“Tangled Roots: Dialogues on ecological justice, healing, and decolonization” by Healing the Earth Press was an easy choice for Left Eye On Books best book crowdsource award nomination. Its blend of activism suited well with Left Eye On Books‘ mission. It’s contributors have a long history in ecological justice issues as both teachers and practitioners. [...]
In the premier of HBO’s new series, Girls, intern Hannah Horvath goes to her boss and asks for a job. She had been working 40 hours a week for a year with no salary. Her boss promptly fires her. Did she learn valuable skills as an intern? Maybe. But, she worked at a book publisher and [...]
“The Seven Secrets of the Prolific: How to Overcome Writer’s Block, Finish Your Projects and Enjoy Your Life” by Hillary Rettig is the self-help book for people who hate self-help books. It is a follow up to “The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World Without Losing Your Way” that addressed activist burnout. Rettig is [...]
Silver Sparrow written by Tayari Jones, and published by Algonquin Books, has a wider appeal than some of the Left Eye On Books other Independent Readers’ Choice Award selections. But, we feel in love with its subtle approach to class in African America. Two sisters, sharing the same bigamist father, give two different takes on [...]
Dismissed as a fad, the May Day protests all over the country showed that Occupy Wall Street is still relevant. “Occupy!: Scenes from Occupied America,” compiled by editors from the New York journal, n+1 and published by Verso, includes notable left intellectuals as Angela Davis, Judith Butler, Slavoj Zizek and Doug Henwood as well as [...]
“Occupying Wall Street: The Inside Story of an Action That Changed America” written by “Writers for the 99%” and published by Haymarket Books, might leave you thinking it will have a dreadful written-by-committee tone, but it works quite well. This account of the heady, exciting first two months of Occupy Wall Street is an official [...]
Lists of the best books of the year are an exercise in hubris. Even if I was to narrow things down to the relevant books for this site — most of the works published by independent left publishing houses like South End Press and AK, a sizable number of titles from academic publishers like Temple [...]
Beyond nostalgia for polyester leisure suits, disco and “Charlie’s Angels,” the ’70s are emerging as a subject of serious historical investigation. In paticular, a number of recent works have called attention to the troubles of the labor movement in that decade. Economic conditions worsened as the U.S. faced competition from European and Japanese industry and rising [...]
“The Barbarian Nurseries” is the second novel of Hector Tobar; he is author of “Translation Nation” and, according to his website, he is ”a novelist, a journalist, the son of Guatemalan immigrants and a proud native of the city of Los Angeles.” This tale of racial and class divisions within one Southern Californian household sounds promising. Publishers Weekly [...]
Tony Horowitz, author of numerous books including “Confederates in the Attic,” turns to a historical subject in his new book, “Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War.” The focus on an individual fighting for social change, rather than either the founding fathers or obscure individuals, is fairly unusual in mainstream [...]
“Rape New York” is an only-too-timely look at the interaction between sexual violence and institutional power (We need a reviewer for this book. Reviewer gets a free copy. Please contact us at Steve (@) lefteyeonbooks.com if interested). From Publisher’s Weekly: “In a harrowing and intimate account Leo candidly recounts her own “nonviolent” rape of January [...]
“Black Flags and Windmills: Hope, Anarchy, and the Common Ground Collective“ is the forthcoming book from scott crow, whose experiences with FBI surveillance were chronicled in the New York Times. Publisher’s description: “Tracing a life of radical activism and the emergence of a grassroots organization in the face of disaster, this chronicle describes scott crow’s headlong rush into the political storm surrounding the catastrophic [...]
Publisher’s Description: “Featuring the testimony of close to seventy Iraqis from all backgrounds and occupations – from onetime Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi to insurgents speaking on the condition of anonymity - Voices from Iraq: A People’s History, 2003-2009 builds a riveting chronological history unmatched for its insight and revelations. Beginning in 2003, this intimate narrative [...]
Publisher’s description: “In Someplace Like America: Tales from the New Great Depression, writer Dale Maharidge and photographer Michael S. Williamson take us to the working-class heart of America, bringing to life–through shoe leather reporting, memoir, vivid stories, stunning photographs, and thoughtful analysis–the deepening crises of poverty and homelessness. The story begins in 1980, when the [...]
Publisher’s info: “Greg Mortenson has built a global reputation as a selfless humanitarian and children’s crusader, and he’s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He is also not what he appears to be. As acclaimed author Jon Krakauer discovered, Mortenson has not only fabricated substantial parts of his bestselling books Three Cups of Tea [...]
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