Bob Larson is the funniest man on television. An impotent Cotton Mathers with greasy skin and sleazball suit, he trumpets his gospel of paranoia to a captive audience (most of his parishoners undoubtedly having come from a mental hospital). This book follws the grand tradition of Montegue Summers and Hal Lindsay. Meaning that its a mix of misinformation and fictions arising from a psyche that would make a Freudian scream with delight. Witness the demoniac origin of masturbation illucidated in this massive slander, and see what I mean. Page after page of this book is an insult to every religion besides the authors own. Buddhism, Hinduism, Wicca, and yes, Satanism are all flagrently misrepresented. Larson's exploits among his wicked quaries are enough to make Max Weber give up anthropology and take up coin collecting. Has the man never heard of "valueless anthropology"? Recomended for a good laugh, after which it should be promptly consigned to the flames of a Solstice needfire.

Christian Research Institute president Hank Hanegraaff once said that Larson wouldn't know a demon "if it bit him in the rear," and this book supports his contention. During Larson's on-air live radio exorcisms, the purported demons never challenge him about his litany of personal sins (e.g., adultery, lying, avarice), and always obey relevant FCC regulations regarding profanity ... but in the book, they are purportedly aggressive, exploiting any and all weaknesses in an exorcist's life to gain an upper hand. Is Bob Larson lying on the air, or in this book? You make the call.

I have been studying religion ever scince I left the L.D.S. church over ten years ago. Being raised in a area of only 9000 people,(and 95% percent being Mormon), I really was never exposed to different religions until I moved to S. California. I feel that Mr. Larson is getting people upset and hysterical over something that is not as serious as he makes it be. For a long time I belived that anyone who worshipped satan was evil. However recently I have come to relize that several of my best friends are Satan worshippers. And guess what? They don't wear black robes and sneak into graveyards to bite the heads off of chickens. They just beleive something different than others. I choose not to believe in what they do and they respect that. I would also like to point out to Mr. Larson that satanism is considered a religion, and is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. I am in the process of writing my own book on the subject of Religion where Satanism will play a big part.

I agree with Ranger57 on this one. This book seemed to have much more of an agenda than the namesake senator. The plot was weak, and the text was inscrutible. Throw in some stereotypical characters, introduce some characters that appear to serve no purpose other than to make a few in-jokes, and stir. I think it is safe to say that this one is going to be the last of the series. Larson has completely run out of gas.

I thought I would read this book, a gift. Once I start to read, I do not stop. Even though I have many books written much better than this. This is third of a series of three. All I can say, read this forget the others. The series is not worth anyone's time. It shows the inside of a dirty political race (and trys to say this is how theyare all run). I am sorry to say it is probably so.

Not a very exciting read. Pick up any other book and you'll probably be happier. Unless you wish to go into politics...then read it.

I am a 22 year old and I have been in polotics for the past year and a half the realism of this book sets me back as in all three books in this set (dead air,senator's agenda, and abodon) there are three books you just cant put down they need to be read one right after another starting with abodon then dead air then S.A. they will set you back and make you take a look at life and the evil that surrounds us

I gave this book an honest shot when it was sent to me by a friend from Texas. That was last year, and I haven't finished it yet (through no deficiency in reading ability on my part!) It's just plain dull, boring, and uninteresting. Part of my interest in the book was nothing more than to see if everyone's harsh criticism was really justified, and it certainly was. "Shock Talk" has some possible interest as a campy parody of fundamentalist Christian stereotypes, or even as a "swan song" by Larson, who interjects fictional elements of the respect and popularity he had hoped to have during his failed career on Christian radio and television. To paraphrase Eric Idle of Monty Python, "This is not a book for reading. This is a book for laying down and avoiding." Larson is clearly attempting to establish credibility for his own bizarre niche in ultra-fundamentalist Christianity as a self-proclaimed expert in demon exorcism through a set of banal, predictable "just-so" situations which lose the reader's attention very quickly.

