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146 W. 26th Street
between 6th & 7th Ave. -- 212-691-3345
Open 12 noon - 7 pm every day

HOWARD ZINN
1922-2010

February 9, Tuesday, 7pm
Presentation and Discussion with Sunsara Taylor on "How and Why the Revolution Will Put an End to Pornography and Prostitution."

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February 11, Thursday, 7pm
Book release party with Peter Akinti, "Forest Gate,"
U.S. debut of an extraordinary novel about two teenage boys who try to kill themselves and what happens afterwards. One is a political refugee from Somalia, the other a Black Briton. Published by Simon and Schuster. Akinti is a Londoner of Nigerian descent now living in NYC and teaching at Hunter.

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"..a feat of fiction writing that goes beyond reporting, because it's the sort of thing that reporters never, or hardly ever, tell you. Akinti tells you how appalling modern Britain can be. We keep hearing about knife crime and gang warfare, but really have no idea. Well, Akinti does." - Guardian, UK


February 12, Friday, 7pm
New Revolution Books Series: 2-4 Friday Films, screenings of films that matter every 2nd & 4th Friday Screening:
"AMERICAN FAUST: From Condi to Neo-Condi"
Talkback with the director Sebastian Doggart

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NYC premiere of the first retrospective film on the Bush Administration. "Incisive and shocking," this biographical documentary tells the story of Condoleeza Rice. The film includes a series of candid interviews with Rice. Co-sponsored by War Criminals Watch.


February 15, Monday, 7pm
Screening: "View from a Grain of Sand"
Talkback with the director Meena Nanji

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Documentary on the lives of 3 Afghan women and "how international interventions, war and the rise of political Islam have stripped Afghan women of their freedom over the last thirty years." From 2006. Co-sponsored by World Can't Wait.


February 18, Thursday, 7pm
Screening: "Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train"
A documentary about the people's historian Howard Zinn Talkback afterwards with film's director Denis Mueller

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Matt Damon narrates this biographical portrait of historian and activist Howard Zinn, author of the pivotal A People's History of the United States. Commentary from Zinn and interviews with Daniel Ellsberg, Noam Chomsky and Alice Walker, among others.

Denis Mueller's films include The FBI's War Against Black America, co-directed with Deb Ellis; I Would Never Do That Again, about the experiences of Vietnam veterans and Citizen Soldier: The Story of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Mueller has worked as producer of The Assassination of JFK and The Assassination of Martin Luther King, and a feature-length documentary on J.Edgar Hoover.


February 19, Friday, 7pm
Open-Mic "Pieces for Revolution," produced by Pricetags Art with Revolution Books.

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An open-mic like no other. Every 3rd Friday. Bring your most powerful work and be ready to talk about it. Presented by Pricetags Art and Revolution Books.


February 26, Friday, 7pm
Screening: "SACCO AND VANZETTI"
Talkback with director Peter Miller

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"The case of two Italian-born anarchists, executed for a murder they almost surely didn't commit. It's cleansing to see the facts laid out with intimacy and rigor, and the film earns the comparison it makes to the squelching of due process for some of today's terror suspects. The difference is that Americans during the '20s took to the streets to protest the railroading of two innocent men. Would that happen now?"
- - Entertainment Weekly (grade "A")


February 23, Tuesday, 7-9:30pm
"From the Burkha to the Thong: Everything Must, and Can, Change! We Need a Total Revolution!" A talk by Sunsara Taylor.

At Cantor Film Center-NYU, 36 E. 8th Street (between 5th Avenue and Broadway). Sponsored by Revolution Books.


February 28, Sunday, all day
Revolution Books will be closed all day.


Notes from recent events

Held on January 8, Friday
"After 'Change You Can Believe In,' Wally Shawn reads from his Essays and discusses human nature with a communist."

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On Friday night 285 people packed into Friends Meeting House for an evening entitled "After 'Change You Can Believe In,' Wally Shawn reads from his Essays and discusses human nature with a communist."

After reading his "The Quest for Superiority," playwright and actor Wally Shawn sat down for a probing conversation with Andy Zee, spokesperson for Revolution Books. A spirited question and answer session followed. Shawn took part in the evening in order to help save Revolution Books, and the event raised several thousand dollars towards the store's $100,000 Fund Drive. The audience included people in theater, publishing, film, and academia, as well as activists and students, and their enthusiasm for the engagement and for Revolution Books itself was evident through the evening. Look to Revolution Books website and Revolution newspaper for future coverage.


