Kevin Snow talked to our hosts back in March 2018. To check out his story and get links to his work, listen to Episode 153: The Price of Admission. http://www.wrotepodcast.com/kevin-snow/
To start, I had to look up “gonzo journalism.” For those who, like me, have no idea, it was a genre first associated with Hunter S Thompson and later, Norman Mailer. The author himself describes it as a “highly fictionalised reconstruction of reality.” Basically, it deals with true stories, presented as fiction. I hope that clears things up.
Despite the seemingly light and snarky tone, this book hasn’t been written for shits and giggles. In fact, at times it is hard to stomach, to be honest. There is a dark side to the entertainment industry that people are only recently beginning to face up to, even though everyone knows it’s been that way since the days of silent movies. Women are speaking out, but members of the LGBT community, especially men, still find it almost impossible to get their voices heard. At the time of this review, the court case is still pending, so the veracity of the statements in the book are still being reviewed by the judicial system. This means I cannot say too much more, but for anyone in the LGBTQ community who feels marginalised by their chosen profession, it is a witty, savage and important read.
BLURB
A lonely queer staff member in Michael Eisner’s Disney empire 
can’t seem to get the break his career needs. Instead, the executive officers he works under seem more focused on selling him into prostitution and pornography, buying his used underpants, showing up to work without clothes on, and keeping him on staff to exploit his medical marijuana license.
A psychedelic Bush-era flashback, laced with cynical humor and pop culture pastiche, “Mouschwitz” takes the reader on a dizzying journey through every nook and cranny of the entertainment industry, through multiple characters’ perspectives, as the author Snow blends pointed social commentary on sexual harassment, gender politics, and anti-LGBT discrimination in the industry with the dark and terrifyingly surreal.
“Mouschwitz” is “The Devil Wears Prada” meets “Moulin Rouge”, while they both get sucker punched by “Mulholland Drive”, as Slavoj Žižek watches in hysterical fits of laughter.
Based on Snow’s real life experiences working for the Walt Disney Company, Snow’s “Mouschwitz” uses his signature black humor, gonzo parody, and dark satire to expose the real-life systemic sexual harassment of LGBT employees stemming from top executives at Disney.
“Mouschwitz” is the third novel in Snow’s 16-part gonzo journalism series. A paperback version is planned for released in February 2018 with illustrations by John-Ross Boyce and design by Alex Alchwikani.
#MeToo
