Zerzan: "The least pessimistic book I can recall reading"

"The least pessimistic book I can recall reading. It brings anarchist resistance and the spirit together in a very wide-ranging and powerful contribution”.

This is the comment, in a recent article, from US anarchist writer John Zerzan on Paul Cudenec's The Anarchist Revelation, published by Winter Oak Press.

Zerzan is the influential author of  Elements of Refusal, Future Primitive and Other Essays, Running on Emptiness, Against Civilization: Readings and Reflections and Twilight of the Machines.

This positive international feedback to Cudenec's work follows on from anarchist author Gabriel Kuhn's review on the Alpine Anarchist site, in which he refers to it as "a daring journey through the history of ideas".

Kuhn, author of Life Under the Jolly Roger and Soccer vs the State, adds: "The book attempts no less than equipping contemporary anarchism with a footing that is often neglected: the transformation not only of society's structures but also of people's souls.

"Cudenec's text is well-structured, consistent in its arguments, and manages to address poetry, mysticism, and spirituality without regressing into lofty gibberish."

Peter Marshall, author of Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism, has described Cudenec's essay Antibodies as "very readable and profoundly thoughtful" and offering "many new insights on the destructive relationship between the greater part of humanity and the planet which tries to sustain them".

Paul Cudenec will be talking on The Anarchist Revelation at the London Anarchist Bookfair on Saturday October 19, at 5pm in room 3.20.

Paul Cudenec: talks in Brighton and London

 

Paul Cudenec will be giving two talks in the UK in the next few weeks, based around the themes of his book The Anarchist Revelation, published by Winter Oak Press.

The first is at The Cowley Club at 12 London Road, Brighton, East Sussex, on the evening of Wednesday September 25.

The event, oganised by Cowley Books, is open to all and free of charge and begins at 7pm. The Cowley Club is a libertarian social centre, which hosts a range of cultural and political activities and has its own bookshop, library and bar.

The second talk will be on Saturday October 19 at the 2013 Anarchist Bookfair at Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS.

Paul's talk will be on the third floor, room 3.20, from 5pm to 6pm. The programme says he will explain "how only anarchy can save humankind and the planet - and why today’s anarchists must urgently reconnect with the primal force of our root ideology, a free and profound way of thinking that stands in direct opposition to the blinkered and soul-stifling materialism of contemporary society". It will be followed by a general discussion.

The bookfair itself, a must for anyone in the UK interested in anarchism, runs from 10am to 7pm with the usual packed programme of diverse meetings and rooms full of stalls.