Not worth the time; not worth even a fraction of retail price.

Of course, we're all familiar with the fact that Mr. Larson is well known for having nothing to do with the authorship of his own books, stealing most of his "Larson's Book of Cults" from Walter Martin and for not authoring his violent "Dead Air" novel and getting sued for it..... but this book HAS to be Bob's. I read it on a lark and it's a disaster from start to finish. Bob needs to look up the word "implausible", which would have been a better title for this grocery check-out masterpiece.

This author brilliantly crafted a story that captivated my interest, from start to finish. I enjoy Mr. Larson's portrayal of how the good that become victimized by personal distress and suffering, inflicted by what must be explained as plain "evil," receive the healing they deserve. Shock Talk is a notable literary work, for both Christians and non-Christians alike.

I came across this book recently in the library. I wish I could give it a higher rating but this wouldnt be honest. I agree with Larson that some of the new age thinking is vague at best. For instance what is cosmic consciousness supposed to be? Does it mean you ascend to heaven? Does it mean you gain endless power? I have studied the new age for years and get the same vague answers which makes me wonder if these "experts" know what they are talking about. The book is a critique of all things new age from crystals to yoga. He gives information on crystals for instance, then he gives a question and answer forum on the subject. I found this helpful. I also agree with him that there is bunk in the new age. There are so called masters of yoga who cant even levitate a pencil, yet they claim perfection! Profiteers are rife in this area too. They dont believe in it themselves, they only want your money. However, Larson goes to far. There is no scriptural basis that meditation leads to possession. I have used reflexology myself and have had great results. Why would this be considered wrong? Isnt it possible that God put all kinds of wonderful things in nature and the human mind and body? Reading his book one would think that anything discovered like atomic power, electricity and the rest must be demonic. Since this is ludicrous, its not more so than some of the claims he makes in his book. If the chinese discovered accupuncture or reflexology or the hindus discovered the powers of the mind why would this be considered demonic and not atomic power? Also his quoting of science as final arbriter is also foolish. Scientific method is nothing more than using pro and con with empiricism. I got the impression that to claim something as not scientific is to damn it to oblivion as if science is the voice of truth. Far from it. I cant recommend this book. Larson seems to have irrational scruples. He takes information and then draws unsupported conclusions. It seems to me that God is good in putting things like herbs, reflexology, mind healing and other things in nature to help us. Larsons view doesnt make sense and his quoting of certain scriptures to support his view is also biased in places. He quotes the Bible where it says "As a man thinks,so is he." but then he says meditation and visualization is wrong. Go and figure.

Bob Larson's book "Satanism: The Seduction of America's Youth" is really a poor piece of journalism. It is a product of the Satanic Panic of the 80s and early 90s when a number of fundamentalist groups were convinced that there were wide-spread underground Satanic cults attempting to recruit millions of children for Lucifer through the use of heavy metal music and fantasy role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. Today, most people see this as the farce that it is. The fact that anyone would take what Larson describes in this book seriously is frightening. Suffice it to say that while this book is entertaining for it's sensationalist and misguided views, I think that it also has the power to seriously delude the unsavvy reader into beliving that simply because someone listens to Metallica, wears black clothing, or plays D&D that they are headed down the Left Hand Path to evil.

This book, and many others like it, are dangerous in that they are propagandist works that promote misinformation about simple adolescent rebelliousness and disparage other belief systems while pandering to people's fears. For example, Larson's guide to "Satanic" symbols is just foolish. Among other things, it continues the myth that the pentagram and the Egyptian Ahnk are Satanic symbols, which they are not. It also promotes an unecessary fear of anything considered New Age or connected to the Occult, which basically continues to equate anything non-Christian with the Devil... This book is un-intenionally entertaining, but not to be taken seriously in the least. If I had children I would be more worried about them stealing beer and bashing mailboxes than selling their souls to Satan.

