brian M. Clark’s lurching swerve into self-aware cynicism, misguided madness, and objective levity. On the twin skis of contempt and curiosity, he ricochets the reader through a gauntlet of twisted ventures, liquor-soaked forays, and jagged catapults over the cliff of reason into the shifting unknown. Clark allows the reader to sit shotgun as he veers his way through hapless academia, international misadventure, and wholesale misanthropy.”

Luke Schmaltz
Author of The Belcher

“With his new book, Drunk Jerk, Brian M. Clark has collected his brilliant insights, witty, cynical broadsides, articles, and interviews. … Drunk Jerk is a great book to read straight through or, additionally, perfect reading material for those quiet commode moments that we all enjoy. … It’s also great for the in-laws or other unwanted house guests; once they start reading it, they can’t stop, and you aren’t forced to engage in ridiculously stupid fucking banter that we all despise. Get this book for the entertainment value and for shutting up unwanted visitors; it works every time.”

Vadge Moore
Author of My Life With The Dwarves

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Press & Academic Reviews

“Drunk Jerk is an apt title for a book that serves as an appraisal of author Brian M. Clark’s former self. It’s an over-the-shoulder, sidelong glance at a young adulthood spent in thrall of bacchanalia, revelry, bitter piss-takings, and righteous indignations; a comedy of angst and eloquence that throbs and heaves in lockstep to a thrashing punk-esque tumult.
      As the biting commentaries and sneering editorials in Drunk Jerk redouble, they are deftly punctuated by evocative black-and-white photographs. Reading like ‘The Wit and Wisdom of a Hangman’s Son,’ Clark’s viewpoint begins with bleak deadpan as a baseline, and evolves exponentially thereafter, recalling bygone capriciousness and conviviality; at once endearing him to the reader while trying, desperately it seems, to alienate them.”

Peter Thomas Tanski
The Book of Very Very Bad Things PodZine

“The selected writings and visual artifacts that make up Drunk Jerk—the interviews with underground musicians and artists, the propulsive prose, the charming home-brew layouts, the misanthropic outrage at how social constructiveness limits the possibility of human thought—[comprise a] surprisingly varied assortment. …
      The book’s subtitle, A Chrestomathy of Carousal and Critique, while emphasizing alliteration over strict parallelism, proves accurate. “Carousal,” while not a literary form, does point to the wanton decadence described within these pages, in which the author not only reports, but—in the case of prodigious alcohol intake—participates. In his travelogs Clark appears like Margaret Mead, dispassionately describing the natives while also partaking in their silly sauce. A handy photo of the author passed out (or, pardon, “relaxing”) on a sidewalk in southern California conveniently illustrates this point. Yes, it’s a chrestomathy in that one person created its contents; it’s largely a collection of short, written pieces. But that term also suggests that this collection adds up to some sort of instruction or lesson. Could there be a moral lesson amidst the cynicism and debauchery? …
      [O]ne may interpret this collection as an admonition for us all to think better, to apply reason, to learn, even to value real journalism, to keep clear the distinction between logic and feeling, to maintain the difference between thinking and reacting, and to call out certain media sources for publishing the middling prose of figures who may not understand the difference. … Therefore, and I say this with kindness – go get yourself ‘fuckin’ ripped off,’ and pick up a copy of Brian M. Clark’s Drunk Jerk, already.”

Sean Smith
Professor of English
Cerritos College, Norwalk, California