sticks&stones

Finally, the Catalogue for sticks&stones books.

2008-05-01T01:00:00.002-05:00

Here is the official run down of what we are holding for financial liberation. It is arranged as such: author - title - publisher. I have left out prices for now. I guess anyone reading this could come to The Haymarket Affair on Saturday at NOON at Picasso's Coffee House in St. Charles, MO. for the opening of sticks&stones books.

abu-jamal, mumia live from death row addison-wesley
Arnold, Sean soliloquy from a freight yard, an open winter window sticks&stones books
Arnold, Sean soliloquy from a freight yard, an open winter window sticks&stones books
Arnold, Sean soliloquy from a freight yard, an open winter window sticks&stones books
Bufe, Chaz Anarchism, what it is and isn't See Sharp Press
Bufe, Chaz Anarchism, what it is and isn't See Sharp Press
Bufe, Chaz Anarchism, what it is and isn't See Sharp Press
Bufe, Chaz Anarchism, what it is and isn't See Sharp Press
Bufe, Chaz Anarchism, what it is and isn't See Sharp Press
butcher, raegan rusty string quartet crimethinc
cangaceiros, os a crime called freedom eberhardt press
cangaceiros, os a crime called freedom eberhardt press
cangaceiros, os a crime called freedom eberhardt press
CD/ ben bedford lincoln's man hopeful sky records
CD/ ben bedford lincoln's man hopeful sky records
CD/ ben bedford lincoln's man hopeful sky records
CD/ Black Panther Party the revolutionary analysis of sweet sweet back
CD/ david rovics living in these times rovics
CD/ david rovics living in these times rovics
CD/ david rovics songs for mahmud rovics
CD/ david rovics Halliburton Boardroom Massacre Mi5
CD/ david rovics Halliburton Boardroom Massacre Mi5
CD/ david rovics the commons rovics
CD/ mumia abu-jamal 175 progress drive alternative tentacles
CD/ various artists Mob Action Against the State AK Press/ Alternative Tentacles
City Lights Books Pocket Poets Anthology City Lights Books
Corso, Gregory Gasoline City Lights Books
Corso, Gregory Gasoline City Lights Books
Corso, Gregory Gasoline City Lights Books
Crimethinc Rolling Thunder Crimethinc
Crimethinc Rolling Thunder Crimethinc
Crimethinc Rolling Thunder Crimethinc
Crimethinc Rolling Thunder Crimethinc
Crimethinc Rolling Thunder Crimethinc
Crimethinc Evasion Crimethinc
Crimethinc Evasion Crimethinc
Crimethinc Evasion Crimethinc
crimethinc expect resistance crimethinc
crimethinc expect resistance crimethinc
crimethinc expect resistance crimethinc
crimethinc expect resistance crimethinc
crimethinc expect resistance crimethinc
crimethinc days of war nights of love crimethinc
crimethinc days of war nights of love crimethinc
crimethinc days of war nights of love crimethinc
crimethinc days of war nights of love crimethinc
crimethinc days of war nights of love crimethinc
crimethinc recipes for disaster crimethinc
crimethinc recipes for disaster crimethinc
crimethinc recipes for disaster crimethinc
crimethinc recipes for disaster crimethinc
crimethinc recipes for disaster crimethinc
DeCleyre, Voltairine Anarchism and American Traditions See Sharp Press
DeCleyre, Voltairine Anarchism and American Traditions See Sharp Press
DeCleyre, Voltairine Anarchism and American Traditions See Sharp Press
DeCleyre, Voltairine Anarchism and American Traditions See Sharp Press
DeCleyre, Voltairine Anarchism and American Traditions See Sharp Press
DeCleyre, Voltairine The First Mayday CienFuegos Press
DeCleyre, Voltairine The First Mayday CienFuegos Press
DeCleyre, Voltairine The First Mayday CienFuegos Press
DeCleyre, Voltairine The First Mayday CienFuegos Press
DeCleyre, Voltairine The First Mayday CienFuegos Press
dvd/ crimethinc guerilla film series vol. 1 crimethinc
dvd/ crimethinc guerilla film series vol. 1 crimethinc
dvd/ crimethinc guerilla film series vol. 1 crimethinc
Eberhardt At Dagger's Drawn Eberhardt
Eberhardt At Dagger's Drawn Eberhardt
Eberhardt At Dagger's Drawn Eberhardt
Eberhardt At Dagger's Drawn Eberhardt
Ferlinghetti, Lawrence Americus I (H) New Directions
Ferlinghetti, Lawrence Americus I (H) New Directions
Ferlinghetti, Lawrence Americus I (H) New Directions
FLAGS che FLAGS
FLAGS marcos FLAGS
FLAGS ya basta FLAGS
FLAGS che FLAGS
FLAGS che FLAGS
FLAGS ya basta FLAGS
Franklin, Michael & Arnold, Sean Oedipus Complex: v 1 sticks&stones books
Franklin, Michael & Arnold, Sean Oedipus Complex: v 1 sticks&stones books
Ginsberg, Allen HOWL and other poems City Lights Books
Ginsberg, Allen HOWL and other poems City Lights Books
Ginsberg, Allen HOWL and other poems City Lights Books
Ginsberg, Allen HOWL and other poems City Lights Books
Ginsberg, Allen Kaddish City Lights Books
Ginsberg, Allen Kaddish City Lights Books
Ginsberg, Allen Fall of America City Lights Books
