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The Body Politic
In 3D Sound.
1 pages, Audio Cassette
Published May 1, 1987
About the author
Clive Barker
710 books13.8k followersClive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Rubie (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm. Educated at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School, he studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University and his picture now hangs in the entrance hallway to the Philosophy Department. It was in Liverpool in 1975 that he met his first partner, John Gregson, with whom he lived until 1986. Barker's second long-term relationship, with photographer David Armstrong, ended in 2009.
In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards. This award is presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities". While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has stated that he is a believer in both God and the afterlife, and that the Bible influences his work.
Fans have noticed of late that Barker's voice has become gravelly and coarse. He says in a December 2008 online interview that this is due to polyps in his throat which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in ten percent of the air he was supposed to have been getting. He has had two surgeries to remove them and believes his resultant voice is an improvement over how it was prior to the surgeries. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars. On August 27, 2010, Barker underwent surgery yet again to remove new polyp growths from his throat. In early February 2012 Barker fell into a coma after a dentist visit led to blood poisoning. Barker remained in a coma for eleven days but eventually came out of it. Fans were notified on his Twitter page about some of the experience and that Barker was recovering after the ordeal, but left with many strange visions.
Barker is one of the leading authors of contemporary horror/fantasy, writing in the horror genre early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories (collected in Books of Blood 1 – 6), and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game (1985). Later he moved towards modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), the world-spanning Imajica (1991) and Sacrament (1996), bringing in the deeper, richer concepts of reality, the nature of the mind and dreams, and the power of words and memories.
Barker has a keen interest in movie production, although his films have received mixed receptions. He wrote the screenplays for Underworld (aka Transmutations – 1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. His early movies, the shorts The Forbidden and Salome, are experimental art movies with surrealist elements, which have been re-released together to moderate critical acclaim. After his film Nightbreed (Cabal), which was widely considered to be a flop, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions. Barker was an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which received major critical acclaim.
Barker is a prolific visual artist working in a variety of media, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early Nineties, as well on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996), as well as on the second printing of the original UK publications of his Books of Blood series.
A longtime comics fan, Barker achieved his dream of publishing his own superhero books when Marvel Comics launched the Razorline imprint in 1993. Based on detailed premises, titles and lead characters he created specifically for this, the four interrelated titles — set outside the Marvel universe — were Ectokid,
In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards. This award is presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities". While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has stated that he is a believer in both God and the afterlife, and that the Bible influences his work.
Fans have noticed of late that Barker's voice has become gravelly and coarse. He says in a December 2008 online interview that this is due to polyps in his throat which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in ten percent of the air he was supposed to have been getting. He has had two surgeries to remove them and believes his resultant voice is an improvement over how it was prior to the surgeries. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars. On August 27, 2010, Barker underwent surgery yet again to remove new polyp growths from his throat. In early February 2012 Barker fell into a coma after a dentist visit led to blood poisoning. Barker remained in a coma for eleven days but eventually came out of it. Fans were notified on his Twitter page about some of the experience and that Barker was recovering after the ordeal, but left with many strange visions.
Barker is one of the leading authors of contemporary horror/fantasy, writing in the horror genre early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories (collected in Books of Blood 1 – 6), and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game (1985). Later he moved towards modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), the world-spanning Imajica (1991) and Sacrament (1996), bringing in the deeper, richer concepts of reality, the nature of the mind and dreams, and the power of words and memories.
Barker has a keen interest in movie production, although his films have received mixed receptions. He wrote the screenplays for Underworld (aka Transmutations – 1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. His early movies, the shorts The Forbidden and Salome, are experimental art movies with surrealist elements, which have been re-released together to moderate critical acclaim. After his film Nightbreed (Cabal), which was widely considered to be a flop, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions. Barker was an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which received major critical acclaim.
Barker is a prolific visual artist working in a variety of media, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early Nineties, as well on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996), as well as on the second printing of the original UK publications of his Books of Blood series.
