About Us

The Alexander Berkman Social Club is a group of anarchists who want to talk about what anarchism is, how anarchists see things and what anarchy could look like. Named after the editor of San Francisco’s mighty The Blast, we hope to have continual monthly meetings that are open to all. If you come you’ll get a membership card, the chance to win thousands of dollars (alright – the odd book or two) and hopefully something to think about and act on. You failed the audition for “So You Think You Can Dance,” and you just don’t seem with it. Don’t worry. The ABSC will have you. See you there!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Rebel Patagonia Movie Screening


November 19, 2009

Fundraising rally for the Anarchist newspaper of Venezuela El Libertario

Movie: The Rebel Patagonia

From 1920 to 1921, there was a peasant uprising in Patagonia led by anarchists. The army, led by Colonel Varela, reacted by executing some 1,500 people. Because of the remoteness of the region, the events did not become known in Buenos Aires at first. Once they did, the anarchist movement started a campaign against the "killer of Patagonia", as they called Varela. This led the Tolstoyan anarchist Kurt Gustav Wilckens to assassinate the colonel on January 23, 1923.

Place: AK Press warehouse (674-A 23rd Street Oakland, CA 94612)

Day: Novemer 19th

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Type: Fundraising event

5 dollars entrance

More information:

http://www.nodo50.org/ellibertario/
http://indubioproreovzla.blogspot.com/
http://www.akpress.org/

Upcomming events


While it might be a few months before there is another meeting of the ABSC, there is still a lot going on around the Bay Area and we thought you might be interested in the following events

November 13, 2009
Anarchism in Venezuela: Another Perspective on the Bolivarian Revolution
Talk and movie about the anticapitalist and anarchism perspective on the Chavez government and his contradictions, the truth behind a revolution was betrayed for one man.

November 13 Hour: 7:00 p.m.
Firehouse 51, 410 James Street. Modesto


Fundraising event in solidarity with Sabino Romero, indigenous leader in prison for fight against the coal exploitation in the indigenous communities and the anarchist newspaper El Libertario, bring your solidarity (money, magazines, newspaper or proposals)
http://www.nodo50.org/ellibertario
http://indubioproreovzla.blogspot.com/
http://www.modestoanarcho.org/
Hosted by Modesto Anarcho Crew and El Libertario.

November 15, 2009
Anarchism in Venezuela: another perspective about the Bolivarian revolution
Conference and movies about the anticapitalist and anarchism perspective about the Chavez government and his contradictions, the true behind a revolution was betrayed for one man.
Movies: Venezuela 27 de febrero
Our oil and other tales
Day: November 15
Hour: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Station 40 (Mission 3030B 16th St San Francisco, CA 94103)
Type: Fundraising event in solidarity with Sabino Romero, indigenous leader in prison for fight against the coal exploitation in the indigenous communities and the anarchist newspaper El Libertario, bring your solidarity (money, magazines, newspaper or proposals)
more information:
http://www.nodo50.org/ellibertario/
http://indubioproreovzla.blogspot.com/
Invite: El Libertario and Station 40 crew



Tuesday, October 13, 2009

October 29th Meeting: Chris Carlsson and FoundSF

It's that time again, time to let you know about our next exciting Alexander Berkman Social Club meeting. This month our featured guest will be Chris Carlsson, and he will be talking about his project FoundSF and anarchist history in San Francisco.

Chis Carlsson is an urban historian, political activist, author of Nowtopia (2008) and editor of Processed World (1981-1994, 2001, 2004-5), The Political Edge (2005), After the Deluge (2004), Critical Mass: Bicycling’s Defiant Celebration (2002), Reclaiming San Francisco (1998), and Bad Attitude (1990).

This looks to be a great evening, so please come and join the conversation!
As always there will be snacks, raffles and friendly faces.

October 29th, 7pm
522 Valencia St
San Francisco
$5 (or $4 with membership)

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Politics


Free screening of Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Politics this Thursday, October 8th at Bound Together Books. 8pm, don't miss out on this exciting event!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Special Message from Alex B

Hello everyone. Alex here.

I hope you can tear yourself away from Facebook and come and support some New Zealand anarchists who are having a bit of trouble with the state. Yes. That is right. New Zealand. We are going to skype one of them (don't worry. I do not think they can arrest you for it and nothing naughty is involved.) She is going to tell us details about the case and ask us to publicise it. As they say over there 'New Zealand: A Long Bloody way from anywhere" so it would be nice if all my friends can show up, have a drink and listen.

