Distro Top Ten Six — July 2010
Just what is the distro top 10? That’s a question that has been asked through the ages. Is it new books? The best books? What the kids are buying these days? Because I am old and cannot learn, I’ve decided to just do what I like (I’m going to make a great senior, eh?!). So this month I’ve decided to make a list of books (in an order that only makes sense to me) that I am surprised are not selling like the hotcakes they are. Isn’t that weird? I might not even do 10 of them. Think of me at 80!!!
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This is an Honour Song: Twenty Years Since the Blockades
Kiera L. Ladner and Leanne Simpson (editors)
This week marks the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the “Oka Crisis,” AKA the Mohawk Defense of Kanasetake. Like the US, Canada has a long and shameful history of genocide and treaty violations against First Nation peoples, in this case escalating when the nearby town decided, without consulting the Mohawks, to build a golf course on their sacred lands. You should find out more. You should get this book.
Revolution and Other Writings: A Political Reader Gustav Landauer
translated by Gabriel Kuhn
The first comprehensive collection of Gustav Landauer’s work in English! I think people are buying this book (so it doesn’t need my ramblings), but that’s good. You should buy more!!
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Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food
Alicia C. Simpson
Oh, I’m sorry, vegans, do you not like macaroni and cheese? What about french toast? I actually ordered a bunch of these cause I thought the answers to the above questions would both be a resounding yes, and I am surprised that it is not selling very well. I guess I do not know my constituency. So sad. It’s a good book!!!!
Raider Nation, Volume 1: From the January Rebellions to Lovelle Mixon and Beyond
Raider Nation Collective (editors)
As those with their ear to the ground or their eyes on their TVs can tell you, Oakland is a mess right now. I’m getting emails from far away friends asking about the riots and what’s at the root, but not from all of you!! (Please don’t email me.) So here, in a handy pamphlet/magazine, is an answer and a place to start.
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The Tragic Procession: Alexander Berkman and Russian Prisoner Aid
Alexander Berkman et al.
Truth be told, I am part of the group who organized the printing, so I should be quiet, but, says John at Red Emma’s, “The pages of these bulletins, published by anarchist luminaries like Alexander Berkman and Rudolph Rocker, shine a light on the early years of totalitarianism in the Soviet Union and the complete betrayal of the ideals of the Revolution of 1917. Alongside the vital and nearly forgotten testimonies of imprisoned and exiled anarchists, who in many ways were the first victims of the purges, show trials, gulags, and judicial murder that would characterize the worst years of the Soviet state, the bulletins also provide a fascinating glimpse into the composition of a transcontinental network of anarchist prisoner support. Certainly not cheerful reading, but then again, if history was always happy we’d have no use for it!”
Hopes and Prospects
Noam Chomsky
Do you know this exists? It’s brand new (ie. not a collection of old essays, and newly released), it’s Noam Chomsky, and it’s on sale (as are all the other books from Haymarket this month)!
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