The Long Hard Road Out of Hell: A shocking, candid memoir tracing Marilyn Manson's rise from frightened Christian schoolboy to feared rock superstar

I’ve been a fan of Manson since I was young. I saw him live in Houston when I was 14. I actually read this book in middle school (which I had absolutely no business doing) but obviously can’t remember anything as I couldn’t comprehend it at such a young age. I’m 23 now and finished this book in a day. I knew going in that it would be, as his entire life and career has been, controversial. There were definitely a few moments that left me repulsed and kind of shifted my thoughts towards him. However, it has been proven that this book is HIGHLY exaggerated and most of the outrageous stories and statements are not true. Manson is incredibly intelligent and articulate and most of this read was very interesting, philosophical, and informative. It showcases not only the highs, but the very lows of his personal life and the beginning of his career. It was occasionally humorous, almost always dark, and featured many different types of art, poems, and even interviews. It was one of his short stories that actually bothered me the most. I would love for him to write another book, as no doubt this was published through the lens of his drug addicted youth where a lot of mistakes were made, but again, a lot has been fabricated. Not to say he didn’t screw up his life later down the line either, but it seems currently, in 2024, he has sobered up and is doing much better. I actually adore his most recent single. I’d love to read more from him. The one thing I didn’t enjoy was how abruptly this book ended. I definitely preferred the first half discussing his childhood into college and meeting the spooky kids versus the vile recollections of his time spent on two tours, with Trent Reznor, and finishing with the procrastinated release of Antichrist superstar. Overall, a fantastic read with just a few very questionable scenes that were no doubt exaggerated or falsified. His touring with Reznor was fueled by heavy drug use, accompanying his already immoral character but that was just simply my least favorite section. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it.

Marilyn Manson will always remind me of that deep well of imaginative, fantastical nonsense that is the collective mind of christian fundamentalists. As someone born in the early 90's, he was the guy the older kids were warned about by the well-meaning-if-zealously-nonsensical spokespeople of my various local congregations. Warnings that filtered down to us. He sacrifices animals onstage Made a pact with the devil Worst of all; he is a homosexual Presumably all stuff they said about Black Sabbath in the 70's and Motley Crue in the 80's. Gun's and Roses in the early 90's. Sinatra in the 50's. And it will probably never end Anyways, now for the review: Brian Werner (birth name) was born and raised in a small town in Ohio. It seems like from an early age his life was filled with the disgusting and obscene. Central to this book are themes of unbleonging, anti-social anger, social disgust, filth, and the character of Werner's grandfather; an off-putting, strange old man with perverse, obscene habits indulged in from his filthy basement. The story arch is not really a personal one, despite the tital, because Manson barely changes his personality beyond the 3rd chapter, but really it is the story of his rising from a hated freak on a local level, to a hated freak on the international stage. The book is vulgar, as you'd expect, but if i'm reading a rock star's biography its just what i would expect. What did put me off was how gross everything was. Piss, blood and vomit make an appearance every few pages. A girl smokes old ground up bones from a bong. Manson picks up a broken beer bottle and cuts his chest open. Werner's grandfather jacks off unknowingly in front of his 13 year old grandkid. Manson himself is not a pretty sight to see. This man is obsessed with filth. Manson is profoundly arrogant, like most people who enter being hated and self-hating are, and this book is filled with his various judgments and insights. Christians do not come off well; neither do Americans. Moralizers come off immoral. Manson is hyper sensitive to such hypocrisy. The most prominant celeb featured in Trent Reznor, who signed Manson and was there for his mainstream breakout. Traci Lords and Jemma Jameson both make appearences, as well as Courtney Love, and Connan O'Brian. But most of the chacters are personal friends, acquaintances, enemies. And as you'll notice from the heading, Neil Strauss was "involved" with the writing, making the prose superb. Overall, an excellent rock bio, excellent peice of writing, and fascinating story. His unique story makes this a worthwhile read even to those who would never listen to his industrial garbage-pop.