Re-recorded for internet viewing
"The Elephant in the Room: Can Anything Short of Revolution Solve the Environmental Crisis?"

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The December 15 talk by Raymond Lotta on the "climate threat, Copenhagen , and why capitalism is utterly incompatible with sustainable development" is available.

Click here to view.


Recently at Revolution Books:

On January 28 a discussion of "The Guantanamo Lawyers"

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Mark Denbeaux, author of a new book, "The Guantanamo Lawyers: Inside a Prison Outside the Law," a book of detainees' stories told by their lawyers, and Yvonne R. Bradley, the lawyer appointed in 2005 as military defense counsel for a British prisoner in the military commissions at Guantanamo. Hear a short excerpt as broadcast on WBAI. Read a report in Next Left Notes of the discussion.

Great night at Bowery Poetry Club, December 27.
There was a full house at the Benefit for Revolution Books and a Tribute to Edna St. Vincent Millay organized by the poet Sparrow this past Sunday. A good time had by all. Poets included Steve Dalachinsky, Esther Smith, Marshall Reese, Mike Topp, Yuko Otomo, Bob Heman, Georgia Luna, Mickey Z., Sparrow , and Postcard Poets from Purgatory Pie Press. Also featured: the band FOAMOLA, pictured below.

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William Kunstler film great, and Revolution Books Fundraiser a big success:
On Saturday night, Nov 14, a packed house watched "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe" on its opening evening. Many in the audience had bought $20 tickets as a benefit to support Revolution Books' $100,000 Fund Drive. The filmmakers, Emily and Sarah Kunstler, their older sister Karen, plus Joey Johnson, spoke to audience after the screening. PEOPLE- go see this film, THIS WEEK, it's extraordinary, and audience numbers the first week of a documentary determines its fate in the theaters. It's at Cinema Village, 22 E. 12th Street. http://www.disturbingtheuniverse.com.

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Jon Jeter at Revolution Books heard on WBAI radio.
On Wednesday night, Nov 11, former Washington Post Bureau chief for Southern Africa and South America, Jon Jeter, gave us fascinating presentation at Revolution Books on his book "Flat Broke in the Free Market: How Globalization Fleeced Working People." WBAI reporter Fred Ngyuen was there aired this report on the WBAI Evening News on Sunday, November 15. Listen to it at http://archive.wbai.org/ Go to Sunday, scroll down to 6pm. Or go to: http://www.radio4all.net/files/siddharta5@yahoo.com/450-1-brokeinthefreemarket.mp3

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On November 4, Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison, spoke on the continuing imprisonment of hundreds in the "law free zone" of Guantanamo.

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On October 9, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges launched his new book Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle at Revolution Books.

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It was filmed for broadcast by C-Span's Book TV, as 80 people packed into the store, and another 35 listened to sound broadcast out onto 26th Street.

Introduced by Andy Zee from Revolution Books, Hedges spoke for an hour and answered questions for another, while many more waited to query him, bought books, and engaged in a discussion crackling with the promise of resistance and change in the face of the Empire.


Every Saturday
Come join the store every Saturday at one of our outdoor tables.

We talk with 100s of people about the store, sell Revolution newspaper, works by Bob Avakian, and the best collection of progressive and radical used books in the city. This is some meaningful revolutionary work -- come by and see what it's about.

Do you have good, used books? Donate them to Revolution Books. We know there's a treasure house of books out there on people's bookshelves and closets--the hidden histories of the Soviet and Chinese revolutions, memoirs from the 60s Black liberation and women's movements, out-of-print chronicles of struggles in Africa, Latin America, Asia... art books, novels, poetry... Bring them to Revolution Books and we will get them back in circulation to the people who yearn for a different future. And you will help keep this revolutionary bookstore open.



Calling for volunteers... dreamers, designers, revolutionaries,
poets, students, philosophers...

   
 

Call 212-691-3345 or  email revbooksnyc@yahoo.com

dialogue Now On Line!