Ginsberg, Allen Fall of America City Lights Books
Graeber, David Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology Prickly Paradigm Press
Graeber, David Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology Prickly Paradigm Press
Graeber, David Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology Prickly Paradigm Press
guevara, ernesto che guerrilla warfare ocean press
Haymarket Martyrs Mayday and Anarchism Kate Sharpley Library
Haymarket Martyrs Mayday and Anarchism Kate Sharpley Library
Haymarket Martyrs Mayday and Anarchism Kate Sharpley Library
IWW How to Fire your Boss IWW
IWW How to Fire your Boss IWW
IWW How to Fire your Boss IWW
IWW How to Fire your Boss IWW
IWW How to Fire your Boss IWW
IWW How to Fire your Boss IWW
IWW How to Fire your Boss IWW
IWW How to Fire your Boss IWW
IWW IWW songs charles h kerr
Kaufman, Bob Cranial Guitar
kerouac, jack on the road signet classic
kick, russ 50 things you're not supposed to know disinfo
LP/ various artists better read than dead AK Press
LP/ various artists better read than dead AK Press
LP/ various artists better read than dead AK Press
Marcos, Subcomandante The Story of Colours Cinco Puntos
Marx, Karl The Wisdom of Karl Marx Citadel
Marx, Karl The Wisdom of Karl Marx Citadel
Meltzer, Albert Anarchism: Arguments For and Against ak Press
Meltzer, Albert Anarchism: Arguments For and Against ak Press
Meltzer, Albert Anarchism: Arguments For and Against ak Press
Meltzer, Albert Anarchism: Arguments For and Against ak Press
microcosm The CIA Makes Science Fiction Unexciting 1 microcosm Publishing
microcosm The CIA Makes Science Fiction Unexciting 2 microcosm Publishing
microcosm The CIA Makes Science Fiction Unexciting 3 microcosm Publishing
microcosm The CIA Makes Science Fiction Unexciting 4 microcosm Publishing
morgan, bill and nancy peters howl on trial city lights Books
Nechayev, Sergei Catechism of the Revolutionist Violette Nozieres
Nechayev, Sergei Catechism of the Revolutionist Violette Nozieres
Nechayev, Sergei Catechism of the Revolutionist Violette Nozieres
neruda, pablo the captain's verses new Directions
poster haymarket poster
poster haymarket poster
poster fred hampton poster
poster El Agua poster
poster El Agua poster
poster homestead poster
poster homestead poster
poster brotherhood poster
poster brotherhood poster
poster blair mountain poster
poster blair mountain poster
poster molly jackson poster
poster molly jackson poster
poster molly jackson poster
poster plebs poster
poster plebs poster
poster muhammad ali poster
poster muhammad ali poster
poster korean peasants poster
poster korean peasants poster
poster DIY manifesto poster
poster DIY manifesto poster
Rexroth, Kenneth Selected Poems New Directions
Rexroth, Kenneth Selected Poems New Directions
Rimbaud, Arthur A Season In Hell Penguin Classics
Rimbaud, Arthur complete works harper and row
Sacco & Vanzetti Sacco & Vanzetti (pb) ocean
Sacco & Vanzetti Sacco & Vanzetti (pb) ocean
Splint, Ryan Dirty South/Hot Damn and Hell Yeah Microcosm Publishing
steinbeck, john the grapes of wrath viking press
The Icarus Project Friends Make The Best Medicine Icarus Project
The Zapatistas Zapatista Encuentro seven stories press
Thomas, Dylan The Poems of Dylan Thomas (H) New Directions
Thomas, Dylan The Poems of Dylan Thomas (H) New Directions
thoreau, henry david walden signet classic
v/a The Day Will Come Illinois Labor History Society
v/a The Day Will Come Illinois Labor History Society
v/a The Day Will Come Illinois Labor History Society
v/a The Day Will Come Illinois Labor History Society
v/a The Day Will Come Illinois Labor History Society
v/a Off the Map Crimethinc
v/a Off the Map Crimethinc
v/a Off the Map Crimethinc
v/a Off the Map Crimethinc
v/a Off the Map Crimethinc
Vonnegut, Kurt A Man Without A Country seven stories press
Vonnegut, Kurt A Man Without A Country seven stories press
Whitman, Walt Leaves of Grass, The Deathbed Edition (pb) Simon & Schuster
zine passionate and dangerous institutej for anarchist studies
zine passionate and dangerous institutej for anarchist studies
zine passionate and dangerous institutej for anarchist studies
zine passionate and dangerous institutej for anarchist studies
zine passionate and dangerous institutej for anarchist studies
zine passionate and dangerous institutej for anarchist studies
zine passionate and dangerous institutej for anarchist studies
Zinn, Howard a power governments cannot surpress city Lights Books
Zinn, Howard a power governments cannot surpress city Lights Books
Zinn, Howard The Zinn Reader (pb) seven stories press
Zinn, Howard The Zinn Reader (pb) seven stories press
Zinn, Howard Terrorism and War seven stories press

