BORN WITH A TAIL – Anton LaVey Book Talk & Signing with author Doug Brod!

BORN WITH A TAIL – Anton LaVey Book Talk & Book Signing with author Doug Brod

Join us for a special conversation with author Doug Brod on his new biography, BORN WITH A TAIL: The Devilish Life And Wicked Times Of Anton Szandor LaVey, Founder Of The Church Of Satan, moderated by fellow author Katherine Turman (co-writer of Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal.)

Anton Szandor LaVey, with his unmistakable cape, horn-studded hood, and striking Ming the Merciless beard, burst onto the San Francisco scene in the mid-1960s. As America braced for the Summer of Love, LaVey introduced a dark counterculture, transforming his eerie fascinations into the founding principles of the Church of Satan. Doug Brod’s BORN WITH A TAIL (Hachette Books) chronicles a time when Americans could welcome a macabre showman into their living rooms via The Tonight Show, before a ginned-up hysteria known as the Satanic Panic would put a target on his shiny, shaven head.

Through the lens of this meticulously researched biography, readers are transported to LaVey's iconic Victorian mansion, a place where reality and spectacle collide. Here, LaVey conducted rituals that were as much about self-empowerment as they were about embracing life's indulgences. His teachings, which drew on the works of Ayn Rand, Friedrich Nietzsche, and the occult musings of Aleister Crowley, were articulated with the sensationalism of pulp fiction legends like H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard.

LaVey's influence stretched far beyond the confines of his church. His seminal work, The Satanic Bible, has remained in print since 1969, becoming a touchstone for those on society’s fringes—long before the goth subculture emerged. Yet, his impact is seen not just in literature but also in the realm of paranormal and metaphysical entertainment that dominates today’s pop culture landscape.

LaVey's magnetic persona and boundary-pushing performances made him a regular on national television shows. This book covers his early days as a carnival organist and lion tamer to his establishment as a media-savvy provocateur and his later years living as a real-life Gomez Addams. It delves into the allure he held over Hollywood celebrities, drawing names like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Sammy Davis Jr. into his orbit. His penchant for the dramatic and his knack for attracting public curiosity came at a great personal cost. Deeply researched and featuring dozens of interviews, as well as recently unearthed personal correspondence, BORN WITH A TAIL separates the facts from the fabrications of this uniquely American character’s extraordinary life.

Bio:

Doug Brod is the former editor in chief of SPIN and TV Guide magazines and the author of They Just Seem a Little Weird: How KISS, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, and Starz Remade Rock and Roll (Hachette). He has also been an editor at Entertainment Weekly and Condé Nast and has written for The New York Times, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and Fangoria. A native New Yorker, he lives with his family in Toronto, where he is an editor at the Toronto Star.

Following the Q&A, Doug Brod will be available to sign copies of his new LaVey biography “Born With A Tail,” available for purchase that night at the PRS Bookstore.

Ticket Price: $10 (in-person event only).

Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.

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Philosophical Research Society, 3910 Los Feliz Boulevard, Los Angeles, United States