Valerie Solanas : a life of scum (or, why she shot Andy Warhol and other chit chat)

Dedication -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Sounding off : Atlantic City to New York City, 1936-1967 -- Shooting : scum, shots, and stupidstars, 1967-1968 -- Provocation : the contentious birth radical feminism, 1968-1973 -- Madness : of mental hospitals and men, 1968-1974 -- Forgetting : the lost years and final days, 1975-1988 -- Notes -- References -- Index. Too drastic, too crazy, too "out there," too early, too late, too damaged, too muchValerie Solanas has been dismissed but never forgotten. She has become, unwittingly, a figurehead for women's unexpressed rage, and stands at the center of many worlds. She inhabited Andy Warhol's Factory scene, circulated among feminists and the countercultural underground, charged men money for conversation, despised "daddy's girls," and outlined a vision for radical gender dystopia. Known for shooting Andy Warhol in 1968 and for writing the polemical diatribe SCUM [Society for Cutting Up Men] Manifesto , Solanas is one of the most famous women of her era. SCUM Manifesto --which predicted ATMs, test-tube babies, the Internet, and artificial insemination long before they existed--has sold more copies, and has been translated into more languages, than nearly all other feminist texts of its time. Shockingly little work has interrogated Solanas's life. This book is the first biography about Solanas, including original interviews with family, friends (and enemies), and numerous living Warhol associates. It reveals surprising details about her life: the children nearly no one knew she had, her drive for control over her own writing and copyright, and her elusive personal and professional relationships. Valerie Solanas addresses how this era changed the world and depicts an iconic figure whose life is at once tragic and remarkable. Solanas lived a life generally relegated by society to the margins: poor, female, queer, crazy. Fahs resists the impulse of speculation, the desire to turn Solanas into a comedic or tragic tableau. Fahs situates Solanas in a larger culture and society that helps us to understand the complexities of her character and actions. Valerie Solanas is a biography of a compelling, charismatic, contemptible, and incorrigible woman. It is a biography of the effects of class in the United States on one womans life. It is also the biography of an artist. Julie Enszer, Lambda Literary Review Breanne Fahs is an associate professor of women and gender studies at Arizona State University, a practicing clinical psychologist, and the author of Performing Sex and The Moral Panics of Sexuality . The authoritative biography of the 60s countercultural icon who wrote SCUM Manifesto , shot Andy Warhol, and made an unforgettable mark on feminist history. Valerie Solanas is one of the most polarizing figures of 1960s counterculture. A cult hero to some and vehemently denounced by others, she has been dismissed but never forgotten. Known for shooting Andy Warhol in 1968 and for writing the infamous SCUM Manifesto , Solanas became one of the most famous women of her era. But she was also diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and spent much of her life homeless or in mental hospitals. Solanas’s SCUM Manifesto , a sui generis vision of radical gender dystopia, predicted ATMs, test-tube babies, the Internet, and artificial insemination long before they existed. It has sold more copies and been translated into more languages than nearly all other feminist texts of its time. And yet, shockingly little work has investigated the life of its author. This book is the first biography about Solanas, including original interviews with family, friends (and enemies), and numerous living Warhol associates. It reveals surprising details about Solanas’s life: the children nearly no one knew she had, her drive for control over her own writing, and her elusive personal and professional relationships. Valerie Solanas reveals the tragic, remarkable life of an iconic figure. It is “not only a remarkable biographical feat but also a delicate navigation of an unwieldy, demanding, and complex life story” ( BOMB Magazine ). Presents The Life And Philosophies Of Valerie Solanas, A Feminist Extremist Who Outlined In Her Scum Manifesto Her Vision For A Radical Gender Dystopia And Who Shot Andy Warhol In 1968. Sounding Off: Atlantic City To New York City, 1936-1967 -- Shooting: Scum, Shots, And Stupidstars, 1967-1968 -- Provocation: The Contentious Birth Radical Feminism, 1968-1973 -- Madness: Of Mental Hospitals And Men, 1968-1974 -- Forgetting: The Lost Years And Final Days, 1975-1988. Breanne Fahs. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 363-382).