Apocalypse Pretty Soon: Travels In End-Time America

The inspired madness of Americas apocalyptic and pre-millennial organizations may have reached a fever pitch with the turn of the twenty-first century but intrepid cultural traveler Alex Heard spent a ten-year period witnessing the crescendo firsthand.  Heards enthusiasm led him on errands as diverse as being a voyeur at a Republic of Texas militia standoff accompanying an expectant UFO greeting party to a remote field in Minnesota and enacting the grief of the California quail at an ad-hoc therapy group for fierce environmentalists who believe the earth is an actual living entity thats preparing to kill off its human population--and soon...or at least pretty soon.. Amazing as it may seem however throughout this trenchant subcultural travelogue Heard never stoops to ridicule his subjects.  As one reviewer puts it Heards real achievement may be that he makes us care--in a way that is more than voyeuristic--about the colorful characters he meets on the road to the new millennium.  He takes these people seriously allows his assumptions to be challenged and lets himself find that some of their beliefs and fears reflect his own (San Jose Mercury News).. Apocalypse Pretty Soon will appeal to science fiction fans and students of subcultures as well as anybody interested in way-out alternatives to the brave new world.. Amazing as it may seem however throughout this trenchant subcultural travelogue Heard never stoops to ridicule his subjects. As one reviewer put it Heards real achievement may be that he makes us care--in a way that is more than voyeuristic--about the colorful characters he meets on the road to the new millennium. He takes these people seriously allows his assumptions to be challenged and lets himself find that some of their beliefs and fears reflect his own (San Jose Mercury News). . Now in paperback this book will have an audience well beyond millenniamania from science fiction fans to students of subculture and anybody interested in way-out alternatives to the brave new world. -->