A Year of Books by
Friends
July 2007
Dear friends
& family,
It's the
year of friends of mine writing and publishing books! Here's a heads up about
them, starting with three I've already had the pleasure of reading. There's a
wide range of topics and writing styles on the list, but I'm betting that each
of you will be interested in at least one of these volumes.
First up
is A
Game as Old As Empire: The Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of
Global Corruption. This collection of powerful essays expands on the
best-selling "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins,
who wrote this new volume's introduction. Besides the solid opening and closing
chapters by editor Steve Hiatt (go Steve!) and "The Bush Agenda"
author Antonia Juhasz, my favorite selection is a first-hand account of
"Mercenaries on the Front Lines in the New Scramble for Africa." It's
rare to find a book that pulls together both up-close, detailed stories and a
strong analytic framework.
Next,
gripping in an entirely different way, is the first novel by activist,
historian and resident of wonderful Madison, Wisconsin, Allen Ruff. Save
Me, Julie Kogon captures the 1920s-40s world of struggling Jewish
immigrants in New Haven, Connecticut with its cast of back-room bookies and loan
sharks, corrupt cops and prize fighters, Reds and gun smugglers, and abandoned
kids trying to navigate through several worlds at a time. Allen's book has
tremendous energy, great characters, a powerful sense of place and a classic
structure where all the threads and people come together in an emotional
ending. Check out Allen's blog about the novel:
http://allenruff.blogspot.com/2007/07/save-me-julie-kogon-is-here.html
...and
if you decide to take the plunge, please purchase it from Madison's great
Rainbow Bookstore (and get a signed copy!) by going to:
http://www.rainbowbookstore.org/2007/items/9781425103200
Third,
for those in search of a comprehensive guide to the nuclear proliferation
crisis - and especially the disastrous role of the U.S. government in fueling a
new arms race - a new book whose authors include longtime peace activist Jackie
Cabasso fills the bill. Nuclear Disorder or Cooperative Security? -
U.S. Weapons of Terror, the Global Proliferation Crisis, and Paths to Peace
can be ordered by going to:
http://wmdreport.org/pages/order/nucleardisorder-preorder.htm
Looking
ahead, I'm looking forward with great excitement to reading Estella Habal's San
Francisco's International Hotel: Mobilizing the Filipino American Community in
the Anti-Eviction Movement, just released by Temple University Press. I
had the privilege of reading a draft of the volume and it was terrific; the
final text promises to be even better.
Likewise
on my read-this-one-in-2007 list are Vietnam Awakening: My Journey from Combat to
the Citizens’ Commission of Inquiry on U.S. War Crimes in Vietnam by
Michael Uhl; a revised 2nd edition (after 12 printings of the first edition!)
of Youth,
Identity, Power: The Chicano Movement, by Carlos Munoz, with art work
by Malaquias Montoya; Against Capitalism: The European Left on the
March (covering the years from the Paris Commune of 1871 to 1921) by
Bill Pelz; and another novel, Short Order Frame by Ron Jacobs.
Also
like so many of you I eagerly await 500 Years of Chicana Women's History
by Elizabeth (Betita) Martínez, forthcoming this year with hundreds of photos
and a vivid bilingual text. Another
exciting book with an art/graphic focus - in this case, comics! - will be Students
for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History, scripted by Harvey Pekar
and edited by the author I've known the longest of all my friends mentioned
here, Paul Buhle, a veteran of Madison's vibrant 1960s New Left.
And,
though it is not a book, I want call your attention to Bob Wing's tribute to Harry Chang
published at the beginning of this year in Monthly Review. Bob's piece is not
only a fitting appreciation of the work of this "seminal theorist of
racial justice" but a valuable presentation of key concepts for analyzing
the particular dynamics of U.S. racism. You can access the article on-line at:
http://www.monthlyreview.org/0107wing.htm
Also
extremely valuable is Phyllis Bennis' new primer, Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli
Conflict - perfect for giving to a friend or co-worker searching for
basic information and analysis in straightforward, accesible form.
Last, my
own book, Revolution in the Air, has received a number of new reviews
since the publication of its paperback edition (with a new preface) last fall.
H-NET's review published in February, other new (and all previous) reviews, as
well as an extensive bibliography and a detailed chronology of events
1954-1992, are available at the book-related website: http://www.revolutionintheair.com
Have fun
reading, peace,
Max