a haymarket affair

2008-03-27T01:17:00.002-05:00

april showers bring mayflowers and what do the may flowers bring? RESISTANCE! that's right may first, or mayday known around the world as labour day, celebrates a dark period in american opression of class struggle, when workers, fed up with long days and low pay, set out to make a change that would change the way we work and live in the u.s. forever, well at least until reagan's eighties and a trickle down economy.

workers from all industries across the us unionized in the late 1800's and began a long legacy of worker resistance. fighting for those pesky liberal ideas, like safety, security, and fairness, the workers decided they wanted to stop going in before the sunrise and getting home after dark, and reap the benefits of their labor by spending time with their families, sounds crazy, i know, but hey, it sounded good at the time. they set their sights on an eight hour work day, and were preparing for a nation wide strike until their demands were met. i am not sure if a dolly parton song was in the prophetic visions of samuel gompers when bringing forth the idea of a 9 to 5, but fairness certainly was. the date was set for may 1st, 1886.

the general strike began with calls of "shut it down" ringing in the star spangled night. lumber workers, train yard workers, deli workers, stood in solidarity. unfortunately, the police were not on strike and on may 3, killed a group of striking workers outside a harvesting machine company building.

albert parsons, with a cry of an attack on one is an attack on all, led a charge to rally the workers of the world in haymarket square chicago the following day. what started then as a peaceful gathering of workers, turned to violence when a zealous group of police officers made an appearance. a bomb exploded at some point, by an unknown bomber, and the police opened fire, not only on the crowd, but on each other, killing seven of their own officers.