If you can't I may have to find you and carry out an attentat on your person. I do apologise but if you don't come you really do need a Fricking. Support your comrades. If it was a good enough strategy for Sabate it is good enough for you.
All proceeds from the event go to their defense costs.

That's it then. Off to have a sleep. All this permanent insurrection wears me out. See you.

Thursday 24th September. 7pm. My place. Tell all of your friends.

Monday, September 14, 2009

September 24th Meeting: New Zealand Anarchism and the 2007 Terror Raids

Our next meeting will be Thursday September 24.

We are very excited about this meeing as we'll be trying something new this month. We will be talking with anarchist Valerie Morse, live from Wellington, New Zealand using Skype. This will be an exciting opportunity to hear directly from other anarchists about the anarchist movement in New Zealand, and especially about the state of the movement following the 2007 terrorism raids in that country.

If you don't know much about the Terror Raids, then this is the perfect opportunity for you to come to our next meeting!

But in the mean time here is some background info:
The New Zealand Terror Raids
Aotearoa (New Zealand), Personal report of an anarchist of the 15th October 2007 17 arestees
2007 New Zealand Anti-Terror Arrests

Valerie Morse is a Wellington, NZ based anarchist, member of the anarchist publishing collective Rebel Press and author of Against Freedom: The war on terrorism in everyday New Zealand life.

Thursday, September 24
7pm
522 Valencia St.
San Francisco
$5 (or $4 with membership)


Thursday, August 13, 2009

Wednesday August 26th Meeting: Race, Ethnicity, and Class in Israel/Palestine

Hello Friends!

It's that time again, get ready for the next Alexander Berkman Social Club meeting!
This month we will be meeting a day earlier, Wednesday, August 26th, so mark your calender accordingly.

Our guest this month will be Eyal Rozenberg, an anarchist visiting form Israel/Palestine.

He will be be speaking on the inter-relation of ethnicity and class in Israel/Palestine.

Since the 1950s a common saying in Israel is "taamid dofkim et-ha-shchorim", which means "they always fuck the blacks". Israel is at the same time a capitalist project, a nationalist project and a colonialist project, and being an Arab or being a Jew of
non-European descent has always meant that statistically, you're in the lower classes. But it's not as simple as that, and Israeli Capitalism
has had in recent decades very interesting strategies of containment, demobilization and co-optation of movements and organizations which have
attempted to link the ethnic, the racial or the national (Palestinian)struggle with the class struggle.

Eyal Rozenberg is an anarchist and Ph.D. student in Computer Science at the Technion, Haifa. He was an Executive Committee member in the Technion Graduate Students' Organization, and helped form the Technion Teaching Staff Organization. He is active in Koach La-Ovdim, a new multi-industry general union. Rozenberg was drafted into the IDF at 18, but quit military service in the middle and is the editor of the Conscientious Objector's guide to the Military Prison System

We look forward to seeing you soon, and remember, as always, there will be snacks, raffles, and comradely good cheer!

Wednesday August 26th, 7pm
ABSC Meeting Rooms
522 Valencia St., San Francisco
$5 (or $4 w/membership card)

Friday, July 17, 2009

Next Meeting: July 30, with Audrey Goodfriend

Happy Summer Friends!

Our next meeting will be July 30 and we will be returning to one of our favorite topics, anarchist newspapers.

Anarchism and Anarchist Newspapers with Audrey Goodfriend and Barry Pateman

Please join us as we continue our conversation about the past, present, and future of anarchist newspapers within the movement. This month we are lucky enough to be joined by Audrey Goodfriend, who will be talking about her involvement with The Why (1942-1947), and Barry Pateman, who will discuss his involvement in a number of short-lived anarchist papers.We look forward to seeing you at what is sure to be a stimulating and thought provoking evening!

As always, there will be snacks, raffles, and comradely good cheer!

