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  • AMERARCANA 2012: A Bird & Beckett Review - $15.00
    The Third Annual, featuring the words of Bill Berkson, Justin Desmangles, Joanne Kyger, Rodrigo Lira (translated by Rodrigo Olavarría & Thomas Rothe), Duncan McNaughton, Jackson Meazle, David Meltzer, Sarah Menefee, Jason Morris, Jeffrey Joe Nelson, Erik Noonan, Cedar Sigo, Will Skinker, Tisa Walden & the editor Nicholas James Whittington, with artwo […]
  • The Cuban Drumbeat, by Piero Gleijesis - $15.00
    In waging a long war against oppression and misery in the third world, Castro's Cuba sent more troops into battle on foreign soil in defense of besieged populations than all but the U.S., Russia and a few Western European countries. Gleijeses wonders what's next for a post-Castro Cuba. […]
  • Two Underdogs and a Cat, by Slavenka Drakulic - $17.00
    Drakulic, well known to readers of The Nation, the New York Times and the New York Review of Books, ponders the fate of the communist idea through three stories: "An Interview with The Oldest Dog in Bucharest," "A Guided Tour of the Museum of Communism" and "A Cat Keeper in Warsaw" […]
  1. Books for sale

    April 11, 2011 by Eric

    The pleasures of the page

    Nothing is really like a book, though only a very few of them are really important as books… still, many would lay down their lives if it would  save the book from obliteration, for many fine and very important personal reasons.

    Fortunately, it will never come to that. So let’s take pleasure in the page, and the binding, and the groaning shelf and teetering stack…

    Shown here is Judith Schalansky’s Atlas of Remote Islands, a lovely book in its every aspect — its words, its maps, its ideas, its arrangement of the elements — and in its totality. Come take a look. Leaf through the pages and enjoy.

    We only have one or two copies on hand, but we’ll get a few more in a few weeks if these find their way to other homes.

    If you can’t come down to the shop for some reason — say, for example, if you’re reading this while residing or sojourning on some remote island — send us an email, and we’ll ship a copy off to you, by slow boat or jet plane, your choice.

  2. What Was Communism?

    March 31, 2011 by Eric

    What Was Communism?

    We sure as hell ain’t sure… but they’re contemplating the question big time at Kolkata’s Seagull Books.  (That’s Calcutta to you!)  Specifically, they’re wondering why it’s so abruptly gone by the boards — and whether that implies the death of the associated ideals.

    Seven volumes in Seagull’s “What Was Communism” series examine the overall mystery, and the individual circumstances in six countries:  the USSR, Yugoslavia, China, Cuba, Indonesia and India.  The writers (Tariq Ali, Boris Kagarlitsky, Slavenka Drakulic, Mo Yan, Piero Gleijeses, Max Lane and Mahasweta Devi) wonder if the idea of communism has really been so thoroughly discredited that nothing is to be learned from it — and ponder these specific cases for answers, or at least for deeper questions.

    Series editor Ali muses, “The Communist system lasted 70 years and failed only once. Capitalism has existed for over half a millennium and failed regularly. Why is one collapse considered final and the other episodic?”

    With the chaos that is global capitalism these days, and manifestations among the young and the restless of their persistent desire for a vibrant commons, we at Bird & Beckett have to wonder if there are lessons to be learned, and think it worthwhile to look back while looking forward.

    We’re not immune to the book designer’s stunning work on these titles either!

    Here’s to Seagull Books and West Bengal’s thriving intellectual and creative environment.

    Come into the shop to browse these titles — and anything else that catches your eye…  or click here to buy them in our online shop…