in the hysteria that followed, a group of eight men were arrested simply for being anarchists, and charged with the bombing and the deaths of men whom they never even knew. seven of the eight who remained in custody, after one fled the country, were sentenced to life in prison and three were to be hung by the state.

these men became martyrs of the workers cause and to this day, celebrations in their name are held the world over. mexican children celebrate their cause every year. never heard of this before, i am not surprised.
the powers that be have chosen to delete a large part of this history in the u.s. and for good reason. when the workers get a hero, they become aware of their strife. most families today have at least two jobs in the household, and with debt growing for every u.s. citizen, we are working upwards of 16 hours in a day just to make ends meet and pay the interest on our plastic lives. we have gone as far as to move labor day, which the world holds on may 1st, to september, in a staunch effort to remove the victory of the workers away from the tragedy of may 4th in chicago illinois when america hung it's working class heros out to dry.

so this mayday, this anarchist encourages america to stay home, read a good book, bake some bread, and enjoy your family and friends, in the name of those brave men who fell, in the haymarket affair.

Cranial Guitar - Kaufman, Bob

2008-03-19T01:37:00.006-05:00

This is a guest review by Sean Arnold. Check out sean at casinotown. He has a new book put out by sticks&stones books and casinotown press.

Upon reviewing this review, I find that as Wikepedia suggests, “the neutrality of this article is questionable”, but since there is no such thing as a “fair and balanced opinion” anyways, (FUCK YOU FOXNEWS) only silly attempts, I am surging ahead...

I ordered Bob Kauffman's Cranial Guitar off amazon.com about a month ago for cheap (the used book was actually cheaper than the shipping costs) and in lou of actually mentioning the title of the work, i did my own, inferior version of Kauffman and just went off. If you really want to know, cranial guitar is one of those "selected poems" which is like "greatest hits" for poetry, so I'm torn. On one hand, my intellect is fuckin hungry and I like to devour as much substance as quickly as possible, but on the other, I was the type of kid who would never listen to a song without first hearing the entire album over and over again refusing to evaluate it except in the greater context of the whole work. So really I'd recommend "Ancient Rain" or"Solititudes Crowded With Lonliness" before this particular work. But really Bob Kauffman kicks ass. Seriously, his barroom antics are apparrently legend.

At the st. louis poetry slam a couple months ago, I remember distinctly a poem titled “word jazz”, the poet’s white bald head reflected the rafter lights, the poem itself was pretty good, the poet obviously with a good grasp of words. What was questionable was his grasp of the term “jazz” since the poem mainly rambled off a bunch of classic rock stalwarts as its subjects, albeit in a clever order, and punctuated its catchy chorus with the words “word jazz”.

I’m an amateur regarding the term jazz, but I enjoy it and know what it means, both the music and jazz as image, synonym for a certain type of poetic spontaneity mostly showcased in a titanic movement of American poetry that if you are reading this, you should be familiar with. Bob Kauffman is definitely a member of this poetic movement, but more important, he is a jazz poet, or a poet of jazz, and he has the movement to prove it. Not the way that Kerouac was jazzy, name-checking prominent jazz musicians, describing their vibe, attempting to imitate their sounds in a deft, incredibly pleasant but ultimately, incomprehensible fashion. Kauffman riffs off of subjects the way Jazz musicians riff off of a compositional theme or Kerouac would riff off of a word or a sound, and his poetic compositions, in the order their words are placed, are both logical, non-sensical and shocking, highly rhythmic and disjointed, a cut-up consciousness that ultimately responded to a higher order of being. He was an originator and vessel for his poetry and unlike Jack Kerouac, he did not spell out his method to composition, just did it.
Sometimes it’s necessary to mention tidbits from a poet’s life to understand their work, most of the time it’s not, but to understand the jist of Kaufman, I like to recall something I read from the P.O.V. of Ken Kesey’s first meeting with Kaufman, in which Kauffman accosted Kesey in his car, knocking on his window and when Kesey met Kauffman’s demands and rolled the window down, proceeded to spit syllables in a manner we are left to assume would send any spontaneity ape-ing carefully choreographed slam poet back to his notebook for at least 10 years of silence. Kaufman did not record or attempt to publish his work, did not want fame for it, this is why he spoke his poems aloud and our records of his writing today are not his own but only what others have written down.