The author has gone to a lot of trouble to explain the seriousness of Satanism's lure for young people on today's society. But instead of rooting out the evil in youth - why not focus more on the good inherent in their young souls? And by the way, an upright pentagram is the symbol of Wicca - a completely different religion that doesn't even believe in Satan! Do more homework next time, thanks!

Bob Larson has gone out to meet the enemy and knows him first hand. Level headed, not a scare monger, just reporting what he sees and hears. Anyone who thinks that Evil is a myth should read this book

...You've come across possibly the worst UFO book in the world.

Certainly the worst I've ever encountered.

I think Bob's book is getting unfairly trashed by all the self-proclaimed "UFO buffs". Do any UFO experts have proof that the alleged aliens aren't satanic demons? NO. So how can they say that Bob is wrong? How does anyone really know...

...And this is why I'm a nihilist

After browsing through this book again I've found it somewhat more interesting and useful then I initially thought it to be. Yes the book is religiously biased, but so what. The author makes plenty of valid arguments and his views on "aliens" are a welcome change from all the other hardcore UFO books. Bob delves deep into exploring the occult-- deeper and more elaborate than in any other UFO book i've read; he brings to attention lots of the really strange groups out there, which unfortunately most books never mention because they're too outlandish.

The book is a fast read, not because it's too short, but because his writing style is fluent and the way he describes things is often times funny or whimsical. So, overall I recommend this book-- if you're not a Christian you might not agree with some of Bob's viewpoints, but im not a Theist and I liked it.

As a previous reviewer noted, Larson was originally one of the ilk who claimed that the synchopated beat by nature caused evil orgiastic thoughts and demon possession. In this book he cheerfully claims that he never thought such a foolish thing. Instead he focuses on the sexuality and personal habits of various rock stars. As amusing as it is to read, this book stands as a monument to Mr. Larson's entire career of riding whatever scare-horse has been popular in fundamentalist circles, from rock music and Eastern religions in the '60s to UFOs, Marilyn Manson, and school shooting today.

The fact that anyone would even consider buying a 13 year old book on rock and roll just shows how uninformed and sadly behind the times some Christians are. The music and the message has changed considerably over that time making this book completely irrelevant today. Seriously, I am quite dismayed that pastors are buying this book and using it in their messages. No wonder the world thinks Christians are so square.

I read the book in Spanish, and to be honest, this is one of the worst books ever seen. Apart of the lies about groups like Led Zeppelin and the Moody Blues, probably he doesn't know anything about the Satanic songs of their Christian groups like Petra. Apart, he's not a man of God: he's a man of GOLD!. So, I have to advice you: Beware America: Bob Larson is haunting some witches...

What Bob Larsen knows about Satan could be learned by anyone with a subscription to National Enquirer and a memory of TV's "Outer Limits." No doubt, he has spoken about Satanism a great deal, but, as Milli Vanilli proved: paying customers don't make the performer real.

A book like this one should offer solutions. In historical perspective, Larson's Book of Family Issues contains little more than a remarkable litany of ironic observations.

In 1986, Larson proclaimed that the childless woman faces "a unique trauma," and "may even wonder if her husband will divorce her in favor of a fertile woman" [p. 47]; in 1991, HE divorced his wife of 23 years over "issues with children," marrying a fertile woman 17 years his junior. In 1986, Larson warned us that the man in mid-life crisis may have an adulterous affair "to assuage nagging doubts of adequacy," or have his hair transplanted [p. 128]; in 1996, ex-Ministry staffer Margo Hamilton has been silenced by a "confidentiality agreement" preventing either her or her new hubby from saying whether she and Larson had an affair while he was married to former wife Kathy, and HE looks like a reject from the Hair Club for Men. In 1986, Larson pontificated that marriage is "a covenant before God and his church" [p. 159]; in 1991, HE filed for divorce.

If there are solutions to these issues, Bob Larson obviously never found them.

this book is full of lies it states all heavy metal is satanic and bad and bads like metallica megadeth anthrax and black sabbath are satanic.anyone who has ever even looked at their lyrics or know the slightest about them will know that this is a lie