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A review by lilaceve
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Anarchism, But Were Afraid to Ask... by Simon Read
2.25
If you are new to anarchism this book you might get something out of this book as it gives a general vibe and ideas that are largely speaking anarchist, however personally I think there are probably many books that would be better as an introduction.
The book is set out in the format of answers to common questions and criticisms about anarchism. Some of these answers were alright and would be helpful for someone new to anarchism, especially the ones earlier on discussing the basic views and principles in anarchism. However, I found the book to meander a lot, even in the short answers to the questions. I also found the tone of the book to be off-putting and difficult to push through at times, especially later on, with the tone feeling actually kind of rude and not particularly pleasant to read. I also feel some of the comments were just plain unnecessary and should have been deleted in a second draft rather than published. The response to common criticisms and the ideas around different applications of anarchism are less strongly argued for and as someone who would generally agree with anarchist principles and these ideas and disagree with the criticisms, I don’t think I would’ve been convinced by the responses given in the book. The book as a whole also suffers from a lack of intersectional analysis. There is a lot of vague notions of the state/government, and the rich minority vs the majority of regular people which is useful to an extent, but isn’t expanded or clarified enough or given barely any mention at all of things such as white supremacy, patriarchy and other oppressive structures which I feel strongly should have been discussed further as this is quite basic to an understanding of anarchism I feel.
Overall not as strong as I would’ve liked, and there are better books and other media that do the same job more well.
The book is set out in the format of answers to common questions and criticisms about anarchism. Some of these answers were alright and would be helpful for someone new to anarchism, especially the ones earlier on discussing the basic views and principles in anarchism. However, I found the book to meander a lot, even in the short answers to the questions. I also found the tone of the book to be off-putting and difficult to push through at times, especially later on, with the tone feeling actually kind of rude and not particularly pleasant to read. I also feel some of the comments were just plain unnecessary and should have been deleted in a second draft rather than published. The response to common criticisms and the ideas around different applications of anarchism are less strongly argued for and as someone who would generally agree with anarchist principles and these ideas and disagree with the criticisms, I don’t think I would’ve been convinced by the responses given in the book. The book as a whole also suffers from a lack of intersectional analysis. There is a lot of vague notions of the state/government, and the rich minority vs the majority of regular people which is useful to an extent, but isn’t expanded or clarified enough or given barely any mention at all of things such as white supremacy, patriarchy and other oppressive structures which I feel strongly should have been discussed further as this is quite basic to an understanding of anarchism I feel.
Overall not as strong as I would’ve liked, and there are better books and other media that do the same job more well.