Here’s some fun, but not for the whole family (unless you have a perverse family). This zine is funny in a mean-spirited, piss on your neighbor way, with bits of sadism and screwiness for good measure. At times, the editor is a bit self-indulgent, but he makes up for it in flashes of brilliance. Nearly all of the material in Crank is lightyears away from anything resembling good taste. Some of it is even too grotesque for me.

In the world of Crank, it is helpful not to take anything too literally. Take, for example, “Crank Kiddie Fun”. I’d imagine that this would consist of a game in which Barney would somehow get mangled. The editor, however, has another idea of kiddie fun: a word find in which one searches for 62 words describing sex organs and acts, all found in The Fermata by Nicholson Baker.

“Letters to the Editor” consists of lustful confessions (which are probably fiction), all of which have an unexpected twist at the end.