Good Trouble

A PUNK ROCK MEMOIR OF MISTAKES AND RECOVERYJoe Biel overcame many obstacles - including Asperger's - to become the successful owner of a punk publishing house in Portland. Here he tells the story of how he beat the odds and found fulfilment.In 1996, everything about Joe Biel's life seemed like a mistake. He was 18, he lived in Cleveland, he got drunk every day and he had mystery health problems and weird social ticks. All his friends were just as bad, or worse. To escape a nihilistic, apocalyptic worldview and to bring reading and documentation into a communal punk scene, he started assembling zines and bringing them in milk crates to underground punk shows.Eventually, this became Microcosm publishing. But Biel's head for math was stronger than his ability to relate to people, and it wasn't until he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome that it all began to fall into place.This is the story of how, over 20 years, one person turned a litany of continuing mistakes and seemingly wrong turns into a happy, fulfilled life and a thriving publishing business that defies all odds.