A longtime comics fan, Barker achieved his dream of publishing his own superhero books when Marvel Comics launched the Razorline imprint in 1993. Based on detailed premises, titles and lead characters he created specifically for this, the four interrelated titles — set outside the Marvel universe — were Ectokid,
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 21, 2018
I guess this particular book is mostly for collectors and geeks... but what an amazing edition it is! You get two brilliant short stories by Clive Barker ("In the Flesh" and "The Body Politic"), the feature length screenplay adaptation of "In the Flesh" by horror guru and gentleman Mick Garris, interviews, movie storyboards, and a really great introduction with amazing trivia... and a bunch of incredible artwork by Barker. Truly a treasure for Barker fans.
February 21, 2020
This was a very weird story reminds me of the movie Idle Hand. So basically you have this normal guy living a normal life with his wife but he starts waking up and having pains in his hands and wrists almost as if his hands are working while he sleeps. he also starts to notice things that his hands do without him having any control over them such as ,breaking pencils without him thinking about it are reaching over and holding hands with strangers who are standing close to him .he seeks help through a psychiatrist who tells him it's nothing more then just an over-reactive stressed out reaction of his brain and to try to rest. Overtime the control of his hands gets worse and worse and one night while he falls fast asleep his wife is watching him and she notices that his hands are moving at night she tries to wake him up but his hand ceases her neck and choked her to death before he's fully awake and even has a clue as to what's going on. From there things get even weirder when he realizes that his hands are actually two demons spirits that are talking to each other trying to separate their selves from his body so they can form a cult-like group with other hands to try and take over the world. Even though this was a quick little read and a very weird story the ending was also a very good ending for this book I can't sleep too much more will just have to read it.
February 5, 2024
Listened to this 16 days after my cat perma-slept. Understood that I should never let my hands lull me into a false sense of autocracy.
A cliche recyled into a really good short story. Quite goofy lines at the end before the guy at the rooftop takes a jump. Otherwise, this one really painted some striking imagery such as the fat cat minding its own business, eating on its bowl while the floor is smudged eith blood and a bunch of severed hands are pasted on the wall, about to drag the fat guy. The garden of two dead trees with unnatural fruits was also very vividly described.
Dialogue and prose are on point.The talk to my hand dialogue was very good. the sentiments about penises being the symbol paternal power and doctors being unreliable,
Cried at the mention of a cat
A cliche recyled into a really good short story. Quite goofy lines at the end before the guy at the rooftop takes a jump. Otherwise, this one really painted some striking imagery such as the fat cat minding its own business, eating on its bowl while the floor is smudged eith blood and a bunch of severed hands are pasted on the wall, about to drag the fat guy. The garden of two dead trees with unnatural fruits was also very vividly described.
Dialogue and prose are on point.The talk to my hand dialogue was very good. the sentiments about penises being the symbol paternal power and doctors being unreliable,
Cried at the mention of a cat
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2019
I read some Clive Barker when I was a teenager but have had a thirty year gap. I think I enjoy him better as an adult. What happens when we lose control of ourselves, or parts of ourselves anyway? And not only do we lose control, but those parts want to escape us entirely and liberate other parts from other people. Completely freakish and interesting writing. This story is what could happen in the far extreme of 'alien hand syndrome' - at least I am assuming that is the inspiration. Great little read.
August 15, 2023
What if we mingled absurdism with body horror? Clive Barker steps aside from splatterpunk and dives into the wild waters of bizarro fiction. But while deep in weird, he still manages to ask important ontological questions and invoke answers. Awesome.
January 25, 2018
Audio cassette I bought back in 1987.
June 29, 2023
Clive Barker has an incredible imagination.
April 15, 2015
Awesome short story,
December 28, 2017
I was fortunate enough to find this book at the antiquarian book fair at Seattle Center. So wish the author was more prolific as he has a unique outlook that brings "creepy" to a whole other level.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews