[Autonogram] Zapatistas, cheap books, and the passage of time

[Ben at Autonomedia]

greetings Autonomedia list subscribers, and many apologies for the lag
between emails. As usual, we've got more going on here than we can handle.
Here's a quick breakdown:

* * * * *
1. New books: Subcomandante Marcos, "Conversations with Durito"; Richard
Kostelanetz, "Film and Video: Alternative Views"; 2006 Calendar of Jubilee
Saints; Data Browser vols 1 and 2
2. New online bookstore, and 20% discount on all Autonomedia books
(http://bookstore.autonomedia.org)
3. NYC events in December: Richard Kostelanetz, Peter Lamborn Wilson
4. Recent headlines from the Interactivist Network

* * * * *
New Books
"Conversations with Durito" is the long-awaited collection of stories and
communiques from Subcomandante Marcos relating the wit and insight of the
beetle (and knight-errant) Don Durito. Marcos started writing these
stories as a way of explaining the Zapatistas resistance to
neoliberalism in ways that a child could understand (albeit a very bright
child, of course), and churned out several dozen stories, most of which
appeared in Mexican newspapers and online. This collection has been
assembled by the Accion Zapatista Editorial Collective in Austin, Texas,
who provide crucial historical and political context for each story, even
explaining literary and personality references in footnotes and a long
introductory essay. Additionally, each piece is illustrated by various
simpatico artists, and a color section in the middle of the book gives the
collection an added vibrancy. 352 pp, $16.95
http://bookstore.autonomedia.org/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=468
*
"Film and Video: Alternative Views" is our third collection from Richard
Kostelanetz (following "Crimes of Culture" and "Political Essays").
Kostelanetz, a prolific author, critic, and polyartist, has been writing
about film nearly as long as he's been seeing it; this collection
stretches as far back as the late 50s, and brings his peculiar vision to a
very wide range of material, from the most
obscure experimental work to recent Hollywood schlock. Kosti's a slippery
guy to pin down, but his embrace of radical possibilities and his extreme
breadth of knowledge transcends most of the usual categorical divisions in
politics and the arts. 240 pp, $15.95
http://bookstore.autonomedia.org/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=467
*
The 2006 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints is finally back from the
printer and ready to be shipped out. As always, every day celebrates a
different s/hero from the political and cultural
spheres, ranging from antiquity to the historical moment (Rosa Parks and
John Fowles made it in just before press time, joining Ossie Davis, Hunter
Thompson, and thirty or so other new saints), as well as hundreds of
significant (and forgotten) anniversaries to be commemorated. Our
goal with this thing, of course, is to get you to kick off work and get
down (to brass tacks? and boogie? to the underground? all the above!); all
the holidays necessary are included here! $9.95
http://bookstore.autonomedia.org/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=469
*
The Data Browser series is a new co-pub we're doing with iDAT (the
Institute of Digital Art and Technology in the UK), focussing on critical
approaches to technology and tech-based arts. While the culture industry
appears to allow for resistant strategies using digital technologies, it
also operates in the service of capital in ever more complex ways; this
contradiction is the fertile starting point for what will be a three-book
series (Economising Culture, Engineering Culture, and Curating
Immateriality). The first two are out now, stirring up the waters even as
I write this. For more on the series, check http://www.data-browser.net

Economising Culture
http://bookstore.autonomedia.org/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=446

Engineering Culture
http://bookstore.autonomedia.org/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=451
* * *
New Online Bookstore and Sale
If you've clicked on any of the above, you've already seen our fully
redesigned online bookstore, featuring all the books we publish and many
more that we're pleased to distribute (including Ron Sakolsky's new
"Creating Anarchy" -- a welcome first publication from Fifth Estate Books
-- and from New Delhi, the latest annual Sarai Reader "Bare Acts", among
many others). Our store is at
http://bookstore.autonomedia.org, and it's still a work-in-progress, so
please disregard the humble aesthetic of the thing and have a good browse.
(And if you're a genius designer with php and css programming skills, give
me a holler -- there's plenty to do around here.)

For the next two weeks, as a way of cracking a bottle of cheap champagne
over this site, we're having a sale on Autonomedia books -- everything we
publish is 20% off until December 14, including the new books mentioned
above.
* * *
NYC Events
Speaking of slippery characters, Richard Kostelanetz and Peter Lamborn
Wilson will be squaring off against each other on Thursday, December 1st,
in a debate on the topic "Anarchists and Libertarians: Friends or
Enemies?" Autonomedia is in the curious position of having published
multiple books by both writers, so of course we only encourage you to bet
high and bet often! The event is at the regular monthly gathering of the
Junto, an anti-state discussion group, at the General Society Library, 20
West 44th Street, at 7pm. Admission is free, and books will be available.

Then, two weeks hence on Tuesday, December 13, at 7:30pm, Peter Lamborn
Wilson will again be speaking, this time to the Libertarian Book Club's
Anarchist Forum. Peter will recite much of his anarchist poetry, which he
refers to as "Mad Manifestoes," and connect the poems to what is currently
twisting about in the world. The Anarchist Forums are always lively and
wide-ranging, so come early for a good seat. The event will take place at
the Brecht Forum, 451 West Street, Manhattan (between Bank and Bethune
streets). Take an A, C, E, or L train to the 14th Street and 8 th Avenue
subway stop or take a 1, 2, or 3 train to the 14th Street and 7th Avenue
stop.
* * *
Just a reminder: Autonomedia publishes books, but we also coordinate the
Interactivist Info Exchange, a free-wheeling chain-smoking dervish of a
web zine, with new pieces related to radical politics and culture added
daily, and the possibility of comments and response from our
attention-starved readership. Some recent headlines to whet your appetite:

Yann Moulier-Boutang, "The Old New Clothes of the French Republic: In
Defense of the Supposedly 'insignificant' Rioters"
http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=05/11/29/038222

Michael Albert, "Argentine Self-Management"
http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=05/11/25/0054249

"World's First Starbucks Strike Spreads to 10 Stores"
http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=05/11/24/2329219

Joshua Glenn, "Back to Utopia" (a review of Fredric Jameson's
"Archaeologies of the Future")
http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=05/11/24/167251

Wu Ming, "Notes on copyright and copyleft"
http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=05/11/22/0411209

Please contribute!

* * * * *
The only other Autonomedia news is that as always, we're struggling to
keep doing what we do, which we do with a tiny budget and very little
external support aside from book sales. Please check our store, maybe
order a calendar or two and some books, but also tell people what's going
on over here. We need all the support we can get!

bests,
Ben at Autonomedia