Review by Nick Vassallo
True soul and poetry, Howl is Ginsberg's famous sounding point that cried out "truth!" to a loaded audience of fellow writers and so called beats and rough lifers in Frisco. I read it in a poetry class in high school and immediately felt like I could see and feel his point of view and like I knew how his brain worked, like a long lost friend, the way he inspiredly streamed out all of his observations of life and friends and the country and just existence at large was like how I imagined every human I'd relate to feels when in a revved up corner of clarity feeling life's crackling spark and feeling like, "man, I've just GOT to express this!!" And what beautiful expressions they are. There should be a Ginsberg temperature taker for every generation, someone who can really speak to and get at the feeling of a point in time. A good spiritual guide too, makes you feel like there's power in the fearlessness to speak your mind about something that you know really matters. Amen, angel-headed Allen!
Review by Nick Vassallo
Kerouac has a lyrical style like no other--the man's writing is all soul, and heart, and swells of great mixed energy tumbling out with the spirit of Coltrane, taking a true gift and miraculous eye and feel for the heartbeat of one's place in time and working like a possessed person to harken his craft to the point where he could sit down after years and years of experience and deep deep rued up thoughts and stories and bang out this novel in a legendarily feverish 3 week explosion of coiled observations expressed through his vicarious intensity for living. When I read this book, I feel a kindred spirit and a man looking for honesty and who's mix of emotions, true love , optimistic idealisms and godly sympathy for every walking creature and moment of life in this planet smashes like an atom into a deeply thoughtful attempt at something great. His earnestness and sincerity make attempting seem worthwhile, even as much that he takes in makes him and you weep and feel a blue sad poet's eyes looking out at the world as a place with tremendous sadness and beauty simultaneously. An inspiration to travel and see your country and live with your true friends and aim for honesty, this book has a heartbeat that resonates like a sweet song from some place very special. Thank you, Jack!
Review by Sam Swicord
Probably best concise overview of Marx's 'Capital'. There's very little about historical context and controversies, so I wouldn't read it as an introduction to Marx's work.
Review by Sam Swicord
A timeless concise explanation of how social conflict functions.
Review by Sam Swicord
One of those rare books you can't understand wasn't written a long time ago.
Review by Sam Swicord
Probably the best concise summary of Marx's economic theory.
Review by Sam Swicord
An excellent summary of the classical anarchist theorists. The prose of the book (written in the early 20th century) is strange at times, but the issues it covers (the differences between the thinkers) remain relevant to debates among anarchists over what anarchism is and strategy for change.
Review by Ani Banani
This book was recommended to me many times before I finally picked it up, and I'm glad I did. The art is amazing and diverse, the story is complex and entertaining. Set in a bizarre, flying-car futuristic version of 1999 NYC where science heroes and villains are celebrities and the mayor has 42 personalities, the main character, Sophie Bangs, finds herself embroiled in an unexpected adventure as she transforms into a science heroine and battles forces of evil as well as "good."
Review by Spencer Holmes
This book is fantastic! A gang of misfit children called the Wrenchies travel through a post-apocalyptic future full of evil, magic, and monsters, guided by a mysterious cyborg named the Scientist and a boy from another, simpler world who was pulled into their story through a portal. The illustrations are detailed and totally drew me into the crumbling, wicked setting and the desperate characters trying to fix a world they've only ever known as broken.
Review by Kyle Beckhorn
Beautiful.
Traveling through time and space, you get a peculiar/scattered view of a man's experiences in World War 2, his abduction by extra terrestrials, and other general life happenings.
Told from the point of view of a consciousness no longer bound to life's seemingly linear progression through time.
Review by Pi
This is an awesome book about some of the weirdo Zen masters who got enlightened by being crazy in love with women, getting drunk all the time, or being radically rebellious to the cultural status quo. Many of the masters in the book inspired entirely new schools of Zen and it is surely an in-depth look at the history/folklore of the people and times. Some of the historical background is hard to get through because it really sets the stage for the life and times of each person, but is worth digging into.
Review by Future Man
Hilarious, creepy, wonderful! Takes just a moment to read, but will continue to fascinate and enchant for days if not weeks afterwards.
Review by Spencer Holmes
Escapo was fantastic. My only complaint is that there wasn't enough of it, as often happens with graphic novels, the art and plot draw you in and when you've finished the story you suddenly feel locked out of a world you were just beginning to see. I particularly liked the heavy amount of detail in the design of Escapo's performances and traps.
Review by Fern
I grew up Native American in Alaska, in territory which is amoeaba'd by delayed-arrival waves of second hand American culture. It's the forefront of environmentally and culturally destructive but lucrative industries, and was an alcohol drenched experience that happened far too fast and many times was bleak. The author somehow takes all that bleakness of which I too well know and offers, through humble honesty, a somehow humorous perspective that doesn't apologize or condemn the way life is but simply explores a young boy's desperate and courageous struggle to avoid misery and find a nugget of happiness-as universal as finding a girlfriend and making it on the basketball team, as making friends and avoiding bullies and risking everything to get into a better school. He sheds a kinder light on Western society than one would expect, but this coin is double sided as he remains baffled by his own uncertain identity. I couldn't put it down.
Review by Ryan Welch
Similar to Ted L. Nancy's "Letters From A Nut" series. The author wrote a series of books of haikus, together with their reviews. Some people might consider this fan art. Some people might consider this a homage.
Review by Kryssanne Adams
This book is a wonderful introduction to magick! It features number of short essays by different authors, many of whom discuss their first experiences with magick or successfull spells. It's a good jumping point to further immerse yrself, but some essays are stronger than others.
Review by Future Man
Unbelievable monograph! I could not have guessed at the quantity of output or the scale that Pettibon had worked himself up to before seeing this. Nearly everyone has seen his iconic punk album covers and show fliers from his early days, but that is where common knowledge of his artwork ends. Beyond that, however, he has done some HUGE mural and installation pieces for galleries that maintain the most vital aspects of those earlier work, but take it to the next level. The reproduction of that work here is fantastic and the writing that accompanies it gives a perfect introduction to his work for anyone who is unfamiliar.
Review by Zoe Petersen
This oversized book rests in my top 5 favorite books of all time. Shel screams emotion through illistration. Uncensored for the ears of young tots, this comic reveals the dark side of the moon.
Review by Mike Graves
This book made me feel like I was on a really really good vacation and I never wanted it to end. But then it ended. And I was sad. But it was GOOD!
Review by Mike Graves
At first I thought this book was about Space and shit. Then I took a closer look and was like, "WHAAAAAAAAT!" Its Dah best DOOD!