Books worth reading?

[Zenit]

New to the forums, previously posted as Kronos; so yeah, I know few or nothing on the subject. Hence why I am here. I began to be interested in Anarchism have met a friend of mine who was an anarcho-primitivist, we began discussing and she showed me Zerzan's documentaries like Surplus. Loved Orwell's 1984 and now reading Fahrenheit 451; visited CrimethInc.'s page and eventually got here. The place seems nice, so...

Anyway.

Wondering if anyone here could tell me any good books to read on the subject, apart from Proudhon's and Bakunin's work. Perhaps something easy to begin with?

[TeN]

Welcome! I'm new as well, and this is actually my first post on the board. Aren't you lucky?!

I just finished reading Colin Ward's Anarchy in Action and I can't recommend it enough. Over the years I've read tons of introductions to anarchism and this book is by far the best (the worst was definitely Albert Metzer Anarchism: Arguments For and Against, which should probably be retitled Anarchism: What I Say It Is And Why Everyone Else Is Wrong). Anyway, Ward says he specifically wrote the book for people unfamiliar with anarchy as well as for people who were familiar with it but rejected it as unfeasible or contrary to human nature. I can't say I agree with everything in the book, but he makes some incredibly compelling cases for the superiority of leaderless organization, and does so relying on interesting examples, many falling outside the traditional scope of politics, whether it be cybernetics, architecture firms, boarding schools, or even the military! It's also a pretty short book. The only real complaint I have about it is that the cover design is atrocious haha

besides that, there's a series of videos on youtube of Noam Chomsky giving an introduction to anarchism which is pretty good for a very brief intro

then there's also the Anarchist FAQ online, which will answer just about any question you might have

you say you've had some exposure to Zerzan... I don't really like Zerzan or the whole anarcho-primitivist school, for a lot of reasons, but I'd say if you're interested in the relationship between anarchism and environmentalism, you should take a look at Murray Bookchin and his writings on social ecology

hope that helps!

[Guest]

imho, the only reason zerzan has any notoriety is that his agenda mesh's with that or the corporate elite - i.e. re-wilding, the real/slow death of tiny towns, the moving of the people into cities where they will live in high-rises, etc.

same with chomsky, but with a different set of backers. chomsky speaks from the comfort of a tenured position and enjoys the luxury of cult hero status. so when he says absolutely, mind-numbingly ugly things (e.g. "i consider myself a supporter of the state of israel.") he gets a pass from the manufactured authoritarian left.

like i said, imho...