Thursday July 30th, 7pm
ABSC Meeting Rooms
522 Valencia St., San Francisco
$5 (or $4 w/membership card)

Audrey Goodfriend was born in The Bronx, NY. Her parents were both anarchists and her father was the secretary of the local Ferrer-Rocker branch of the Workingmen’s Circle. Audrey was a member of a youth group for Jewish anarchist children. She first met Emma Goldman in 1934 and visited her in Toronto in 1939. In 1946 Audrey and her partner moved to California and in 1958, with four other families, they opened the Walden School in Berkeley. The school is still functioning today and recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Audrey was interviewed by Paul Avrich for his book, Anarchist Voices.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Mother Earth and The Blast! Thursday June 25th

Join us Thursday, June 25th, for a night of exploration and appreciation of two seminal anarchist journals, Emma Goldman's Mother Earth and Alexander Berkman's The Blast.

We'll have special guest Jamie Gooley from the Mother Earth Reprint Project, readings from the papers, a brief history of Mother Earth and The Blast from the inestimable Barry Pateman, discussion of current
and past reprint projects and music by the always astounding The Devin Hoff Platform!

All in all it promises to be a night not to be missed!

Jamie Gooley, intrigued by anarchist history has worked with other history buffs and print makers to collected a rare 22 original mothers earths and has been able to reprint 7 . With the hope of one day having all 22 copies available for all who seek to hold a facsimile of history in their hands. With the originals selling for hundreds of
dollars, the spirit of the editors (Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman) is demystified with reprints available for a few dollars we can all be more linked to the past while being propelled and inspired into the future.


http://devinhoffplatform.com/

Wednesday, June 10, 2009


Join the Alexander Berkman Social Club for a night of exploration and appreciation of two seminal anarchist journals, Emma Goldman's Mother Earth and Alexander Berkman's The Blast.
With readings from the papers, a brief history of Mother Earth and The Blast, discussion of current and past reprint projects and music by special guests The Devin Hoff Platform!

All in all it promises to be a night not to be missed!

Thursday June 25, 2009
ABSC Meeting Rooms
522 Valencia St.
San Francisco, Ca
$5 (or $4 with membership)

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

This month: The Tiger Brigades!

Our event this month will be a special presentation of the French movie - or is that film? - The Tiger Brigages (Les brigades du Tigre), which features the Bonnot Gang, the French illegalist anarchists & legendary inventors of the getaway car.

Of course food (popcorn!) & refreshments will be available. We hope that you can make it to this exciting event.

Thursday, May 28th, 2009, 7 p.m.
522 Valencia St., between 16th & 17th
$5 admission/$4 with membership card

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

This Week: Meeting and May Day Picnic


Our topic this month will be Anarchists and Our Newspapers.

Join us for a discussion of the recent anarchist movement and it's printed voice, the newspaper.

Editors and publishers from a variety of papers, including Erik from The Dawn (2004), Chuck Morse from Perspectives on Anarchist Theory, and Crudo from Modesto Anarcho will share their experiences working on these anarchist projects.

What is the place of the newspaper in the anarchist movement, how have anarchists tried to spread their message, talk to each other, and the larger public. Join us as we discuss the the motivations, problems, joys and challenges, and the future of working on anarchist papers.


Plus, as always, there will be snacks, drink, camaraderie, and raffles.
We look forward to seeing you there!

Thursday, April 30, 2009
7pm
@ 522 Valencia
San Francisco, CA
$5 (or $4 with your membership card!)

And

The Alexander Berkman Social Club presents:
An Anarchist May Day Picnic, Friday May 1st at 4 PM in Dolores Park.
All anarchists and friends welcome!

Please bring food and drink to share and look for us under the red and black flag

Co-sponsored by 1984 Printing, Bound Together, AK Press, Friendly Fire Collective, The Kate Sharpley Library, and UA in the Bay.

Attached are copies of the poster, please help us spread the word, and see you there!

"War to the palaces, peace to the cottage, and death to luxurious idleness!"
The Alarm, April 1886

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

May Day Picnic

As the poster says, bring food to share, Dolores Park, look for the black and red flag, 4pm. What else do you need to know?

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

April Meeting and Anarchist Picnic for May Day

Our next meeting will be Thursday April 30th. Our topic this month will be anarchists and our newspapers.

Join us for a discussion of the recent anarchist movement and it's printed voice, the newspaper.
What is the place of the newspaper in the anarchist movement, how have anarchists tried to spread their message, talk to each other, and the larger public. Editors and publishers of anarchist papers published in the last 10 years as well as currently will speak on the joys, challenges, and future of working on anarchist papers.

Plus, as always, there will be snacks, drink, camaraderie, and raffles.
We look forward to seeing you there!

