We are delighted to report that our upcoming novel (our second fiction book in recent years) has received a rave pre-publication review on PopMatters! Reviewer John L. Murphy says:
“This young Scots burger-flipper turned street protester tells what happened a decade ago in a fast-food kitchen, a small town, and at the barricades of anti-capitalist demonstrations in Prague, London, and Thessaloniki. Johnston enlivens this short, accomplished coming-of-age story with what appears to be a character based on himself, given Wayne Foster’s age and tenure at Benny’s Burgers. He travels throughout Europe as he rallies against ‘profit before people.'”
He continues:
“Amidst ‘the applause of shattering glass,’ many scenes evoke the feel of mass marches and sudden panic. As anarchists and socialists, Trotskyists and vegans, provocateurs and hippies, punks and perhaps a few workers drawing wages and not welfare convene, the sensation of change beckons them. But the apparently global triumph of capital represents an enemy before whom many capitulate. Benny’s Burgers, the franchise where Wayne enters the ranks of labor and where he learns from his louche co-worker nicknamed Spocky about progressive alternatives, stands for how the means of production stamps out—and on—today’s proletariat.
Johnston illustrates deftly the predicament of how we consume, how few options many workers have for meals and for shopping, how we work for the chain store and how we eat at the logo-laden franchises. He vividly dramatizes the automated regimen behind the grill, as relentless as any endured in Dickensian times. He shows the reality familiar to anyone, like myself, who worked in fast-food, or works in a setting dominated by managers with manuals, whether our labor is classified as manual or not.”
It’s a recommended read for everybody!:
“While the target audience for this novel, the second in a fiction series from venerable anarchist publisher AK Press, comprises those already converted to opposition, the appeal of this genial, engaging, yet serious search for meaning in a commodified global culture deserves wide acclaim.”
Sounds like a pretty good novel, right? Well, it is, we promise! Check out the full review on PopMatters, and then why not go ahead and preorder your copy of Peace, Love & Petrol Bombs at a 25% discount? The book will be available in mid-June.
Hot on the heels of a great northeast tour (well, okay, two months later), AK Press is hitting the road again—this time heading into the midwest!
Part of the purpose of these tours is to meet with bookstores and other groups along the way, trying to make sure that there are plenty of AK Press and distributed titles available locally throughout the region. But also, excitingly, there will be a number of public events where anyone can come out and meet an AK collective member (yours truly), ask those burning questions about our upcoming titles or our collective process or our politics, and hopefully give us some good ideas for how we can be a resource for local organizing, education, and other projects.
If you’re near one of these tour stops, we hope you will join us to learn more about AK Press, stock up on our books at a 25% discount, and enjoy some refreshments and good conversation with like-minded folks! Please come out if you can, and help us spread the word…
AK Press Distro Tour: June 2011
Tuesday, June 7 at 7:00PM: The Big Idea Bookstore, Pittsburgh, PA
Wednesday, June 8 at 7:00PM: Visible Voice Books, Cleveland, OH (with special guest: AK Press author & Cleveland native Seth Tobocman!)
Thursday, June 9 at 7:00PM: Boxcar Books, Bloomington, IN
Saturday & Sunday, June 11–12: Stop by our table at the Finding Our Roots conference in Chicago!
Thursday, June 16 at 7:00PM: Riverwest Public House, Milwaukee, WI (co-sponsored by People’s Books Cooperative and A Broader Vocabulary Cooperative)
Friday, June 17 at 7:00PM: Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative, Madison, WI
Saturday, June 18 at 2:00PM: Boneshaker Books, Minneapolis, MN
The Minneapolis stop on the AK Distro Tour! AK collective member Suzanne will talk briefly about AK Press, how we operate, and what we’re up to these days—and then there’ll be time for Q&A and discussion, enjoying some refreshments, and stocking up on AK Press books (they’ll be 25% off!). If you’re on Facebook, you can RSVP on this event page.
The Madison stop on the AK Distro Tour! AK collective member Suzanne will talk briefly about AK Press, how we operate, and what we’re up to these days—and then there’ll be time for Q&A and discussion, enjoying some refreshments, and stocking up on AK Press books (they’ll be 25% off!).
The Milwaukee stop on the AK Distro tour is a special one—not just because the event is taking place at a cooperative bar(!!!), but because it’s co-sponsored by three awesome groups: People’s Books Cooperative, the Cream City Collective, and A Broader Vocabulary Cooperative. Come have a drink, learn more about AK Press, and check out some of our latest books at a 25% discount!
This year, for the first time, AK Press will be tabling at the Finding Our Roots Anarchist Conference in Chicago! It falls in the middle of the AK Distro midwest tour, how lucky! (Okay, we planned that, because we wanted to table this conference…)
The theme is “solidarity.” And the conference includes a bookfair this year too!
For more info, check out the conference website.
The Bloomington stop on the AK Distro Tour! AK collective member Suzanne will talk briefly about AK Press, how we operate, and what we’re up to these days—and then there’ll be time for Q&A and discussion, enjoying some refreshments, and stocking up on AK Press books (they’ll be 25% off!). If you’re on Facebook, you can RSVP on this event page.
The Cleveland stop on the AK Distro Tour, and this one will feature a very exciting author appearance!
AK collective member Suzanne will talk briefly about AK Press, how we operate, and what we’re up to these days, and then answer any questions you may have.
We’ll also be joined by AK Press author Seth Tobocman (a Cleveland native, and author of Disaster and Resistance and You Don’t Have To Fuck People Over To Survive), who will give a multimedia presentation of his work.
As if that’s not enough excitement, you’ll also have a chance to stock up on AK Press books at a 25% discount.
The Pittsburgh stop on the AK Distro Tour! AK collective member Suzanne will talk briefly about AK Press, how we operate, and what we’re up to these days—and then there’ll be time for Q&A and discussion, enjoying some refreshments, and stocking up on AK Press books (they’ll be 25% off!). If you’re on Facebook, you can RSVP on this event page.