I'm an avid reader of rock star autobiographies. It's a little involved what I think of this book and man. I didn't know what to expect. I've greatly enjoyed books from other rock stars, but this one had me feeling somewhat disgusted and perplexed. That didn't keep me from plowing through it full blast. I read this thing in 2.5 days because I was riveted by how crazy many parts were. In particular, I was blown away by his description of doing psychedelics, drugs which I have grown to hate. He totally reminded me of why I don't touch that stuff. I have to ask, how much of this was just an exaggeration of reality to capitalize on the crazy persona that we know of as "Marilyn Manson?" I was particularly disappointed to hear stories about the pathetic way Manson and his bandmates treated their young and weak willed fans backstage. It was truly disgusting. Manson claimed to "pity" many of these kids that they treated poorly, but if that were true, and if you had integrity as a person, you wouldn't stand idly by and allow for people to be treated that way. You clearly don't respect or appreciate your fans if they are just toys for abuse to satiate your low life amusement. Manson and his bandmates were not only repugnant in their revelry, but the lack of character they show as human beings is truly despicable. All this pales in comparison to the story he told of his girlfriend getting an abortion and wanting to keep the human leftovers. As for the rock and roll excesses with drugs and whatnot, except for the wild stories on psychedelic drug trips, it wasn't that mind blowing or different than other autobiographies that I've read. So wow. Big deal, dude. You did way too many drugs on a few occasions. The real story is how you're really a vile guy that has such a dim view of people. I wonder if by this point in life he grew up and out of the creepy shenanigans he takes pride in with this book. I still find Manson intriguing, but I'm not gonna lie. I think less of this person after reading this. This book is not uplifting, nor did it have any humor like many other autobiographies that I've read. I wanted to hear more about the recording process behind AntiChrist Superstar. I think it's a great album, but instead, we were regaled with more of the excessive drug induced debauchery that resulted in next to zero creative productivity before actually recording the album. Apparently he was able to sober up for a tiny itty bit to get something amazing done. Interesting as wild times, but not quite what I wanted to hear about the creative inspirational side of the album. Boy, does he overshoot the meaning and significance of his pretending to be a cult like figure. Talk about over estimating yourself, dude. Considering all that I said, I could see all of this madness herein comporting well to a movie. Said movie could be wildly entertaining and I'd imagine Rob Zombie could be an exceptional choice for such a task. I will say that there is seemingly more legitimacy to the darkness being real darkness here. I expected more of a "we did this crazy stuff and created the image for show business" type thing, but it was something quite more. There's some real nihilism here that isn't run of the mill exploitation of dark themes for album sales. I suppose that's part of what makes it more interesting to me. Brian Warner, you're a strange fruitcake, honey bunch. I'm glad that I read this. It was vile, but I enjoyed it very much, and it was a good value for the money spent on the purchase versus the time reading it.

Great read !

Marilyn Manson is a genius performance artist who allows us to look at the dark side of ourselves and society objectively. He is a true artist who's deepest objective is to wake people up. I was reminded of Jim Morrison who would scream "Wake up!!" at his concerts, and was subsequently arrested for similar actions as Marilyn. The police and society react the same way to Marilyn now as they did in the late 1960's to Jim! It shows how we are still stuck in the dark ages, and it's pretty frightening. It takes artists like Marilyn to bring forth this knowledge to us today and show how we haven't come very far at all. We still are not "free" and America is not the "land of the free" if you go outside the mainstream religion and clothing uniform. I was impressed with the consciousness of Marilyn in particular the experience with groupies (which another particular rockstar bio makes fun of and takes advantage of viciously) and the revelations of their own harrowing pasts. He infiltrates subjects that other rock stars in his position don't see as worthy, which in fact is what is most interesting. It was most poignant when he went back to his home town to his cousin's wedding, and how mean-spirited and judgmental everyone was to him now that he was successful as if he is not even human. How sick and pathetic the small town world is. Best of all, it is written objectively and there is not a hint of whining in any of this book which is an accomplishment in itself for a "rockstar bio". He is able to step back from himself and society and observe, and in this way I am able to step back and observe from the same standpoint, which makes for an eye-opener. He touches on revelations in his dreams and making connections in real life which is noteworthy. He has followed his destiny. There is an element of dry humor through out this book too and often enough I was laughing my head off. What characters! The part with Joan Rivers made me spill my coffee all over the pages.