Hear "After 'Change You Can Believe In,' Wally Shawn reads from his Essays and discusses human nature with a communist."


messner

New Installation at Revolution Books:
"who gets to speak?" by Ann Messner


Join Friends of
Revolution Books

Revolution Books is breaking through the suffocating atmosphere with critical thinking, radical discourse and revolutionary possibility. The future of Revolution Books is in peril at a time when it is needed more the ever. People come to the store to find the books and engagement about the possibility of a radically different world. When controversial issues arise, when no one else will provide a forum, Revolution Books does. Contribute to the $100,000 Fund Drive - Keep Revolution Books open and thriving.

Friends who sustain at $20/month or more, or contribute $200/year receive 10% off purchases + free admission to all events. Friends who volunteer for 4 hours per week or more, receive 10% off purchases + free admission to all events.

Sign up and you'll also get one of these:

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Click here to buy membership online.


Donate to Save Revolution Books!
$100,000 Fund Drive

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Revolution Books is needed now more than ever, yet its future in peril. Hunger faces over a billion people daily. War continues to rage in the middle east, with little opposition. Black and Latino youth in the U.S. are incarcerated by the hundreds of thousands. The ecological future of the planet is in dire jeopardy.

Yet, there isn't an atmosphere and culture of defiance, resistance, and revolution. Critical thinking and radical discourse are suffocated.

Revolution Books has been stepping up to puncture and change this - emerging over the past year as a growing center of revolutionary ferment. ...continue

Revolution Books is not about learning to survive on increasingly shrinking ground, accepting the status quo and holding on for dear life, a relic of a bygone age.

Revolution Books is part of contributing to a new spirit and atmosphere of critical engagement, putting revolution back into larger societal conversation.

Keep Up On What's Happening!
Join the Revolution Books e-mail List

"REVOLUTION:
Why It's Necessary, Why It's Possible, What It's All About"
now online!

revolutiontalk.net

In 2003 Bob Avakian delivered this historic talk in the United States. This is a wide-ranging revolutionary journey. It breaks down the very nature of the society we live in and how humanity has come to a time where a radically different society is possible. He lays it all out in a nine-hour speech-and then goes into three hours of question-and-answer dialogue with the audiences. It's all there-full of heart and soul, humor and seriousness. ...continued


There was a packed house for Dr. Susan Wicklund and Sunsara Taylor on Monday, Aug 3. Over 120 people came out to hear an evening discussion on "Abortion, Morality and the Liberation of Women" sponsored by Revolution Books at the LGBT Center.

Abortion, Morality and the Liberation of Women with Dr. Susan Wicklund, author of This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor and Sunsara Taylor, writer for Revolution newspaper, is now available on YouTube. This video is divided into 15 short sections: presentations followed by questions and answers. Watch this clip to get a taste, then follow the links to watch the whole film!

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photos: Bud Korotzer

Abortion, Morality and the Liberation of Women is also available on DVD, specially designed for use in classrooms and by school groups. Order a copy (or several) online today!


Read a report on Revolution Book's June 3 Town Hall Meeting on "Torture . . . and the Need for Justice."

Now on Sale -
GAZA: A CALL TO ACT

DVD from the January 13, 2009 Emergency Town Hall Meeting: "Stop The Israeli Massacre in Gaza. Condemn the U.S. Role in this War Crime."
$20 including postage - 2 DVD set

The speakers included Abdeen Jabara, past-president of the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee; author Chris Hedges; former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney; Alan Goodman, writer for Revolution newspaper ; Adam Shapiro, human rights activist and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement ; Center for Constitutional Rights Vice President Peter Weiss; actor Vanessa Redgrave; and Najla Said, actor and daughter of Edward Said.


This year is the Darwin Bi-Centennial at Revolution Books!

SALE for DARWIN BI-CENTENNIAL... 10% off when you buy these 2 books together:

SKYBREAK awag

Ardea Skybreak, "The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creation: Knowing What's Real and Why It Matters" and Bob Avakian's "Away With All Gods: Unchaining the Mind and Radically Changing the World"


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Local Stop | Flower District
Midtown's Lush Passage
June 25, 2009

1 P.M. You've saved on flowers and plants, but you've still spent money. Time to assuage that capitalist guilt. Check out Revolution Books, 146 West 26th Street, (212) 691-3345, for your pick of Communist fare and other left-wing literature. Politically pointed gifts are for sale, too, like the empty $1 Obamalade bottles, which warn they might cause "massive loss of life in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Pakistan." A clerk said, "A lot of people got taken with Obama, but it's just the same Bush program rebranded."


