[.ca] This Is Not a Rave: In the Shadow of a Subculture (ISBN 1560253959)

She knows...:
Back when I was a little candy kid, I would have bought this book, read the part about jaded ravers and vowed that it would never happen to me. I would have been wrong. One of the best parts of this book is the "Jaded Raver" test. It's amusing and sadly, true. This book takes a look at the rave scene as it becomes more mainstream and commercial, rather than glorifying the "good ol' days" of break-in parties, etc. It's a pretty honest look at the scene from 1999 to the present. Though some of us long for a good warehouse party and running from the cops when they raid us, we recognize that raving has become a drug culture, regardless of whether or not it was at its inception. I think anyone who goes to the parties so as to be in an environment where the use of drugs is condoned should read this book. Maybe you'll see what your fellow ravers really think of you...

Sad, but true....:
I came across this book by chance and couldn't help but pick it up, even though I've long since hung up my glowsticks and retired my party clothes. I was a part of the East Coast scene, attending parties up and down from 1991 to around 1997. From the history to the present, the clothes, the dancing and most importantly, the people that made the scene seem so pure, Tara McCall touches on just about everything in some way shape or form. The book also outlines the unfortunate reasons why the scene has deteriorated to the mass produced, drug focused debacle that it's become. (Yeah, I'm jaded) This book is for anybody that had the time of their lives back in the day, dancing to the loudest beats for twelve hours straight in some obscure location with complete strangers that somehow, felt like good friends. Or something to that effect....

Fun read:
The format of this book is a little difficult (lots of inset pictues and quotes) and can lead to a little bit of "reader overload" when trying to focus on what the text of each chapter explains. Doesn't go too in depth into anything, but touches on a large area of happenings in the rave scene. Since McCall is from Toronto, I was expecting a more of a Canadian focus (which would have been nice,) but she again, only touches on things. However, it's the best Canadian focused book on rave culture that I've read so far.