Thursday, April 30, 2009
7pm
@ 522 Valencia
San Francisco, CA
$5 (or $4 with your membership card!)

And That's NOT All!
Friday May 1 is May Day, so join the Alexander Berkman Social Club for a special and social Anarchist May Day Picnic in Dolores Park, starting around 4pm!

Friday, April 3, 2009

April Meeting and May Day


Just a heads up to let you know our next meeting will be April 30th and we will be talking about anarchists newspapers and anarchist propaganda, past, present, future.

Also Friday, May 1st is May Day, a very important anarchist holiday. Accordingly we will be holding a picnic that afternoon to celebrate. More details forthcoming, but mark your calendars now!

Anarchism and May Day
Haymarket and the Origins of May Day

Friday, March 20, 2009

NEW VENUE FOR THRUSDAY'S MEETING

Attention:
Our next meeting, this coming Thursday, March 26, will take place at the AK Press Warehouse in Oakland at 674-A 23rd. St., Oakland, b/t MLK and San Pablo - near 19th St. BART and West Grand Exit of 80/980, more details on directions are available on their website: AK Press

It's sure to be a great night featuring exciting guest, Marta Kolarova speaking on Czech Anarchism

See you there!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Czech anarchism: next meeting March 26


Czech Anarchism: With Special Guest Marta Kolarova

From anarchist poets through anarchists in the government to oblivion and recent revival – that is a story of Czechoslovak anarchism´s marriage and divorce with the communist party.

Marta Kolarova has been active in the Czech alter-globalization, feminist and anti-war movements. She has written for regional anarchist and anarcho-feminist magazines; and published on gender aspects of the anarchist and alter-globalization movements (e.g. Gender in Czech Anarchist Movement 2004, supported by the Institute of Anarchist Studies). She works as a researcher and teacher in Prague.

Join us, as always, for comradeship, snacks, drinks, raffles and good talking!

March 26, 2009. 7pm
AK Press Warehouse
674-A 23rd St. Oakland, CA.
$5/$4 w/ you membership card

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Bookfair This Weekend


Don't miss the SF Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair this weekend in San Francisco. Saturday March 14 and Sunday March 15 at the SF County Fair Building, Ninth Avenue and Lincoln Way, Golden Gate Park. Lots of great speakers and anarchist groups selling books, pamphlets, magazines, art and more. It's not to be missed. And if you look hard enough you just might find the Alex Berkman Social Club....

Details, including hours, directions, list of speakers, workshops, panels, vendors, and more are all at the Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair website.

See you this weekend!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Thanks for coming out to see Lucio

Thanks to the great crowd that showed up last Thursday to see Lucio, we were able to send $165 to Christiebooks to help them resurrect their fine selection of films. We hope that you all enjoyed the movie! Be sure not to miss next month’s event, on March 26th, with Marta Kolářová speaking on Czech anarchism.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The Angry Brigade: Friday at Bound Together


Bound Together Bookstore will be screening the 1973 BBC documentary by Gordon Carr, The Angry Brigade this Friday March 5th.
The event will also include Q & A and a discussion and starts at 8:15

More information on the event check is available at Bound Together's website.
For more about the Angry Brigade there was an article published a few years back in the UK Guardian, Look Back in Anger.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Lucio, the movie. This Thursday!


"The banks are the real crooks, they exploit you, take your money and cause all the wars."
-Lucio Urtubia

The next ABSC meeting will be a screening of the recent documentary Lucio
For more about the film check out the official site Lucio, the move
or the Internet Movie Database listing about the film

Plus, as always, there will be snacks, drink, camaraderie, discussion, and radical musical wallpaper by the Hippolyte Havel House Band.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Thursday, February 26, 2009
7pm
@ 522 Valencia
San Francisco, CA
$5 (or $4 with your membership card!)

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Up Against the Wall Motherfu**er


Osha Neumann at Bound Together this Saturday evening!

Up Against the Wall Motherfu**er
; a memoir of the sixties with notes for next time

Osha Neumann reads from his new book about life in an anarchist street gang on the Lower East Side of New York in the 1960s. In addition, Alfonso Texador will provide poetry and there were be rare archival footage of the Motherfuckers.