How much is true I can't imagine. Every once in a great while he says something profound that I agree with, but the rest is immature & cruelty compounded with megalomania of the egocentric teen Manson never grew out of. I do enjoy Manson, have often thought he was wise beyond his years, so this book disappointed me because it revealed a vain, cruel and ignorant Manson. I've read countless rock bios & have been fascinated by Manson for a couple decades. I have a feeling this book came out right before another growth spurt & if he was honest with himself, this has to embarrass him now. Just as we were self - righteous know - it - alls at one stage of life, he & his music, band & message have changed quite a bit since this book was published. Still, it's a difficult read emotionally. Found myself repulsed or shaking head in disbelief (deaf meat orgy went so far over the line for example). I'd be more interested in reading about what he's learned since then. This book reads like a secret diary one hopes will never be found; the height of megalomania is that he not only published his dirtiest laundry, Manson seems to have searched out the worst bits to include. Yet he wonders why he's misunderstood. Hmmm. I'd still read any book(s) he's written since this one, hoping for a more mature outlook from Marilyn with all he's hopefully learned since this book was published.

I absolutely loved every word on every page. I was shocked and very informed on the real Marilyn Manson. The truth was there in black and white and I love him even more for the artist he is than I did before reading this book

I read this for a few reasons. I grew up head banging to Manson starting when I was 4 years old and my brothers were rebelling against our parents. My parents hated him because they thought what all conservative republicans thought: This dude is the antichrist. I started believing it (come on, I was like 6). Many years later, here I am teaching high school music. I’m all about anyone who pushes the envelope and teaching older kids to think critically about what they see and hear. I started watching some interviews with Marilyn Manson and was blown away at the man’s intelligence. I read this book with the plan to use part of it in teaching my music appreciation class in conjunction with some of his interviews. This book is so well-written. I truly cannot say enough good about it. It’s eye opening to how he got to where he is and why he went the path he did. I love Jesus and follow him closely, and I think Jesus would have a lot of good to say to Brian while flipping the tables the Christians sit behind as they whisper about him. His story is heartbreaking and challenging and I recommend anyone — especially anyone religious — read it. For the record, my upper high school students are always completely freaked out when I kick off my unit on controversial music with Marilyn Manson’s Sweet Dreams video. As we dive into his story, they come to love and appreciate him — including the incredibly sheltered ones from religious families. They see him for who he is: someone incredibly intelligent and massively misunderstood. If my teens can see it, surely any self respecting adult could, too.

Non può mancare nella libreria di un\una fan di questo poliedrico quanto bistrattato e frainteso artista! Io ormai lo seguo da una ventina d'anni (ho iniziato che ero alle scuole medie) e avevo comprato e letto questo libro per la prima volta che avevo solo 15 anni, quindi ora che ne ho 33 ho deciso di rileggermelo in lingua originale! Nonostante l'ottimo lavoro della traduzione in italiano,che ha mantenuto intatta la tagliente ironia e il modo di esprimersi dell'autore, si nota comunque la differenza,alcune frasi mancano o sono diverse...insomma a chi è interessato al libro e ha voglia di cimentarsi con un testo in inglese lo consiglio in lingua originale. A chi non interessa l'inglese lo consiglio ugualmente in versione italiana! Nota per versione e-book: Ho comprato la versione Kindle inizialmente con poca convinzione (io preferisco i libri di carta) ma mi sono dovuta ricredere...le funzioni sono ottime e molto comode, si può evidenziare, aggiungere note e selezionare e salvare delle parti. Ma le funzioni più utili trattandosi di un libro in inglese sono la Word wise (regolabile in base alle proprie esigenze) e il traduttore (per singole parole): la prima mostra la spiegazione,sempre in inglese,di alcuni termini considerati più complessi; la seconda ti offre la possibilità di tradurre la parola selezionata tramite il dizionario nel Kindle(o nello smartphone) o se si è connessi a internet anche tramite Wikipedia e altre fonti. Ottimo e veloce rispetto alla stessa operazione fatta con un libro di carta. Si può scaricare l'e-Book acquistato su diversi dispositivi (kindle,telefono,tablet,PC...).

As a Manson fan, it was very interesting to read. The illustrations are also very good. Love this man. 🖤

Llegó en tiempo y en buen estado, la calidad de las hoja e impresión son muy buenas, una excelente compra si eres fan del reverendo

Marilyn Manson fait partis des derniers meilleurs artiste qui produit de l'art et de la provocation pour faire réfléchir, j'approuve à 100% et relis ce livre avec plaisir 🤘 Merci Amazon réception nickel, livre en excellent état 👍

Read it only if u know what rock is about