Synopses & Reviews
On the Lower Frequencies is at once a manual, memoir, and history of creative resistance in a world awash with war and poverty. An icon on the 1990s zine scene, Iggy Scam traces not only the evolution of cities, but of his own thinking, from his early focus on more outré forms of resistance through more contemplative times as he becomes preoccupied with the need for a more affirmative vision of the future. In one of the book's key pieces, Scam celebrates the history and passing of Hunt's Donuts in San Francisco’s Mission District. On one level an epitaph for a beloved hangout and on another a metaphor for the effects of gentrification, it's the untold history of an entire neighborhood in a single retail establishment. Whether handing out fake Starbucks coupons or dreaming of a future with more public art and punk holidays, Scam gives the reader inspiration for living defiantly.
Review
"Forget statistics and pretentious analysis of urban society. Take a walk through the city with Erick Lyle and discover the reality of how people live in an American city." Howard Zinn
Review
"Erick Lyle puts his ghetto-blaster of a book upside the head of the urban bourgeoisie, turns up the volume, and lets them feel the pain of the streets. Everyone talks about 'guerilla art', but Lyle and his crew are the real deal, Viet Cong in the interstices of gentrification." Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz
Review
"The attitude, the politics, the writing, the adventures, the crowbars! I loved it all. SCAM quickly became my favorite zine." Pete Jordan, Dishwasher
About the Author
Erick Lyle (formerly known as Iggy Scam) is a writer, musician, actor and zinester. Born in Miami, FL, he's lived all over the United States, and resides mostly in San Francisco, CA.