All this on Saturday, February 21 at 8:00 pm


Bound Together Anarchist Collective Bookstore

1369 Haight Street (near Masonic)
San Francisco
415 431-8355

(bus lines 71, 6, 43, 33 and 37 all stop nearby)

Monday, February 9, 2009

Lucio, the movie

"The banks are the real crooks, they exploit you, take your money and cause all the wars."
-Lucio Urtubia

The next ABSC meeting will be a screening of the recent documentary Lucio
For more about the film check out the official site Lucio, the move
or the Internet Movie Database listing about the film

Plus, as always, there will be snacks, drink, camaraderie, discussion, and radical musical wallpaper by the Hippolyte Havel House Band.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Thursday, February 26, 2009
7pm
@ 522 Valencia
San Francisco, CA

Friday, February 6, 2009

Film Event at Bound Together Books

Saturday, February 7 at 8:00 pm

Bound Together Anarchist Collective Bookstore
1369 Haight Street (
near Masonic), San Francisco
Bus Lines 6, 71, 43, 33, 37 & 7 all stop nearby
415 431-8355 / www.boundtogetherbooks.com

Two Short Historical Films on Palestine and Lebanon

followed by Q&A and discussion


The Sons of Eilaboun

A New Film* by Hisham Zreiq. In 1948 the Israeli army marched into the Galilee village of Eilaboun. The Sons Of Eilaboun is a documentary film about the massacre, and the expulsion and eventual return of survivors. In the film the Israeli historian Ilan Pappe will introduce the history behind the Nakba events; the Eilaboun (Eilabun) people tell the story--www.sonsofeilaboun.com.
*(The film is in production, with a full-length version to be released in the future. We'll be showing a short version--about 24 minutes--which has been released in advance.)

The War of 33
In July 2006 Israel invaded Lebanon. The War of 33 is an intimate, personal and powerful telling of the story of the 2006 war in Lebanon. A series of letters written by Hanady Salman--a mother living through the war in Beirut--carve a narrative arc through the intense and haunting images of conflict. She tells the stories of her family and the people she lives the war with--the refugees, the wounded, and the everyday Lebanese, struggling to maintain their sanity and their humanity during a time of war. (For additional info on this film, visit PM Press website, www.pmpress.org ) The War of '33 is more than a document of a particular historical experience. What emerges is a universal story--a complex picture of love, pain, resistance and survival in the face of uncertainty and violence. (Big Noise Tactical Media is a collective of media-makers dedicated to circulating beautiful, passionate, revolutionary images.)

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Anarchist movie party!!

The ABSC will be showing the exciting film:
Lucio
(Directed by Aitor Arregi and José María Goenaga)

Thursday, February 26, 2009
7pm
@ 522 Valencia
San Francisco, CA

This wonderful documentary is a great gateway drug into working class anarchism for the uninitiated and circle @ curious, as well as a shot in the arm and a humbling inspiration for already convinced anarchists.

Plus snacks, drink, camaraderie, discussion, and radical musical wallpaper by the Hippolyte Havel House Band.

Lucio Urtubia's life is the stuff of legend. A bricklayer by profession and an anarchist by conviction, as an activist in 1950s Paris he counted André Breton and Albert Camus amongst his friends, worked with anarchist guerrilla Francisco Sabate in attempting to bring down Franco's fascist regime and carried out numerous bank robberies to fund the struggle to free Spain. In 1977, after having his earlier scheme to destabilize the US economy by forgery rejected by Che Guevara, he put his plan into action. Lucio successfully forged 20 million dollars of Citibank travelers checks to fund guerrilla groups in Latin America, bringing the bank to its knees in the process. In between he helped organize the kidnapping of Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie from his hideout in Bolivia, aided the escape of Black Panthers from the US and not surprisingly was targeted by the CIA. Lucio has defended his life's work saying…'we are bricklayers, painters, electricians - we do not need the state for anything'.

"The banks are the real crooks, they exploit you, take your money and cause all the wars."
-Lucio Urtubia

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Meeting on Thursday: Sheila Rowbotham


British socialist feminist historian Sheila Rowbotham will be our featured speaker this coming Thursday evening, January 22. She will be speaking on the topic of her recently published book, Edward Carpenter: A Life of Liberty and Love.

Want more information about the book? Check out this recent review published in the Guardian, Tristram Hunt applauds a superb biography of the socialist pioneer pilloried by Orwell and Shaw
This will be her last speaking engagement before her return to the UK. If you are interested in anarchist history, don't miss this event!

