Days of War,Nights of Love: Crimethink for Beginners Book

Here is a review from Clamor Magazine. It sums up the general idea of the book pretty well, (and we know better than to try and describe it ourselves): "Less of a novel and more of an exploded manifesto, Days of War, Nights of Love might be just what we need. It is the type of book you'd thumb through in the store and actually want to buy (or steal). Avoiding the "thin gruel of narrative," the book instead gllefully mashes appropriated art pieces with personal testimony?reconfigured Frank Miller comic panels shout, "Face it, your politics are boring as fuck!" Whether you agree or not, there's a refreshing quality to a book that offers the same amount of information to both tth serious reader and casual browser, because despite steady sales of The Revolution of Everday Life and Nation of Ulyesses CDs, most of us are still living lives that are frustratingly incomplete. The past four centuries are all fodder for this new manifesto, everything?from the Unabomber to the Smiths, Henry Miller to the German J2M movement, Kalahari bushemn to Natural Born killers?finds its way on the pages. Such voracious stealing from history and applying as needed becomes not just a practice, but a saving grace. By never labeling themselves punks or new Dadaists and instead stealing all manner of praxis and pranks, CrimethInc. remains elusive, avoiding pitfalls that toppled previous revolutionaries. Beloved nihilistic comic characters Milk & Cheese re-emerge as Soy Milk & Tofu to offer shoplifting as the true antidote to capitalism. The book is simultaneously tongue-in-cheek and as serious as getting up in the morning for work, yet avoids the inherent alienation of most historical and cultural texts (whose authors they dismiss as careerist historicizers"). Topics range from anarchy to hierarchy, work to sex, alienation to liberation and technology, but every page burns with a passion for a freer life. Lies, exagerations and blatant plagiarisms mix freely with passionate arguments. Nadia admits on page 171 that this may all "sound like anarcho-mystical academic nonsense (which it is of course?freedom cannot be understood except through mysticism!)," but the CrimethInc. workers do weave a good spell. Who disputes obvious, but unvoiced concerns like, "We pay rent before we live there a month. But we get paid 1-4 weeks after doing the work."? Other essays walk a precarious line between arrogant and inspiring: activists are taken to task for being dull and guilty; radicals and artists as excrement peddlers, forever squirreling moments away for their next product. Too Harsh? Or a necessary critique? The books vehement insistence that living is more important than art carries the argument beyond the typical debate. When you make it to the end, the personal testimonials about not working and the closing art pieces become an aria of voices urging you to close the book and live. Glorious, even for the most cynical reader. What more can we ask from a book? Whether or not you buy it probably depends on what you thought of the last Refused LP?revolutionary cannibals or well-dressed poseurs? Well-read former straight-edge kids or new messiahs? Don't think too hard about it?the book warns from page one, "This book will not save your life; that my friend is up to you." - Clamor Magazine #6, Dec.00/Jan.01Read More