Review: Left of the Left: My Memories of Sam Dolgoff

Left of the Left: My Memories of Sam Dolgoff by Anatole Dolgoff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was really powerful and enjoyable. It is filled with wonderful anecdotes of a period of social struggle long past. It includes stories of wobblies unheard of, of carlo tresca, ben fletcher, emma goldman, maximoff, and the yiddish anarchist movement in the lower east side.

If you are interested in reading about the Anarchist movement during the great depression, of the way they organized to fight fascists here, of wobbly dockworkers, and prison stories, ....of Spanish, Cuban, and Russian anarchists.... of refugees from Mujeres Libres, and a meeting between old Italian anarchists and the up against the wall motherfuckers..... then this is the book for you.

Sam Dolgoff lived a revolutionary life as a working class intellectual and was on the pulse of the struggle for decades. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was very real and heartfelt.

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To My Beloved

"There's steam and smoke and madness here
Theres no place for a guest to stand.
I cant so much as touch you, dear,
for I have hired out my hand

Come to me later! come at night
for then, my darling I am free.
My spirit wakes, my heart grows light,
the flame of love revived in me.

I'll sing as I have never sung,
the moment that your face appears;
and every word upon your tongue
shall turn to music in my ears.

I'll greet you then in such a way
as I would if I could dare.
Then all my troubles of the day,
my inmost wounds, will be laid bare.

And you will have my kisses all,
and tears enough--you'll have those too.
Whatever good is in my soul
I'll offer as a gift to you.

But now, beloved, you must go.
Love has no business in a shop.
I can't so much as touch you--no!
My life starts when the treadles stop."

--Morris Rosenfield, Yiddish slum poet.

Review: Rebellion in Patagonia

Rebellion in Patagonia by Osvaldo Bayer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is amazing. I have seen the movie Patagonia Rebelde, but it doesn't come close to the craziness of what actually happened in reality.

First the level of class consciousness in Argentina at the time gives hope that such organization and solidarity could occur again. Yes it is a warning to the lengths that the state and capitalists will go to defend their power.... they will murder thousands in cold blood... Liberals will try to break sections of the left from each other and institutionally crush what the iron fist does not. They will attack reputations, use the press, distort history, buy off others... and plot until people are too weak to keep going. Yes a general strike is not enough. Yes guns will decide the victor.... but a people inspired is a powerful thing.

Also the chapter on the peoples' "avengers" happening after the sad fall of the FORA V's strike is an uplifting and inspiring tribute to human solidarity and sacrifice.

Lastly, while I knew that there were a number of foreign born anarchists, I never realized how many had come to Argentina and how many of them werent even Italian or Spanish, but came from Germany, Russia, Poland, and the Ukraine. On top of this, the vast majority of the workers who fought and perished in Patagonia were Chilean migrant workers.

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Review: The Flight of the Eisenstein

The Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book. it's pretty much the Warhammer equivalent of Roque 1. you will understand that comment after you read it.

it wasn't as good as the last one and didn't have a lot of the slow dread which had built up through the previous novels. Instead, it took the events of isvaan from the death guards perspective. Though I think it could have gone a little more in detail into the death guards primarch who is barely described in any dimension. I did like the alternative perspective of other legions falling to chaos in different ways. can't wait to start the next book!

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Review: Galaxy in Flames

Galaxy in Flames by Ben Counter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If history and fake history teaches you anything, its dont trust heiarchical structures and glorious leaders. Particularly ones that are secretly plotting to take over the human race and to betray their former comrades.


This book takes place right after the events in book two of the Horus Heresy. It shows the first moves by Horus in what will wrack the galaxy in war and bring a downfall of the great expansion of humanity. While these stories are not super heartfelt or deep, they still are really exciting and expand the already rich universe of Warhammer 40k. I have been a longtime fan of this story of humanity's decline and resistance and this book is the first of the 3 I have read so far which starts to undertake the rebellion itself. The series is fun, but dont expect tolstoy.

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Review: Fool Moon

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was not worth reading. The first book was meh and I figured maybe the second book would be better. But it was actually worse. The only part that captivated me at all was this conversation Harry Dresden had with a demon he trapped. One that was trying to steal his name in exchange for information. However, that conversation in no way relates at all to the rest of the book and is just kinda thrown in either as forshadowing or just to add some flavor.

I was reading just before posting this review that some people say the books get good on book 3 or 4 but I dont want to read another book about some weird pretentious bro with a kinda meh magic system hanging out with cops and fighting villains who dont seem to have real good reasons for why they are doing bad things... with friends who dont seem to be super 3 dimensional.

its got werewolves in it too, which are some of my least favorite of fantasy lore... and it was so cliche as to be irritating. Unless someone makes a good argument otherwise, this will be the last of the Dresden files for me.

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Review: Storm Front

Storm Front by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If I didn't know that this book was written in 2000, I would have sworn it was written in the 1950s/early 1960s. It has a style, and description befitting that era of sci fi, but a little bit grittier.


Anyway, whats not to like about a wise ass wizard who is also a private detective. He sometimes gets pushed around by others but when his magic comes out, everyone gets really surprised. He tackles the cases that no one else can and uses wit a and snark to persevere through hard situations. The book is good, not a great emotional masterpiece, but entertaining and hopefully the series can keep me busy until Scott lynch or Patrick Rothfuss decides to finish a book.

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