Celebrity ghost writer Michael Malice is the subject of Harvey Pekar‘s Ego & Hubris, and is best known for co-authoring books with prominent personalities like comedian D.L. Hughley. In an interview, Pekar aptly describes Malice as someone who is “motivated by things that are different than what motivates other people.”  Take his recent output Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il, which explores the life and influence of the beloved/feared former North Korean leader. Funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign, Malice breathes new life into a little odd man from a “hermit kingdom” that many in the West would rather sweep under the rug of history.

He’s also a fanatic of obscure 80s finds.

Follow him, Dear Reader, at @MichaelMalice. In the meantime, discover three of his prized personal possessions after the jump.

-Jacqueline Colette Prosper, @yummicoco

1) Traditional North Korean Suit

Backstory:

[When I was] going to North Korea, one of the things I really wanted was a handmade North Korean suit. There was someone on my tour who had one of those accordion cameras, like 1890s-y, but it was digital, and my guide did not know what that was. I’m like “oh, it’s hipster,” and then I tried to explain what “hipster” means. To a North Korean it was very hard for me to do, but fortunately good friend Nichelle Stephens had given me a definition years ago to mean “someone who likes anything that’s old,” so I said that’s what “hipster” means. Later, there’s a sweatshop inside the hotel where you stay where the women work and live and I wanted to get a custom suit. They were pointing out all these western-style designs. I go “no, no, no I want a suit like the old-fashioned way like Kim Il-sung wore back in the day.” My guide goes “oh, hipster!” 

Loves it because…

I cherish that suit enormously. It’s a very weird cut. I walk around like a crazy person in it, but it’s just amazing. It’s very boxy, and [the blazer] goes down to right above the knee, [giving it] a very square frame. It’s loose and [when] you wear it, it just looks off. It looks ill-fitting, but it’s supposed to fit like that. There are shoulder pads and has parallel lines on the sides [with] no taper, which is weird to the western style. Robotic is a good way of describing [the look of the suit]. 

2) The Pasta Sweater

Backstory

I’m obsessed with the 80s, as I think many of us are. I saw this on eBay, and I thought, I can’t possibly wear this because it’s just so insane with the colors and font, the picture, the motto, the cuffs, and the trim. I’m like, this is such a great object, I need to own it even if I never wear it.

Loves it because…

It only ended up being 40 bucks–those could like go for $200. I did wear it to North Korea where again, they would have no concept of what’s crazy and what’s not crazy. Although, my western tour guide (from New Zealand) said he thought it was a crime against fashion. I think I’ve worn it once else on stage, but I can’t walk around with it. Plus, I don’t want it to be damaged.

3) Ruell and Ray Denim

Backstory

Recently I got into denim, ’cause apparently there’s this whole denim subculture that I wasn’t aware about, and I started dicking around online.

Loves it because…

[This pair] is just this great, so pretentious. I love pretension, like most artists. This was made from leftover, dead stock fabric from Japan. There was one pair for sale in the Netherlands for 400 bucks. I was thinking, what am I going to do? I’m not going to spend $400 on jeans, that’s crazy. But then [the designers] released their last stock for 100 bucks, which is expensive, but hardly like oh my God, you’re a crazy person for spending $100 on a gorgeous pair of jeans. So I got them and I love them…they make me feel like I’m in 1981. RuellandRay.com

-Jacqueline Colette Prosper, @yummicoco