This brings me another point, which has not much to do with the book I’m about to review, but I found personally relevant as someone who writes poetry and is passionate about the things I put to paper or commit to the memory of a mic. Kauffman took a 10-year Buddhist vow of silence in protest of the Vietnam war. My poetry professor often questions whether a poet’s personal life has relevance in their work, conceding that sometimes it does. Allen Ginsberg wrote “America, go fuck yourself with your atom bomb” and proceeded to meditate on the tracks of trains carrying nuclear supplies to stop them from reaching their destination. John Lennon lay in bed with his wife for a while and said “give peace a chance”. Saul Williams writes letters to Oprah in defense of hip-hop. Rage Against the Machine played outside the Democratic Convention. But Kaufman did not talk for 10 years. Each of these poets did major things to change popular perceptions in a unique and memorable way, something that, no matter how serious they were about their writing, they definitely did not have to do. But something about the continued daily commitment of that 10-year vow of silence, in my humble mind, still sets the bar for symbolic and engaged activism.

Finally, as for the work itself, it is excellent. I often view poetry as the process of recording that which we care deeply about. Judging by this book, Kauffman cared deeply about breathing. Silly as that sounds, there is a love of being (and not being) in these records that left me stunned. Sometimes the language is cool-headed, especially when Kauffman speaks in hipster dialect, but even then, it is burning off the page with a kind of passion. That poets have a love of language is a given. That most worth their 3 minutes of fame on slam Wednesday have mastered it is also a given. But Kaufman masters the love of language, passion for passion’s sake. Or is it? In the Abomunist manifesto we are given an obvious subject given the satirical smirk treatment. But even then this works so memorably because Kaufman uses language and its ridiculous aspects to instruct a kind of rising above stereotypical communist paranoia that was very popular at the time he was writing.
What about “All Those Ships That Never Sailed” though…what is the subject there when he says;
all those ships that never sailed
the ones with their seacocks open
that were scuttled in their stalls…
today I bring them back
huge and intransitory
and let them sail forever

…all those wars and truces
dancing down these years—
all in three flag-swept days
rejected meaning of God—

You might not know what the fuck he is talking about, but you feel what he is describing, a kind of reckoning. That this poem allegedly consists of his first words after the 10 year silence adds mythic power, but is not necessary for knowing what is going on in this, or any of his works. He confirms the job of poet and also takes it a step further. Traditionally, you knew what the poet was saying and feeling. With Kaufman, you might not grasp what he is saying but you sure as fuck know what he is feeling, and not feeling as in the cheap sense that your junior year lit. professor taught you, conotating "emotions" such as sadness, happiness, etc..., but rather his is a poetry of feeling in its truest form, the feeling as force of nature. Indeed a reckoning, even when the form of his work dissolves into pure sound poems or telegraphs, Kauffman is a force personified by nature but rarely felt in a human vessel.
And who wouldn't enjoy reading that?

A Man Without A Country - Vonnegut, Kurt

2008-03-18T10:58:00.002-05:00

HOWL - Ginsberg, Allen

2008-03-14T23:16:00.008-05:00

This is the book that started it all for me. Published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Books, a North Beach San Francisco Beat haven since the 1950's, and immediately removed from bookstores and seized upon entry into the country by U.S. customs, HOWL was catapulted into stardom. It truly began the reign of the Beats in the American underground literary movement, producing in it's wake, opportunities for Kerouac's On The Road, Burroughs' Junky, and opened doors for Greogory Corso, Bob Kaufman, Richard Brautigan, and Leroi Jones (Amiri Baraka), among countless other writers and social activists since. I would fair to say that there is not a single poet in the states worth a shit that has not, at some time, been influenced by this book.