As always there will be raffles, food & drink throughout

Admission is $5 ($4 with a membership card)

7pm at the ABSC meeting rooms
522 Valencia St.
San Francisco

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Oakland and Athens

[Editor's note: The following statement was sent to us by comrade Devin Hoff, and was originally published at AK's blog Revolution by the book

* * *

On December 6, an Athens cop shot and killed a young unarmed anarchist, Alexis Grigoropoulos. In a matter of hours, Athens exploded in a mass uprising of anarchists, students, migrant workers, and the unemployed. For over two weeks, in their anger and frustration, they attacked not just the police themselves but the oppressive institutions cops are armed to defend: banks, government buildings, multi-national corporate interests. Not since 1968 had Europe seen such militant and targeted mass direct action, and actions around the world echoed the heroic actions of our comrades in Greece. Not far from where I am writing, in San Francisco, solidarity actions were held and moving speeches given decrying police violence and the state capitalist hierarchies such violence is inevitably in service of, and vowing to “bring the fight home.”

Sadly, the fight has, once again, come home. On New Years Day in Oakland, an unarmed butcher and father from Hayward, Oscar Grant, was shot in the back at point blank range by a transit cop after being pinned face-down on the ground. There can be absolutely no justification for this cold-blooded police murder. As was the case in the murder of Alexis, there are several witnesses who have come forward stating the officer was in no danger, some even with video recordings of the atrocity. Predictably, though, the cop who fired the shot, Johannes Mehserle, has not been arrested or even officially interrogated about the incident. This is no surprise; we know how the authorities will respond (or fail to), given their total disregard for the lives and humanity of working and poor people of color.

But how will we respond?

We are loudly indignant when police kill a militant in Athens, and applaud the just and outraged response of his comrades. We are furious when state violence kills oppressed people in Gaza, as is horrifically happening at this moment. But what do we do when a working class black man is murdered in cold blood by the cops in our own community? Do we value the lives and well being of Palestinians and Greeks and Oaxacans and adventurous middle-class white radicals more than those of working people we see every day in our own neighborhoods?

It has been five days and counting since Oscar was killed. What have we—supposed radicals and would-be revolutionaries—actually done?

Perhaps a better question is, how should we combat police violence in our own communities?

Monday, January 5, 2009

Sheila Rowbotham in San Francisco Bay Area

EDWARD CARPENTER: A LIFE OF LIBERTY AND LOVE

By Sheila Rowbotham

Noted socialist feminist historian Shelia Rowbotham will be giving a series of lectures on her recent book on Edward Carpenter throughout January around the Bay Area. Check them out!




Thursday, January 8, 2009, 6-7:30 pm
San Francisco Main Library,
100 Larkin Street in the Latino/Hispanic Room.
The event is co-sponsored by the SF Public Library Hormel Center, the Edward Carpenter Forum and the SF GLBT Historical Society.

In conjunction with Rowbotham's appearance, the Library will mount the exhibit, My Days and Dreams: The Worlds of Edward Carpenter, Early Gay Freedom Pioneer, during the month of January on the 3rd floor of the Main Library.

Sunday, January 11, 2009, 2-4 pm
Bound Together Bookstore
1369 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
415.431-8355

Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 7:30 PM
Moe’s Books
2476 Telegraph Avenue
Berkeley CA 94704

Thursday, January 22, 2009 , 7:00 PM
Alexander Berkman Social Club
552 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110



The first major biography of late Victorian sexual and political libertarian, Edward Carpenter, by renowned feminist historian, Sheila Rowbotham. A rare document of the alternative lifestyles and radicalism of Carpenter's times by a woman who was on the frontline of the left and feminist movements of the sixties.

Edward Carpenter, libertarian and campaigner for gay love, women's suffrage, nudism and recycling, was a central figure in the cultural and political landscape of late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, this biography situates
Carpenter's life and thought in relation to the social, aesthetic and intellectual movements of his day, and explores his friendship with figures such as Walt Whitman, Robert Graves, Oscar Wilde, E.M. Forster, Isadora Duncan and Emma Goldman.

With a commitment to bringing out the range of interconnections evident in Carpenter's life, through his network, his mix of causes, his interests and his thinking, Rowbotham knits together a great alternative social history of Victorian England and presents a compelling portrait of a man described by his contemporaries as a "weather-vane" for his times.