Check out the article on Revolution Books ("Book Marx") New York Press.
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This revolutionary communist bookstore invites you to VOLUNTEER. This store fulfills great needs in society right now, and YOU are needed here-- with whatever skills and interests you have. Web design, graphic design, Facebook, events-planning, fundraising, promotions and media, BOOKS, ideas, a burning desire to radically changing the world.


Don't Drink the Obama-lade!

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INGREDIENTS: massacres in Gaza, Rick Warren, escalation of the Afghanistan war, Hillary Clinton, bailout of big business, Rahm Emanuel, blaming Black people for problems the system inflicts on them, "coming together" with those who hate gay people, Robert Gates, whitewashing torture by the Bush regime, and the Patriot Act.

SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Obamalade causes massive loss of life in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Pakistan and many other countries; continued attacks on Black people, women, immigrants, gays & lesbians; political cowardice that is dangerous to the health of humanity. If, after drinking Obamalade, you find yourself accepting the crimes of this system -- you should immediately take 2 doses of reality and report to the nearest movement of resistance against these crimes.


MTV think logo
Revolution Books in Berkeley featured on MTV's
"Change It or Loose It"
To watch the video entitled:
Revolution: The Real Change


Observer
Check out story about Revolution Books in the NY Observer October 7, 2008 "Where Being in the Red Now Rules! Leftist Revolution Books relishes Wall Street crisis from fresh Chelsea space"

Volunteer at Revolution Books!  
Revolution Books-- a place to engage, and radically change, the whole world. Volunteers welcome-- to order books, work with customers, do front window displays, produce events, do graphic design, web... The most interesting and interested people come through the doors of Revolution Books every day. Come meet them. Spend a couple hours a couple days a week... become a Revolution Books volunteer. Revolution Books is all-volunteer & not-for-profit. Call or email the store, or just come in.
Contribute to the bookstore in New York City that is about engaging, and radically changing, the world
...Revolution Books
Click below to make a contribution.

NOW AVAILABLE!

New Constitution of the RCPManifesto ComJefDem


WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT REVOLUTION BOOKS:

"Revolution Books is that rare item, a bookstore with meaning, a bookstore with warmth, where you can learn and browse and find the sort of books that tamer shops never carry." 
-- ALEXIS GREENE, co-editor, "Front Lines: Political Plays by American Women"

"I have never been in a place quite like Revolution Books. It is the repository of a wide range of progressive and radical literature. Anytime I have gone there looking for a left wing book, no matter how obscure, I have found it. Even more importantly I always find something illuminating that I had never heard of before. At a time when so much commerce takes place on computers, it is particularly important to have a few physical places where minds and people can meet and learn. For committed lefties such as myself, Revolution Books is uniquely valuable." 
-- DANNY GOLDBERG, president Gold Village Entertainment, author "Bumping Into Geniuses: My Life Inside the Rock and Roll Business"

For those who wish to read the dissenting view, the uncensored analysis, the truth about their country and the world, the existence and viability of Revolution Books is absolutely essential." 
-- PROF. JOHN GERASSI, Political Science, Queens College and Graduate Center

"There is an African proverb that asserts, 'When a griot dies, it is like a library has been destroyed.' Revolution Books is like a thousand griots-- and to lose it would be to witness the disappearance of a village of libraries. In my political development, it has been an indispensable tool and companion."
-- HERB BOYD, journalist (Amsterdam News, Essence), author (Baldwin's Harlem: A Biography)
 
 “Revolution Books is one of my favorite bookstores in New York City. Whether you're a revolutionary or simply a reader who believes books really matter for the health of a community, you need to know about this store -- one of the last great independents in Manhattan, a brilliant, exciting, and wonderfully eccentric collection of books old and new, forgotten and front-page, radical and revelatory…a vital institution.”   
-- JEFF SHARLET, contributor, Rolling Stone and Harpers, author “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power”
 
"In traveling around the country for readings at bookstores, it has become evident that Revolution Books presents a whole different level of engagement.  I have learned much from the audiences here… "
--DR.  SUE WICKLUND, This Common Secret: My Journey As an Abortion Doctor

“The Rev has New York’s biggest and most outstanding radical collection of books, leaflets and journals. You’ll find bookshelves devoted to Lenin, Mao and Marx, many books in espanol, as well as cute red-star earrings.” 
-- LONELY PLANET travel guide for NYC