Reading the Left #9
Book reviews by Chris Faatz
Click on book title to see if a New or Used copy
is available from Powells Books
ZINN ON MARX
Howard Zinn, the US' pre-eminent left historian, has just
published what proves to be a wonderful little treat, the
dramatic monologue MARX IN SOHO (South End Press
0-89608-593-7, 55pp). With consummate skill and erudition,
Zinn introduces us to Karl Marx, his life and loves, a
refreshing intro or refresher to his ideas on politics,
history, and economics, and his conflicts with such folks
as Mikhail Bakunin (who makes a historically unfounded,
but unmistakably character-accurate foray into the pages
of the play).
The great thing about it is that it's politics-as-story.
It's like you're sitting down and drinking a beer with the
guy (which is exactly what Zinn intended). The Paris Commune,
the conflict with the anarchists in the First International,
all the high points are here. An added plus is that Zinn
takes this as an opportunity to use Marx's ideas on *today's*
problems, filtered through Zinn's own irrepressible libertarian
socialist ideas (he has been, according to this book's
rivetting introduction, heavily influenced by anarchism).
It's a wonderful book on a wonderful subject, full of
excitement and passion and very highly recommended. If
there's a drawback, it's the price--but, as you may
have noticed, prices for books are climbing everywhere,
and despite the fact that Chomsky alone could carry
South End's whole list (and probably, to a great extent,
does), I have little doubt that these independent left
presses need to charge what they do to survive.
And, anyway, I, at least, will take Zinn over Chomsky
any day. And *enjoy* it. Let's face it, the guy can at
least write (and write well).
Anyway: South End Press, 7 Brookline Street, Cambridge,
MA 02139 USA southend@igc.org,
http://www.lbbs.org/sep/sep.htm
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...AND, WHILE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT...
AK Press has a marvelous series of spoken word CDs. Among
them are stuff by Mumia Abu-Jamal, Chomsky, and, again, Zinn,
whose "A People's History of the United States: A Lecture at
Reed College" (AK Press, 1-873176-95-3, 2cds) is sitting in
front of me.
Although the title's slightly misleading--I mean, how can you
pack that subject into 103 minutes?--it's still a wonderful
bit of work, with Zinn spontaneous and hilarious, serious
and as brilliant as ever. His points are death to the system,
and, although a spoken word work is impossible to truly hold
to as linear a message as a written work, this is a very nice
piece indeed. Highly recommended to those of you who listen to
stuff of a political bent.
AK Press is located at PO Box 12766, Edinburgh, Scotland,
EH8 9Y3 over there, and at PO Box 40682, San Francisco,
CA 94140-0682 on this side of the puddle.
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GOOD READING ON THE WEB
Al Aronowitz THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST
http://www.bigmagic.com/pages/blackj
Al's got some really fine writing on his website, all of a
progressive nature, endlessly entertaining and enlightening--
and challenging. Well worth checking out.
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Solidarity: A Socialist Feminist Organization (7012 Michigan Ave.,
Detroit, MI 48210; 313 841-0160; solidarity@igc.apc.org,
http://www.labornet.org/solidarity ) has published what I would
unqualifiedly say is the best pamphlet yet on Mumia, "Fighting
for Justice: The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal." Authored by the Prison
Issues Working Group, it only costs US$1 (contact them for bulk
prices), and has the refreshing perspective of not cleaving to an
organizational line or self-promotion, but of truly
trying to be an educational piece of the first water. It's my firm
belief that they've succeeded.
All the facts of the case are here, as well as resources and
suggestions for action and an incredible list of further sources
of material on the case. It even includes several samples of
resolutions made by labor, radical, and governmental bodies in
support of Mumia's innocence and/or a new trial. Very highly
recommended.
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AK PRESS, AK PRESS...
What am I going to do with these guys? Hands down, they're one of
my favorite publishers in the country, having on their lists the
likes of Murray Bookchin on Spain and Lifestyle versus Social
Anarchism, Daniel Guerin's magnificent two volume anthology of
anarchist literature, and countless other titles ranging from
fiction to poetry to spoken word. Now they've come out with
another brick in your arsenal for countering corporate hegemony in
the class war, SEIZING THE AIRWAVES: A FREE RADIO HANDBOOK
UKL895, ISBN 1-873176-99-6, for address info see above).
This anthology, edited by Ron Sakolsky and Stephen Dunifer, includes
everything from first hand reports of what it's like to run a
counter-hegemonic micro-radio station, often one that's constantly
on the move to avoid suppression, to the history of the free radio
movement, to the "how-to's" of starting a station and getting it
up and running.
Contributors are great: Jon Bekken, the anarcho-syndicalist writer,
Robert McChesney, Lorenzo Komboa Ervin (on the government's assault
on Black Liberation Radio), and many, many more. Lots of resources;
everything, really, you could want. Go for it, y'all--we have a world
of hearts and minds to win!
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NORMAN SOLOMON ON THE MEDIA
Norman Solomon is, of course, exceptionally well known as a commentator
on media spin, and etc. Common Courage Press (Box 702, Monroe, ME 04951,
207 525 0900, http://www.commoncouragepress.com ) has just published
THE HABITS OF HIGHLY DECEPTIVE MEDIA:DECODING SPIN AND LIES IN MAINSTREAM
NEWS (1-56751-154-6), a compendium of Solomon's columns that
tears the head off such things as the Cato Institute, Robert Murdoch,
the "P.U.-litzer Prize," the George Bush-Reverend Moon connection, and
just about everything else you could ask for (including an intro by
Jonathan Kozol). Go for it; it's well worth the price. The only drawback
is the obvious one: columns just don't (and can't) pack the punch of an
entire book of analysis. But, sometimes that's okay....
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