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked..." and thus begins the rest of the world as we know it.

Howl is not the only poem of note in this near perfect volume of poetry, "America", a statement of honest love and disappointment in the face of McCarthy's america and a declaration of queer pride and socialist values, is the first poem that brought me to tears and inspired my own "Dialogue With America".

When thinking of starting a book store, this is the book that I had in mind. I will always have copies of this for sale, as long as sticks&stones books is in existence. If you already have this book ,or have read it, please include your own review in the comments section of this post, along with recommendations of other books or authors that you hold in rank with Ginsberg.

If you like HOWL, check out the selected poems of Kenneth Rexroth, particularly the poem "Thou Shalt Not Kill", which is known as the predecessor of HOWL, as Rexroth was held in high regards by Ginsberg and the other Beats in the San Francisco area. Also read Walt Whitman's epic American tale "Leaves of Grass". Both of which will be reviewed and are available from sticks&stones books.

first business in, my book stamp

2008-02-21T18:36:00.003-06:00

One of my favorite things about collecting books over the years, are the stories about where the books have been. I have always tried to get books stamped by the independent book sellers, as a reminder of a trip I was on, or a store I discovered. It always seems to help put my changing tastes into context as to where I was. If they don't have a store stamp, I try to get a bookmark, or something, anything with the store's information. It is also quite fun to purchase a book in, say, Ashland, OR and find that it had been stamped by a store in Omaha. What a journey that book has made, and I begin to dream about the owners of the book.

One of the books i have that stands out is Baudelaire's Invitation to the Voyage. Inside the cover there is a hand written inscription that reads: " 17 May '01, Warmest first anniversary Jonathon! May our journey bubble always with "richness, quietness, and pleasure" suculent (sp), enduring love, Elisabeth"
Baudelaire, you wrecker of relationships!

Well, I received, in the mail today, the stamp i designed to go into my books. it is the image above. I still can't believe we are actually doing this.

In other news, I just ordered multiple copies of a a few of David Rovics' CDs. Along with that, I was accepted to be a distributor of AK Press' catalogue. This means that any items on AK Press' website can be purchased through me. I have been reading AK Press since around 1995 or so when one of the most influential bands in my life, Propagandhi, introduced them to me, and I have always admired the work they do. Check them out at www.akpress.org.

For now, keep reading!

i throw rocks.

2008-02-16T01:38:00.002-06:00

sticks&stones books is an extension of sticks&stones publications, which is a small poet's press i started in 2003 in portland oregon. having left portland nearly two years ago, and moved to st. charles missouri, angela, my wife, and i have felt a loss and longing for many things portland had to offer. the one thing we missed most was powell's bookstore.

living where we live, there is a complete lack of leftist bookstores in our immediate area. we will drive ridiculously far just to go to a good bookstore, and knowing the joy of finding a good book, or just browsing for hours at books on a shelf, and realizing that a lot of people here are missing out on that experience, we decided to start tabling events with a selection of books that have changed the way we think, live and love.

our books are all used, and come from a variety of sources. we hope to keep books under $10, and most around $5. i will be posting an inventory with links to reviews, as well as writing my own. if you are reading this because you have purchased a book from our table, then please send me a review of that book, and i will gladly post it.

as we build, we hope to do a few things, one being open a real store or portable store, and another is to start donating good books to prisoners and soldiers. it is important that we understand not only who we are, but who others are as well, and books have always been a great source for information from around the world.

if you have a suggestion for a book that we should sell, let me know and i will read that book and look into it. i am particularly looking for good small press poetry books, and books concerning radical politics.

in the near future i will welcome other contributors to this site, mainly reviewers and people i generally think are brilliant. if you think you might be a good candidate, send me a sample of your reviews and i will let you know.

for now, keep reading.